Sunday School - Orthodox Catechism Questions 39-56

The Meaning of Orthodox Catechism and Its Reformed Baptist Background

I confess this is on the last minute, but last time I was here, I remember that I told Josh to take some of these. So I had something that I wanted to go through, and I think we'll go through it in time.

I have them all up here. That is the General Functional Coordination and Controversy Committee, if you're familiar with that at all. If not, don't worry about it. I'll get there. Last time I taught somebody a school here, some time ago I taught somebody a school, we were going through an orthodox catechism.

I think it would be interesting to do that. So an orthodox catechism, who knows what that is? An orthodox catechism. I don't know. Well, hopefully some people know what those words mean. Orthos. Ortho.

Orthos. In Greek it means right to worship. Right? And dox. Right? Doxology. Right? Worship. So right to worship. And catechism. I say that so often in the world. It's a question you can't answer without a catechism.

So, an orthodox catechism is a late catechism. It's a right thing. Now, has anybody heard of Heidelberg catechism? Okay, so Heidelberg catechism is a very important catechism in the string, what we call the Dutch form.

I don't know if it's related to Dutch though. It's part of what they primarily focus on. Baptists have several Baptist versions of things, right? 16 .9 is the Baptist version of the Western Second Confession.

The Baptist catechism is the Baptist version of the Western Second Order catechism. An orthodox catechism is the Baptist version of the Heidelberg catechism. So, Hercules tells the guy who wrote this, and it's based off of the Heidelberg catechism.

So, it's mostly the same type of parts of Baptism and what the church is are reverted to a reverted Baptist theology. All right, so we saw question 38 last time. I'll just read this slowly. You can try to find this online if you want to follow along on paper or on your phone.

Why did he, that means Jesus, suffer under Pontius Pilate as a judge? And the answer is, so that he, though innocent, might be condemned by a civil judge, and so to free us from the severe judgment of God that was to fall on us.

So, it was necessary that Jesus be condemned in a judgment. You know, it was not sufficient for him just to die under no judgment. Rather, there must be some false accusations and false judgment upon him, so that he be our substitute.

Us having received the right to judgment as a human being.

What did he do to become not guilty? Didn't he say, I find no fault with this man?

That's true. Pilate didn't find fault, but he still condemned him as guilty, because he wasn't willing to stand up to the law. He just didn't have a sense of joy. And he still used his authority to give people what they wanted.

He was just guilty for hurting them. Feel free to ask any other questions at any time.

Along with that, though, Pilate couldn't find him by civil law, but he told the Jews, you take care of him, because wasn't he concealing that he was guilty under Jewish law? Or just say, if you say he's guilty, he's guilty.

But they're responsible. No, we can't. We can't kill him.

I'm talking about the guilt. I need to hear that, because I think the whole point was that they need to….

Am I going to have a clarifying question? I think Pastor Josh was saying, could he have been condemned as a secular guilt, or did it have to be religious guilt? He could have also accused him of shoplifting or whatever, but it sounds like that's actually what he was accused of under Jewish law.

Well, I mean, the Silberberg guards who were putting on the sign, King of the Jews, right there, they are recognizing the charge of blasphemy and enforcing the charge of blasphemy. Even if that's not….

Well, yeah, King of the Jews, that's a blasphemy against the king's will. Exactly. And then you recognize him as guilty, even if there was a lot of hesitation about that. Sorry, she has some questions.

The Curse of Hanging on a Tree

All right. Question number 39. Is it significant that he's crucified instead of dying some other way? What do you all think? Anybody want to answer that? Yes. Okay, go ahead. I'm going to read. Okay. So, yeah.

Once you start reading the Bible again, I haven't read it the first time, you start realizing how often the notion of hanging on a tree comes up. I can just read Deuteronomy 21, which talks about this the first time.

