Jesus Christ Very God Very Man

I. 2.§15. The Mystery of Revelation


In this section, Karl Barth writes,

The mystery of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ consists in the fact that the eternal Word of God chose, sanctified and assumed human nature and existence into oneness with Himself, in order, thus, as very God and very man, to become the Word of reconciliation spoken by God to man. The sign of this mystery revealed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the miracle of His birth, that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.

Barth takes on the challenge of understanding what it means to be ‘fully God, fully human’. He uses the term ‘Very God Very Man’ to describe Jesus Christ, God incarnate and ‘Word made flesh’. He suggests that this may be considered in two ways; as a completed event or as a completed event. In the former, God incarnate in the historical Jesus is a completed event in human history with all its implications for us. The latter shows that the ‘Word made flesh’ is just one of the actions of the Word. The human and divinity is not static but always changing, not fixed by any event in time. Typical of Barth, he raises the question but never offers an answer. With some difficulty, one may perceive both ways to be correct. Again, reading Barth reminds me that God’s way will always be a mystery to me.

Interesting article here about the difference between Lutheran and Reformed Christology as discussed above as a completed event and completed event.

This is part of the Barth Synchroblog reading  Karl Barth's Dogmatics

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