The dual effort in the creation of the God-Man

[ViaCrucis]

But every theologian who understands the hypostaic union even basically understands that God was not tempted in the wilderness and was not tempted in every way just as we are and that God did not die at Calvary.

Except that's exactly what the Hypostatic Union means. Because of the union of the two natures in the one Hypostasis of the Son, then we speak of the Hypostasis--the Person--of the Son acting, speaking, and being acted upon. It is the Person of Christ who was conceived, born, who grew in wisdom, who was baptized by John, who fasted in the desert, was tempted by the devil, who healed the sick, befriended sinners, spoke against the hypocrites, who was betrayed, arrested, flogged, beaten, crucified, dead, buried, who rose again, ascended, sits at the right hand of the Father, and is coming again. These things are true of the Person.

Thus because Christ has a mother, it means God has a mother, and that's exactly why Mary is called Theotokos and mother of God. It is Christ--God--who heals the sick, who makes the lame to walk, and the blind to see. It is Christ--God--who is betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, who suffers, who is crucified.

Yes, God suffered. God died. God was crucified, buried, dead, rose again, ascended, and is coming again.

That's exactly what the historic, orthodox doctrine of the Hypostatic Union means.

"Following in all points the confessions of the Holy Fathers which they made (the Holy Ghost speaking in them), and following the scope of their opinions, and going, as it were, in the royal way, we confess that the Only begotten Word of God, begotten of the same substance of the Father, True God from True God, Light from Light, through Whom all things were made, the things in heaven and the things in the earth, coming down for our salvation, making himself of no reputation (καθεὶς ἑαυτὸν εἰς κένωσιν), was incarnate and made man; that is, taking flesh of the Holy Virgin, and having made it his own from the womb, he subjected himself to birth for us, and came forth man from a woman, without casting off that which he was; but although he assumed flesh and blood, he remained what he was, God in essence and in truth. Neither do we say that his flesh was changed into the nature of divinity, nor that the ineffable nature of the Word of God was laid aside for the nature of flesh; for he is unchanged and absolutely unchangeable, being the same always, according to the Scriptures. For although visible and a child in swaddling clothes, and even in the bosom of his Virgin Mother, he filled all creation as God, and was a fellow-ruler with him who begot him, for the Godhead is without quantity and dimension, and cannot have limits.

Confessing the Word to be made one with the flesh according to substance, we adore one Son and Lord Jesus Christ: we do not divide the God from the man, nor separate him into parts, as though the two natures were mutually united in him only through a sharing of dignity and authority (for that is a novelty and nothing else), neither do we give separately to the Word of God the name Christ and the same name separately to a different one born of a woman; but we know only one Christ, the Word from God the Father with his own Flesh. For as man he was anointed with us, although it is he himself who gives the Spirit to those who are worthy and not in measure, according to the saying of the blessed Evangelist John." - St. Cyril of Alexandria, Epistle to Nestorius, as recorded in the Acts of the Council of Ephesus, and likewise affirmed at the same council

Let's put it more succinctly: When we worship Jesus Christ, do we commit idolatry because He is flesh and bone? Or are we engaging in true worship, because He is God?

When all is said and done, and we stand before the Crucified and Risen One, do we fall down on our face in worship? Yes, because this One, this One who is flesh and bone, bearing the scars of crucifixion still, is the Eternal God.

We do not say, "I only worship Jesus' divinity, but not His humanity." We say we worship Jesus Christ.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[His student]

Except that's exactly what the Hypostatic Union means. Because of the union of the two natures in the one Hypostasis of the Son, then we speak of the Hypostasis--the Person--of the Son acting, speaking, and being acted upon. It is the Person of Christ who was conceived, born, who grew in wisdom, who was baptized by John, who fasted in the desert, was tempted by the devil, who healed the sick, befriended sinners, spoke against the hypocrites, who was betrayed, arrested, flogged, beaten, crucified, dead, buried, who rose again, ascended, sits at the right hand of the Father, and is coming again. These things are true of the Person.

Thus because Christ has a mother, it means God has a mother, and that's exactly why Mary is called Theotokos and mother of God. It is Christ--God--who heals the sick, who makes the lame to walk, and the blind to see. It is Christ--God--who is betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, who suffers, who is crucified.

Yes, God suffered. God died. God was crucified, buried, dead, rose again, ascended, and is coming again.

That's exactly what the historic, orthodox doctrine of the Hypostatic Union means.

"Following in all points the confessions of the Holy Fathers which they made (the Holy Ghost speaking in them), and following the scope of their opinions, and going, as it were, in the royal way, we confess that the Only begotten Word of God, begotten of the same substance of the Father, True God from True God, Light from Light, through Whom all things were made, the things in heaven and the things in the earth, coming down for our salvation, making himself of no reputation (καθεὶς ἑαυτὸν εἰς κένωσιν), was incarnate and made man; that is, taking flesh of the Holy Virgin, and having made it his own from the womb, he subjected himself to birth for us, and came forth man from a woman, without casting off that which he was; but although he assumed flesh and blood, he remained what he was, God in essence and in truth. Neither do we say that his flesh was changed into the nature of divinity, nor that the ineffable nature of the Word of God was laid aside for the nature of flesh; for he is unchanged and absolutely unchangeable, being the same always, according to the Scriptures. For although visible and a child in swaddling clothes, and even in the bosom of his Virgin Mother, he filled all creation as God, and was a fellow-ruler with him who begot him, for the Godhead is without quantity and dimension, and cannot have limits.

Confessing the Word to be made one with the flesh according to substance, we adore one Son and Lord Jesus Christ: we do not divide the God from the man, nor separate him into parts, as though the two natures were mutually united in him only through a sharing of dignity and authority (for that is a novelty and nothing else), neither do we give separately to the Word of God the name Christ and the same name separately to a different one born of a woman; but we know only one Christ, the Word from God the Father with his own Flesh. For as man he was anointed with us, although it is he himself who gives the Spirit to those who are worthy and not in measure, according to the saying of the blessed Evangelist John." - St. Cyril of Alexandria, Epistle to Nestorius, as recorded in the Acts of the Council of Ephesus, and likewise affirmed at the same council

Let's put it more succinctly: When we worship Jesus Christ, do we commit idolatry because He is flesh and bone? Or are we engaging in true worship, because He is God?

When all is said and done, and we stand before the Crucified and Risen One, do we fall down on our face in worship? Yes, because this One, this One who is flesh and bone, bearing the scars of crucifixion still, is the Eternal God.

We do not say, "I only worship Jesus' divinity, but not His humanity." We say we worship Jesus Christ.

-CryptoLutheran

I stand corrected.

I meant to say that Christ was not tempted and crucified "as God" but as a man.

That was the subject being debated between my interlocutor and I.

I.e. - whether Jesus did his miracles and overcame sin in the power of a Spirit filled man of faith or as the God who He was as well.

Sorry for the poor choice of words.

 

[His student]

This doesn't sound orthodox to me. Of course you may willing to be non-orthodox. But the whole point of rejecting Nestorius was to prohibit dividing Christ that way. If Mary was the mother of God, then God was tempted and died.

I have since edited the above quote.

It was a poor choice of words.

I should have said that Jesus acting as God was not tempted but Jesus acting as a man.

I have several times in this thread affirmed that Christ was God as well as man.

Sorry for the mistake.