fully God and fully man

that Jesus is 'fully God and fully man' has become something of a catchphrase in describing the incarnation. but what does it really mean?

clearly, that Jesus is 'fully God and fully man' does not mean that Jesus is 'fully God and fully man' in the same respect and at the same time. it is logically impossible for Jesus to be 'fully God and fully man' in the same respect and at the same time. for that matter, it is logically impossible for something to be 'fully something and fully something else' in the same respect and at the same time.

rather, that Jesus is 'fully God and fully man' means that in one sense, Jesus is fully God. in another sense, Jesus is fully man.

"As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." - James 2:26 (NIV)

fully God

Jesus is fully God in the sense that His spirit was of God.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." - John 1:1-3 (NIV)

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." - Colossians 1:15-17 (NIV)

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." - Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)

fully man

Jesus is fully man in the sense that His body was of man.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." - John 1:14 (NIV)

"The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood." - John 1:14 (The Message)

"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." - Colossians 1:19-20 (NIV)

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." - Hebrews 2:14-18 (NIV)

*****

even among christians, a common approach when having theological discussions is to say that 'the secret things belong to the LORD our God' (Deuteronomy 29:29a, NIV) and sweep everything under the carpet, as if this demonstrates our faith. nothing could be further from the truth (literally)!

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

faith is not believing in what we do not understand, but believing in what we understand. and we understand that 'all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work' (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV).

yes, 'the secret things belong to the LORD our God' (Deuteronomy 29:29a, NIV). but 'the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law' (Deuteronomy 29:29b, NIV).

just because we do not understand something (eg. the trinity, predestination, eschatology etc) does not mean that we can never understand it. in fact, it is precisely because we do not understand something that we should all the more seek to understand it.

to be sure, this does not mean that God will reveal it to us in our lives. at the same time, this does not mean that God will not reveal it to us in our lives. at the end of the day, we should seek to 'be filled with the Spirit' (Ephesians 5:18, NIV), the Spirit of truth who will 'guide [us] into all truth' (John 16:13, NIV).