Essay Example on Jesus: God-Man Union - Exploring the Hypostatic Union

Many religious leaders and researchers have discussed the existence of Jesus as God and Man. The concept which majorly described as a hypostatic union is hard to understand since there is no way to compare and contrast this idea with any pre-existing God-man relationship. Most people believe that Jesus is God, but others have questioned him as a man. The union of Jesus as God and man, which is an undiminished deity and the perfect humanity, is called the doctrine of the hypostatic union, and it is this connection that makes Jesus Christ very unique. According to Barnes (2008), the dualistic nature of the hypostatic union is God the Son, and always the true God resembles a man. He stated that the two natures are both fully God and man without intermingling but still one person who is the Christ God-Man. Jesus Christ is one of the enigmatic Biblical figures, and He is the second person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Son. He has a dual nature, which is human and divine at the same time. This paper discusses how Jesus is entirely God and man and His dial nature affects human beings. The article also discusses the effectiveness of faith for believers regarding the two natures of Jesus Christ.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Jesus was also fully God since He was sinless, and this created a distinction between Him and human beings. No one could refer to Him as the wisest or greatest man during His time since He was substantially not similar to His fellows (1 John 1:9). The reference of Jesus as Lord is numerous in the New Testament. Upon his resurrection, Thomas called "Him my Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). As noted by Gorman (2017) in his Christian Theology, Lord was made synonymous with God in Jewish thinking during Jesus' time. This shows that Jesus is not just a charismatic figure but the world's savior, and as indicated in (Luke: 2:1), people would pray to him just like they would pray to God and worship Him. His honor and glory were bestowed upon Him by God, as indicated in (John 14:9) that states, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." The proofs presented above suggest that Jesus is fully God.

Jesus, as a human being, is severally represented in different verses in the Bible. He is portrayed as the seed of the woman, the Son of David, and the prince of pastors. The following features can explain the inherent humanity of Jesus: he was tempted just like any other human being (Matt. 4:1), his body was made of flesh and bones (Luke 4: 39), and he was called man (Mark 15:39). Just like a human being, Jesus also had emotions such as sorrow, distress, and anger. He also had a human soul (Luke 23: 46), and he died just like human beings do. Based on the above Biblical references, it is very evident that Jesus identified himself with men, and He was indeed one of them. He was named as the servant who offered himself to save the world of its sins, and in the process, he suffered and sacrificed himself for people. The full aspect of Jesus Christ as a human being is also backed up by Arianism and Ebionitism, which viewed Jesus Christ as a man who was naturally born. However, the concept of Jesus Christ being a human being was rejected by Docetism that argued that the human features of Christ were just mere appearances. The sentiments expressed by Docetism were also backed up by Gnostics, who also denied Jesus as true human nature. However, such views were rejected at Church Council, and the concept of Jesus being a man and God was upheld.

The presence of Jesus as fully God and fully man is integral in human lives in several ways. As God, Jesus is worshipped and adored, and He represents the right example of how human beings should live. As a human being, people identify with him and understand that they can achieve and live like Jesus without sin. It is naturally sweet and inspiring to understand that the two natures of Jesus are uniformly united in his one person. This means that he is one focal point for human worship, and as stated by Barnes (2008), Jesus is an admirable conjunction of different excellencies. The hypostatic union is integral in helping human beings with the divine. God was glorious before he became man in Jesus, and human beings do not connect to the un-incarnate deity as they do with the God who became human. It is also essential since it is the belief of most people across the globe, and it taught by Christianity. The union of man and deity in Jesus is one of the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith.

Faith is integral among believers regarding the two natures of Jesus in that it drives one to trust in Jesus as both God and man. As God, people seek solace and solutions in Him, and as a human being, people understand that the challenges they face in life were felt by Jesus too, and He has a solution to them, and one is only required to pray (Clark, 2000). Having faith in Jesus Christ means trusting in Him and obeying His commands, and this breeds forgiveness of one's sin by the Heavenly Father. By having faith in Jesus and repentance, one makes His atonement fully effective in their lives, and as indicated in (Alma 37: 33), through faith, one can receive the strength to overcome temptations.

Conclusion

In summary, the hypostasis union is an admirable conjunction of Jesus as fully God and fully man. Different Biblical proofs indicate that Jesus is God, as discussed above, and there are also pieces of evidence in the Bible that show that He is a man. His existence as God enables people to worship and believe in Him. People also pray to Him to resolve the challenges they face. Jesus, as a man, is viewed by people as a source of inspiration to be righteous and avoid sin. People also believe that Jesus himself experiences the challenges they face, and He fully understands our troubles. Faith is essential for believers regarding the dual concept of Jesus in that it makes one trust and believe in Jesus as the savior of humankind.

References

Barnes, C. L. (2008). Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas on the person, hypostasis, and hypostatic union. The Thomist: A Speculative Quarterly Review, 72(1), 107-146. https://doi.org/10.1353/tho.2008.0038

Barnes, C. L. (2008). undefined. The Thomist: A Speculative Quarterly Review, 72(1), 107-146. https://doi.org/10.1353/tho.2008.0038Clark, F. (2000). Godfearing: On reason, faith, and sacred being. CUA Press.

Gorman, M. (2017). Aquinas on the metaphysics of the hypostatic union. Cambridge University Press.