Eph 531ff 4/21/87

 

DOCTRINE OF THE GREAT POWER EXPERIMENT (Part 1)

A.  Introduction. 1. Definition of “experiment:”

                        a. An experiment is an operation undertaken to discover some unknown principle or effect. While the delegation and distribution of divine power is well known to God and a part of His eternal decrees, it is totally unknown to Church Age believer until understood through the perception of Bible doctrine.

                        b. An experiment is a demonstration of a known truth. It occurs in two categories which must be distinguished and then related.

                                    (1) The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

                                    (2) The great power experiment of the Church Age.

                        c. An experiment is the tangible result of a policy. The great power experiment is the tangible result of divine policy in the divine decrees of eternity past.

                        d. The adjective “experimental” is defined as relating to or based on personal experience as distinct from theory; e.g.,

                                    (1) The personal experience of Christ in Hypostatic Union during the First Advent.

                                    (2) The personal experience of the Church Age believer living inside the divine dynasphere executing the protocol plan of God under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine.

                        e. The noun “experiment” means to bring about a desired result or purpose and the tangible result of such procedure and policy.

                        f. The study of the great power experiment is not hypothesis, which is a proposition tentatively assumed in order to establish its logical consequences. The study of the great power experiment is not a theory, which is speculative as a proposition, or something tested on a limited basis. The great power experiment is not conjecture, speculation or supposition, but the doctrine of the Word of God categorized.

                        g. The noun “experiment” is defined for this study as the demonstration of Bible doctrine or known truth related to the 100% available divine power in two categories.

                                    (1) The humanity of Christ during the First Advent, the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

                                    (2) The royal family of God in the Church Age, the great power experiment of the Church Age. Not all Church Age believers are involved in the great power experiment; only those who give number one priority to the perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine, thus fulfilling the protocol plan of God.

            2. The concept of the great power experiment for this study.

                        a. The great power experiment is divided into two categories.

                                    (1) The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union which resulted in the strategic victory of our Lord.

                                    (2) The great power experiment of the Church Age which results in the tactical victory of those believers who fulfill or execute the protocol plan of God. This is accomplished by the “winner,” who achieves this victory through his residence in the divine dynasphere under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and the metabolization of Bible doctrine.

                        b. The termini of the great power experiment emphasizes resurrection.

                                    (1) The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union terminated with the resurrection of Christ.

                                    (2) The great power experiment of the Church Age terminates with the resurrection of the Church.

                        c. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is documented in Rom 1:4. “Who [Jesus Christ] was demonstrated the Son of God by means of power belonging to the Holy Spirit by means of the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” God the Holy Spirit did not sustain the deity of Christ, but the humanity of Christ inside the divine dynasphere.

                        d. The great power experiment of the Church Age is documented in Eph 1:19-20. “And what is the surpassing greatness of His [God the Father’s] power to us who have believed for the working of His superior power, which He put into operation by means of Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in heavenly places.”

                                    (1) Between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Rapture of the Church is the greatest power availability in all human history for individual believers. One hundred percent of divine power is now available to all Church Age believers, whereas, in the Old Testament, less than 1% of all believers had limited divine power available to them.

                                    (2) This is the dispensation of emphasis on the spiritual life of the individual believer regardless of his success or failure, achievement or lack of it, handicaps or lack of them.

                        e. Divine omnipotence is available today in three categories, but few believers discover or utilize this power to execute God’s will, purpose, and plan for this dispensation.

                                    (1) The omnipotence of God the Father related to your portfolio of invisible assets.

                                    (2) The omnipotence of God the Son related to the preservation of the universe and the perpetuation of human history.

                                    (3) The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit related to execution of God’s plan in this dispensation.

            3. The secondary meaning of “experiment” in this study asks the question:  will the availability of divine omnipotence in three categories bring about the desired result in your Christian experience?

                        a. You will never discover God’s plan for your life unless you understand God’s great power experiment, the focal point of human history.

                        b. The same power that God used to raise our Lord from the dead has now been made available to you. It has never been made available before in human history, and will never be made available again after the Church Age. Phil 3:20, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death.”

                        c. Eph 3:20, “Now to Him [God the Father] who is able [divine power] to do infinitely more than all we could ever ask or think on the basis of the power which is working for us, to Him be glory by means of the Church and by Christ Jesus with reference to all generations of this unique age of ages. Amen.”

            4. Definition of the winner in the great power experiment.

                        a. In the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, there is one winner: our Lord Jesus Christ who executed the salvation plan of God.

                        b. In the great power experiment of the Church Age, the winner is the believer who advances to spiritual maturity, who executes the protocol plan of God.

                        c. The grace provision for winners:  the prototype divine dynasphere for the Lord, and the operational-type divine dynasphere for the Church Age believer.

                        d. The mechanics for winners: the humanity of Christ won the strategic victory of the angelic conflict through His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross; the believer wins the tactical victory through:

                                    (1) The attainment of spiritual self-esteem at gate #5 of the divine dynasphere. This is the first stage of spiritual adulthood. Spiritual self-esteem plus providential preventative suffering equals spiritual autonomy.

                                    (2) The attainment of spiritual autonomy at gate #6 of the divine dynasphere. Spiritual autonomy plus momentum testing equals spiritual maturity.

                                    (3) The attainment of spiritual maturity at gate #8 of the divine dynasphere. Spiritual maturity plus evidence testing equals glorification of God.

            5. What part did divine power play in the great power experiment?

                        a. In the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union:

                                    (1) This divine power, which was never available before, first came into history with the First Advent of Jesus Christ.

                                    (2) In the virgin pregnancy, the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit created twenty-three perfect male chromosomes for the virgin pregnancy of Mary, Mt 1:20.

                                    (3) The omnipotence of God the Father created human soul life, and imputed it to the soul of Jesus Christ at the point of the virgin birth.

                                    (4) In the incarnation which followed, the omnipotence of God the Father designed a palace for the humanity of Christ to occupy, the prototype divine dynasphere. It provided logistical grace support for the humanity of Christ during the First Advent.

                                    (5) The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit occupied that palace and provided the sustaining power for the humanity of Christ during His thirty-three years on earth.

                                    (6) On the cross, the omnipotence of God the Father imputed all our personal sins to the humanity of Christ and judged them. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit sustained the humanity of Christ while He was being judged for our sins.

                                    (7) In resurrection, the omnipotence of God the Father restored the Lord’s human spirit to His body in the grave. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit restored His soul to His body in the grave.

                                    (8) In the ascension and session, the omnipotence of God the Father seated the humanity of Christ at His own right hand and awarded Him His third royal title, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit prepares for His ministry to the royal family, Jn 14:16-17,26; 16:13-14.

                        b. In the great power experiment of the Church Age:

                                    (1) In the execution of the protocol plan of God, the omnipotence of God the Father provided us with our very own portfolio of invisible assets.                                     (2) The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit provides the enabling power for the cognition of Bible doctrine and the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God.

                                    (3) The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit, through the baptism of the Spirit, creates a new spiritual species. Also through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit provides the mechanics for the function of the royal family.

                                    (4) At the Rapture of the Church, the omnipotence of God the Father raises the dead in Christ; the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit gives a resurrection body to those who are alive in Christ.

            6. The role of the omnipotence of Jesus Christ.

                        a. The omnipotence of Jesus Christ created the universe and holds it together, Jn 1:3; Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:3,10. Therefore, prior to the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, Jesus Christ as God controlled history and held the universe together. During the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union while the humanity of Christ was functioning under the power of the Father and the Spirit, the omnipotence of His deity was still holding the universe together daily.

