SOLUSI UNIVERSITY

A CHARTERED SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST INSTITUTION

OF HIGHER LEARNING

FACULTY OF THEOLOGY AND CHAPLAINCY

An Assignment Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the course requirements

RELT 323: CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

An evaluation of the ideas of M L Andreasen on the person of Christ

WATSON MSIMANGA: #SU200028W

LECTURE: C SIBANDA

1ST SEMESTER 2021 HARMONIZED

The person of Christ has occupied the attention of so many people in the world ever since he was
born and even before his birth .the idea of God becoming human is known as incarnation. This
subject has captivated the minds of many and has raised and posed so many questions and at the
same time aroused opposition

This subject is a mystery on its own and is not easy to understand. This subject was foreign to the
Jews and the Greeks schools of thought during Jesus’ time. the Jews believed that the Messiah
was going to be a man anointed by God for a special work especially delivering the Jews from
the hand of the Romans and all other oppressors, they had this in mind, no wonder why in Luke
19:41-44 as Jesus was riding to Jerusalem for the last time, the Jews thought he was going to
take the throne and be their king. The Greeks believed that God would fake humanity in
incarnation. As a result of all these mysteries regarding the incarnation of Jesus which seems to
be so difficult to understand Ellen G White points out clearly that in heaven this subject will be
studied throughout eternity .

In Adventist church currently there are three major views concerning the nature of Jesus Christ,
two of which are equally exclusive. Firstly one view ascertains that Christ took the sinless human
nature that Adam had before the fall the second view espouses the notion that Christ‘s human
nature was similar to that of Adam after the fall. The third view is that Christ had both natures,
that of Adam before the fall and that of Adam after the fall. This paper spells out my views as an
individual in response to the person of Christ

Philippians 2:5-9 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name:

Philipp clearly ascertains that Christ being God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, this
suggests that Christ was fully God, in order for him to reach out to humans this one thing he
did, he took the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. This suggests that he
became just like men so Jesus as God was also human. For the word likeness may give an
impression of one who is like so in other words Christ became like men.

In Hebrews 2:11 the bible says, "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all
of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Brothers are of one flesh and
family nature for they are born by the same parents. So the last portion of the verse says he is
not ashamed to call them brothers. Christ is the one who sanctifies, and we are being sanctified;
and we are all of one flesh so that He can call us His brothers. This establishes the point beyond
any question that Christ was fully God in that he sanctifies reading from Genesis 2:1-3 God
sanctifies the Sabbath, then in Hebrews he sanctifies his brothers so he is fully God as has been
articulated by Paul. Furthermore, Paul further states that the one who sanctifies, this is Christ and
those who are sanctified, these are humans all are one and this clearly articulates that Christ is
one with us, no wonder he calls us brothers.

Some ascertain the notion that he took Adams sinless state , in Hebrews 2:16 the bible says that
"For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham”
now the question is How could He partake of Abraham's seed if He took on Him the nature of
unfallen Adam? The emphasis here is that He did not take on some unusual, sinless nature such
as angels or holy Adam might have had, but the same nature that Abraham's children possessed.
They had sin-weakened bodies and minds. So did Him. This does not involve guilt. To be subject
to sin is not to be guilty of it. He was tempted in the same way we are, yet He never once yielded
to or entertained sin (Hebrews 4:15). He never developed any propensities toward sin by giving
way to it. He remained undefiled by sin and was always totally pure and holy and he depended
upon God for strength to overcome which left us an example on how sin can be overcome.

Hebrews 2:17 further elaborates that "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God." Jesus was made just like us, he is our brother because he has our own flesh and blood as
well as Divine because he has Divine flesh and blood.

One of the most profound question that can be asked is why was he born of our flesh and blood,
why was He born in the same flesh and nature that we have? The answer is clear, So that He
could be understanding of our weaknesses and inclinations toward sin, and be a merciful High
Priest for us. Do the words "in all things" really mean "in all things"? Of course yes.
Paul acknowledges that Jesus "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." This is
Romans 1:3. . It would be opposing to reason for these words to be understood to mean that
Christ inherited a holy, unfallen nature from Mary. Whatever David's seed was like after the
flesh, our Lord participated of the same? All of those children of David, except one, and that is
Christ yielded to their hereditary inclinations and committed personal sins. Jesus, like all others,
inherited the nature of David after the flesh, but He did not yield to the inherent weaknesses of
that nature. Although tempted in all points like we are, He did not respond by a single degree of
indulgence to any of those temptations. His life was a constant stronghold of unshakable spiritual
power against the tempter. He overcame by relying on Fathers ever-present strength and further
demonstrated the victory which is possible for all of David's seed after the flesh to experience.

