The Deity and Humanity of Christ
As taught in the Methodist / Wesleyan tradition
Affirming Christ as truly God and truly man, the only mediator between God and humanity.
Within the Methodist tradition, the question of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ is not merely a matter of abstract dogma or speculative philosophy; it is the vital foundation upon which the entire structure of "heart-religion" and "social holiness" is built. The subtopic of the deity and humanity of Christ—what theologians call the Hypostatic Union—answers the fundamental soteriological question: "How can a bridge be built between a holy God and a fallen humanity that is wide enough to carry the weight of our sin and strong enough to pull us into the life of God?" To the Methodist mind, influenced deeply by John Wesley’s synthesis of Anglican orthodoxy and Pietist fervor, Jesus Christ must be fully God to possess the power to save, and He must be fully man to be the representative substitute and the empathetic High Priest for a broken race.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the specific biblical evidence for both the pre-existent deity and the authentic humanity of Jesus Christ within the selected Scripture anchors.
- **Distinguish** between the "nature" and "person" of Christ as defined in the Methodist Articles of Religion and historic church councils.
- **Explain** the Methodist emphasis on the necessity of Christ’s dual nature for the doctrines of justification and entire sanctification.
- **Articulate** the meaning of the *Kenosis* (self-emptying) in Philippians 2 and its implications for Methodist ethics and social holiness.
- **Trace** the historical development of Methodist Christology from the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles to the Wesleyan Articles of Religion.
- **Defend** the orthodox view of Christ’s two natures against modern misunderstandings, such as Arianism (denying deity) or Docetism (denying humanity).
- **Apply** the reality of Christ’s sympathetic humanity (Hebrews 4:15) to the practice of pastoral care and personal prayer within the community of faith.
- **Compare** the "Cosmic Christology" of Colossians 1 with the "Personal Savior" emphasis of Wesleyan revivalism to form a balanced theological perspective.
Scripture
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