                        b. During the great power experiment of the Church Age, the omnipotence of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union guarantees and perpetuates human history.

                        c. After the Rapture of the Church, the omnipotence of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union guarantees the perpetuation of human history in the Tribulation and Millennium.

                        d. The omnipotence of Jesus Christ guarantees that all mankind will continue on the earth regardless of sophisticated weapons or the various categories of evil which are self-destructive in the human race.

                        e. The omnipotence of Jesus Christ will return to the earth a second time and use His power to supersede Satan as the ruler of this world, fulfill all the unconditional covenants to Israel, and create perfect environment on the earth.

                        f. The omnipotence of Jesus Christ will suppress the Gog revolution led by Satan at the end of the Millennium, judge the world, execute the sentence on fallen angels, destroy the earth, and create a new universe for the eternal state.

 

B.  What is omnipotence? See the doctrine of Omnipotence.

 

C.  When does the great power experiment occur? See the doctrine of Dispensations, point one, the outline of dispensations.

 

D.  The Uniqueness of the Church Age.

            1. The Church Age is unique in that it takes no precedence from the Old Testament. All precedence for the Church Age comes from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is the source for all precedence for the Christian way of life. See the doctrine of Precedence.

 

            2. There are ten unique characteristics of the Church Age. See the doctrine of the Uniqueness of the Church Age.

E.  The Great Power Experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

            1. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is sometimes referred to as the First Advent, and it is sometimes called the incarnation. The First Advent is the point of the virgin birth; the incarnation is a synonym for the Hypostatic Union.

            2. The definition of Hypostatic Union is that in the person of the incarnate Christ are two natures inseparably united, without mixture or loss of separate identity, without loss or transfer of properties or attributes, the union being personal and eternal.

            3. Any deviation from this orthodox definition is heresy and a failure to understand the two christocentric dispensations, i.e., the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the great power experiment of the Church Age.

            4. Since the First Advent, Jesus Christ is the God-man, true humanity and undiminished deity in one person forever. This began with the virgin birth, but it will continue forever. For example, the God-man now sits at the right hand of the Father. Hebrews 1 and 2 teach that Jesus Christ is not the God-angel, but instead took upon Himself true humanity and became the God-man; this has great significance in the angelic conflict.

            5. As the God-man, Jesus Christ is different from the other two members of the Trinity. All three are coequal and coeternal, having exactly the same deity, the same divine essence. But Jesus Christ is different from the other two in that He is true humanity. And His humanity is different from that of all other members of the human race in that, not only is He eternal God, but He was the only person ever born into the world perfect (Adam was created perfect).

            6. As infinite and eternal God, Jesus Christ is superior to all creatures; to the super creatures, angels, and to the lesser rational creatures, mankind.

            7. As undiminished deity and true humanity forever, Jesus Christ is not only superior to all creatures, but through His deity He continues to hold the universe together. Jesus Christ “upholds all things by the Word of His power,” Heb 1:3. “For by Him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible or invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made,” Col 1:16-17.

            8. This does not deny the fact that other members of the Trinity create things.

            For example, God the Holy Spirit, who restored the earth in seven days (Gen 1:3ff), created some things. But rational creatures are created only by the Lord Jesus Christ.

            9. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe. He is not only our Savior, eternal God, but He is the key to the unique characteristics of the Church Age. Everything in the universe points to the fact that Jesus Christ is unique, different from eternal God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, and different from all rational creatures. The reason and purpose for His uniqueness is the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, a dispensation all in itself.

     10. The doctrine of the Hypostatic Union is a Biblical doctrine, taught in Phil 2:5-11; Jn 1:1-14; Rom 1:2-5, 9:5; and related to the mystery doctrine in 1 Tim 3:16; Heb 2:14; 1 Jn 1:1-3.

     11. As part of systematic theology, this doctrine categorically falls under the heading of Christology, and is directly related to soteriology.

     12. As eternal and infinite God, Jesus Christ is coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Spirit. The incarnation does not diminish or destroy the deity of Christ.     13. Jesus Christ is true humanity with a body, soul, and human spirit. He was born into this world trichotomous.

     14. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union emphasizes the uniqueness and superiority of our Lord Jesus Christ. As eternal God, He is infinitely superior to angels and homo sapiens. As impeccable humanity and the winner in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, He is superior to all creatures.

     15. In the Hypostatic Union, the two natures of Jesus Christ are united without transfer of attributes. The attributes of deity and the attributes of humanity in the Hypostatic Union always adhere to their corresponding natures. That means that in the person of Jesus Christ, the attributes of deity adhere to His deity and never become the attributes of humanity. The attributes of humanity always adhere to His humanity, and they never cross over to His deity. The humanity and deity of Christ are two separate natures, united in one person forever without any transfer of attributes.

    16. Jesus Christ is said to be the “same yesterday, today, and forever,” Heb 13:8.

                        a. This means no attributes of deity can be changed. Sovereignty, righteousness, justice, eternal life, love, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, veracity, immutability - these cannot be changed ever. Deity is always deity.

                        b. Even when Jesus Christ became true humanity, none of the characteristics of His deity ever changed, from the virgin birth to the eternal state. To take from Jesus Christ a single attribute of His deity would destroy His deity.

                        c. In the Hypostatic Union of Christ, no attribute of divine essence is ever compromised or changed, even during the thirty-three years of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

            17. In fulfilling the Father’s plan for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, certain attributes of our Lord’s deity were not used on His own behalf. However, Jesus Christ never surrendered or destroyed even one characteristic of His divine essence. See the doctrine of Kenosis.

            18. In the fulfillment of the Father’s plan, our Lord did not exercise His own divine attributes to benefit Himself, to provide for Himself, or to glorify Himself. In taking on Himself the form of true humanity, Jesus Christ veiled His preincarnate glory. It was seen only for a moment on the Mount of Transfiguration, and in the Garden of Gethsemane when the guards fell back. The eternal glory of the deity of Christ was veiled but never surrendered, and was occasionally manifest, as in Mt 17:2 and Jn 18:6.

     19. The union of the deity of Christ with unglorified humanity was a necessary factor in His humiliation. While the deity of Christ was united to His perfect and impeccable humanity, He was still subject to temptations, distresses, weakness, pain, sorrow, and limitation, a state which continued until His resurrection.

     20. From His own sovereignty, His own divine free will, our Lord did not use His own relative attributes of deity (e.g., omnipotence, omniscience) to benefit Himself. This is classified as the true and honorable humility of our Lord Jesus Christ, the humility necessary for Him to become our Savior.

     21. Our Lord did not surrender the attributes of His eternal and immutable deity, but He voluntarily restricted them in compatibility and compliance with the Father’s plan for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. Therefore, during His First Advent, our Lord gave up the independent exercise of certain divine attributes in living among men with their human limitations.

     22. In the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, the humanity of Christ depended upon the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere, as taught in Mt 12:18, 28; Lk 4:14, 18; Jn 3:34. It is very significant that during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, our Lord did not depend upon His own omnipotence but upon the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit in His modus operandi.

     23. Consequently, during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, our Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily restricted the independent use of His own divine power and other attributes in compliance with the Father’s plan for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

     24. Phil 2:7, “He deprived Himself of the proper function of deity when He received the form of a servant, when He had been born in the likeness of mankind.” The perfect man, Jesus Christ in His humanity, became a servant. Eternal God became a servant so that we could have eternal life, and understand why it all happened. He who is the servant of all is the greatest of all. Our Lord Jesus Christ became the servant of all, and so He is the greatest of all.

     25. Jn 3:34 implies that Jesus Christ was born into gate #1 of the prototype divine dynasphere, i.e., filled with the Holy Spirit. “For He [God the Son] whom God [the Father] has sent communicates the doctrines of God, for He [God the Father] does not give the Spirit by measure.”

