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.”
“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
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| 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
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