And if a man has committed a crime, which was wrought by death, he is put to death, and you may hang him on a tree. His body shall come out redeemed all night on the tree. But you shall bear him as a sanctity, for a hanging man is a curse by God.

You shall not follow him, for the Lord your God is giving him for an inheritance. Amen. All right. So, in the Goal, someone says, hang him on a tree, you can't hang him all night, you may have to take him down, because that man is a curse by God, spread across the land, he stays there, to go on a tree.

So you have a built into this law, this tree, you have Galatians confirming it,.

Galatians 10 saying,.

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, or it's written, cursed be everyone who is not abide by these things, as in the book of law, that do them. Now it's evident that no one has justified before God, by the law, for the right to be shielded by hate.

The law is not of hate, rather the one who does them, is shielded by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, so that any Christian, a blessing of Abraham, might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive promise, spirit, and faith.

So Galatians says that Christ hung on a tree, because he was bearing the curse for us. Now, can anyone think of other kinds of people, where anyone would choose? And before I ask that, I'll add that, one of the papers I did in seminary, was to see if there's really a relationship, between hanging on a tree, like, you know, by a noose, and being crucified.

And what you see is, in Jewish literature, over the years, as we reach the time when Jesus, had so conflated the two, that in their literature, they frequently talk about people, who were actually hanged, you know, just like, like in a noose style, as being crucified, they would use the same vocabulary, that uses for crucifixion.

Even though, you know, there weren't any other, but they would use that word, crucified,.

To describe someone hanging on a tree. Alright, so, anybody think of any other, kinds of people on a tree? Josh? Look, Saul's sons were hung before the war, right? I guess, it wasn't from a tree, it was from the city wall, that we're gonna, kind of relate.

It seems to, you know, I think a tree is important, but you know, it seems to relate to that. Right, yeah, Absalom, hung by his parents, on a tree. So, you have a son of David, hanging,.

People offering, silver for his life, right, to read the narrative, you know, the state of the hypothetical. And him being stabbed, in the side, with three spears, I think, you know, a lot of details aren't exactly, like, Jesus, but, boy, there's something about, this character, who's, in all ways, pretty evil, but, he's going through these, things, to show you that he's cursed, that he's suffering, very similar to things, that Jesus suffered later.

And then Jesus, suffers all those things, not in a way, that he's trying to, break the people apart, but in a way, that he's bringing the people together. And so Jesus, is this true, son of David? Is this true, son of Saul?

Like, who's, has, a similar, similar story, visually, but, during the exact opposite. Yes. I mean, I'm really sure. Yeah, he did, he did, commit suicide, didn't he? But, I'm not sure about, the hand. I'll pipe up in a second.

I'm sure he did. Yeah, there's Jesus, yeah. Okay, yeah, you have five, okay, five amortized, uh, then the five kings, amortized, came to Jerusalem, said, and, sorry, what's your name? What's his name?

Joshua, and put them to death, and hang them on the fire trees, and they come. So, he, he has them taken down, before the evening.

He said, the death, or, I remember that, it was important, that his legs weren't broken, he said that, that helps him, to be fulfilled, but. I, I've heard that, but that has to do with, that has to do with being, crucified in a Roman way, where, where your feet are sporting you.

These people that are gay con, I think are gay con, more likely, would be inhibited with, uh, here's one, it's in Genesis, you have, the, baker, and the cupbearer, in Genesis 40, right, and, the cupbearer, is told that, uh, in three days time, he'll be set free, and the baker is told, baby, in three days time,.

He'll be set free, and then it says, in verse 22, but he hanged the chief, baker, as Joseph had, interpreted it, so, uh, here you have, the, the baker, being hanged, right, on that third day, right, on that third day, which is not significant, because it's all, the cupbearer goes free, and the, the baker is hanged, you have, a lot of things, you know, Jesus later says, that it was told to you, that it was prophesied, in scripture, that Christ would arise, on the third day, but if you look through, there's really, only one passage, that it might, say that directly, everything else, is just tied, to the third day, delivery from death, if you remember, second Samuel, 17 .38, he was going to hang himself, okay, he was going to hang himself,.