                        a. From this we know that Jesus Christ during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union spoke from His humanity. Inside the prototype divine dynasphere, our Lord advanced through all three stages of spiritual adulthood and passed evidence testing before His ministry began. So He communicated from His humanity.

                        b. Had He communicated from His deity, the thunder would have been deafening! But He spoke man’s words in man’s language from the wisdom of His own human soul.

                        c. He did this in the power of the Holy Spirit, a necessary part of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. For from the very start, our Lord relied upon the omnipotence of God the Father who sent Him and upon the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit who sustained Him, and by doing so He established the pattern for our dispensation, the great power experiment of the Church Age.

                        d. We have available 100% of the same omnipotence of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit inside our operational- type divine dynasphere.

     26. The union of divine essence and the human nature of Jesus Christ in one person forever has two characteristics.

                        a. It is hypostatic.

                                    (1) Hypostatic is a word which comes from the Greek HUPOSTASIS, meaning to stand under as a support, to take a thing on oneself, substance, essence, coming into existence, actual being.

                                    (2) It was used originally by Polybius for the reality behind the appearance.

                                    (3) HUPOSTASIS is used in Heb 1:3, 3:14, 11:1. Tatian, one of the Church fathers, used HUPOSTASIS for God as absolute, underived reality.                                     (4) Heb 1:3, “Who [Jesus Christ] being the flashing forth of His glory [of deity], the exact image of His essence [divine essence]; also sustaining all things by the Word of His power [omnipotence of Jesus Christ sustains universe], having Himself [humanity of Christ] accomplished purification for sins, He was caused to sit down [humanity of Christ] on the right hand of the Majesty on High.”

                                    (5) So hypostatic is a technical, theological term referring to the whole person of Jesus Christ as distinguished from His two natures, divine and human.

                        b. It is personal, a reference to the emergence of the unique person of Jesus Christ as a result of the virgin birth and the Hypostatic Union.

     27. Therefore, “undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever, the union being personal and eternal” is exactly correct verbiage. No other verbiage should be used in a one sentence definition.

     28. As true humanity, Jesus Christ is perfect (impeccable). He is superior to all creatures since His resurrection, Heb 1-2.

     29. Therefore, Jesus Christ as the God-man has one hypostatic and/or one essence forever.     The attributes of both His divine and human nature belong to the same person.     He is no less deity because He is humanity; He is no less humanity because He is deity. The characteristics of deity always adhere to deity; the characteristics of humanity always adhere to true humanity. The characteristics of one nature are never attributed to the other.

     30. This implies that Jesus Christ during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union could be simultaneously omnipotent and weak, omniscient and ignorant, omnipresent and located in one place. However, the ignorance of His humanity was quickly overcome through His post-physical birth epistemological rehabilitation, through His metabolization of doctrine inside the prototype divine dynasphere under the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit, Lk 2:52.

     31. Everything spoken by Jesus Christ during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union came from one of three sources.

                        a. He spoke from His deity in Jn 8:58. “Jesus said to them, `Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came into being, I existed eternally.’”

                        b. On the cross our Lord spoke from His humanity. Jn 19:28, “I thirst.” Mt 27:46, “And about the ninth hour [3 p.m.], Jesus shouted with a loud voice, `My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?’” Only His humanity was being judged for the sins of the world, so only His humanity was being forsaken. Deity cannot forsake deity.

                        c. He spoke from His Hypostatic Union. Mt 11:28, “Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Jn 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father except by Me.” Jn 6:47, “Truly, truly, I say to you:  he who believes in Me has eternal life.”

F.  The Necessity for the Humanity of Christ.

            1. Heb 10:5, “Therefore, when He entered the world [our Lord in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union], He said [Ps 40:6-8], `You [God the Father] do not desire sacrifice and offering, but You have prepared for Me a human body.’”

                        a. Deity is omnipresent. Therefore, only humanity can “enter” anywhere, so this verse refers to the beginning of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

                        b. Sacrifice and offering was the Old Testament anticipation of the cross from which came the victory of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. Animal sacrifices had no efficacy and could not save; they could only portray what Jesus Christ would do in His substitutionary spiritual death.

            2. For the first time in history, the most unique thing happened:  one person of the Godhead, God the Son, became true humanity. Why did Jesus Christ, eternal and infinite God, need a human body? There are four reasons why He had to become true humanity.

                        a. To be the Savior of the world. As God, Jesus Christ could not be judged for sin or have anything to do with it. Only the humanity of Christ could be judged for sins on the cross. Eph 2:15; Col 1:22; 1 Pet 2:24, “He carried our sins in His own body on the cross.” 1 Pet 3:18; Phil 2:7-8; Heb 10:5. Jesus Christ had to become true humanity as Adam was created, i.e., perfect and trichotomous.

                        b. To be our mediator. Job 9:2, “How can two be drawn together unless they are equivalent?” Job 9:32-33; 1 Tim 2:5-6. The mediator between God and man must be equal with both God and man. In all of the universe, only Jesus Christ as the God-man is so qualified. He is coequal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. As perfect humanity, He is equivalent yet superior to man.

                        c. To be our high priest. A priest has to be human to represent man before God. However, Jesus Christ was not descended from the tribe of Levi and the line of Israel’s priesthood. He was born into the tribe of Judah, descended from David and Bathsheba through Nathan to Mary, and legally through Solomon to Joseph. So obviously Jesus Christ could not be our high priest in the Age of Israel. However, in the Church Age, He can be our high priest because we are a royal priesthood. In fact, Jesus Christ became our high priest after the order of Melchizedek, a royal order.

                        d. To be the Son of David and fulfill the Davidic Covenant, 2 Sam 7:8-16; Ps 89:20-37. God keeps His Word. In order for Jesus Christ to fulfill the Davidic Covenant, He had to be born into the tribe of Judah, in the family of Jesse, in the family of David.

            3. Jesus Christ needed a human body to fulfill the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, a dispensation in itself, and to become the chief cornerstone. Jesus Christ is the foundation for both the Church and Israel. After each building is constructed (first the Church, then Israel), it becomes a holy temple for all eternity.

            4. Heb 10:6, “You have not been propitiated by whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin [sin offering].” The ritual soteriology of the dispensation of Israel utilized animal sacrifices to portray the salvation work of Jesus Christ on the cross. But these animals were only shadows, not capable of satisfying God the Father in propitiation. God the Father had to impute the sins of the world to Jesus Christ, perfect humanity, before He could be satisfied.

            5. Heb 10:7, “At that time [birth] I said [from the deity of Jesus Christ], `Behold, I have arrived [in a scroll of a book [Old Testament] it stands written about Me] to accomplish Your will, O God.’”

                        a. Jesus Christ spoke from His deity on behalf of His humanity when He said this. While the baby could not yet speak in the cradle, this was the prayer He offered in His deity on behalf of His humanity. To accomplish the will of God He had to be true and perfect humanity. “O God” is from the viewpoint of His humanity.

                        b. Jesus Christ was elected by God the Father to execute the salvation plan of God. This was the beginning of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

            6. Heb 10:8, “After saying the above, `Sacrifices and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have you been propitiated by them [which sacrifices are offered according to the Law],’”

                        a. Church Age believers are not under the Law; we do not offer sacrifices. Gal 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law. For by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified.” The Law belongs only to the dispensation of Israel, not to us.

