To Be Preeminent or Not To Be -

The Hypostatic Union Of Christ

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.  "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form", Col.2:9


To be preeminent or not to be preeminent that is the question, or at least it was for the Colossian believers who were being infiltrated by Gnostic teachings. In his letter, Paul warned these believers to be careful and not be dissuaded by those who were trying to kidnap their minds and hold them hostage through their empty traditions and deceptive philosophical teachings.   These "Hades raisers" were only concerned with disemboweling the preeminence of Christ.

Notice how Paul specifically states that they were teaching their "philosophies"...

The dictionary defines this word as: phi·los·o·phy  (fĭ-lŏs′ə-fē)
n. pl. phi·los·o·phies
1. The study of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning.

It was a system of "reason" not teachings based on Scriptural truth and facts! Their philosophical reasoning led them to believe that the  "fullness of deity" was distributed among the angels and was not the sole power that belonged to Christ.  So Paul combats this fallacy head on to set the record straight.

He tells the Colossians that Preeminence can only belong to Christ because, for He alone is God incarnate.  "ALL" the "FULLNESS" of deity dwells in bodily form (incarnate)! Col.2:9.  It was Jesus, the second person of the God-head that condescended in bodily form.  Angels were created by God and did not ever posses physical bodies.  So Paul wanting to make this clear to the Colossians uses the Greek definite article "the" (tes) to precede the word "philosophy" to show that he was referring to a particular false teaching that he wanted them to avoid.   He also enforces the importance of the "hypostatic union" of Christ!

 "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form", Col.2:9

Although the phrase "Hypostatic Union" is not found in Scripture, it is however a theological term which is used to describe the two distinct or dissimilar natures of Jesus Christ that Paul defines in the verse above.  Jesus is the only theanthropic person.  Theanthropic comes from two Greek words; "Theo" and "anthropos".  Theo is the Greek work for "God" and "anthropos" is a Greek generic term meaning humanity.  When used together it shows Jesus as the God-Man (Theo "God", anthropos "man").  

"For in "HIM" (Jesus) ALL the fullness of "Deity" (God) dwells in bodily form", Col.2:9

The second person of the God-head took on a human nature without ever giving up His divine nature as God.  Isa 9:6; Matt. 1:20-24; Lk. 1:26-35; Jn 1:1,14, Phil. 2:5-8.  After His incarnation, Jesus' divine nature became inseparable with His human nature.  He will forever be God-Man!  These two natures have forever linked the gap between God and man.   Once again, the hypostatic union (Greek: πόστασις) simply means, two natures (human and divine) that are both united in one person-hood.  Jesus the second person of the God-head, is both 100 % God and 100 % man.

 As to His humanity- He was born of a woman.

It is a well documented fact that the mother's egg is responsible for the physical development of the child growing inside her. One such source is stated by Dr. Greene a pediatrician in San Mateo,
CA., he said, "During pregnancy, every ounce of baby's growing body, after that very first single cell has come from her mother's own body. The brain, the heart, the muscles are all built from nutrients that were once part of her mother. The baby is quite literally her flesh and bone offspring.

As to His deity - God became His Father

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you (Mary), 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 Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and placed the "Holy Seed of deity" with in her.  Thus by impregnating Mary through the Holy Spirit made Jesus not only her son, but also the Son of God the Father!  Who else can claim that?  The Holy Union of Mary and God produced the most perfect theanthropic God-Man!  Jesus is therefore, fully human and fully God with two distinct natures (divine and human). He is the "word" (logos) that was with God in the beginning and was God, who became flesh and dwelt among mankind (Jn 1:1,14).  The divine nature was not changed. It was not altered. He is not merely a man who "had God within Him" nor is he a man who "manifested the God principle." He is God, second person of the Trinity. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word," (Heb. 1:3, NIV). Jesus' two natures are not "mixed together," nor are they combined into a new God-man nature. They are separate yet act as a unit in the one person of Jesus.  This is the Hypostatic Union of Christ.

AS GOD-
He is worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33).
He was called God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8)
He is prayed too (Acts 7:59)
He is sinless (1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15).
He knows all things (John 21:17).
He gives eternal life (John 10:28).

AS MAN
All the fullness of deity dwells in Him (Col. 2:9).
He worshiped the Father (John 17).   
He was called man (Mark 15:39; John 19:5).
He was called Son of Man (John 9:35-37)
He prayed to the Father (John 17).
He was tempted (Matt. 4:1).
He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52).
He died (Rom. 5:8).
He has a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39).

Jesus gave proof beyond measure, even rising from the dead to insure
his status of the one and only God-man so that we might believe in His
name unto life everlasting.  AND THIS HE DID, All because He loved us!!!

Oh what a powerful preeminent God we Serve!!

Be Highly Blessed Today!
Rev Deb