The content of this article is the wonderful unity of the Divine and human natures in the Person of the Mediator. The article is divided into three parts: (1) the confession of the unity of the two natures of Christ; (2) an explanation of the difference, to the extent that God's Word gives light over this mystery; whereas two natures differing from each other are united in one Person; and (3) the conclusion that Christ is very God and real man in one Person.

We have seen the last time that there are not two Persons forming the Mediator, but two natures are united in Christ as one Person. Remember what Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 3:16, "And without con­troversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." The Father sent His beloved Son on earth and prepared Him a body. His honorary title is 'Immanuel, God with us'. Of Him it is written, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

He was and remained God when He assumed our human nature, but He became that which He was not before, namely, man. We must give honor to our confession that it doesn't try to ex­plain this mystery in a philosophical way, but stays simple and humble. It says, "We believe that by His conception, the Person of the Son is inseparably united and connected with the human nature; so that there are not two Sons of God, nor two persons, but two natures united in one single Person: yet, that each nature retains its own distinct properties." This confession is according to the old truth which has been defended against many errors in the past, where some have mixed the two natures and others have separated them.

These two natures are united in strict unity of one Person, but in such a manner that each nature retains its distinct properties. We know that this is not an easy subject to comprehend, but it is not always necessary that we understand. Some things are hidden for us, and we must believe them. What a blessing when we may believe them, for then we will also receive the comfort of it. Is it not a miracle which is here spoken of?

This subject has given much trouble, as is revealed in the history of the church. In the year 451 the Council of Chalcedon met and affirmed the belief of the church respecting the Person of Christ. It declared Him "to be acknowledged in two natures, in-confusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being in no wise taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and in one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two Persons."

This formulation is mainly negative, and simply seeks to guard the truth against various heretical views. It clearly states the faith of the New Testamental Church respecting the Person of Christ, but does not try to explain the mystery: God and man in one Person. Here is simply told what Jesus is, without any attempt to show how He became so. The eternal Son of God assumed our human nature. It is not true, as Brunner said, that the man Jesus acquired divinity.

More than fifteen centuries have passed by since the Council of Chalcedon, and the church has never really gone beyond this formula. We know that this church meeting was necessary, as Eutyches had taught that the two natures of Christ were intermixed. Nestorius did just the opposite and separated them completely. This synod spoke against both by stating that the two natures of Christ were in strict unity of One Person.

The nineteenth article of our confession begins by stating that the second Person in the Triune Being has assumed our human nature. It was not the Father nor the Holy Ghost Who became man, but Christ. It was by the second Person that the Father created, and He was also elected by the Father to be the Re-creator of the elect, who had come under the curse of the law by the fall and sin. And therefore He should become man. When Christ assumed our human nature, He then had two natures, as He retained His Divine nature. The Divine nature remained the same.

The church confesses that this union is without mixture or fusion, that is, the two natures in Christ are not merged, blended or fused into one nature. Christ did not become a God-man, but God and man. Closely connected with the preceding is the immutability of natures. Neither the Divine nature in Christ, not the human nature, was (essentially) changed through the incarnation. The Son of God did not leave heaven to become man, but was (and is) according to His Divine nature still in heaven and also on earth, thus omnipresent.

In His human nature He was laid in the manger and was bound to one place. He grew up in Nazareth, walking among men. At the same time His Divine nature was immutable, nor did the Son of God put aside His Divine attributes. The Infinite did not change into finite, but assumed the finite. The human nature of Christ was finite, temporal, limited in power, knowledge, wisdom and under­standing, was dependent and changeable. In His human nature He lived our life and assumed our weak nature. It was not Adam's nature from Paradise; it was the weak nature which we have. But there was one great difference He was without sin.

Christ, although without sin, came into this sinful world to save sinners. The Son of Man came to seek and so save that which was lost. Oh, what a miracle that He was willing to come and to subject Himself to such a way of humiliation and death in order that He could make satisfaction for the sin of His people, which could not be missed.

Such a Mediator we need, but we need Him only when we have seen how sinful that we are. May the Lord instruct us in these things so that we really become what we are – sinners. Such lost sinners can be saved by the Mediator, Who is very God and very man in one Person.

Young people, this is not the easiest subject about which we are speaking, but it is still of such great importance that it is worthwhile to spend some time upon it. Ask the Lord that He may give light over it, that we may learn to know our sins, but also that we may see the wonder of such a Mediator, Who is in one Person very God and a real righteous man. These two natures are united, but also distinct in that one Person.