            7. Heb 10:9, “Then He [Jesus Christ] said, `Behold I have arrived to execute Your will.’ He has abrogated the first [ritual plan of God for Israel] that He might establish the second [protocol plan of God for the Church Age].” The protocol plan of God supersedes the ritual plan of God for Israel. The new spiritual species of the Church Age replaces the new racial species of Israel.

            8. Heb 10:10, “By which will we [Church Age believers] have been sanctified to God forever through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.” The substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross and resultant unlimited atonement is the efficacious sacrifice which abrogates the ritual sacrifices authorized by the Mosaic Law.

            9. As a result of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, the person of Jesus Christ is changed forever. Beginning with the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, Jesus Christ is true humanity and undiminished deity in one person forever.

     10. As true humanity (body, soul, and spirit) in Hypostatic Union, our Lord is now superior to all members of the human race and to all angelic creatures.

 

G.  The Virgin Birth and its Results.

            1. Two categories of omnipotence were involved in the preparation of the true humanity of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union.

                        a. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit provided twenty-three perfect male chromosomes for the virgin pregnancy of Mary. Mt 1:20, “… Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For that which has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

                        b. The omnipotence of God the Father provided the imputation of human life to the soul of our Lord at the point of birth.

                        c. The result of these acts of omnipotence is the virgin birth, at which point the Hypostatic Union of Jesus Christ begins.

            2. The provision of twenty-three perfect male chromosomes by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit for the virgin pregnancy prevented our Lord from being born with an old sin nature, which would have meant being born dichotomous and unqualified for the cross. 3. Adam’s original sin was one of cognizance. Therefore, the old sin nature is passed down to the entire human race genetically through the twenty-three male chromosomes which fertilize the female ovum in copulation.

            4. All cells in the human body are contaminated by the old sin nature. The one exception occurs in the female about once a month when, through meiosis and polar bodies, the female ovum throws off twenty-three chromosomes, leaving twenty-three uncontaminated chromosomes in the ovum prior to fertilization.

            5. The original sin of the woman was ignorance, in contrast to Adam’s cognizant original sin. However, the woman was still guilty in the fall, 1 Tim 2:13-15. Both males and females are carriers of the old sin nature, but only the male can transmit the old sin nature through fertilization of the female ovum.

            6. The virgin Mary had an old sin nature. Because of the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit plus the virginity of Mary prior to the birth of Christ, our Lord was born without an old sin nature, and hence without the imputation of Adam’s original sin. Therefore, our Lord was born as Adam was created, i.e., trichotomous, having a body, soul, and spirit.

            7. The virgin birth emphasizes the Hypostatic Union, the beginning of the new dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

            8. The pre-incarnate person of Christ is classified as undiminished deity, and coequal, coinfinite, and coeternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. The post-incarnate person of Jesus Christ is classified as, in Hypostatic Union, undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever, Jn 1:1-14; Phil 2:6-7; Rom 9:5; 1 Cor 3:16.

            9. Because of the virgin pregnancy and resultant virgin birth, the true humanity of Christ was trichotomous with a body, soul, and spirit, which was exactly as Adam was at creation.

 

H.  Dichotomy and Trichotomy.

            1. Two devastating results occurred as a result of Adam’s original sin.

                        a. The old sin nature was created and real spiritual death is perpetuated in the human race. We are born physically alive and spiritually dead.

                        b. Mankind became dichotomous, having only a body and a soul but no human spirit.

            2. Both of these problems were resolved by the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

                        a. Real spiritual death was resolved through our Lord’s substitutionary spiritual death on the cross.

                        b. At salvation through personal faith in Jesus Christ, regeneration solves the problem of dichotomy. Regeneration is defined as the Holy Spirit creating a human spirit within the new believer for the imputation of eternal life.

            3. Two categories of divine omnipotence were employed in our Lord’s execution of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

                        a. The omnipotence of God the Father provided for the humanity of Christ logistical grace support and blessing, and a divine plan for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

                        b. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit provided the enabling power for the execution of the dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union inside the prototype divine dynasphere.

            4. During the First Advent, the omnipotence of Jesus Christ continued to hold the universe together, Col 1:16-17; Heb 1:3.

            5. Three factors are the direct result of real spiritual death.

                        a. Total depravity, which means having an old sin nature.

                        b. Total helplessness to establish a relationship of any kind with God.

                        c. Mankind has become a dichotomous human being. The human spirit is the basis for a relationship with God. Being born without a human spirit, mankind is totally unable to have any kind of relationship with God.

            6. In 1 Cor 2:14, the Greek word PSUCHIKOS is a technical word for the dichotomous state of all mankind apart from salvation. The unbeliever is unable to understand any kind of Bible doctrine or divine viewpoint because he is without a human spirit. Without the human spirit to be taught by the Holy Spirit, unbelievers consider all doctrine and divine viewpoint as foolishness. Cf. Jude 19, “These [unbelievers] are the ones who cause divisions:  soulish [PSUCHIKOI], not having a spirit [a human spirit].”

            7. At salvation every believer instantly becomes trichotomous. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit restores the status quo of Adam before his fall. Tit 3:5, “He [Jesus Christ] saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy by means of the cleansing of regeneration, even by the renewing of the Holy Spirit.”

                        a. LOUTRON is the Greek word for cleansing; cf. Eph 5:26. Just as a bath removes dirt from the body, so regeneration is a spiritual bath that cleanses the believer from his past sins.

                        b. This is also taught in the Old Testament. Isa 43:25, “I, even I, am the One who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; therefore, I will not remember your sins.” Isa 44:22, “Like a thick cloud I have blotted out your transgressions, and like that cloud your sins.”

            8. The believer is said by the Bible to be regenerated in Eph 5:25 and 1 Pet 1:23. “For you have been born again, not from the seed which is perishable, but the imperishable seed, i.e. through the living and abiding Word of God.”

            9. The Word of God emphasizes the doctrinal distinction between the soul and the spirit in Heb 4:12.

     10. All regenerate members of the human race are therefore called trichotomous. 1 Thes 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Philemon 25, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

     11. God does all of these things without ever relating them to human feeling. Your emotions are related to your soul; they do not belong to your human spirit. You are not saved or spiritual because of how you feel. Your emotions are not part of spiritual phenomena; they are part of your soul. Emotions are designed for our normal living if subordinate to our mentality, but they have no place in our spiritual life.

     12. All perception of Bible doctrine under epistemological rehabilitation occurs under the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the human spirit of regenerate mankind.

                        a. Old Testament documentation:  Job 32:8, “But it is the spirit of man and the Spirit of the Almighty that gives perception.”

                        b. New Testament documentation:  Rom 8:16, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”

I.  The Omnipotence of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Dynaspheres.

            1. There are two Christocentric dispensations, each having a divine dynasphere.

                        a. The First Advent had the prototype divine dynasphere.

                        b. The Church Age has the operational-type divine dynasphere.

            2. From birth our Lord’s humanity occupied the prototype divine dynasphere with its eight gates:  the filling of the Spirit, basic doctrinal modus operandi and basic problem solving devices, enforced and genuine humility, perception and application of metabolized doctrine, spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, momentum testing, and spiritual maturity. The same gates exist in the operational-type divine dynasphere.

            3. The two divine dynaspheres are identical; the only difference is who occupies them:  Jesus Christ or the Church Age believer.

            4. In both the prototype divine dynasphere and the operational-type divine dynasphere, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit is the power structure. Maximum availability of divine power occurs only during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the great power experiment of the Church Age. It has never occurred before, nor will it ever occur in the future.

            5. God the Father invented the prototype divine dynasphere to sustain the humanity of Christ during His First Advent. The prototype divine dynasphere is a facsimile of the operational-type divine dynasphere used by Church Age believers in fellowship. Only a few believers in the Old Testament had power available from God. But in the Church Age all believers have maximum power available.