And he was going, it's like, that's what he was going to do, against David, he was going to do it, so, so you have, trees, as, as a symbol, hanging on a tree, as a symbol of the curse, sometimes directly, pointing to Jesus, with who, and the way, that people are, hung, and then, as I said, you also have this, confirmation, that in Jewish history, they began using the words, of crucifixion, to, to speak of, of hanging, in the Old Testament, so, these songs, too, is the same thing, it's a hang on a tree, being crucified, is the same thing, by Jesus.

This is an excursion, it's interesting with, hanging, as a way of, dying, that's not, not one of the, ordained, methods of execution. Right. I think mainly, mainly you have stoning,. Right. Which seems pretty horrible, and it sucks, as, as to take a lot of, some pretty, painful, but stoning is, the sanction.

Right, yeah, I think they typically, kill the men, and then on the,.

Yeah, so for example, one that, you mentioned, an actor, would drive a truck, and put them to death, and hang them, on a bunch of trees, and hang them on trees, until they bleed out. So, yeah, you have a suicidal trait, where they kill themselves, by hanging, but, typically, this is done as an act, of like, displaying to everyone, look, look at this, what this person did, it's just a bunch of, you know, so it kind of, makes sense, why that would be, they would be considered, cursed, they're being hung, and hanged, because God's justice, and truth, demanded it, only the death, of God's son, could pay for our sins, God's justice, and truth, demanded it, this is, this is important, there's a lot of people, who say that, it was not, there are, Christians, you can tell, pastors, you know, in our circles, who say that, it was not, absolutely necessary, for Jesus, to die, to pay for our sins, that is just what God, ordained, he ordained death, as, as a way, to pay for our sins, however, he might have paid, some other way, now I think, I think that's wrong, the, the wages of sin is death, it isn't necessary, for anyone to die, in our place, um, yeah, there's, there's really, no way, God's justice, is part of his character, it is not, it is not something, that he, just changes, he's not orchestrating, what justice is, you know, uh, he is only condemning, the life, of people, and therefore, no one, has the right, because it's not something, that's, something intentional, and he, gives to society, a power, because of his good, because he's just, the wages, of sin is death, because of wages, of sin is death, one must pay, life and money, there's no, there's no way, so that was in the first part of God's justice, Jim Diddy, in the end, to spell it out more, only the death of God's son, would pay for our sins, you couldn't have, about the pain of someone else.

Even in, okay, obviously other people are sinners. And then on top of that, it's not enough even a good man who has sinned who isn't a son of God to pay for the sins of the world. So Psalm 497 says, truly no man can ransom another for giving God the price of his life.

For the ransom of life is costly and can never suffice. The nations will go on and never see the end. And then in verse 15 of that same psalm it says, but God will ransom my soul for power to heal for he will receive it.

So God has the power to ransom you from death. One life is not sufficient to pay for the sins of others apart from it being the life of God's own son. There is another verse which is pretty interesting here because it's not referenced by this Catholicism but it is referenced by the Western or larger Catholicism.

In Acts 2 it talks about, for David says to his servant, I saw the Lord was before me. For he is at my right hand and I know he shall be. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My flesh also will dwell with him.

For you will not abandon my soul, even if he is relented or only wants to see corruption. You have made the unending paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Brothers, I'm going to say to you in confidence that he both died and is buried in heaven is his attunement and his attunement is with us to this day.

Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God has sworn to both of them, that he will set one of his disciples on the throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he was not abandoned in his, nor did his flesh be corrupted.

This is Jesus, the God of grace and love and of that we are all to possess. Anyway, many people have taken this passage to say that basically only the son could withstand corruption, could withstand the wrath of God.

