Christology

Trinitarian heresies usually stumble over who Christ is. Without fail, these heretical groups, sects and movements brand themselves as “renewal movements.” God gave us the Scriptures but, alas, things went haywire after the apostles died. The church lurched into heresy bit by bit. These groups warn us that the Greeks influenced Christian thinking, and eventually this pagan philosophy corrupted our doctrine of God, and the church was in darkness. Until … (cue theme music) … someone read the Bible for himself and discovered The Truth (insert heresy now).

What is the nature of Christ’s incarnation? How did the Messiah’s divine and human natures work together? Much has been written on this, of course. Theology students (and their teachers) have always been intrigued by this question. When this question comes up, the Bible student’s mind inevitably turns to Philippians 2. As Rolland McCune asked, “of what did Christ empty Himself?”¹ One common solution is to answer, “Christ emptied Himself of the independent use of His divine attributes.”

Read the series so far.

By anybody’s standard, Jesus had a very busy day (Mk 1:21-38). This passage chronicles one single day during Jesus’ early ministry. At first glance, there seems to be nothing earth-shattering here, until you step back and consider all He did during those 24 hours.¹

Consider the common objections to the doctrine of the Trinity, then remember the kind of day Jesus had:

(About this series)

CHAPTER IX - THE APOLOGETIC VALUE OF PAUL’S EPISTLES

Read Part 1.

We have been considering the centrality of the Person of Jesus for an understanding of ourselves in the created order. We continue with a look at the Prologue to John’s Gospel.

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. (John 1:1-3)

So again, this shows us that Christ is right at the very center of the creation. In fact, creation is made for Him, and not only through Him. It is not that God used the Second Person to make the world and then He had no further interest in it. No, these things were made for Him and nothing was made unless it was made through the agency of Jesus Christ and to the satisfaction of Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Trinity.

Read the series so far.

The Gospel of Mark is profound from the very first verse. It reads, “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”¹ But first, a reminder about what this study is all about:

1. We’re looking at what the Gospel of Mark says about the Lord Jesus Christ, from beginning to end.
2. Then, we’re seeing if the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity makes sense of all this evidence (hint—it does).

As we move along in this study, the point is not to produce an exegetical commentary on the Gospel of Mark. The point is to simply take in evidence about who Jesus Christ is, and consider what this information says about Jesus in light of the Trinitarian definition of God. Because I’ve heard tell that a picture is worth a thousand words, we’ll use a nifty chart to summarize our findings as we mosey our way through the text.