The
hypostatic union is the union of two distinct natures, the divine and the
human, in the one Person of Christ.
Craig Blaising points out that “in the incarnation of the Son of God, a human nature was inseparably
united forever with the divine nature in the one person of Jesus Christ, yet
with the two natures remaining distinct , whole, and unchanged, without mixture
or confusion so that the one person, Jesus Christ, is truly God and truly man.”[1]
Kenneth Samples adds that “philosophically speaking, as the God-man, Jesus Christ is ‘two Whats’ (that is, a divine ‘what’ [or nature] and a human ‘what’ [or nature]) and ‘one Who’ (that is, a single ‘person’ or ‘self’).”[2]
Kenneth Samples adds that “philosophically speaking, as the God-man, Jesus Christ is ‘two Whats’ (that is, a divine ‘what’ [or nature] and a human ‘what’ [or nature]) and ‘one Who’ (that is, a single ‘person’ or ‘self’).”[2]
One
important point needs to be made here. When we talk about the hypostatic union,
the union of two natures in one Person, we are not saying that Christ is half
human and half God. He is not some kind of hybrid. The Bible is clear in
teaching that the result of the hypostatic union is a Person who is truly and
completely one hundred percent God and truly and completely one hundred percent
man, now and forever.
In the
incarnation, Jesus’ deity was not lost nor did His divine nature diminish in
any way. His divine nature remained as the Father’s and the Spirit’s. Instead,
while remaining fully divine, in the incarnation He added humanity. Human
nature was added to His divine nature (Phil. 2:6-7).
This is a fundamental of the Faith. Our salvation
depends on it.
[1] Craig A.
Blaising, “Hypostatic Union ,” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed.
Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984), p. 540.
[2] Kenneth
R. Samples, Without A Doubt (Grand Rapids
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