The Hypostatic Union 101: 5 Thoughts on the Deity and Humanity of Jesus Christ

Definition

The Hypostatic Union is a theological term for the critical teaching that Jesus Christ had both a fully divine nature and a fully human nature in one Person. Hypostasis in Greek means “essence or substance.”

 In his Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem defines the Hypostatic Union simply as:

“Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man in one person, and will be so forever.”

This teaching is made clear throughout the Bible. John’s Gospel is a wonderful example:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-3, 14 

Early Christian art depicting both the human and divine sides of Jesus Christ

Fully God

According to Scripture and 2000 years of orthodox teaching, Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity (God the Son). For more information on the mystery of the Trinity please see The Trinity 101.

For those who don’t believe Scripture to be the inspired Word of God (or even for those of us who do) the following short video by Dr. William Lane Craig looks at how the historical Jesus thought of Himself. I highly recommend a quick watch! 

There are some (such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses) who teach that Jesus Christ was simply a creation of God rather than God Himself. They even do some underhanded translating of the Greek New Testament to try and teach this (John 1:1 is translated “The Word was a god” instead of “The Word was God” – there is no Greek basis for this whatsoever). 

John 1:3 says that “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made…”. Clearly if everything that was ever made was made by Jesus Christ then Jesus Himself could not have been made.  


Fully Human

Just as important as the teaching that Jesus is fully God is the teaching that Jesus is fully human but without sin. As the write of Hebrews so beautifully puts it:

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16

As the old theologians used to say: “Remaining what He was, He became what He was not.” There was no subtraction in Jesus becoming human - only addition. 

John Piper has aptly said: “There are doctrines in the Bible that are worth dying for and living for. They are the ground of our life. They are the heart of our worship. The divine and human nature of Christ in one person is one of those doctrines.”  


“The Emptying” 

Philippians 2:7 reads: 

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.” 

Other translations say: “but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant”.  There are some today who say that Jesus Christ emptied Himself of His divine nature so that He was nothing more than a man filled with the Holy Spirit (and thus we should also be able to do all the things Jesus did on earth). This is a blatant false teaching and leads to twisted preaching with painful results. 

So what exactly did Jesus “empty” Himself of in this great passage? There is admittedly some mystery to this question. However, we know from the context of the New Testament that it was not His Divine nature He emptied Himself of but rather His Divine rights; not His Divine attributes but rather His Divine privileges. 

In times of war, a king may have a royal right to stay in the safety of his palace. However, should he choose to relinquish that right and become a soldier on the field that does not mean that he is no longer king. It means that he is now both king and soldier.  For a more in depth look at this passage of Scripture please see: The Kenosis Hymn: 5 Fascinating Facts about Philippians 2:5-11

The Hypostatic Union and the Gospel

Athanasius was a 4th century Christian bishop who battled nearly his entire life for the teaching of the Hypostatic Union. An excerpt from an issue of Christianity Today tells us why: 

“To Athanasius this was no splitting of theological hairs. Salvation was at issue: only one who was fully human could atone for human sin; only one who was fully divine could have the power to save us.” 

And this is why the Hypostatic Union is an absolute key teaching of Christianity – it is at the very heart of the Gospel. 

“For in him (Jesus Christ) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily…” Colossians 2:9

10 Fast Facts about Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion: Hockey Legend and Pioneer of the Slap Shot

1) Early Life

Joseph Andre Bernard Geoffrion was born February 16th, 1931, in a suburb of Montreal. He was a direct descendant of early French settlers to the colony of Montreal (one of whom was a “King’s Daughter” – a collective of young French woman sent over to New France by King Louis XIV). 


2) The Slap Shot

Bernie Geoffrion is considered a pioneer of the now famous “slap shot” in the National Hockey League. His shot was so hard and heavy that a writer for the Montreal Star gave him the name “Boom Boom” while he was still playing in Junior League. 

3) Marriage to Marlene

Marlene Morenz was the daughter of Hockey Hall of Famer Howie Morenz and was introduced to Bernie by her brother at a figure skating event at the Montreal Forum. By the age of 8 Marlene had lost her father, one of her brothers and her mother and had lived in an orphanage and a convent. 