The doctrine that the Divine and human natures retain their own distinct properties in Christ is also defended against Luther, who also erred in this. He taught that Christ in His human nature was omnipresent from the time of His birth, but that He did not wish to use this attribute before His ascension. According to the doctrine of Luther, Christ in His human nature is both in heaven and on earth. When he gave divine attributes to the human nature of Christ, he intermingled the two natures. He needed such a doctrine to support his view of the Lord's Supper, where he taught that Christ was also really present in the remembrance of His death in His human nature. It  seems that Luther later regretted this doctrine, and that shortly before his death he confessed his guilt in respect to this. We can read of this in the letters of Frederick III, the God-fearing prince in Germany, and in the writings of Melancthon. The letters of Frederick III were published by Kluchhohn under the title of "Briefe Friedrichs des Frommen".

Our fathers have given a beautiful description of the right view in our confession, where we read,

As then the Divine nature hath always remained uncreated, without beginning of days or end of life, filling heaven and earth: so also hath the human nature not lost its properties, but remained a creature, having beginning of days, being a finite nature, and retaining all the properties of a real body. And though He hath by His resurrection given immortality to the same, nevertheless He has not changed the reality of His human nature; forasmuch as our salvation and resurrection also depend on the reality of His body.

The followers of Luther ask how it is then possible that Christ is in heaven and still with us on earth. According to the Word of God, we confess that the human nature of Christ is bound to one place, but in His God head He is omnipresent, as well in heaven as on earth. The human nature of the Mediator, which had lost its weakness and mortality when He had fulfilled His Mediatorial work, is in unity with the Divine; thus the Redeemer received the highest glory when He ascended on high. The same body wherein Christ suffered and died is exalted and entered into glory, but it remains bound to one place, in heaven, until He will come to judge the quick and the dead.

The truth of this doctrine and the reality of His body are of the greatest importance because both our salvation and our resurrection depend upon it. If Christ is not risen in the same body, how will it be with God's children? The same body is risen and has become immortal, and so the church will also arise and become conformed to the body of Christ. If Christ's resurrection with a mingling of natures were true, then there would not be much comfort left in the promise that Christ had bought them in soul and body, as it would not be the same body. Then Christ is not a perfect Mediator, and, as a consequence, the whole doctrine of free grace would be false. How terrible would this be, but thanks be unto God, it is not true. We may now say with the apostle, "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in in-corruption." Therefore it is stated here in our confession, "Our salvation and resurrection also depend on the reality of His body."

The soul and body of Christ were separated in death, but the Divine nature was not separated from them. As His Divine nature was in heaven and on earth, it could be united with the human nature in the sepulchre and with the soul in heaven. Those three days and nights in the sepulchre were necessary to obtain salvation for the church in taking away the curse from the grave and changing it to a place of rest. Now He is at the right hand of God the Father to the welfare of the church. His soul and body, which are united with His Divine nature, are there as a pledge for all God's children that once their soul and body will be with the Lord in glory.

Our article concludes, "Wherefore we confess that He is very God, and very Man." When we meditate on this doctrine of the incarnation of Christ and His two natures, we should then be silent in holy wonder. It was the love of the Father to send Christ, His only begotten Son. It was the love of Christ that He came upon this earth. Love was the motive, love for the Father and for His children. The assuming of the human nature by Christ was a master-piece of wisdom, but also a monument of free grace. I don't know if it is expressed in the right way, but I hope that you feel something of the wonder!

Christ took our flesh upon Him to take our sins upon Him, and in this way to become the greatest of the sinners. The sin of the whole world was laid upon Him to deliver His people, but above all to restore the attributes of the Father. Christ took our flesh upon Him to make our human nature appear lovely to God and the Divine Being appear lovely to man. Christ united Himself to man that man might be drawn to God. By reason of sin God was an enemy to man, but Christ mediated for the church and brought them again in the favor of God.

In the advent weeks we may remember the infinite love of God in sending His Son; in the passion weeks we hear how far this love of Christ went – to the end, to the death on the cross. Incomprehensible is the love of Christ to come upon this earth to suffer and die. What king would be willing to wear sackcloth over his royal garments? But Christ did not disdain to take our flesh. He did not come in the majesty of a king, but as poor and needy to redeem us and instate us into a kingdom. He laid in a manger, He wrestled in the garden, He hung on the cross that we might inherit Paradise.

When we meditate upon it that Christ assumed our human nature and was born of the virgin Mary, then it is necessary that we personally come to the knowledge that He is born in us, in our heart. And how can we know that Christ is born in us, that He suffered for us? There are pangs before each birth, and this is also true before Christ is born in our heart. These, of course, are spiritual pangs. Not all have the same sorrow and pain, but all receive a knowledge of their misery. Christ is never revealed without sorrow and pangs.

So many people are thankful that they do not have much trouble in their life, but I do not think it is such a good sign. We should not ask for external problems, but it is a blessing when we may have internal problems. Then, under the administration of the Holy Ghost, we will learn the truth of what is written in the next article of our confession, That God has manifested His justice and mercy in Christ.