April 1, 2025
Week #13 — Day 3
Two Distinct Natures
Q. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
A. The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever.
1 Tim. 2:5-6; John 1:14; Gal. 4:4; Rom. 9:5; Luke 1:35; Col. 2:9; Heb. 7:24-25.
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”
“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.”
“Each nature of Christ is critical to His work of redemption. If He were not human, He would not feel our infirmities. If He were not God, He could not fix them. Because He is fully man, He can be my substitute. Because He is fully God, He can be your substitute too. That is, the infinity of His divine nature makes it so that His single sacrifice on the cross is accepted for the countless multitude who will believe on Him.”
Excerpt From Glorifying and Enjoying God: 52 Devotions through the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Boekestein & Cruse & Miller)
Two distinct natures in one Person. Many people believe there was indeed a kind and loving and historical Jesus who lived in the land of Israel. He traveled around and did many wonderful things, even seemingly miraculous things. He cared for people and fed multitudes. He was the model human. And we should follow his example and love others as he did.
But to see and own him as God has been the stumbling block for many. Here the Catechism writers pick up the language of the early Confessions about Jesus. He is “God-man,” divine and human in one being and one person. We shall look briefly at the history of what is called “the historical Jesus” later this week. But for now we affirm his identity as two distinct natures in one person. A later Confession would elaborate —
A Puritan Prayer —
“O SOURCE OF ALL GOOD,
What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,
thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my Redeemer’s face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.”
Excerpt From
The Valley of Vision
Edited by Arthur Bennett