How could Christ uphold the universe as a helpless babe?
Upvote:0
I give you John 10:18. "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again."
It is difficult to say exactly, but had you tried to kill that baby you would have found out that things are not as they seem. They say in physics if you tried to kill your own grandfather, something would always prevent you. This is all that and more. That body may have been helpless but the spirit within was not. The pathways laid out from before the fall could not be altered to the despite of the One who planned them. (Last sentence obviously derived from Proverbs 21:30 and Isaiah 14:27.)
But see, even struck dead, the power remained in Him to uphold all things; how much more so when alive.
Upvote:7
The Trinitarian solution (according to the ecumenical Chalcedonian Definition) is that starting with Mary's conception (Luke 1:35) the Word (the second person of the Trinity, John 1:1):
- entered creation (more specifically our planet earth) which was made through him (John 1:3)
- entered time (John 1:9) from eternity (John 1:2)
- added on a human nature ("flesh") (John 1:14) while retaining his divine nature (John 1:18)
Thus Jesus the man has BOTH:
- divine nature who is the light of men (John 1:4), whose mission is to enlighten (John 1:5, John 1:9), to rescue and to redeem our fallen human nature (John 1:12)
- human nature who is to become our realistic example of how to love God and to love neighbors, fulfilling the expectation that Adam couldn't do, expectation that the chosen nation Israel couldn't do either, because they kept breaking the covenant.
It's Jesus in his human nature who
- was born as a helpless a baby in Bethlehem
- grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52)
- prayed to the Father in Gethsemane (Luke 22:41-44)
- willingly suffered for our sins and died on the cross
- was resurrected to glory by all 3 Persons of the Trinitarian God, and finally
- exited our universe and our time back to eternity in heaven.
During Jesus's stay on earth (about 33 years), the Trinitarian God (who cohered as Christ's divine nature) was unchanged, existing as before, now, and future in His eternal realm governing and upholding the universe without missing a beat. In other words, Christ's divine nature did not cease being all-knowing and all-powerful, and he could therefore "[uphold] the universe by the word of his power" (Heb 1:3) by being the Word (the second person of the Trinity) as well as the human Jesus at the same time.
For a good explanation on how this "adding human nature" works (explaining the portion of the Chalcedonian definition which says "Two Natures unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably"), including how the definition reconciles his growing in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52) with his omniscience in his divine nature, please watch the 11-minute interview video of Christian philosopher Eleonore Stump on Jesus as God.
More post
- 📝 What do the names of the different hours of the divine office mean? Where do they come from? (Etymology)
- 📝 When would a Mormon choose to go to the temple instead of the church?
- 📝 Daniel's timeline - Yom Kippur dates 2024
- 📝 What happened to the apostle John after the Biblical account of his life ends?
- 📝 What is the basis for saying "God bless you" when a person sneezes?
- 📝 Have any Christian denominations or high-profile churches publicly presented a theological case against 'vaccine passes' for churches?
- 📝 Why was Jesus amazed by the Syrophoenician women's faith?
- 📝 St. Thomas Aquinas on whether all will die before the Final Judgement?
- 📝 Help identifying a large FAQ about women pastors made by John Piper and someone else
- 📝 If the old priesthood is abolished, what is the point of having Catholic priests?
- 📝 If God doesn't tempt us, why does the Lord's Prayer petition Him to "lead us not into temptation"?
- 📝 What are the protestant arguments against a sacramental economy?
- 📝 What is the function of permanent acolytes and lectors in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 Is the King James Bible banned in China?
- 📝 When did the Church in the West begin communicating in Latin, instead of Greek?
- 📝 Do Young Earth Creationists believe that insects, microorganisms, and animal cells died before the Fall?
- 📝 From a Lutheran perspective, how can we attain unity of mind while disagreeing with our brothers and sisters?
- 📝 Was Lazarus of Bethany a bachelor?
- 📝 Is the Unitarian Universalist Association really creedless?
- 📝 Why does "holiness" mean "set apart" (if it does)?
- 📝 Why do Roman Catholics consider eating fish on Friday a good work?
- 📝 How do people who reject transubstantiation interpret these verses?
- 📝 Did different Jews have different canons?
- 📝 How do some Franciscans brothers become priests?
- 📝 What compelled the fishermen to "immediately" follow Jesus?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis that Jesus could sin?
- 📝 Can the God of the Old Testament be seen as a consistent moral law giver?
- 📝 Why is Christianity considered a monotheistic religion?
- 📝 What is the evidence that Ignatius of Antioch was ordained by the Apostles?
- 📝 Is It Possible for a Penitent to Bypass a Refusal of Absolution and If So How?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How could Christ uphold the universe as a helpless babe?
- 📝 How could Christ offer His blood to those under the Law, when He was forbidden by heritage?
- 📝 If Jesus Christ was born without the original sin, then how could He have died?
- 📝 How do young earth creationists reconcile the age of the universe with the speed of light, and visible distant objects?
- 📝 How could Jesus be born during the reign of Herod, and when Quirinius was governor of Syria, if those periods were not contemporary?
- 📝 If God set the maximum age to 120, then how could Jacob be 130 years old?
- 📝 How could Stephen be stoned without a trial and conviction in front of the Roman Governor?
- 📝 How could animals have gotten all around the world after the flood?
- 📝 If Christ is considered the 'Son of God' then how is He a part of a Trinity?
- 📝 How could Jesus be descended from the royal line of David if he was born of the Virgin Birth?
- 📝 A problem with Purgatory: How could Jesus say what he did to the repentant criminal on a cross next to him if Purgatory existed?
- 📝 How could the Egyptian magicians do what God did through Moses?
- 📝 The Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus Christ existed eternally or everlastingly, how do they reconcile this with Micah 5:2?
- 📝 How does the view of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about Jesus Christ differ from Protestant Trinitarian Christology?
- 📝 HOW does the existence of the Universe make those who do not worship God to be "without excuse"?
- 📝 How can Luke 9:49–50 be reconciled with the idea that Christ is the only way?
- 📝 According to a ‘forgiveness in Christ alone’ framework how did ‘sin offerings’ make atonement for sin under the Mosaic Law?
- 📝 How does the ancient Jewish Wedding tradition foreshadow Christ and the church?
- 📝 How could the person in Luke 9:49 cast out demons without Jesus' mandate?
- 📝 John 1:18 - "No one has ever seen God" - How do Trinitarians reconcile this scripture with the belief that the Lord Jesus Christ is God?
- 📝 How does the New Testament define a Christian and a non-Christian, a brother in Christ and not a brother in Christ?
- 📝 What is an overview of different denominations' beliefs about how Jesus Christ performed miracles? (By the Holy Spirit or by something else?)
- 📝 How does the Jehovah’s Witness view of who Jesus Christ is differ from Protestant Trinitarian Christology?
- 📝 According to Ravi Zacharias's apologetic argument, how could love have existed prior to the fall?
- 📝 Somebody was born into a culture that has no knowledge of the Christ - could he still "find him"?
- 📝 How can we be with Christ when we die, if Christ has a glorified body and we won't until the resurrection?
- 📝 How could David enter the congregation of the Lord when he was descended from Ruth the Moabitess?
- 📝 How could Adam and Eve have known not to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil?
- 📝 If Anger is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, how could Jesus have been angry yet still be sinless? (Catholicism)
- 📝 How does Catholic Church explain the reference to Christ at 1 Cor. 10?