But this is not something that immediately, even if he had been born perfect, without sin and with a little bit of sin as well, could have withstood it. But the defining truth, which is wholly of the human nature, I'm trying to remember which verse in particular that people have taken from this passage, but anyway, I think it's basically just a letting the whole world see corruption.

It's only when it's especially holy, not just as righteous, but especially holy, that we will not see corruption. So yeah, any one that is especially holy will need one. Question 41, why was he buried?

Answer, his burial testifies that he was a devil. Answer, I'm trying to think of a way to answer that. He also prophesies. Since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die? That's a good question.

What do you all think of that? Why do we still have to die? Is it fair that we have to die for our sins?

But we still have eternal life. We do have eternal life, okay. Yes, sir. We couldn't enter eternal life if this body was corrupted. So this body only has to die. Yes, yeah, exactly.

This body was corrupted, it needs to die. Our death is not paid in debt or sin. Okay, so that's first of all, is that the whole question of inheritance is a certain way we realize that our death isn't a punishment in that sense.

It's not a barrier to inheritance because it's owed to us as far as it's paying in debt or sin. Rather, it puts us into our sin and it is our entrance into eternal life. So this is the only way to use the way to sanctify.

This is the rule through death. Death is that final act of sanctification. One passage about that. In 1 Corinthians 11, when it talks about that we can't enjoy any judgment on themselves because they don't come forward to speak rightly.

That is why many of you are weak and also gonna die. But if we judge ourselves truly, we will not be judged. It's interesting because right after that, it says that when we are judged by our warrior discipline, that we may not be condemned among the world.

So it's possibly just talking about the altar of the church. But it's possible also that he's talking about that act of death as a discipline. And if you think about it, this is necessarily the easiest thing to think about that death as a discipline.

Because the discipline is about that suffering that produces sanctification in us. And what is death, that final act of suffering that produces sanctification in us. Okay, question number three. What further advantage do we receive from Christ's sacrifice in death and in our lives?

Through Christ's death, our old selves are crucified, put to death, and buried with him, so that the evil desires of flesh may no longer rule us, but that instead we dedicate ourselves to his offering of gratitude to him.

Okay, so his, this is important, his sacrifice does not just pay for his sins, does not just give us forgiveness, but it also grants us that new nature, sanctification that we were just talking about.

So a lot of people imagine his death as his only way to get out of this process, right? And it just puts us back at a square one, basically. But it does much more than that. It sanctifies us, it purifies us, as we are put to death and buried with him.

And there are several passages that talk about this that are explained by the fact that it, that atonement accomplishes multiple things. One of those is the first John one, the last one, quick enough.

But there's a number of times where it talks about various things that are accomplished by, why does the creed add he descended to hell? So what creed is this talking about here? Yeah, so, this is the, so it says, and it's interesting, there's a lot of, there's been a lot of research on this one lately that I have not, I have not seen the books, but there's been a lot of interest in this phrase in the past few years.

To assure me that in times of personal crisis and temptation, that Christ, my Lord, by suffering his feeble anguish, pain, and terror of soul, especially on the cross, but also earlier, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell.

So, so the answer to this is, and people have different answers, which I haven't, I haven't sorted through all of them yet, but, but the answer to this is basically that if, it says that he descended to hell, not because on that, not because, you know, he was a hero in hell or something like that, or like a Catholic in New Era, he didn't actually go to paradise when he, when he died, but rather he was spent time in torment in hell.

That's, that's not the point. The point is rather than suffering on the cross, he bore what is feeble in hell, that we will have, that we will have a suffering, or would have had. How does Christ's resurrection benefit us?

So we talked about how his death benefits us, now his resurrection, and his miracle, and now his resurrection. First of all, his resurrection is to overcome death. So that he might make a share in his righteousness.

He won for us by his death. Second, by his power, we too are all now resurrected to a new life. Third, Christ's resurrection is guaranteed for our glorious resurrection. So first of all, about sharing his righteousness.