            6. Jn 3:34, “For He [Jesus Christ] whom God [God the Father] has sent, He communicates the proclamations from God; for He [God the Father] gives the Spirit [Holy Spirit] without limitation.”

                        a. Inside the divine dynasphere, there is no limitation on the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit during our Lord’s incarnation. Inside the divine dynasphere is the place of the filling of the Spirit. The same is true in our dispensation, Eph 5:18.

                        b. If John the Baptist, the herald of the King, was said to be filled with the Spirit from the exit of his mother’s womb, Lk 1:15, it follows that Jesus Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit from the point of the virgin birth, Jn 3:34.

            7. Our Lord advanced and matured both physically and spiritually in the divine dynasphere, Lk 2:40,52. He advanced through each stage of spiritual adulthood and through suffering, Heb 2:10,18; 5:8. He continued residing in the prototype divine dynasphere under the enabling power of the Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine. Therefore, He relied on the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit in the execution of the Father’s plan for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

                        a. Lk 4:14, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.” This documents our Lord’s continual reliance on the Spirit in the prototype divine dynasphere.

                        b. Matt 4:1, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tested by the devil.” He was led by the Spirit to the place of evidence testing, for He was spiritually mature.

            6. The same omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit by which our Lord fulfilled the Father’s plan for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union has been delegated to the Church Age believer for the execution of the protocol plan of God.

            7. Just before His ascension, our Lord prophesied regarding the extension of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union into the Church Age. Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you [all].” 8. The humanity of Christ in the prototype divine dynasphere performed miracles (which we cannot do) in the power of the Holy Spirit. Matt 12:28, “But if I cast out demons by means of the Spirit of God [and I do], then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” The Lord chose to fulfill His ministry in the power of the Spirit rather than depending on His own omnipotence; this is the true doctrine of kenosis.

            9. Our Lord’s humanity continued to reside in the prototype divine dynasphere under the filling and omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit in total reliance on Bible doctrine during the First Advent. Matt 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread [physical food] alone, but by every doctrine that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

                        a. Jesus Christ did not use His omnipotence to benefit, provide for or glorify Himself (by turning stones into bread). He met evidence testing by using metabolized Bible doctrine inside the divine dynasphere. He depended on the omnipotence of God the Father related to logistical grace support and the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit related to the prototype divine dynasphere. The same omnipotence is available to us as Church Age believers.

                        b. He demonstrated on the cross that with the great problem solving devices of spiritual adulthood, you can handle any pressure in life. These same problem solving devices are available to you.

     10. Heb 9:13-14, “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled [a rebound offering] sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

                        a. “Through the Spirit” Christ was sustained on the cross without sinning while bearing our sins:  a substitutionary spiritual death. He remained perfect inside the prototype divine dynasphere while bearing our sins. This is why the animal offerings were always “without spot and without blemish.”

                        b. The “blood” refers to His substitutionary spiritual death on behalf of all mankind. He remained on the cross to be judged for the sins of all of those He knew would never believe in Him. He endured suffering beyond the call of duty, the most awful judgment in all of history. Christ honored the faith of all the Old Testament believers and the faith of all future believers.

                        c. “Without blemish” speaks of His impeccability.

                        d. Our Lord was sustained by both the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit, Heb 9:14, and His own perfect happiness, Heb 12:2. With +H you have perfect happiness regardless of the circumstances of life.

                        e. “Cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” refers to the fact that the efficacious sacrifice of Christ was sufficient to save us, so that we may have a clear conscience before God regarding our salvation. The source of dead works is a guilt complex, trying to buy your way into heaven by your “good deeds.” Your conscience is not the source or the motivation for the spiritual life! Conscience can never be motivation. True motivation must come from something higher than a conscience.

                        f. You cannot serve the living God apart from faith in Christ, the filling of the Holy Spirit, and life inside the divine dynasphere.

J.  The Impeccability of Christ during the Incarnation. (See the doctrine of Impeccability.)

            1. The doctrine of impeccability is that category of Christology which contends that our Lord Jesus Christ, in Hypostatic Union, did not sin during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. His humanity was temptable, but impeccable. His humanity was tempted far beyond anything we have ever known or experienced.

            2. With reference to His deity, Jesus Christ is said in Latin to be NON POSSE PECARE, i.e., not able to sin. With reference to His humanity, Christ is said to be POSSE NON PECARE, i.e., able not to sin. Of course, deity cannot sin (not able to sin). And because His humanity relied upon the filling of the Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere, He was able not to sin. He was able to say no to temptations we could not possibly handle.

            3. It is blasphemous to associate sin with Holy God, James 1:13, “Let no man say when he is tempted, `I am tempted by God.’ For God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does He tempt anyone.”

            4. In Hypostatic Union, the humanity of Christ is temptable but impeccable because of His humanity’s residence, function, and momentum inside the prototype divine dynasphere, where He utilized the delegated omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit.

            5. While our Lord was tempted in all points as we are tempted, and far beyond, He did not sin. Therefore, Christ as the last Adam remained in the status quo of perfect impeccability (i.e., non-liability to sin).

            6. So there are two reasons for the perfection of the humanity of Christ.

                        a. Union with deity in Hypostatic Union.

                        b. The humanity of Christ resided continually in the prototype divine dynasphere, relying entirely upon the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit.

            7. All of our Lord’s pressure came from without; a far greater system of pressure and stress than from the old sin nature within.

            8. Heb 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we have been, and yet without sin.”

            9. The humanity of Christ was temptable and peccable. The deity of Christ was neither temptable nor peccable, therefore impeccable. Therefore in Hypostatic Union our Lord was temptable from the standpoint of His humanity, but impeccable from the standpoint of His Hypostatic Union.

     10. Temptability does not mean susceptibility. Temptability does not imply sin until one’s volition is involved. While our Lord’s temptations were real, He had infinite power to resist the temptation: both from His deity, and from the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere.

     11. The power to resist temptation in Hypostatic Union was infinite. Therefore resistance to temptation was so great as to constitute impeccability and qualification to become a sin offering.

     12. Illustration: copper by itself is thin and easily broken. But welded to a steel bar, it is indestructible - so was this true of the Hypostatic Union of Christ.

     13. The impeccability of Christ was the prerequisite for His saving work on the cross. Therefore, our Lord was qualified to go to the cross, to receive the imputation and judgment of all the sins of the entire human race, and to provide eternal salvation for all who believe in Him.

                        a. 1 Pet 2:22, “He who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.”

                        b. 1 Jn 3:5, “Indeed, you know that He was revealed [First Advent], in order that He might carry our sins; in fact, sin was not in Him [impeccability].”

                        c. 1 Pet 2:24, “He Himself carried our sins in His own body on the cross.”

                        d. 2 Cor 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

                        e. Our Lord’s humanity is described after resurrection at the right hand of God in Heb 7:26. There, at the right hand of the Father, His humanity is said to be “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”

     14. The impeccability of Christ is based on three facts:

                        a. The deity of Christ is not temptable, therefore is impeccable.

                        b. The humanity of Christ inside the prototype divine dynasphere is temptable, but remains impeccable.

                        c. The person of Christ in Hypostatic Union is temptable, but impeccable.

    15. Impeccability must precede reconciliation. Apart from the impeccability of Christ, there can be no removal of the barrier between God and man.     16. Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union is like an unconquerable nation:  it can be attacked but it can never be defeated.

     17. The impeccability of Christ is the basis for the strategic victory of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, Heb 2:14, “Since therefore men have blood and flesh, He Himself likewise partook of the same, that through death [substitutionary spiritual death] He might render powerless the devil who has the power [rulership of the world] by means of death [real spiritual death].”

