He had a human mother, but she conceived in her womb in a way unlike any other (Galatians 4:4). Instead of intercourse and impregnation with a man’s sperm, the power of the Most High overshadowed her (Luke 1:35). It was at that moment that God became a human being by being an embryo in the womb of Mary. Jesus received the deity of the Father from him and part of his humanity from Mary (Luke 1:34-35; Galatians 4:4). This will never be fully understood or comprehended, but must be accepted on faith.
The Hypostatic Union explains the way in which Jesus was Conceived
hypostatic union
The mystery is how all of God’s self-existent Spirit could become a human being. Even though this mystery took place at the moment of conception, conception is not the mystery.
My answer to this objection is that God also did not explain the way in which divinity and humanity existed in Jesus Christ, and yet we are still trying to understand this aspect of the incarnation.
In fact, the attempt to understand this union is the essence of Christology. Consequently, it cannot be said that understanding is not to be sought in this matter because it is not specifically dealt with in the Scriptures.
(You can also read: The oneness of God)
It is useful to speculate, but only when at the same time we are aware that when the Scriptures are silent there are no hard lines from which to draw anything. Our conclusions can only remain conjectures, however these speculations can be healthy if they are based on the content of the Scriptures and good logic, seeking harmony with the Word of God without ever contradicting it.
It has commonly been considered that Jesus received all of his deity from God and all of his humanity from Mary. I agree with the first statement, but the latter cannot be true. Jesus could not have received the fullness of his humanity from Mary. If so, Jesus would have been a woman.
Maria’s egg could only offer X chromosomes. X chromosomes produce females. She needed the presence of the Y chromosome to have a male child. Only males have this Y chromosome. Without a supply of this Y chromosome, Jesus could not have been born as a human male. So where did this genetic influence come from? The answer can only be that it was supplied by the Holy Spirit at conception. Erickson made the same point when he said:
“Jesus was not produced solely from the genetic pattern of Mary, for in that case he would have had the effect of being a clone of her, and would necessarily have been female. On the contrary, a male component was provided. In other words, a spermatozoon was united with the ovum provided by Maria, but above all, this one was created especially for the occasion, instead of having been supplied by an existing man.
(You can also go to the Pentecostal Doctrine section)
Since God provided a necessary element for the human existence of Jesus, it is inevitable to confess that Jesus received part of his humanity from the Father.
Scripture clearly affirms the contribution that Mary made to the existence of Jesus. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman and born under the law.” The Greek word translated “of” in the phrase “of a woman” is ek. This word means “to come out of.” Jesus was made of a woman, He was not just born of a woman.
The author of Hebrews says that “He did not succor the angels, but succored the seed of Abraham” (Hebrews 2:16). David was promised that through his genetic line, God would raise up the Messiah to rule on his throne (Psalm 132:11).
Note that if Mary had been an incubator for created flesh, Jesus could still have been considered a genuine human being (since Adam was a created man who did not have a human mother but was still fully human) but would not have been part of the creation. adamic race.
(You may be interested in: Christology)
If Jesus were not part of Adam’s race, He could not save those who are separated from God because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12-21; Hebrews 2:9-10, 2:14-18). Undoubtedly, Mary contributed to the humanity of Christ.
There are two Greek words that refer to conception. The first is gennao which simply means “beget” or “be born”. It refers to the conception of the child, or the birth of it. This word is used in Matthew 1:20, when the angel told Joseph, “what is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
The other word is sullambano which means “to take together”. When this word is used in the context of conception, it refers specifically to the taking of sperm and egg together, which causes conception. By definition, conception refers to the penetration of the female egg by a male sperm.
From the angel’s words to Mary, when she announced that she was to be the mother of the Messiah, it can be seen that at conception, God must have contributed to the humanity of Jesus. He said to her: “And now, you will conceive (sullambano) in your womb, and bear a son, and you will call his name JESUS… The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore also the Holy Being that will be born (gennao), will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:31, 1:35).
Speaking about Elizabeth’s pregnancy when she had John the Baptist in her womb, the angel went on to say, “And behold, your relative Elizabeth, she also has conceived (sullambano) a son in her old age…” (Luke 1:36). . The word that is used to describe the way in which Elisabet was with her son, is the same that is used to describe the way in which Mary was with her son.
The angel made no difference as to how the children were conceived. It is interesting that Lucas, who wrote these verses, was a medical doctor. As a doctor, he used precise terminology to explain how Maria conceived.
If there was a “taking together” of a sperm and an egg for Elizabeth’s conception, likewise there must have been some contribution made by God to Mary’s egg causing it to open, while at the same time contributing the Y chromosome. which was necessary to produce a male baby.
Whether this was a “divine sperm” cannot be known. However, it must be confessed that God contributed some element to the humanity of Jesus. God did not put his deity into a human body made entirely from Mary, or infuse his Spirit into a human body, but God actually begat a son. That is why we commonly refer to Jesus as the only begotten Son of God.
It is quite possible that when the Word (the Word) became flesh, God actually became the sperm that fertilized Mary’s ovum. If it was not an actual sperm that God used to father the child, it must have been some kind of substance that contributed the male components to the components offered by Mary… If there was not some physical substance that caused the conception, what How can it be said that God became flesh? (John 1:14).
Regardless of what this substance was, it cannot be said that it was created. Jesus is not a created being. If this part of his humanity was created, it cannot be said that He is really God. A creation is always independent of the creator.
If I paint a picture, I cannot be that picture since I created it. If Jesus had been created, He would be like a painting. However, Jesus is God manifested in the flesh. From the conception of Jesus, God became a human being. God did not create the man Jesus, He is the man Jesus! He did not limit himself to creating a human body and then living in it. God made the human body.
Some hold that God caused Mary to conceive in some spiritual way, spiritually adding the necessary components to produce a male child. If this were true, then Jesus would have to be considered (at least in part) a created being. He would only have been the Son of God in the same sense that Adam was. Adam was a son of God, because God created him. But the filiation of Jesus was different, since Jesus was begotten and conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Hypostatic Union, Definition
Hypostatic union of Christ, biblical definition
The “component” that was provided for the conception of Jesus would not have been a substance separate from God, but that substance would have contained the essence of his deity that dwells in the body of Jesus (Colossians 2:9). The moment when this substance was united with the ovum of Mary, must have been the moment when deity and humanity were brought into one existence, forming what we call the hypostatic union of Christ.
Regardless of how that union actually occurred, we know that it occurred. Jesus received all of his deity and part of his humanity from God the Father, and the other part of his humanity was inherited from his mother Mary from him.
This opinion is consistent with Scripture, in no way contradictory, and at the same time it explains the biological processes that we know are necessary for the birth of a child. Here we have not tried to naturalize the mystery of the incarnation (how God became a human being), but we have tried to understand the means by which the Holy Spirit conceived in the womb of Mary.
Because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and not by a man, He…