Again, we read, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same." Hebrews 2:14. Notice how the inspired writer emphasized the
sameness of the body of Christ with man. HE, ALSO , HIMSELF, LIKEWISE. These four
words are used sequentially even though they are repetitive and redundant. The question is why
are these words used in this manner? The answer is, in order to impress us that Jesus really did
enter into the same nature man possessed. Just like children partake of the same flesh and blood,
HE ALSO HIMSELF LIKEWISE took the SAME! I found this to be one of the most clearest
statements that clarify which kind of human nature took he took the same nature that we as
descendants of Adam have . One will have to consider that all children of Adam were born after
the fall so if Christ partook of the same nature it was a fallen nature of Adam. what is interesting
though is the fact that although he partook of the same nature we have , he did not yield to sin
nor gave way to sin , but he overcame of which all who rely wholly upon him are assured victory
they have the assurance of overcoming .

By the way, these inspired words definitely tell us that Christ took part of the same nature as the
children who are partakers of flesh and blood. This alone tells us without question the kind of
nature Christ possessed the question further arises did Adam have any children born before he
sinned? As it has been alluded to in the above statement, not a one! The fact is that all the
children who have ever been born in the world have inherited the same fallen nature of Adam,
because they were all born after Adam sinned. The book of Hebrews declares that Jesus "himself
likewise took part of the same." The same what? The same flesh and blood as children inherit
from their parents. What kind of flesh do children inherit from their parents? Only sinful flesh.
Has any other kind of flesh except sinful flesh ever been known among the descendants of
Adam? None whatsoever. If Jesus partook of the same flesh and blood as the children, it had to
be sinful flesh and blood. There is no other conclusion to be drawn. Yet, He Himself was sinless.

Ellen G White in the book the Desire of Ages brings about this notion “It would have been an
almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in
his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four
thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the
great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors.
He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example
of a sinless life”. (The Desire of Ages, page 48.)

The above quotation describes the working of hereditary laws and is in perfect support of Paul's
statement that Jesus shared the same flesh and blood as children receive from their parents. That
is referring to heredity also. If Christ had been born with Adam's unfallen nature, the very
suggestion of hereditary influence would be unreasonable in the extreme. There could be no
place for any kind of inherited tendencies in a holy Adamic nature which had never known either
birth or ancestry. If He had no inherited weaknesses, why would the writer of Hebrews say that
He partook of the same flesh and blood that children receive from parents? It is certain that the
Creator did not incorporate any inherent weaknesses into the original creation. Adam had no
battles to fight against hereditary tendencies. He had the power in himself to choose always not
to sin. But Jesus in his humanity had to fight certain hereditary laws, no wonder why Matthew
says as he fasted, he got hungry.

One can also ask this kind of a question “Did Jesus as a man claim to have that kind of power
over the law of heredity? No the reason is he Himself He said, "I do nothing of myself; but as my
Father hath taught me, I speak these things." John 8:28. Frequently, Christ spoke of being
dependent on His Father for what He said and what He did.

As a result of this can one say he that He possessed no deity and omnipotence as the Son of God?
Definitely no because He was truly and wholly divine, just as He was truly and wholly man. But
those two natures apparently were not combined into some mixture of personality which stood
apart from either God or man. He was fully God and He was fully man, he was fully human and
was fully divine.

In the wilderness, Satan tempted Jesus to to use His divine power to satisfy His agonizing hunger
(Matthew 4:4). Satan knew that Jesus had the power of divinity to work that miracle. His hope
was that he could provoke Christ to draw upon His divinity for relief. Why would that have been
such a triumph for Satan? He could have used that to sustain his charges that God required an
obedience that no man in the flesh could produce. If Jesus had failed to overcome the tempter in
the same nature we have and by the same means available to us, the devil would have proven
that obedience is indeed an impossible requirement. Satan understood very well that Jesus could
not use His divine power to save Himself and to save man at the same time. This is what made
the test such a severe and agonizing experience for Christ.

What actually comes clear from the entire presentation is the fact that Jesus was fully human and
fully divine. In his nature, he partook of the same nature that the children of Adam inherited
from their father. Of interest to note is the fact that although he was tempted in all points, he
never yielded to temptation and he never used his divinity to overcome sin, but he relied solely
upon God for overcoming. Therefore we have a brother who understands us better. Glory to God
for the salvation provided to us through Jesus Christ.