Did God die?

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

In one of the other current threads, someone wrote that God didn't die when Christ died..

IMHO, when Christ died, part of the Trinity - the Son - died. God - the Father - was the one who resurrected Him.

Didn't God send His Son to die for humanity?

[Nan]

There is a verse somewhere when Jesus says that He lays His life down and He

takes it up again.

I guess this is taking "I and My Father are one" to the ultimate.

Do not have time to write more this morning, will be interested to see where

this goes, glad you raised it, Pam

[Sonny]

In one of the other current threads, someone wrote that God didn't die when Christ died..

IMHO, when Christ died, part of the Trinity - the Son - died. God - the Father - was the one who resurrected Him.

Didn't God send His Son to die for humanity?

Who does the law condemn - God? Did God sin? No! Humanity sinned and humanity had to die. Christ, as God, took upon His Deity our fallen humanity. That's what died.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

But Adam and Eve were perfect, yet they sinned.

Christ, as God, took upon His Deity our fallen humanity. That's what died.

I don't understand what you mean here... sorry..

[John317]

Humanity died, for sure, but deity cannot possibly die, since by definition, diety is immortal, not subject to death. The reason Christ came here and became a man was in order to die, because He couldn't die otherwise.

It was the divine nature in Christ that raised His dead body from the grave.

John 2:19-21

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." [20] The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" [21] But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

But where was the divine nature hiding out when the human part was dead? That would mean God the Son did not die, did not give His life for mankind.

[Woody]

But where was the divine nature hiding out when the human part was dead? That would mean God the Son did not die, did not give His life for mankind.

That would be correct Rudywoofs. Jesus Christ the Son of God did not die for us. His human counterpart did according to this belief. Tis a can of worms.

[John317]

But where was the divine nature hiding out when the human part was dead? That would mean God the Son did not die, did not give His life for mankind.

The divine nature and the human nature were mysteriously combined in a single individual name Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was not two people but one, and that one person died. It wasn't as if another person inside Christ lived on after Jesus died. But you might think of it as a hibernation of the deity. When Jesus was a baby inside Mary and in the manger in Bethlehem, that baby was God. The baby was not conscious of being God, and neither was the child Christ conscious of being Christ, until about the time he went to Jerusalem at the age of 12.

Yet Col. 1: 17 and 2: 9 tell us that during all that time, the deity in Christ was upholding the whole universe and in Christ lived continuously the whole fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. When the Word became flesh (human), he did not cease to be God. He simply knew only as much as the Father allowed Him to know and He never used His divine powers to resist sin or perfrom a miracle. He truly could do nothing on His own, but relied totally upon His heavenly Father for everything.

[Woody]

Why would it bother God the Father if some hybrid of His son died? And then in his foreknowledge ... He knew would rise again?

[Sonny]

But Adam and Eve were perfect, yet they sinned.

[John317]

..Christ as God, while remaining Himself, became sin - i.e., He became human.

True.

[Sonny]

In Christ were united the divine and the human--the Creator and the creature. The nature of God, whose law had been transgressed, and the nature of Adam, the transgressor, meet in Jesus--the Son of God, and the Son of man. [LHU 346]

This is similar, though not the same, as the believer. Of himself he is a sinner indwelt by sin, but God dwells in this sinful body through the Holy Spirit who is God. So you have two in one.

Christ was & is God. At the incarnation He, as God, assumed our humanity that was under the curse. He didn't become humanity and nothing else, but remained Himself while being made human. Again, two in one.

Keep in mind His Deity never was degraded to our humanity. It, Deity, stood alone.

Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of the Son of God? No ; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person—the man Christ Jesus....[The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 5:1113]

[Sonny]

Here's the whole context:

Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of the Son of God? No; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person—the man Christ Jesus. In Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When Christ was crucified, it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and die; that would have been impossible.—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 5:1113.

Clearly, although I have trouble with other EGW statements involving "works", Ellen White had to be inspired. This, however, doesn't place her above the Bible.

This concept can be taken from the Bible, but here EGW states it clearer....

[John317]

Why would it bother God the Father if some hybrid of His son died? And then in his foreknowledge ... He knew would rise again?

Because the Son whom the Father had before the Incarantion is "lost" forever. Christ now has a human personality, having developed it throughout his earthly experiences of growing up and developing from childhood to adulthood.

Before He came to this earth as a baby human, the pre-incarnate Christ was in the form of God. He had a relationship with the Father similar to that of a son with his father. He perfectly reflected the Father's character and being. He had the same nature as the Father. All that has changed. Christ will never again be in the form of God. He will forever be in the form of man. That would be about like a human condescending to become an insect, descending not one step down but two steps. One step down from humanity would be to the level of an animal; two steps down would be to the level of an insect. Imagine loving an insect so much that we would volunteer to become an insect for the rest of eternity. That gives us some idea of what the Son of God did, and what the Father sacrificed in giving His Son to die for us.

God lost His divine Son but He gained millions of human sons. For Him-- for them both-- the children He gained from Christ's death made the sacrifice of His one and only Son worth the price.

[John317]

Sure is good to see you quoting the Spirit of prophecy as authority, Sonny. :-) Now if you could just branch out into other topics.

[Woody]

Praise God that Sonny presents the SOP in a balanced approach. Good job Sonny.