Secondly, about having a new life here now. And third, about having a new life there in the dead. Makes sense, any questions about the resurrection? What do you mean by saying he ascended to heaven? That Christ, while his disciples watched, was lifted up from the earth to heaven, and will be there for our good until he comes to judge the living and the dead.

All right, so he, he literally ascended to heaven. His physical body ascended to heaven. A lot of people might not have meaning as a spiritual place, where, you know, just spiritual things are, and physical things.

Heaven is a physical place, and I know that because Jesus has a physical body, and his physical body is in the dead. And so that truth is very important for us in thinking about heaven, because a lot of people have just very ethereal notions of what heaven is and what it will be.

But if Jesus is there with his Lord and my body, that tells us that there will not be so altogether different from this place. You know, that the things that God has created are going to just cease to exist, and that there's rather, you know, space and time.

You know, you hear people say elsewhere, people are like, oh, God just said we won't, we won't have any hunger there. I say, okay, well, that means that we won't eat just to meet these beings that just have no desire, and I think we need, like, to visit monks, you know.

No, no, it still talks about marriage, and I suppose it's possible that that's not, that's something else, and I'm speaking anonymously, but I have no reason to seriously doubt that it could be actual food, right?

Jesus eating after his resurrection. We won't be people without desires, we will be people whose desires are not intended by the Lord. That's just what I mean.

You know how it talks about, like, I think it's in Hebrews where it talks about when comparing Jesus with the old covenant, you know, how ours is better, how he went into the one that was, you know, how Moses made of what he saw in heaven, you know, like the temple, the, and provided his blood.

When did that happen? You're saying when did, when did? When did Christ, as priest, as our priest, go into heaven and present the blood for us?

Yeah, so I believe that already happened at the cross, he is making the sacrifice there, but then continually, he presents the intercessory for us. So he gives intercessory for us continually. This is why it's necessary to be a high priest for everybody, to make intercessory for us continually.

And that intercession, it is that. It's that, basically, on the basis of the sacrifice, which is just what makes Roman Catholicism a daily Eucharist. Such a common thing is that they believe that he's being represented by them every day, so that he's not, the priest is not blaming himself.

The other thing that you have is that in some sects of Christianity, or false sects of Christianity, you have this notion that Jesus is, on a particular day in history, did something in a holy place in heaven, right?

For example, the Seventh-day Adventist, the teach that, I forget what day, 1800s, but he entered the holy place of heaven, and there he began judging people. And he's basically going through every name, you know, Adam, Eve, et cetera, and judging them.

And so once he gets to the last name, the last one, Jesus, Seventh-day Adventist, yeah, the investigative judgment. This is their foundational doctrine. This is like the first thing that would separate them from everyone else.

You know, they were part of the middle race, and they made a prophecy about Jesus coming back, and when he did come back, most people abandoned the group, but one little sect of it decided that they were going to interpret this, and they, oh, this is what he went to the holy place, and this is how he came back.

So, yeah, that's a pretty common pattern. People make some prediction about the Lord returning on a particular day, and then he doesn't, they just say, oh, no, this is when something else happens. Or, can't be good, that's what I thought he did, right?

What did he say? This is, oh, no, that's the end of the church age.

What did he say? He can't be saying it's the end of the church age,.

But he said that for his church age.

He interpreted something was supposed to be the end of it. Yeah. Only it's right after you're,.

Yeah, he reinterpreted it in some way.

I had a question. Yes. Regarding in heaven. So, we would still be working in heaven, right? I mean, at least like in Adam and Eve, when he created Eden, the man was to work in the land, right? Yeah. I believe it was something more,.

That not toil and labor, but slip around, kind of words, that came with the curse, but rather God created man, and his image, and part of that is that creativity that he has given man, and so, I believe that we would still act in such a creative fashion, and we would be still subduing the world that he's given us, not what the creator means, that kind of subduing, I don't know.

