L4: The Deity of Christ

Denials

In other words, what was Christ doing "B.C."? He was experiencing what it means—tasting what it would soon mean—to be Savior, King, Prophet, Priest, Sacrifice and all he would be and accomplish. As the Word of the Lord he made God known. He judged evil (Gen 19:24). He saved his people (Is 63:9; Jude 5), guiding them through the wilderness, feeding them with manna and defending them from their enemies. He even had friendly times of fellowship, communing with his people (Gen 18:1-8; Ex 24:10-11): he was after all the bridegroom of his people, and he loved them like the finest husband (Is 62:5). He also served as a mediator and intercessor, praying for his people as a man pleads for a friend (Job 16:20-21; 1 Sam 2:25). With this, we begin to see him more obviously anticipating what was to come. In a striking scene in Judges, the angel of the Lord appeared to Samson’s parents; when they offered a sacrifice, “as the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame”—as if he were the sacrifice (Judg 13:20)... And since he was the one who would “appear in the cloud over the atonement cover” in the Holy of Holies (Lev 16:2), we can only imagine how he watched the work of the high priest, how he saw the sprinkled blood of the sacrifice, and how it made him think of the work before him. (Michael Reeves, Rejoicing in Christ, 31-32)

...there have also been Christians who have been shy of affirming that Jesus is the Lord, the eternal son of God. Take Theodore of Mopsuestia, fourth-century bishop whose confusion was due, perhaps, to being saddled with such a name. According to him, 'Jesus is similar to all other men, differing from natural men in nothing except that [the Word] was given him grace.' In other words, Jesus is not the Son of God: the Son or Word of God has a relationship with the man Jesus, helping him along, giving him grace. Be strong, reader! And before you laugh or vomit, see how this view of Jesus changes the shape of the gospel. Here, salvation is about us being given a bit of a boost by some abstract blessing called 'grace.' What it meant was that, for Theodore, Jesus became more of a model than a savior: a man helped along by God. And if God helps us in the same way that he helped Jesus, then we too can be just as holy and righteous as him. I wrote that this 'changes the shape of the gospel'; perhaps it would be more accurate to say it undoes the gospel. For this is salvation assisted by works. And another problem: if God is not actually prepared to become one of us and die for us, he clearly can't love us that much. He certainly doesn't love as much as the God who will. Even if he is prepared to throw us the odd bun, such a God must prefer to keep himself to himself. (Michael Reeves, Rejoicing in Christ, 49)