 

K.  The Spiritual Death of Christ on the Cross. (See the doctrine of the Substitutionary Spiritual Death of Christ.)

            1. There are two categories of spiritual death.

                        a. Real spiritual death, which is separation from God in a state of sin.

                        b. The unique substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross, which is separation from God in a state of perfection and impeccability.

            2. Real spiritual death occurs at birth to every member of the human race through the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the genetically formed old sin nature. The real spiritual death of Adam was his original sin in the Garden when he violated the prohibition of God and ate from the forbidden fruit, Gen 3; Rom 5:12-21.

            3. Jesus Christ was born trichotomous without an old sin nature, therefore without the imputation of Adam’s original sin. Therefore, His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross is unique. He “was made sin;” He did not sin personally.

            4. The results of real spiritual death are at least five.

                        a. Adam died spiritually, total separation from God.

                        b. In spiritual death, Adam became dichotomous, having only a body and soul. Real spiritual death means loss of the human spirit by which we have fellowship with God.

                        c. The origin of the old sin nature. Man is classified from birth as being in a state of total depravity.

                        d. The beginning of personal sins in the human race.

                        e. The status of total helplessness to have relationship or fellowship with God.

            5. Therefore, two categories of spiritual death exist.

                        a. The real spiritual death of Adam and the human race, a dichotomous separation from God in a state of total depravity, total helplessness and results in personal sins, Rom 5:12.

                        b. The substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross, which is separation from God in a state of total perfection and impeccability, Rom 5:8. It is the most painful experience in all of history. Yet He endured it through the use of the problem solving devices.

            6. In rightly dividing the Word of Truth, we must distinguish between the real spiritual death of Adam in the garden and the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross.

                        a. By physical birth we are related to the real spiritual death of Adam in the Garden. By the new birth we are related to the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross.

                        b. Adam’s original sin brought real spiritual death to the human race. Our Lord’s substitutionary spiritual death brought eternal life to the human race.

                        c. The real spiritual death of Adam brought dichotomy into the human race. The substitutionary spiritual death of Christ brought trichotomy to the human race. The only thing they have in common is separation from God the Father.

                        d. Adam’s spiritual death was real and perpetuated to the entire human race through physical birth. Our Lord’s spiritual death was substitutionary and provides salvation at the point of regeneration.

                        e. In real spiritual death Adam went from perfection to imperfection. In substitutionary spiritual death our Lord went from perfection before the cross to perfection during the cross and perfection after the cross.

            7. Christ’s substitutionary spiritual death is taught by Greek prepositions.

                        a. There are three substitutionary prepositions in Greek:   PERI, PROS and HUPER. All three are used with the genitive of advantage which indicates the one on behalf of whom something is done.

                        b. HUPER plus the genitive is used after words that denote care or concern about someone. It is used after expressions having to do with sacrifice. It is used after expressions of dying for someone.

                        c. HUPER with the genitive of advantage, as in Rom 5:8, 1 Pet 3:18, and Gal 3:13 expresses substitution and can be translated: “[Christ died] instead of us,” “in place of us,” or “on behalf of us.”

                        d. Christ did something for you as your substitute. Christ is perfect. When a perfect person does something for you, you can add nothing to it.                      e. HUPER plus the genitive is rarely used in the Koine Greek, even though it was common in Attic Greek, except by the Apostle Paul.

                        f. PERI plus the genitive was used extensively in the Attic Greek meaning “concerning” or “with reference to.” But it was also used after verbs meaning “to know", “to care about someone, or “to speak to someone.” In the Koine PERI plus the genitive of advantage is used interchangeably with HUPER.

                        g. Rom 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died instead of us.” “Instead of us” is HUPER plus the genitive of advantage of EGO. We should have been judged for our sins, but Christ died “on behalf of us, in place of us.” The substitutionary work was done entirely by Christ without any help on our part. The genitive of advantage of EGO refers to the entire human race.

                                    (1) God the Father made the greatest demonstration of love when he turned and judged His own Son for mankind. This was to our advantage.

                                    (2) This “experiment” was a demonstration of a known truth. If Jesus Christ did the most for you on the cross, is He now capable of doing the less for you? Of course He can! He has provided a system, a mechanic, a precedent for how to live as royalty.

                                    (3) We will suffer for a lot of things in our life, but we will never suffer for our personal sins. The unbeliever’s will be the only people who ever come close to understanding the pain Christ went through on the cross by what they suffer for all eternity in a resurrection body in the Lake of Fire. They will feel the wrath of the justice of God.

                                    (4) Impersonal love demonstrated by God is a power and a manifestation of power. You have this same power through doctrine. The source of the power of impersonal love is the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ demonstrated His impersonal love by remaining on the cross when He could have left the cross anytime He desired. You will never demonstrate impersonal love until you use the power of the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit available through knowledge of doctrine.

                                    (5) The great power experiment demonstrates divine impersonal love for the entire human race. The substitutionary spiritual death of Christ provides eternal salvation for anyone who will believe. In the demonstration of the Father’s impersonal love for us, He had to turn against and judge the One for whom He had an infinite personal love. 1 Jn 4:10, “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins.”

                        h. 1 Pet 3:18, “Because Christ also died once for our sins, the righteous One on behalf of [in place of, instead of] the unrighteous ones, that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh but made alive by means of the Spirit.”

                                    (1) “Christ died for our sins, the righteous...” says that Christ continued in a state of righteousness while in a state of spiritual death, being judged for our sins. Therefore, His spiritual death is unique and totally different from ours. We are separated from God in a state of total depravity, which means not only sinfulness but worse, it means we are totally helpless to do anything about our salvation.

                                    (2) Spiritual death is always total separation from God. Our spiritual death is separation from God in a state of total depravity. Christ’s spiritual death was a separation from God in a state of total perfection, and He remained that way. Our spiritual death lasts from the cradle to the cross at our regeneration. Christ’s spiritual death began half-way through the crucifixion and lasted for three hours, from 12 noon until 3 p.m.

                                    (3) There are two reasons why Christ remained “righteous,” perfect, (DIKAIOS).

                                                (a) In remaining in the prototype divine dynasphere He was sustained by God the Holy Spirit. He stayed in the place where divine power was available and usable. The omnipotence of the Spirit sustained Christ in a state of total perfection while being judged for our sins.

                                                (b) He utilized the problem solving devices of spiritual adulthood:  Hope 2 and 3, personal love for God, impersonal love for mankind and +H (perfect happiness). For three hours Satan did everything He could to make Christ’s life the most miserable life imaginable. For the first three hours on the cross, our Lord was occupied with the Father through personal love, and He had impersonal love for all the accumulated and vile evil he faced during those first three hours. Our Lord had to earn the right to bear our sins by facing the most intense suffering from fellow humans that has ever existed. (Yet very few believers ever even get as far as spiritual autonomy and can pass people testing, thought testing, and system testing.)

                                    (4) Remaining righteous means our Lord died a substitutionary spiritual death. His substitutionary spiritual death was far greater, far more painful than a real spiritual death. The substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross is the only solution to our real spiritual death, the only solution recognized by God as the answer to sin and the way to eternal life.

                                    (5) The purpose clause “that He might bring us to God” means we cannot go to God on our own. Someone who was righteous and perfect must bring us to God. In effect when you believe in Christ, He brings you to God the Father. (You don’t invite Christ anywhere.)

                                    (6) “Being made alive by means of the Spirit” is a reference to the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit restoring the human soul of our Lord in Hades to His body in the grave, thereby becoming an agent in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

                        i. Gal 3:13, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by means of becoming a curse instead of [in place of, on behalf of] us, for it stands written, `Cursed is everyone who hangs on the wood [cross].’”

