In trying to show how the infinity of God relates to Christ, we have a tall order ahead of us. How can a being that was on earth in a finite body that was human be able to open up the infinity of God to us? In truth, however, it is the infinity of God that explains Jesus Christ in many ways. The human nature of Christ is often worshipped as if the humanity of Christ was Divine. It was and is not. Let me be clear, the human nature of Jesus Christ was not Divine and is not to be worshipped. Jesus Christ is only an object of worship to the degree that He was and is Divine. In other words, as we look at John 1:1 we see that there was a pre-existent Word. It was this Word that was with God and was God. It was this Word that through whom all things that have come into being came into being. That necessarily precludes Him as One who came into being since all things that have come into being have come into being through Him. Then in John 1:14 we see that it was this Word that took human flesh to Himself and in this it is said that the very glory of God dwelt (literally tabernacled) among men. Jesus Christ is to be worshipped as God in human flesh, but not as human alone.
Jesus Christ is infinite in terms of His Divine nature. In His Divine nature He is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnipresent (all-present). He is, to put it plainly, very God of very God. Theologians have put it this way. The Trinity is One God subsisting in three Persons. The three Persons are one God but in some way they are not the same as the others. So it was the second Person (the Word) of the Trinity that took human flesh to Himself. The second Person of the Trinity, then, was one Person in Whom there were two natures joined. The Person we call and know as “the Word” in Himself joined a human nature to His Divine one. To worship Jesus Christ, then, is to worship God in human flesh if He is to be worshipped in truth. Jesus Christ as He walked about on earth was in appearance fully human. But in reality He was God in human flesh. In reality the Creator of the universe was walking around in a created body. He was infinite in terms of His Divine nature.
As we think of Jesus the Christ walking on earth and doing miracles, the infinite nature of the second Person of the Trinity was showing through the human flesh. He raised people from the dead at the utterance of His voice. He stilled the winds and the waves at the utterance of His voice. He healed with a simple touch. He turned water into wine. He fed thousands with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. What was the significance of all of these and the others? One, they demonstrated that the kingdom of God was among the people. Two, these were signs for the people to see that God in human flesh was among them. The infinity of God was shining through a human body and people were so hardened that they did not see what He was really doing. The same is true today.
In terms of the cross, it took an infinite Being on the cross in some way in order to suffer for the sins of human beings and for the justice of God. In a previous blog on infinity and sin I tried to set out that sin as against God is against an infinite Being and so worthy of an infinite punishment. Since man cannot suffer an infinite punishment, he must suffer for an infinite amount of time which is eternal damnation. For man to be saved, then, someone had to pay a payment of infinite sufferings in order to pay what man owed. No one but an infinite God could pay such a payment. Therefore, Jesus Christ as God in human flesh was the only One who could pay the debt that man owed God. The Gospel is glorious because there is a glorious Savior who suffered and thereby glorified God in a way that no one but God could and would.
When Christ said in John 8:58 that “before Abraham was born, I am,” chills should go up and down our spines. The eternal and infinite God has put Himself on display in Christ. How would we ever know what humility really was unless we saw in some small way what Christ did to take human flesh to Himself? How would we ever know the depths of humility and obedience would go to unless we saw that Christ humbled Himself to go to the Cross and suffer the wrath of the Father He loves so much? How would we understand anything like infinite love unless we saw in some way God’s love for His own glory in some way being joined with His love for justice and wrath on the cross? How would we ever know what grace was if Christ had not come and out of love for the Father and His glory took human flesh and then went to the cross? There is no way to explain the life and works of Christ apart from the infinity of God. There is no way to understand the love, grace, justice, and holiness displayed at the cross apart from the character of an infinite God. How should we respond to this? It is hard to explain when people are on their faces. But perhaps that is the best way to explain it.
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