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Here's a question. Assuming we all agree that Christ existed prior to his birth on earth, was he fully God and fully man prior to his time on earth or was he just fully God? Also, is he still fully God and fully man now? Is he a guy (meaning what he looks like), hanging out in heaven in an actual body? Explain your answer.
GJ

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First, The Son was the Only-beggoten of the Father from before all ages. But He was not Christ until he was incarnate. Some theologians have even made the intentionally sstriking, but true statement that Christ would not exist without the church. (A head turner.) But what that boils down to is that you can't have a savior without someone being saved; and you can't have an "anointed one" ("Christ" in Greek) without something (humanity0 to anoint. (I think I got that all right. ) Review: the Son/Logos/Wisdom predates the Christ; same Person of the Trinity.

Drum roll...... "In the fullness of time", when the time was right, etc., Christ became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and Mary.

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Also, is he still fully God and fully man now? Is he a guy (meaning what he looks like), hanging out in heaven in an actual body?

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I once did e-mail with a BGC pastor--who will remain annonomous forever--who decided that The Son would eventually strip Himself of his hymanity soas to fit the verse "that God may be all in all." He got THAT one wrong by 180-degrees! he was reacting to the Biblical Equality verses whatever-it-is-verses flap that is ongoing, and so saw Christ's humanity as a "subordination." He saw the Son as thusly "subordined to the Father, temporarily. Bad Trinitariain doctrine, huge lack of evident understanding of the plan of salvation. (All that with an MA from Wheaton College. But re-acting when you aught to be acting will get you every time!)

You wnat someone to give you an answer about whether Christ is fully man now. Yes He is. Let me take one sidestep. Paul says in Romans 4:25 that Christ: "was delivered over to death for our sins and was riased for our justification." Lets let this verse affect our eyesight in how we look at the whole matter of our salvation. The Cross is HUGE! Sin is a huge issue. But our death-liness (Don't tell my wife Im making up words again!) needed to be assumed by Chirst--who took on our humanity...in every aspect except sin...--had to be buried with Him in his death, raised from the dead, AND had to be taken up into heaven. Salvation is not all confined to Good Friday. In Christ human flesh is deified, joined to God's Spirit. And making careful use of all the verbs and prepositions will be beyond this brain that flew from Phoenix to O'Hare today...so I'll cut this short...but EVERY part of this is very important.

In attenting Baptist Sunday School (Lets blame it on the era; I'm not ragging on Baptists here.) as a kid I picked up one good idea, that Christ was at the right hand of the Father "making intersession" for me, as an agvocate, kind of like a laywer.

There is more to it. (So, lets see a bunch of folks dig for some research and "flesh"--pun--this out!) Part of defeating the effects of the fall is to restore mankind to communion/fellowship with the Divine, and to surpass the point which Adam and Eve were at in thier growth. That chapter in the end of Revelations about God dwelling among men IS the plan for all of the cosmos--with mankind as the bridge between material and spirit bringing all to God in worship. So there has historically been good speculation thattThe Son would have become incarnate even if our ancestors hadn't sinned. Speculation--SURE. But based on solid stuff. (Also a "we'll never know...matter.) The "more to it" is that to "dwell" with us, the incarnation is necessary. And the glorification of humanity in the resurrection and assention are also necessary. One addressed sin and the other addresses the creature/creator gap.

So, there you have it, two reasons whey the Christ has to have and keep his humanity in heaven. More than forever.

To bed!!!!!!

Can someone furnish more nuts and bolts for this string? Thanks.


PotOnWheel