She survived it all to become a figure skater but gave that up for Bernie, marriage and a family of her own. They married on May 3rd, 1952 and had three children – Linda, Bob and Danny. Marlene had a profound influence on “Boom”. 


4) NHL Career

Geoffrion played his first NHL game when he was called up (along with Jean Beliveau) by Montreal Canadien’s Manager Frank Selke on December 16th, 1950. He wore number 5 and would go on to play 14 seasons for his beloved Canadiens and then 2 seasons for the New York Rangers. 


5) Hockey Achievements

Just some of Boom Boom Geoffrion’s achievements included:

>Winning the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year
>Winning two Art Ross Trophies as well as the Hart Trophy (MVP) in 1961
>Becoming the only the second player to score 50 goals in one season (after Maurice       “Rocket” Richard)
>Winning 6 Stanley Cups (Including 5 in a row)
>Being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame

6) Teammates 

Geoffrion played junior hockey against future teammates including: Jean Beliveau, Dickie Moore and Jaques Plante among others. On the Montreal Canadiens he played on a stupendous line with Beliveau and Bert Olmstead and later with Henri Richard and Dickie Moore. He also had Hall of Fame defenseman Doug Harvey on the blue line. 


7) Rocket Richard’s Shadow

Despite his amazing talent and scoring, Geffrion was on a team of future legends and perhaps no one more so than Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. Despite leading the league in points one year Geoffrion had to settle for 2nd Team All-Star behind Richard. 

However, it was when Richard had been suspended by Commissioner Clarence Campbell and Bernie scored a goal to pass Richard that the Montreal fans turned on Boom. He was sensitive to criticism and pleaded with the fans that he “couldn’t not score”.  He actually considered leaving the game but Richard and Beliveau talked him out of it. 


8) Coaching Career

Geoffrion had high hopes of coaching his beloved Canadiens and so he retired and took his first job as a coach with the minor league Quebec Aces in 1964. He went on to coach the New York Rangers and the Atlanta Flames and finally fulfilled his dream of coaching the Habs in 1979. Unfortunately coaching caused him a lot of stress and his stomach ulcers often sidelined him and ended up cutting short his coaching career. 


9) His Faith

In 1979, Marlene Geoffrion was invited to attend a Bible study in Atlanta. She hadn’t wanted to go but relented out of sheer boredom. She was profoundly affected by that Bible study and soon became a Christian. She began to pray for Boom. Ed Kea, a player for the Atlanta Flames, invited them to a Christian conference for athletes and it was there that Marlene recalls, 

“One of the speakers asked a question that caught our attention:  “If you were to die today, where would you go?” Boom couldn’t answer that question, and it bothered him.  He spoke to Ron Pritchard a former NFL player and Ron shared with him.  He prayed with Boom and told him not to put off his desire to become a Christian, as tomorrow may never come.  Let me remind you. We were religious, but we didn’t have a relationship with the Lord.  Boom accepted Jesus into his heart in June, 1979.  We began to attend a weekly Bible Study.”

10) Death & Legacy

Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion was finally due to have his number retired at the Montreal Forum on March 11th, 2006. Unfortunately, Bernie passed away due to stomach cancer just hours before the ceremony was to take place. He had made Marlene promise to go no matter what though – and she did. 

Before 21,000 adoring fans, her father, Howie Morenz’s number was lowered to half-mast and her husband, Bernie’s, was elevated to meet it there. Then together both numbers were raised to the rafters in an emotional and fitting tribute to one of the greatest hockey players of all time. 




One of Bernie's favourite Bible verses:

"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36

Note: Bernie and Marlene’s son Dan played 111 games in the NHL for the Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets. Dan’s son, Blake Geoffrion was a second round pick of the Nashville predators and proudly wore number 5 in honour of his grandfather. 

Sources and Further Reading:

“Boom Boom: The Life and Times of Bernard Geoffrion”  -  Geoffrion and Fischler

https://thehockeywriters.com/hockey-royalty-part-two-bernard-boom-boom-geoffrion/

https://www.hockeyministries.org/home-ice/blog/tmarlene-geoffrion/