Q. 30. How did the Son of God become human for us and for our salvation?

• AOR 2, 18
• WCF 8.2
• WSC 22
• Belgic Confession 18–19
• Heidelberg Catechism 35
• Augsburg Confession 3
• The Chalcedonian Definition

Without ceasing. The Son did not stop being truly God when he became truly man. “What He was He continued to be; what He was not He took to Himself” (Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 19.19). “He did not lose what He was, but began to be what He was not. He did not cease to possess His own nature, but received what was ours” (Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 3.16). Philippians 2:7 does not mean that the Son emptied himself of divine attributes. “The form of a servant was so taken that the form of God was not lost, since both in the form of a servant and in the form of God He himself is the same only-begotten Son of God the Father, in the form of God equal to the Father, in the form of a servant the Mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ” (Augustine, Trinity 1.7). “Invisible in His nature, He became visible in ours; surpassing comprehension, He has wished to be comprehended; remaining prior to time, He began to exist in time. The Lord of all things hid his immeasurable majesty to take on the form of a servant” (Leo I, Letter to Flavian). Augustine rejoiced that the omnipresent Son of God did not leave heaven when he came to earth: “There sitting at the right hand of the Father, here lying in a manger; there feeding the angels, here on earth a hungry Child; there unfailing Bread with perfect powers, here, along with speechless children, needing the nourishment of milk; there doing good, here suffering evil; there never dying, here rising after death and bestowing eternal life on mortals” (Augustine, Sermon 191).

Took human nature. Human nature consists of a physical body and a rational soul (Q. 8). “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). This is commonly called the incarnation, from a Latin word meaning “to be made flesh.” As a true human being, “His experience was that of every other man, eating, drinking, sleeping waking, walking, standing, hungering, thirsting, shivering, sweating, fatigued, working, clothing Himself, sheltered in a house, praying—all things just as others” (Luther). “He was God before all ages; he is man in this age of ours” (Augustine, Enchiridion 10.35). “I did not have what was his; he did not have what was mine. He assumed what is mine, that he might share what is his” (Ambrose, The Incarnation of Our Lord 4). “He by whom man was made had nothing to gain by becoming man; it was our gain that God was incarnate and dwelt among us” (Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 2.25).

Virgin. The Holy Spirit caused the virgin Mary to conceive. “Without any intercourse with a man, her virgin womb was suddenly impregnated” (Lactantius, Divine Institutes 4.12). “He is human in that he was made from a woman, made under the law. The nativity of his flesh shows his human nature. The virgin birth is an indicator of his divine nature” (Leo I, Letter 28 to Flavian 4). “He has hidden His majesty in humanity, does not appear with lightning, thunder, or angels, but as one born of a poor virgin and speaking with men of the forgiveness of sins” (Luther, Sermon on John 4).

Mary. Mary is the “Mother of God” or “God-bearer” (Theotokos) in the sense that Jesus Christ, whom she mothered, is God. “As He who was born of her is true God, so is she truly Mother of God” (John of Damascus, OF 3.12). Obviously, Mary is not the source of Christ’s eternal divine nature. Whereas the disobedience of the first woman led to the fall of humanity, God incorporated Mary’s obedience into his plan of redemption. “As Eve had believed the serpent, so Mary believed the angel. The delinquency which the one occasioned by believing, the other by believing effaced” (Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ 17). “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.22).

One Christ … one person. Jesus is truly God and truly human at the same time. The union of the divine and human natures in one person is commonly called the “personal union” or hypostatic union (from hypostasis, the Greek word for “person”; see Notes on Q. 6).

Truly God and truly man … two … natures. As God is three persons of one nature or substance (Q. 6), Christ is one person of two natures or substances (see p. 320, “The Chalcedonian Definition”). “We confess him to be true God and truly human—true God in order to conquer death by his power, and truly human that he might die for us in the weakness of his flesh” (Belgic Confession 19).

Whole and perfect. To heal and sanctify human nature, it was necessary for Christ to assume it in whole. “For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole” (Gregory of Nazianzus, Epistle 101). “That which has not been assumed has not been healed. And so, He assumed the whole man, in order that He might grace the whole with salvation” (John of Damascus, OF 3.12).

Godhead … manhood. “Godhead” and “manhood” are synonyms for the divine and human natures.

Never to be divided. Now that the Son of God has been made man, he will remain truly God and truly human forever.