Scripture reading: Colossians 1:15–20

The Need for a Creed

But who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15)

 Jesus made the question of his identity central to his ministry. To be mistaken about who Jesus is, is to be mistaken at the very foundation of the Christian faith. But giving precise definition to Jesus’ identity is more challenging that you might think. All Bible-believing Christians are quick to affirm belief in the Scripture that proclaims the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). On that point, there is unanimity. But how did the incarnation happen? How does humanity intermingle with deity? How can eternity embrace time? How can infinity dwell in a finite body? How can one person be fully God and fully man? The early church debated these questions for several centuries. At times the theological nuances of the debate seemed trivial, inconsequential, and a matter of semantics. Yet those involved knew that the way these questions were answered would have huge implications for all of human history.

The Continental Divide is a place in the Rocky Mountains where two drops of water can land side by side, momentarily very close together. And yet, as time passes and those drops follow their courses, you discover they have two very different destinations. One drop will eventually end up in the Pacific Ocean and the other in the Atlantic. So it is with the early Christological debates. Though the debaters often were so close together in what they were trying to say, the implications of their positions were radically different!

Some suggested that Jesus wasn’t fully God. Maybe he became the Son of God at his baptism when the Holy Spirit came upon him. Or perhaps God the Father created God the Son, and then the Son created the universe. Or maybe Jesus was a sort of hybrid: part man and part god, like a centaur who is part man and part horse.

Others took the opposite course and suggested that Jesus wasn’t fully man. Jesus’ physical body must have been different from our bodies. God is Spirit. Jesus’ body only appeared to be fully human. Or maybe Jesus only pretended to be a man like us. When he was tempted, when he was hungry, when he asked others for information, he was surely only acting so that we would think he was one of us.

Finally, in 451 A.D. in the city of Chalcedon (near modern Istanbul), a statement was worked out that has long been accepted by all the major branches of the Christian Church (Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox). The Chalcedonian Creed states that Jesus Christ is:

. . . perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man . . . in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood . . . To be acknowledged in two natures . . . and concurring in one Person . . .

It is only because of who Jesus is that he is able to save us. While our minds may never fully grasp the theology, our hearts can fully worship the mystery.

 

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God;

or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool,

you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet

and call him Lord and God.  —C. S. Lewis

 

point to ponder  •  If Jesus is not fully God and fully man, he cannot save.

 

prayer focus • Those who are mistaken about the identity of Jesus.