Verses Relevant to the Dual Nature
The Nature of God
Can the unchanging God take on the opposite attributes of a man without violating this verse? "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him" Since we know God the Father is the Creator and since this verse credits His Son with creation, must not the two somehow be one? How else to explain such an enigma apart from the vital union of a Father/Son relationship by which God determined He would be known? Interestingly, Hebrew scholars tell us Eccl. 12:1 should read "Remember thy Creators [plural] in the days of thy youth." If God can attribute His righteousness to justified sinners, can He not credit His beloved Son with the work of creation? If Christ were not so credited could he be the perfect manifestation of God? Since God is declared to be Spirit, is there need for another Spirit, a third person of the Godhead, God the Spirit, separate from God the Father? Why? Is it not clear that God the Father IS the Spirit? While Jesus was filled with Spirit and lead by the Spirit, why did He repeatedly credit His words and actions to God the Father who indwelt Him, unless His Father and the Spirit were the same?" I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another." How to reconcile this declaration of the Father with that of Jesus in John 17:5 -- " And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." Is there any explanation other than that of the Father/Son union?
Isa 43:10b,11: ". . . before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior."
In light of God's emphasis that He alone is God, do we have two saviors? God and His Son? In the sense that they were a team working together the answer is yes. How else to explain this apart from the dual nature union of Father/Son?
Christ's birth and growth
Heb 1:5 Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?
II Samuel 7:14 -- And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?"
Note the future tense, “I will” used in II Samuel 7:14. When was Christ born? In eternity or in the fullness of time in Bethlehem? The Creeds affirm that the Son was begotten by the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Son. Where is this speculation substantiated in scripture?
Matt. 1:18 -- "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
Though Jesus was born by the Spirit of God without sin, and could accurately be called the Son of God, must we assume He, as a human, WAS born GOD? Did He ever claim to be? As born again believers, do we claim to be?
Luke 2:52 -- "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."
Jesus was obviously regarded as an exceptionally godly person, but does it appear that His friends and neighbors considered him to be God? See Luke 4:22, 28.
The nature of His person and ministry
John 1:32 -- "And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him."
Up to this point, it appears Jesus had led a fairly normal life. Isn't this where we see the impact of God's Spirit upon Him?
John 1:48 --""Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
John 6:19-- ". . . they see Jesus walking on the sea..."
Was Jesus Himself omniscient and omnipotent? Or were these attributes those of God the Father in Him? What of Peter in Acts:5:1-4 where the Spirit enabled him to discern that Ananias was lying? Peter appears omniscient.
John 3:34 -- "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.”
Just as Jesus gave Himself fully to God, did not His father give Himself fully to His son. We read in Colossians 2:9 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
John 5:19 -- "The Son can do nothing of himself, but whatever he sees the Father do: for whatever things He does, these also the Son does likewise."
We are told to walk by faith for when we are weak then we are strong? Is not Jesus the perfect example of depending totally in faith on His Father for His every word and deed?
John 5:26, 27 -- "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man."
Didn't God need Christ ever bit as much as Christ needed God? How else could God judge the world, when He himself could not be tempted nor die?
John 12:44 -- Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me [Again Jesus points to the Father as his source of power.]
John 14:10 -- "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works."
Isn't this the consequence of Col. 2:9, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"? Isn't the deity of Christ that of His Father who indwelt Him in an inseparable union and expressed Himself visibly through His Son?
His sovereignty and rule
Matt. 28:18 -- "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth"
Phil. 2:9 -- "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name"
Heb. 12:2 -- ". . .who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Christ even now remains a man, though in a glorified body, still indwelt by His Father, given all authority and power to bring about God's final purposes.
I Tim. 2:5 -- "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
If the man Christ Jesus is our mediator, can He possibly be God Himself?
Deut. 10:17 -- "For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God"
The Hebrew words show Christ chosen by God to rule on earth during the millennium, having been given power and authority by His indwelling Father.
The completion of His rule
I Cor. 15:24-28 -- "Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power .For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For "He has put all things under His feet." But when He says, "all things are put under Him," it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all"
Should not this passage be entitled Mission Completed? Do not we see God's plan, decreed before the foundation of the world to redeem His creation, accomplished through His Son? When, with all enemies put under His feet and no longer a need for rule by power and authority, do we not see Christ laying aside His God-given authority to make Himself like His brothers? By doing so does He suffer loss? Is it not that He brings us all into the exact relationship He eternally has enjoyed, that the fullness of God, His ALL, will indwell us ALL? Will Christ's work on the Cross ever be forgotten? Will he not always be loved and honored forever? We can only say, what a Christ!