The Hypostatic Union

I'm a fan of country music.

Ok don't exit out of this post just yet, it's not going to be about dirt roads and pickup trucks. But I am going to use some country music lyrics to make a point.

Dierks Bentley recently released a single called “Burning Man”, in which he sings about the paradoxes that he experiences within himself:

“I'm a little bit steady but still a little bit rollin' stone

I'm a little bit heaven but still a little bit flesh-and-bone

Little found, little don't-know-where-I-am

I'm a little bit holy water but still a little bit burning man”

Maybe you've felt this way about yourself -- in fact these lyrics are somewhat analogous to Paul's words in Romans 7:15-20.

It may be easy to view Jesus in a similar fashion: partly human and partly God. Or maybe he took a break from being God when he came to earth and then resumed his divine status upon his ascension to heaven.

The Hypostatic Union is a way of explaining precisely what Jesus’ nature looked like. Was he this “half-and-half” Christ, a human with divine superpowers? Or was he something greater than that?

History

This concept has its origins at both the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, where disputes arose surrounding the nature of Christ. Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople, made the claim that Christ consisted of two separate persons with two separate natures: one human and one divine. Alternatively, Apollinaris of Laodicea taught that Jesus instead had a human body, but a divine mind.

These questions were addressed at the Council of Chalcedon, and the Chalcedonian Definition was formulated, establishing accepted church doctrine on the nature of Christ. The text of the Chalcedonian Definition is as follows:

Following, then, the holy Fathers, we all unanimously teach that our Lord Jesus Christ is to us One and the same Son, the Self-same Perfect in Godhead, the Self-same Perfect in Manhood; truly God and truly Man; the Self-same of a rational soul and body; co-essential with the Father according to the Godhead, the Self-same co-essential with us according to the Manhood; like us in all things, sin apart; before the ages begotten of the Father as to the Godhead, but in the last days, the Self-same, for us and for our salvation (born) of Mary the Virgin Theotokos as to the Manhood; One and the Same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten; acknowledged in Two Natures unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the difference of the Natures being in no way removed because of the Union, but rather the properties of each Nature being preserved, and (both) concurring into One Person and One Hypostasis; not as though He were parted or divided into Two Persons, but One and the Self-same Son and Only-begotten God, Word, Lord, Jesus Christ; even as from the beginning the prophets have taught concerning Him, and as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself hath taught us, and as the Symbol of the Fathers hath handed down to us.

There’s obviously a lot going on in that definition; essentially what was agreed upon was this:

1. Jesus Christ consists of one person with two different, and yet united natures.
2. These natures, one human and one divine, are full in of themselves. Jesus isn’t “half God, half man”; rather He is “fully God and fully man”.

This definition refuted the teachings of Nestorius and Apollinaris. Jesus was not two persons as Nestorius claimed, he was one person with two natures. And those natures were not parts of a whole as in Apollinarianism -- both human and divine natures are complete.

"Fully God"

In thinking about the full divinity of Jesus, it's helpful to reflect on what's known as the covenant of redemption. In case you haven't heard of it, it's a concept not explicit in Scripture, but very clearly supported throughout. It refers to an arrangement between the Father and the Son in eternity past to carry out a mission of redemption, resulting in the glory of the Father and the exaltation of the Son. This is where Jesus agrees to come and die for the sins of His people.

This reveals the eternality of Christ in an astonishing way. Jesus wasn't just there at the beginning of creation, he preceded creation. He's eternal. He was coordinating the redemption of man before He had even created man. And yet he entered history on an actual date on the calendar, and in a real geographical location.

As we learned in the article on the Trinity, Jesus Christ is eternal and uncreated. These are aspects that are unique to God. Colossians 1:16 reads “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

So not only is Jesus uncreated, He was the one who has created all things, and for whom all things are created.

"Fully Man"

It feels a bit disrespectful saying this, but if I’m honest, it can feel difficult to relate to Jesus when I read about His life in the gospel accounts. He’s always loving people, always has the right thing to say, and is unwavering in His commitment to His heavenly Father. I’m just not that way at all.

So it’s helpful to me to remember the full humanity of Jesus. Jesus had siblings. Jesus likely helped his parents around the house as a child. Jesus got tired. Jesus had favorite foods and places he liked to travel to. You get the point.

These details aren’t recorded in scripture explicitly, but it’s not unreasonable to assume these things about Jesus. There’s a reason that his family members and hometown initially rejected Him: likely because to them he was just another member of society. He didn’t seem any different to them, besides maybe the fact that he always seemed to do the right thing.

We are blessed to have a Savior who is “able to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus can truly speak to your situation, whatever it is, and say “I understand”.

Did Jesus feel the heartbreak of a lost friendship? Most likely. Did Jesus have profound love for people that went unreturned? Absolutely. Was Jesus tempted with the things of this world? Yes, though He never once succumbed to that temptation. Our Savior is one who can empathize with the brokenness we’ve encountered in our lives, and yet has lived a perfectly righteous life in order to redeem us from our fallen, broken nature.

Two Natures, One Christ

Both natures of Christ are equally important. First of all, the Hypostatic Union is a biblically accurate representation of who Jesus is, so it matters regardless of what it means for us and our salvation.

But imagine for a second if one of these two natures wasn’t the truth -- what if Jesus wasn’t divine, or was just partially divine? One would have to conclude that without His divine nature at the Incarnation, Jesus would have had a sin nature like the rest of man, and would not have lived the perfect life that was necessary for our salvation.

Or imagine if Jesus had only had a divine nature but no human nature. Regarding the perfect life that Jesus lived, it would not have been anything extraordinary if it was simply a divine being being perfect. That would be par for the course. What Jesus did as fully human was what the first human, Adam, failed at. Adam disobeyed God and became a sinner. Jesus, as the second Adam, lived in perfect obedience to the Father. Without that perfect life lived by a man, the rest of us have no hope of eternal life.

A technical term to describe our Savior, the Hypostatic Union is essential to our faith. We have a Savior who is both God and man, who can sympathize with our weakness and is Himself strong enough to save us from it.