freeborn | ελεύθερος on Nostr: (sorry this is much longer than I'd intended) Again, great questions. This is a ...
(sorry this is much longer than I'd intended)
Again, great questions. This is a poor/difficult medium, but I'll give it a shot...
Regarding [Ephesians 4:6](https://esv.org/Eph+4), "[There is]...one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all [of you]." (ESV) - first, notice to whom he is speaking (back up to verse 1): he is speaking directly to the saints in Ephesus, and he is talking about what it means to be "one" in the church. Secondly, the ESV lacks that "of you" in the last phrase, but it's there in the Greek (and in the KJV, at least). So, given the greater context, especially the exhortation in verse 2, the main point seems to be: we are one in Christ, so let's act that way, let's bear with those who aren't as far along, and let's keep going. And more to the point of your question, Paul is not saying here that "God *is* all things," nor is he saying "God is *in* all things," but he is saying "God is in you all" and he is speaking to the church (those who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, through faith in Christ).
- Remember that the person of the Son of God--eternally begotten, not made--"took on flesh," which is to say that "he become what he was not, without ceasing to be what he always was," as the ancient fathers put it. The Person who took on flesh pre-existed the taking on of that flesh, did not cease to be that person, and did not become a new person. A summary of the [Nicene Creed](https://threeforms.org/the-nicene-creed/) would be "one person in two natures," and the [Athanasian Creed](https://threeforms.org/the-athanasian-creed/) gets even more precise: "He is one, certainly not by the blending of his essence, but by the unity of his person." The divine nature and the human nature stand together without the one becoming the other, or even mixing with the other--"one person, two natures." The theologians call this the [hypostatic union](https://reformedforum.org/podcasts/he19/), and a bit of digging on that might prove fruitful. More to your point, the Holy Spirit indwelt Christ "without measure," so in a sense, since we receive the selfsame Spirit, we are like him in that way. But the Spirit never becomes us, and we never become the Spirit, there is never an identity of persons. Even with Christ, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Son. This is worthy of reflection. Think of it: as mediator, he had to be true man in order to redeem man (he could not be anything other), and he had to be true God in order to bear the weight of that just judgement (he could not be anything other). So if Christ was some third thing, neither fully man nor fully God, but some mixture of each, he could not have been the mediator.
- There is a difference between Christ and us, though we share the same substance (human nature): the person of Christ is the eternally begotten Son of God, incarnate. That is, though he "took on flesh," in doing so did not cease to be divine. He did not descend from Adam "by ordinary generation," as the rest of us did. He is a new head of humanity; the firstborn of [read: over] the new creation, as well as the first fruits of the new creation. Whereas he is eternally begotten of Father, not created, we are adopted into the family.
- "Jars of clay" - yes, "new wineskins" is also a good biblical analogy/metaphor. The point is that we don't yet have our glorified, resurrected bodies. The Holy Spirit's indwelling, as a gift of grace, is like a downpayment on full glorification. A "seed," if you will, of the new life that is yet to come in the state of glory. For now, in the age of grace, we struggle with fits and starts, slowing being sanctified little by little until that day. But we have this promise: "because he was raised, [since we are joined to him as body is to head], we also shall be raised." Where head [forefunner] goes, the body [rest of the ship] is sure to follow. (Think also of birth: the body follows the path ~trailblazed~ so to speak, by the head.)
I didn't have as much time to refine this as I'd hoped, but hopefully this makes some sense of where I'm coming from. It's a real pleasure to get to talk about these things. Thank you.
Again, great questions. This is a poor/difficult medium, but I'll give it a shot...
Regarding [Ephesians 4:6](https://esv.org/Eph+4), "[There is]...one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all [of you]." (ESV) - first, notice to whom he is speaking (back up to verse 1): he is speaking directly to the saints in Ephesus, and he is talking about what it means to be "one" in the church. Secondly, the ESV lacks that "of you" in the last phrase, but it's there in the Greek (and in the KJV, at least). So, given the greater context, especially the exhortation in verse 2, the main point seems to be: we are one in Christ, so let's act that way, let's bear with those who aren't as far along, and let's keep going. And more to the point of your question, Paul is not saying here that "God *is* all things," nor is he saying "God is *in* all things," but he is saying "God is in you all" and he is speaking to the church (those who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, through faith in Christ).
- Remember that the person of the Son of God--eternally begotten, not made--"took on flesh," which is to say that "he become what he was not, without ceasing to be what he always was," as the ancient fathers put it. The Person who took on flesh pre-existed the taking on of that flesh, did not cease to be that person, and did not become a new person. A summary of the [Nicene Creed](https://threeforms.org/the-nicene-creed/) would be "one person in two natures," and the [Athanasian Creed](https://threeforms.org/the-athanasian-creed/) gets even more precise: "He is one, certainly not by the blending of his essence, but by the unity of his person." The divine nature and the human nature stand together without the one becoming the other, or even mixing with the other--"one person, two natures." The theologians call this the [hypostatic union](https://reformedforum.org/podcasts/he19/), and a bit of digging on that might prove fruitful. More to your point, the Holy Spirit indwelt Christ "without measure," so in a sense, since we receive the selfsame Spirit, we are like him in that way. But the Spirit never becomes us, and we never become the Spirit, there is never an identity of persons. Even with Christ, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Son. This is worthy of reflection. Think of it: as mediator, he had to be true man in order to redeem man (he could not be anything other), and he had to be true God in order to bear the weight of that just judgement (he could not be anything other). So if Christ was some third thing, neither fully man nor fully God, but some mixture of each, he could not have been the mediator.
- There is a difference between Christ and us, though we share the same substance (human nature): the person of Christ is the eternally begotten Son of God, incarnate. That is, though he "took on flesh," in doing so did not cease to be divine. He did not descend from Adam "by ordinary generation," as the rest of us did. He is a new head of humanity; the firstborn of [read: over] the new creation, as well as the first fruits of the new creation. Whereas he is eternally begotten of Father, not created, we are adopted into the family.
- "Jars of clay" - yes, "new wineskins" is also a good biblical analogy/metaphor. The point is that we don't yet have our glorified, resurrected bodies. The Holy Spirit's indwelling, as a gift of grace, is like a downpayment on full glorification. A "seed," if you will, of the new life that is yet to come in the state of glory. For now, in the age of grace, we struggle with fits and starts, slowing being sanctified little by little until that day. But we have this promise: "because he was raised, [since we are joined to him as body is to head], we also shall be raised." Where head [forefunner] goes, the body [rest of the ship] is sure to follow. (Think also of birth: the body follows the path ~trailblazed~ so to speak, by the head.)
I didn't have as much time to refine this as I'd hoped, but hopefully this makes some sense of where I'm coming from. It's a real pleasure to get to talk about these things. Thank you.