If "God is spirit" then how can the incarnation be possible? How does Nicene theology interpret John 4:24?
Upvote:3
Why Incarnation from Spirit is possible
In Christianity understood through the Nicene creed, "God" in John 4:24 is God the Father, so it is correct to say that God the Father is spirit. In Christianity, God created everything, including all human beings who have a body as well as a soul made "in God's image". Incarnation (God taking a human nature) is possible simply because this is the God who made human beings in the first place. Therefore, God could also assume the form of a perfect human being (lesser than God), although in order to do that He would need to shed some of His divinity (Phil 27:7).
How God became human and stayed with us in spirit
According to Nicene theology, God was conceived miraculously in a hypostatic union of God and human within the womb of Virgin Mary, who then gave birth around 3-4 BC in Bethlehem. The kind of this union was determined to be fully God and fully human at the same time, formalized at the Council of Chalcedon.
After Jesus's ascension, his whole glorified & resurrected body left our universe but as a replacement Jesus sent His divine spirit to live with us (starting at Pentecost), whom Christians call the Holy Spirit.
Because the spirit of Jesus is 100% God, Christians can also worship Jesus as God without committing blasphemy (since Jesus is not simply a created being like humans or angels). For the meaning of worshiping "in spirit and truth", see this gotquestion.org article What does it mean to worship the Lord in spirit and truth?.
Why God incarnated into Jesus
Why did God do this, though? He did this mainly to save humanity, but there are other purposes as well such as:
- to reveal the Father to us
- to fulfill the Davidic covenant, and
- to provide an example for our lives on how we ought to live.
See Charles Ryrie's The Purpose of the Incarnation and Rev. Campbell Morgan's article.
For further study
The doctrine of God's taking human form is called Incarnation
For more understanding on why incarnation is necessary for salvation according to Nicene theology, one historically significant doctrine is Recapitulation developed by an early church father Irenaeus (125-202 AD). You can read more about Recapitulation by reading this 2015 paper Irenaeus of Lyons: A Defense of Recapitulation).
More post
- 📝 According to Trinitarians, did the human Jesus worship the divine Jesus?
- 📝 What do Christians do on a Fasting day besides worshipping?
- 📝 Jesus... the word became flesh
- 📝 Is it possible to be a good Christian and be psychic at the same time?
- 📝 How do Catholics support transubstantiation?
- 📝 How do Christians who believe in libertarian free will respond to R.C. Sproul's critique in the article "What Is Free Will?"?
- 📝 Did the Israelites/Hebrews have their own slaves or servants?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, why do some possessed people vomit during exorcisms?
- 📝 Why are slaves and slave women mentioned distinctly in the Old Testament?
- 📝 Why is the word 'Lord' in all caps in the OT but not in the NT?
- 📝 Are bad things in life Satan's doing or God testing/punishing me?
- 📝 Music Ministry in Evangelical Free Church of America
- 📝 Movies and Music during Lent for Orthodox Christians
- 📝 How Can I Appropriately Live Life Accordingly to God's Will?
- 📝 How do Full Preterists interpret 2 Peter 3:9-13?
- 📝 Why did Christ need to be the first person to be resurrected?
- 📝 What is the source of this numbering anomaly in Ambrose's De Officiis?
- 📝 Are there any surviving writings by Marcion or is everything we know of him what his enemies wrote of him?
- 📝 What is the Roman Catholic view of Christian perfection or entire sanctification?
- 📝 According to reformed theology: Is loving God a choice? If not, do the elect differ from robots?
- 📝 Does Jesus's name lose authority in other languages? (Catholic)
- 📝 Did Adam and Eve's Progeny Commit Incest?
- 📝 Is Gertrude the Great's mariology considered erroneous in modern Catholicism?
- 📝 According to the Catholicism, what exactly is the meaning of “overshadowed” by the power of the most High in Luke 1:35?
- 📝 What does Catholicism teach about 'The Massacre of the Innocents'?
- 📝 Are we born sinners?
- 📝 Why are some words in the King James Bible written in italics?
- 📝 Is it known when and why Christians began to sign themselves and impart blessings with the Cross?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for only Men being created in the image of God?
- 📝 What does "proceeds" mean to Eastern Orthodox?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 If "God is spirit" then how can the incarnation be possible? How does Nicene theology interpret John 4:24?
- 📝 If the Holy Spirit is God, and God can not be in the presence of sin, then how can the Holy Spirit dwell in me a sinner?
- 📝 How does 1 John 2:19 fit with the teaching that Christians can lose their salvation
- 📝 If one's entry into the church is solemnized by baptism, then how does one leave the church?
- 📝 Since there is only one God who is not formed then how can the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that Jesus is a created god?
- 📝 How can apologists argue that if Jesus did not rise again then Christianity and the Church would not have lasted, when other religions have?
- 📝 How does praying the rosary becomes a spiritual sword that can slay the dragon?
- 📝 If Jesus's death was not eternal, then how can it be substitutionary for the eternal deaths of humans?
- 📝 Does the bible give guidance on how one can achieve happiness?
- 📝 If the Ten Commandments say “thou shalt not kill” how can a Christian fight in a war?
- 📝 How can the Son not know what the Father knows?
- 📝 How can the sun be created after day and night?
- 📝 How can we trust the Bible after it has been translated to another language?
- 📝 If God set the maximum age to 120, then how could Jacob be 130 years old?
- 📝 How can I tell the difference between the Moral law and other laws in the old testament?
- 📝 How does Matthew 25:31-46 ("The Sheep and the Goats") reconcile with salvation by faith?
- 📝 How does the Catholic church explain Matthew 19:9, which seems to allow divorce in case of sexual misconduct?
- 📝 How can a loving God make a deal with the devil?
- 📝 How does free will fit with the doctrine of predestination?
- 📝 How can things considered bad when done by humans become good when God does them?
- 📝 How does the Catholic Church reconcile evolution with original sin?
- 📝 How does the Arminian view of salvation account for God's sovereignty?
- 📝 If Jesus is "God's Only Son" then how can we all be God's children?
- 📝 Does Catholic doctrine teach that the Incarnation would have taken place regardless of Adam's decision?
- 📝 If Christ is considered the 'Son of God' then how is He a part of a Trinity?
- 📝 How does the Snake in the Desert foreshadow the coming of Jesus?
- 📝 How does Christ's hypostatic union affect the temporal nature of the Trinity?
- 📝 When the Bible says "forever," how can we tell it really means forever?
- 📝 To a YEC, how does a metaphorical interpretation of Genesis 1-3 distort the gospel?
- 📝 How does the LDS Church decide what is included in their scriptural canon?
