The Humanity of Christ: Part 11 - The Hypostatic Union, Defined

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Humanity of Christ: Part 11 - The Hypostatic Union Defined

The hypostatic union is the means by which Christ maintained His divine nature while taking on a human nature.  The addition of a human nature did not cause a lost or diminishing of His divine nature.  John Walvoord stated that, “The two natures are united without loss of any essential attributes and that the two natures maintain their separate identity. […] infinity cannot be transferred to finity; mind cannot be transferred to matter; God cannot be transferred to man, or vice versa. To rob the divine nature of God of a single attribute would destroy His deity, and to rob man of a single human attribute would result in destruction of a true humanity. It is for this reason that the two natures of Christ cannot lose or transfer a single attribute.”

Paul provides seven proofs from the Old Testament, in Hebrews 1:5-14, that demonstrate that the Christ maintained His deity after the Incarnation (Hebrews 1:5-14).

• (1) You are My Son, Today I have begotten You?
• (2) I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me? 
• (3) And let all the angels of God worship Him. 
• (4) Who makes His angels winds, And His ministers (leitourgós) a flame of fire. 
• (5) Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.  You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.
• (6) You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands; They will perish, but You remain; And they all will become old like a garment, And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.  But to which of the angels has He ever said,
• (7) Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies A footstool for Your feet? 

That proof for Christ’s deity is obtained from the Old Testament demonstrates the Old Testament’s validity and equality to the New Testament.  

​ENDNOTES:

1. John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord (Chicago, IL: Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1975), 114.