But yeah, I believe we'll still be over creation, and that that will involve us doing what we need to do for work. You know, it's not like everything will be pre-done for us, and we just have to sit there, and eat our food, or whatever it is.

Yes.

And also, the creation, the earth will no longer resist our curse. Right. Because everything will be sanctified.

Yes. So yeah, once again, a lot of these pictures just happen, where we're just singing all the time, and like, how can I enjoy singing all the time? I don't know if I can enjoy that. Yeah, we won't be crazy all the time in our hearts, but the idea that he has given us just a diverse environment here, that's full of all kinds of beautiful and good things, and that it will be less diverse there, it's contrary to reason, that heaven will be less than what we have here, so it's so much more.

Again, this is an excursus to creation. Like, we explore now, we're curious, inquisitive beings, will we still have things to discover? I believe so.

Yeah, I believe that God will speak to us, and I believe that's a very good sign, that he will speak to things that we don't already know. Right, and if he's speaking to things that we don't already know, that's necessarily a discovery.

And he's going to eternally be speaking to us, which means we'll be eternally discovering more and more about him, at least. Right. And then, given what scripture said about how he's great in his creation, so we might discover him.

Like that passage, I keep going back to, when Isaiah talks about the farmer, learning about God by, because God was taught about the farm. Seeing that God's word that he had given on the field works in a very good way.

Yeah, I do believe that we will discover him, and more just from him speaking to us, and through his creation.

What is that word he talked about? Sure. Yeah, so let me,.

It's Isaiah 28, it's 23 through 29, so I can just read that. If you hear, you might be able to pay attention and hear my speech. Does he who plows for some plow timidly? Does he who timidly but with an ear on his ground?

When he has leveled the surface, does he not scatter the hills so keen and put an enemy in rows and barter in his proper place? And Amor has the word, so he's describing the word, the way that he would plant the field, and uses it for harvesting and grazing.

For he is rightly instructed, his God teaches him. Dill is not a threshing sledgehammer for hardwood or for cumin, but Dill is making out the same cumin with a rod. Does one crush grain with a rod? No, he does not thrash a rod.

When he drives his cart with his horses, he does not crush it. This also comes from the word of us. He is wonderful in his counsel and excellent in his wisdom. So God has taught Amor from Amor. Now, it might be by setting things up for the farmer to discover God is a tall farmer.

And in context, what this is saying is it's teaching him, not just about the field, but about him, because in context, the question is, will God continue to tolerate him? Will he continue to allow him a series of salvation?

The answer is no, God, just like he is a tall farmer, not to plow the field forever, but only for a particular time and season. Likewise, he is willing to plow for a particular time and season. He has a hard heart design.

And so God has taught the farmer through the discovery.

Of the lake, the field, or whatever, about him. And I see the reason why that would not continue. As I said, it's a good way that God operates in his communication with us. And it's still the way God operated even prior to our fall.

So one interesting thing about this is this is something that teaches us forever, forever. God speaks to us when we learn more about him. And consider that that's not the enjoyment of heaven. Of heaven, what makes it enjoyable is knowing God, knowing that God, of course, is your Jesus Christ, and having a sight on him, right?

Sight on him is just a little experience in him, and knowing him very immediately in that way. And the more and more that we know about him, the more and more we are able to enjoy him in this creation.

That means that, you know, occasionally here, people talk about different worlds of heaven, and some enjoy heaven more than others. I do believe that, but I also believe that it's not static for everyone.

It's not like we all get leveled up here, right? That's it. Believe me, we continue to enjoy heaven more and more and more and more as time goes on. This is very specific to theology, but I think there's a lot of reasons to highly suspect that what I'm describing is a decision that should be followed up.

And on the contrast to that, something very similar is consistent with that. That's his love, right? If those who are devout are not granted sanctified experience, they don't stop sinning, they keep sinning, they keep believing in the make-maker, and they build up more and more and judge against themselves as they are in hell.

