“The Two Natures in Christ”
Romans 9:1-5

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost—August 233, 2020

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

You are invited to follow the sermon outline on the last pages of the bulletin, as we consider today’s Epistle Reading from the ninth chapter of Romans.  Writing about himself and his fellow Jews, the Apostle Paul declares: “And from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”

It seems that the Christian congregation at Rome, to which Paul was writing, was made up of both those of Jewish descent and non-Jews or Gentiles.  And, it seems that there was some friction between them, with the Jewish Christians considering themselves superior, because they were the chosen people.  But even worse, the Gentiles were still holding, even toward their Christian brothers, the anti-Semitic attitude, common in the Roman world, that the Jews were an inferior race.  Throughout the book of Romans, Paul pleas with these two factions, Jews and Gentiles, to put aside their old prejudices, and live together as one Christian congregation.  The New Testament, by the way, is totally opposed, in many places, to any kind of racial discrimination or bigotry.

In today’s Epistle Reading, Paul is addressing the Gentile faction, telling them why, instead of looking down on their fellow Christians who are of Jewish ancestry, they should actually hold them in special esteem.  He cites their Old Testament role as the chosen people of God: “Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs.”  Then he climaxes his argument with the #1 reason why, for a Christian who claims to worship Jesus of Nazareth, to have an anti-Semitic attitude is foolish and illogical:  “And from THEM is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”

Early on in the Reformation, Martin Luther made the same point in a treatise titled, “That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew.”  “When we are inclined to boast of our position,” Luther wrote, “we should remember that we are but Gentiles, while the Jews are of the lineage of Christ.  We are but aliens and in-laws; THEY are blood relatives, cousins, and brothers of our Lord.”

This verse from Romans is also one of the places in Scripture which most clearly teaches a very important and fundamental doctrine of our faith, that Christ is both true GOD and true MAN: “And from them is traced the HUMAN ANCESTRY of Christ, who is GOD over all, forever praised! Amen.”

It is extraordinary in a public opinion poll when the level of agreement, on just about anything, rises above 75%.  But, since 1944 the Gallup poll has asked Americans, “Do you believe Jesus is God?” And throughout all the changes in our society over the years the answer “YES” has held steady at an amazing 85%.  Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is that it doesn’t seem like 85% of Americans live their lives based on that belief.  But, we must confess that we too are guilty of proclaiming faith in Jesus as our God, but not always living out our daily lives based on that belief.

Among non-Christians, THIS doctrine is the #1 point of contention.  Atheists, cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, and other world religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and modern Judaism, are all quite willing to admit that Jesus was a great teacher, a pivotal figure in human history, a fine moral example.

BUT, they draw the line at the doctrine that they consider either foolishness or heresy, the doctrine that Jesus of Nazareth is MORE than just a great teacher; MORE than just a pivotal figure in human history; MORE than just a fine moral example; indeed, he is MORE than just a man.  As Paul says in our text: “And from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is GOD over all, forever praised! Amen.”

What does the Bible say about Jesus’ two natures, human and divine?  Why is this doctrine important?  What does this doctrine mean for you?  And how will your belief in this doctrine change the way you live your life?

The Augsburg Confession of the Lutheran Church summarizes this doctrine:  “It is also taught among us that God the Son became man, born of the Virgin Mary, and that the two natures, divine and human, are so inseparably united in one person that there is one Christ, true God and true man, who was truly born, suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried in order to be a sacrifice . . . for all sins and to propitiate God’s wrath.”

We know from Scripture that Jesus is truly DIVINE, first of all because he is called by divine names and receives divine honor and glory.  When Jesus displayed to doubting Thomas his wounded hands and side, Thomas cried out, “My Lord and my God!”

The Apostle John writes in his First Epistle, “He is the true God and eternal life.”  Jesus himself says, “All should honor the Son just as they honor the Father,” and Paul tells us “Every knee should bow . . . and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 

Other religions object that it is idolatry and heresy to worship Jesus as God.  That is, for example, the main reason for the extreme animosity of Islam toward Christianity.  I have lived and worked in Islamic nations, and it’s hard to conceive just how greatly they consider it a gross and offensive blasphemy and apostasy that we WORSHIP Jesus as GOD.  Now, if he was not truly DIVINE, that objection would indeed be true.  But, in Scripture he is called by divine names and receives divine honor and glory, because he is truly DIVINE.  As the Apostle Peter declares in today’s Gospel Reading, when Jesus asks the Apostles, “Who do you say I am?”: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

We also know from Scripture that Jesus is truly DIVINE, because he has divine attributes, characteristics that only GOD could have.  He is ETERNAL, as Paul says in Colossians, “He is before all things.”  He is UNCHANGEABLE, as Hebrews says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  He is OMNIPOTENT or all-powerful, as Jesus himself said before he ascended into heaven, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

He is OMNISCIENT or all-knowing, as Peter said to him, “Lord, you know all things.”  And he is OMNIPRESENT or present everywhere, as he promised, “Lo, I am with you always.”  No mere man could possibly be eternal, or unchangeable, or omnipotent, or omniscient, or omnipresent. 

Finally, we know from Scripture that Jesus is truly DIVINE, because he performs divine works.  Peter puts it this way in Acts: “Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him.” 