                                    (1) Again, HUPER plus the genitive of advantage is substitutionary, and refers to the entire human race.

                                    (2) Redemption is the salvation work of the cross which removed the barrier of our curse under the law.

 

L.  The Old Testament Analogy to the Efficacious, Substitutionary Spiritual Death of our Lord on the Cross.

1.  Remember that even while being judged for our sins and consequently being spiritually dead, our Lord had to remain perfect, which He was able to do by utilizing +H as the highest problem solving device (Heb 12:2) and by relying on the Holy Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere (Heb 9:14).

            2. The continued impeccability of Christ while suffering substitutionary spiritual death is substantiated by the study of the Levitical offerings in the Old Testament, a part of the modus operandi of the Mosaic Law.

            3. Jn 1:29, “The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming to him and exclaimed, `Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’” This verse sets up the analogy between the animal sacrifices (lamb without spot and blemish) and the efficacious saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

            4. Moses, speaking of the Passover lamb in Ex 12:5, said “Your lamb shall be an unblemished male.” That was an analogy to the impeccability of Jesus Christ during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, and specifically to the Lord Jesus Christ during the three hours while He was being judged for our sins. He had to remain perfect while being judged for our sins to be a substitute for us! And so in the analogy, all the time the lamb was tied on the altar and dying, as each breath pumped out more of its blood, that lamb was still without spot and blemish.

            5. The necessity of the offering being without spot and blemish was true for all animal Levitical sacrifices.

            6. This analogy is completed by Paul in 1 Cor 5:7, “For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us.”

            7. Lev 1:3, “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it a male without blemish.” A burnt offering represents propitiation, i.e., the work of salvation from God’s viewpoint, that God the Father is satisfied with the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The point is that this male animal remained without blemish throughout his sacrificial death.

            8. The Old Testament sacrifices under the ritual plan of God for the dispensation of Israel were designed to teach both Christology and soteriology regarding the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, the impeccability of Christ being without spot and blemish, and the saving work of Christ represented by the offering of the animal on the altar.

            9. Defective animal sacrifices were strictly forbidden, which would be tantamount to blasphemy by analogy. Heb 9:13-14, “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of the heifer, sprinkling these who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit [omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit in prototype divine dynasphere sustaining Jesus Christ] offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

                        a. The blood of goats and bulls was the soteriology of the ritual plan for Israel. The high priest made two sacrifices on the Day of Atonement once a year, a young bull for himself and a goat for the people. The blood of each was carried separately into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, covering the Ark of the Covenant containing three articles representing sin. The flanking cherubs, representing God’s righteousness and justice, in effect look down and that blood and declare “Satisfied!”

                        b. The ashes of the heifer refers to the rebound offering in the ritual plan of God for Israel.

                        c. The blood of Christ includes reconciliation, redemption, propitiation, unlimited atonement, imputation, and justification, i.e., the entire saving work of Christ on the cross.

                        d. Jesus Christ was able to remain impeccable (without blemish) by remaining inside the prototype divine dynasphere where He was sustained by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit.

                        e. Being tied to “dead works” makes the believer a loser, thinking works is the Christian way of life. Works are the result of spiritual advance, but are not the means of spirituality or spiritual growth.

     10. The impeccability of Christ includes the fact that His humanity remained inside the prototype divine dynasphere during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. This includes our Lord’s six hours on the cross.

                        a. During the first three hours, the human race demonstrated the quintessence of their evil in Judaism, Hellenism, and Romanism. The antagonism and concentrated bile toward our Lord was almost beyond description, accompanied by the most intense physical suffering.

                        b. But those first three hours were nothing compared to our Lord’s last three hours on the cross when He was judged for our sins. Only then did He scream out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

                        c. Rom 8:32, “He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?” Providing salvation for us was far more difficult for God the Father than providing our logistical grace support and blessing.

     11. The perfect impeccable humanity of Christ “carried our sins in His own body on the cross,” 1 Pet 2:24. Furthermore, He endured and remained on the cross facing the greatest temptation to leave the cross, to react to people, to become bitter, vindictive, or full of self-pity. But He committed none of these sins of arrogance. He remained in absolute perfection so that He continued to be the “lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” the lamb “without spot and without blemish.”

     12. This means Jesus Christ remained inside the prototype divine dynasphere where He was sustained by two factors, one acquired and one given.

a.  +H was acquired through spiritual growth inside the prototype divine dynasphere.

b.  The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit was given through residence in the prototype divine dynasphere.

    13. So the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is a demonstration of an absolute fact and point of doctrine:  the Church Age believer who attains spiritual maturity and lives inside the operational-type divine dynasphere and utilizes +H can endure anything in life!   There is no disaster or prosperity too great for him.

     14. In order to be an efficacious sacrifice for sin, Jesus Christ had to remain in a state of sinless perfection. He was and is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

     15. Rev 5:12 records what the angelic college of heralds and the angelic order of battle will sing when they gather in the future. “They sang fortissimo, `The Lamb who has been sacrificed is worthy to receive power and prosperity [riches] and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.’”

                        a. Receiving power is the result of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. This explains how the omnipotence of Jesus Christ is involved in our resurrection, as well as the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit and the omnipotence of God the Father. A tremendous amount of power has been delegated to Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union whereby He is able to “subdue all things to Himself” (Phil 3:21).

                        b. The prosperity or riches refers to the present award of the third royal patent to our Lord. We enjoy some of that prosperity when we attain the tactical victory of spiritual maturity.

                        c. “Wisdom” is a reference to the humanity of Christ attaining spiritual maturity inside the prototype divine dynasphere during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. “Might” refers to Christ’s rule of the world at the Second Advent, the result of His strategic victory in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. “Honor” is the award of our Lord’s third royal patent after His ascension and session. “Glory” belongs to Him as the ruler of the royal family of God during the Church Age, as the ruler of the world during the Millennium, and as the ruler of Israel from the Second Advent into eternity. “Blessing” is the election of the royal family of God to accompany our Lord’s third royal patent.

                        d. Angels in the future will sing about this. But we as believers in this great Church Age have the opportunity of functioning under this principle, of practicing it, of utilizing divine power never made available before in any other dispensation, in order that we might have the greatest invisible impact as a part of the pivot.

 

M.  The Expression of Christ’s Substitutionary Spiritual Death.

            1. Substitutionary spiritual death is dramatized in the three original languages of Scripture:  Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

            2. During the last three hours on the cross, while being judged for our sins, our Lord uttered the sentence, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” That sentence was first prophesied in the Hebrew, was actually spoken by our Lord in Aramaic, and was translated into Greek for the New Testament.

            3. Hebrew:  Ps 22:1 says ELI ELI LAMA AZABTANI.

                        a. The vocative ELI, meaning “My God” is addressed to one person only: God the Father. In the grammar of the Hebrew, the repetition of a noun is an idiom for intensity, and expresses the highest quality under two categories:

                                    (1) The highest quality of a person:  God the Father.

                                    (2) The highest quality of the two attributes of God the Father involved in the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ:  the omnipotence of the Father who called for the printout of all our sins and imputed them to Christ on the cross, and the justice of the Father who judged our sins when they were imputed to Christ on the cross.

                        b. LAMA is a prepositional phrase literally translated “for what reason;” idiomatically, “why.” This phrase is used to introduce a rhetorical question for the communication of Bible doctrine related to the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross.