What does that say about various mental health systems? Once again, I think it's static. I believe that as, as I said, as the image of God becomes more and more corrupted, and less and less reason for God to hold any of his wrath against us, that it would be worse for us to continue to live from the very beginning of time.

Now, that's not something here to talk to a lot about because it's so speculative, but once again, I think scripture says enough that we can make a very confident assertion about all of these things. And that should be sobering, but also, yeah, it should be precise, like, whatever we call it.

Christ’s Ascension, Intercession, and the Nature of Heaven

But is it Christ with us until the end of the world as he's not promised? Answer. Christ is truly human, true to God, and he's human, true to Christ. He's not on earth, but in his divinity, that is, he's grace, he's grace.

He is not absent from us as we are one with him. So, when Satan says that he can promise to be with us, that's exactly what we need to do in order to make a great, great mission. I'll end with you with you as we say in Ephesians 2.

And so, yeah, yeah, and it's human nature that he's not with us, but he is not absent from us for a moment, and his divinity, that is, he's grace, he's spirit. So we can love both of us as Christ and spirit.

Now, once again, there's some references of Christianity that say very different things about this. Who knows what the Lutheran review is called? It's a fancy word we use for Christ's human nature as we're dealing with this.

It's the ubiquity of Christ. Okay, so, it's kind of ubiquity because it's kind of like uncompressed, but it's a special word we use to refer to his human nature, ubiquity, ubiquity. So, the Calvinist, I believe, reform idea is that Christ's human nature, or divine nature, are joined together.

They're never mixed. There's no, yeah, the divine nature overacts as divine nature. The human nature overacts as the human nature. In Lutheran theology, you actually have the holy nature chopped off some of the properties of each other.

So, Christ's human nature comes along more preferably through the divine nature, and that's why they would say, for example, the Fort Worth Supper, after the elephants were molested. They wouldn't say the Roman Catholic where it ceases to be bread and wine and comes just to be blood.

They would say it remains bread and wine, but it comes to be blood are in the elements and around the elements, because of the ubiquity of this nature, because he is ubiquitous. So, he's really humanly, physically present.

Yes, yes. Is it only because of that position on communion that they would have to have the doctrine of ubiquity? Or does it relate to other aspects of theology? I don't know. That's a really good question.

I feel like that's a good stopgap to explain. Right, right.

I think that would be a rich relationship where whether or not they would come up with more things that this applies to. I don't know. If his humanity is not present wherever his divinity is, then aren't two natures of Christ separate from each other?

So, if his divinity is somewhere he is, this doesn't mean that his nature is separate from not actually joined together as one Christ. The answers are not. So, his divinity is unlimited and he's present everywhere.

It's as if the Christ to be surely on that balance of humanity is just taken on. But at the same time, his divinity is in and it's personally united to his humanity. So, yeah. First person is that thing which unites the two natures.

It's not about, yeah, spatial, uniting. It's about the uniting of his person. How does Christ's ascension to heaven fit us? First, he that pleads our cause in heaven in the presence of his father. First, he pleads our cause in heaven in the presence of his father.

So, it's important for his ascension that he be with his father in heaven. Second, we have our own flesh in heaven. Guaranteed, Christ, our head, will take us, his members, to himself in heaven. Actually, we're looking at a lot of stuff to say about that, but basically, the idea is that he being in heaven as the firstborn and brethren, guarantees that we ourselves will see him in heaven.

Third, he sends his spirit to us as a perfect guarantee. Remember, Jesus said that if you are a son of mine, I will be your homewrecker, but I'm assisting you in all of your work. So, you should be with one of your father, and two of your siblings, and he'll help you.

So, that's another dimension of ascending. By the spirit's power, we may make a goal of our lives, not earthly things, but things of the love, where Christ is, so he can give God his right hand. So, by Jesus being here, and drawing our hearts to him, and by his spirit, that makes us desire our heavenly things rather than earthly things.