Christ’s Complete Human Nature
In the last issue of the News we pointed out five truths concerning Christ’s human nature:
- That He has a real human nature.
- That He has a complete human nature.
- That He has a sinless human nature.
- That while on earth He had a weakened human nature.
- That He has a human nature out of the line of the covenant.
In this issue we consider the wonderful truth that Christ had a complete human nature.
This simply means that when Christ was born in our flesh, He was not merely united to a human body. He also had a human soul or spirit (Luke 23:46; John 19:30; Matt. 26:38). He possessed everything that belongs to true humanity.
He is therefore fully man and fully God—yet only one Christ. That is the wonder, the mystery and the glory of the incarnation.
This truth has been denied at various times in church history. Some claimed that Christ had only a human body and that His divine nature replaced the human mind or soul. If that were so, Christ would not have had a complete human nature but only part of one.
It is of the utmost importance that we confess Christ’s complete human nature. Our salvation depends upon it. He had to take to Himself every part of our human nature because every part needed to be redeemed. That is the biblical truth of total depravity—that we are completely corrupt and depraved in every part.
Our body is vile (Phil. 3:21), our soul is lost (Matt. 16:26), our will is in bondage (Rom. 6:16), our mind is carnal and hostile to God (Rom. 8:7) and our heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9).
Christ therefore took upon Himself our complete human nature so that He might suffer in it, make atonement for sin in every part and in that way redeem us—heart, mind, body and soul—and deliver us from the dominion and power of sin. He is a complete Saviour! Thanks be to God for Him! Surely there is no other beside Him. Rev. Ron Hanko
Knowing in Part (2)
“For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away … For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (I Cor. 13:9-12).
In the last issue we discussed the first question raised from this passage. Now we consider the second: Do we still see through a glass darkly?
The answer is yes. We do indeed have more knowledge than Paul in the historical sense previously discussed, yet our knowledge remains very imperfect.
The apostle makes several contrasts in these verses. He contrasts “now” and “then.” “Now” refers to this present life; “then” refers to the life of glory.
He contrasts childhood and maturity. “When I was a child … but when I became a man …”
He contrasts two ways of knowing. Our present knowledge is “through a glass darkly.” Then it will be “face to face.”
The result is clear: now we know in part—then we shall know even as also we are known.
The “knowledge” of which Paul speaks is the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
God is infinite and glorious. He is past finding out. He is infinite in truth and wisdom.
Even now, the knowledge we possess of God is small in comparison with the infinite depths of His being. We may sometimes think we know a great deal, but the wisest and most knowledgeable man who has ever lived knew only a drop compared with the ocean of God’s glory.
Yet we truly do know God. We know Him now by grace.
But our knowledge is “through a glass darkly.” That glass is a mirror—and that mirror is the Holy Scriptures. We know God as He is reflected to us in the face of Jesus Christ in the Word of God.
It is as if we were standing here on earth with our backs to Christ who stands behind us, and we see His reflection in the mirror of Scripture. We truly see Him and know Him—but only in part.
When we come to heaven we shall turn and see Him face to face. The mirror will no longer be needed. Then we shall know perfectly.
To use a simple illustration: I may learn about a person through correspondence. I gain true knowledge, yet it is limited. When I finally meet that person face to face and speak with him, my knowledge increases greatly.
So it is here. The Bible is a letter from Christ. Through it we truly know our Saviour. But a time is coming when we shall be with Him and know Him face to face. That will be better!
Even then, because the knowledge of God in Christ is infinite, we will never exhaust it. Throughout eternity we will continue to grow in the knowledge of His glory and grace. That is what makes heaven an eternal and ever-increasing place of joy.
As one once said, it is higher and further in—forever and ever—world without end. Prof. Herman Hanko
Is the Civil/Ceremonial Law Still of Use?
Continuing our discussion of the law, we now consider Galatians 3:24, which says that the law was “our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.”
The reference here is especially to the moral law. It is the “schoolmaster” of God’s people in the Old Testament. When God begins His work of grace in us, He uses the law to show us our sin (Rom. 7:7).
The law fulfils that function because it reveals the holiness and perfection of God Himself. It exposes our sinfulness and shows us our need for Christ.
The moral law does this when it is written and impressed upon our hearts by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. It is only in the new covenant that the Spirit writes the law upon the heart (Heb. 8:8-10).
In the old covenant the moral law functioned not by being written inwardly upon the heart but through the outward regulations of the civil and ceremonial law. Those laws served as a kind of bondage—“weak and beggarly elements” (Gal. 4:3, 9)—through which the moral law was impressed upon Israel.
The ceremonies and shadows of the law also pointed forward to Christ and thus served as a schoolmaster.
But now Christ has come. The civil and ceremonial law is no longer in force. To return to those outward regulations is to return to bondage.
Yet this raises a question: if the civil and ceremonial law is no longer binding, is it still of use?
Yes. It is not binding—but it is useful. It teaches the deeper principles of the moral law. Though we are not under those specific regulations, the moral truths behind them remain.
For example, it is not wrong today to plough with an ox and an ass together (Deut. 22:10). That was part of Israel’s civil law. Yet that regulation taught a principle which the New Testament expresses in another way: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (II Cor. 6:14).
I Timothy 5:18 gives another example. The Old Testament command, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn,” teaches a principle concerning the support of those who labour in the gospel.
We do not keep the ceremonial sacrifices. They have been fulfilled in Christ. Yet they still teach us about His atoning work and about the worship of God.
The civil and ceremonial law is therefore not binding—but it remains of great value. It continues to instruct us in the unchanging principles of the moral law and in the grace of God revealed in Christ. Rev. Ron Hanko