Remember the story of the men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus and lowered him down through the roof?  Jesus said to him, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”  We are told, “The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’”

In his omniscience, Jesus knew what they were thinking.  But, he didn’t actually dispute the logic of their objection.  They were right.  If he WAS a mere man, it would be blasphemy for him to forgive sins on his own authority.  But, he said to them, “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”  He is not only human, he is also truly divine, and therefore he performs divine works, things that only God can do, including the forgiveness of sins.

Why is it important that Jesus is true God?  Peter says, “You were redeemed . . . with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”  Only God himself could be a perfect sacrifice—a lamb without blemish or defect—worthy to take away the sins of the world.  As Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Only GOD himself could be a worthy sacrifice to pay the ransom for your sins and earn you eternal life.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned.”

On the other hand, it also important and necessary for your salvation that Jesus is truly HUMAN.  As we confess in the Nicene Creed: “Who for us men AND FOR OUR SALVATION down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man.”

It is necessary for your Savior to be truly HUMAN, because only as a human could he fulfill in your place the requirements of God’s Law, so that his perfect obedience and holy life is credited to you.  And only as a HUMAN could he give his LIFE and shed his BLOOD as payment for your sins.  The book of Hebrews puts it this way, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. . .  we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ.”  As we confess in the Apostles’ Creed: “[He] suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.”  Only as a man could he live, suffer, and die to earn your salvation.

We know from Scripture that Jesus is truly HUMAN, because Scripture plainly calls him man, as Paul says in 1st Timothy, “There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the MAN Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.”  And Scripture ascribes to him a human soul and human body.  In the Garden of Gethsemane he said, “My SOUL is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”  After his resurrection his disciples thought he might be a ghost or spirit, but he told them, “Look at my hands and my feet.  It is I myself!  Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

We also know from Scripture that Jesus is truly HUMAN, because Scripture speaks of his human feelings and actions.  We are told “He was hungry,” and “He was tired from the journey.”  From the cross he cried out “I thirst.”  He slept, and the shortest verse in the Bible poignantly reports that at the funeral of his friend Lazarus, “Jesus wept.”  There’s an old spiritual that puts it beautifully: “Jesus walked this lonesome valley.”

The significance of Jesus being truly HUMAN is summed up in Hebrews: “[He] is not unable to sympathize with us in our weaknesses, but . . .  he was tested in every way just as we are, yet without sin.”  An old hymn asks, “Are you weary, are you troubled, are you sore distressed?”  You do not have a Savior who is distant and remote, unable to sympathize with you, but he became one of us, and was tested in every way just as you are.  “Jesus walked this lonesome valley.”

“And from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is GOD over all, forever praised! Amen.”  In a few months we will once again celebrate at Christmas the “incarnation” of our Lord, as John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” 

The divine nature of Christ existed from all eternity.  Paul says in Galatians, “When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman.”  At his miraculous conception Christ’s divine nature took upon and was permanently united with his human nature in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, as the angel announced to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”

The Lutheran Formula of Concord sums it up this way: “We believe, teach and confess . . . that the divine and the human natures are personally united in Christ in . . . a single individual [who] is both the Son of God and the Son of Man.”  Scripture shows he is not 50% God and 50% man, but 100% truly HUMAN, and at the same time 100% truly DIVINE.  Paul puts it this way in Colossians, “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” 

The question is, “Is Jesus completely, 100% truly HUMAN, OR is he completely, 100% truly GOD?” And the answer is, “YES.”  Since the moment of his conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary, he is always 100% completely, truly human, AND 100% completely, truly God.  It is one of the mysteries of the faith, as Paul says in 1st Timothy: “Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body.” 

While he was here on earth he humbled himself, not always or fully using his divine powers, living, and suffering, and dying, as a human.  As Paul says in Philippians, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death—even death on a cross!”

We worship him now in his state of exaltation, enthroned as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as Paul continues, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

“And from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”  Will you be like one of the 85% of American who claim to believe that Jesus is God, but don’t really LIVE it?  How will your belief in this doctrine change the way you live your life? 

Your worship here today at God’s house, or online in your own home, is Exhibit A of how your belief in this doctrine will change the way you live your life.  As Hebrews says, “Let us not give up meeting together.”  Making in your life a priority of worship, Word, Sacrament, prayer, praise, and service to the Lord and his Church.  “This do,” Jesus says, “in remembrance of me.”

But, much of the change in the way you live your life because you trust that the God-man Jesus is your Savior is not on the outside but on the inside. Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”  Luther says that your daily work is really worship, not mundane and meaningless, but really worship, because on the inside whatever you do you are doing it to give glory to him who gave himself for you.  “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Your hope and peace in Christ is based on this Bible truth, that he is MORE than just a great teacher; MORE than just a pivotal figure in human history; MORE than just a fine moral example; indeed, he is MORE than just a man.

John sums up the #1 significance of this doctrine, that Christ is BOTH God and man: “The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin.” Because he is more than just a man, because he IS God’s Son, because he is divine, you have redemption of sins through his blood, shed on the cross.  You are at peace with God through your Lord Jesus Christ, and at the end of this life he will take you to be with him in eternal life, where he has prepared a place for you.

“And from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”