                        c. The qal perfect second masculine singular of the Hebrew verb AZAB is very important, for it means this was addressed to ONE person only, God the Father. AZAB means “to abandon or to forsake” in the qal stem. Our Lord’s humanity was abandoned by God the Father during the last three hours on the cross because He was under the judgment of substitutionary spiritual death.

                        d. In the context of Ps 22, the second masculine singular of the verb AZAB refers to God the Father. The first masculine singular suffix on the verb refers to God the Son, translated “Me.” He was the only One ever qualified to be our sin offering.

                        e. The answer to “why have You forsaken Me” is found in two words in Ps 22:3, ATAH QODOSH, translated “You are holy.” Holiness refers to the absolute and perfect integrity of God, composed of divine righteousness and divine justice. God’s perfect righteousness can have nothing to do with sin; therefore, God the Father had to judge the sins of the world because His perfect righteousness rejected and condemned them. So the justice of the Father judged our sins as they were imputed to Christ on the cross. So the first reason Christ was forsaken was a part of the plan of God, in that the Father can have nothing to do with sin and must judge it.

                        f. Ps 22:6 gives a second explanation as to why our Lord was forsaken on the cross:  ANOKI TOLA, translated “but I am a worm.” TOLA refers to the coccus iliacus worm, which was harvested in the ancient world to be crushed in large vats, for the purpose of using its blood for the crimson dye which colored king’s robes. So on the cross, the perfect, impeccable humanity of Christ was crushed with the judgment of our sins during the most concentrated three hours of intense suffering the world has ever known. Hence the blood of Christ is used to manufacture the robes of royalty, i.e., of the royal family of God. The royal robe you wear is the imputed perfect righteousness of God, qualifying you to live with God forever.

            4. The Aramaic and Greek are both found in Mt 27:46. “And about the ninth hour [3 p.m. Roman time] Jesus shouted with a loud voice, `ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?’ that is [correctly translated], `My God, My God, why have you forsaken [abandoned] Me?’”

                        a. Again, ELI repeated is the vocative “My God,” addressed to God the Father. LAMA SABACHTHANI is translated “why have You forsaken Me?”

                        b. The Semitic language of Aramaic is most nearly related to Hebrew and Phoenician languages, and is merely a different dialect. Aramaic originated in Aram (Mesopotamia) and spread to the northwest. The eastern form of the dialect is called Syriac or Syrian. Aramaic was mistakenly called Chaldean because it was spoken by the Chaldeans at the time of Daniel. Dan 2:4-7:28 is written in Aramaic. Our Lord spoke a Galilean Aramaic. Aramaic is a close cognitive but not a derivative of Hebrew. In the Old Testament, Aramaic is found not only in Daniel, but also in Ezra 4:8-6:18 and 7:12-26. Aramaic was the diplomatic and official language of the Persian Empire from B.C. 550-450.

                        c. Next in Mt 27:46 is a Greek idiom translated “this is [correctly translated].” Then the sentence is repeated in the Greek: THEI MOU THEI MOU HINANTI ME EGKATELIPES (from egkataleipo).

                        d. The doubling of the vocative is a semitism in the Greek, and so again indicates a person of highest quality and superior attributes.

                        e. The interrogative adverb HINANTI means “why” or “for what purpose.” This introduces a rhetorical question; our Lord understood the answer, but He uttered this question because we did not.

                        f. The second person singular aorist active indicative from EGKATALEIPO is also translated “abandon.” The subject is in the singular, because only God the Father abandoned God the Son. The Holy Spirit remained with Him, sustaining Him in the prototype divine dynasphere.

                        g. So the third reason for Jesus Christ being forsaken on the cross is so that we can have eternal life.

N.  The Two Judicial Imputations Related to the Cross.

            1. There are two categories of imputations:  real and judicial imputations.

            2. A real imputation is defined as the omnipotence and justice of God imputing under the principle of antecedence and affinity. Examples: the imputation of human life to the human soul at birth, and the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the genetically-formed old sin nature.

            3. There are two factors in a real imputation. Factor one is what is imputed from the omnipotence or justice of God; e.g., human life and Adam’s original sin. Factor two is the home or target for the imputation; e.g., the human soul and the old sin nature.

            4. In a judicial imputation, the omnipotence and justice of God imputes what is not antecedently one’s own. There is no antecedence and no affinity between what is imputed and the target. Examples of this are the imputation of all personal sins of the human race to Jesus Christ on the cross, and the imputation of God’s perfect righteousness (perfect righteousness) to the believer at salvation.

            5. The moment we believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit creates in us a human spirit so that a real imputation can be performed when God the Father imputes eternal life to our human spirit.

            6. Since no antecedence exists in a judicial imputation, great emphasis is placed on both the omnipotence and the integrity of God.

            7. In the first judicial imputation, there is no affinity or antecedence between our personal sins and the perfection of the humanity of Christ. In the second judicial imputation, there is no affinity or antecedence between divine perfect righteousness imputed at salvation and any righteousness we possess. “Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in His sight,” Isa 64:6.

            8. In 2 Cor 5:21, both of these judicial imputations are mentioned. In the sequence of this verse we first have the judicial imputation in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union; stated second is the judicial imputation in the great power experiment of the Church Age. “He [God the Father] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on behalf of us [as a substitute for us], in order that we might become the righteousness of God by means of Him [Jesus Christ].”

                        a. The doctrine of Impeccability is that portion of Christology which contends and rightly proves that Jesus Christ during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union did not sin though He was tempted in His humanity to a greater extent than anyone in all of human history. The first Adam in the Garden was temptable and peccable - capable of sinning. But Jesus Christ, the last Adam, was temptable but impeccable in Hypostatic Union. As humanity, He was “able not to sin” because He remained inside the prototype divine dynasphere throughout His entire lifetime on earth, including during His time on the cross.

                        b. In Hypostatic Union, our Lord’s humanity was inseparably united with His deity. His humanity remained inside the prototype divine dynasphere under the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the union of undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever guarantees the status quo of both categories of His impeccability:  His deity was not able to sin; His humanity was able not to sin through living inside the prototype divine dynasphere.

                        c. Heb 4:15, “He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet apart from sin.” 1 Pet 2:22, “who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.” Heb 7:26 describes Jesus Christ at the termination of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, when He had ascended, as being “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted in the heavens.” 1 Jn 3:5, “Indeed you know that He was revealed [First Advent] in order that He might carry our sins. In fact, sin is not in Him.”

                        d. Our Lord endured far greater temptations than we can even appreciate or understand, but “sin is not in Him.” No wonder He was qualified to go to the cross and become a sin offering.

                        e. The second half of 2 Cor 5:21 refers to the judicial imputation of perfect righteousness to us. Every Church Age believer at the moment of salvation through faith in Christ receives the judicial imputation of perfect righteousness. That imputation has three results.

                                    (1) Justification.

                                    (2) Becoming the object of divine personal love.

                                    (3) Daily logistical grace support and blessing to both winners and losers alike, because both have the perfect righteousness of God!! This is the basis for our blessing, not the things we do. We are imperfect and still have an old sin nature. God could not possibly bless us on the basis of who and what we are without compromising His essence. Instead, His justice imputes all blessing down the grace pipeline to the perfect righteousness of God in us.                      f. In the equation of the plan of God, X + Y + Z, the first judicial imputation plus the second judicial imputation equals the second potential of great escrow blessings from God. When doctrine is added, there is the realization of Hope Two, which is absolute confidence that upon reaching spiritual maturity, we will receive our escrow blessings for time. Y[J1 + J2 = P2 + BD = Hope 2] +

 

 

_

 R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056                     (713) 621-3740

© 1989, by R. B. Thieme, Jr.  All rights reserved.

 -----------------------------------------------------------------