“God Eternal humbled to the grave”

Really? Did God Eternal go to the grave? I think we sing these words from a popular song without giving them very much thought. We want them to be correct because we like the song, or we have a favorable view of its source. But, are these words truth? How we answer that says much about what we believe regarding the nature of God, and our view of Christ Himself. As we enter into Passion Week, the death, burial, and ressurection of Jesus Christ should be on the hearts and minds of every true believer. And, it’s right that we wrestle with the truth of the most profound event in world history.

Scripture bears testimony that God cannot die. Paul himself, in his letter to his young disciple Timothy, explicitly states the eternal nature of God when he says, “…who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, …” (1 Timothy 6:16, NASB95). But yet, God the Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for our sins. How do we reconcile this?

The God-man

First, we need to understand the dual nature of Christ. This is referred to as the hypostatic union of Christ. This means that Jesus Christ was, and is, fully God and fully man. We see evidence of this truth all through the gospel narratives, and it has become a pillar of orthodox Christianity for nearly two thousand years. Jesus Christ was both God and man.

This is a hard truth for us to understand, given our limited capacity to grasp the eternal nature of God. Or, for that matter, to fully grasp the concept of eternity. However, it is a truth we must affirm and accept. Not only does this impact our understanding of the gospel, it impacts our understanding of who we worship. Our worship must be a response to a view that is worthy of Him, not simply an appreciation for what He did for us.

But God bled

In Acts we read, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” (Acts 20:28, NASB95). If God bled, didn’t God die? I want to be clear, the hypostatic union of Christ remained intact before, during, and after the bodily death of Christ on the cross. So who, or what, died and went to the grave. The human body, His flesh died, was buried, and rose again 3 days later. Praise God! His deity, even his human soul, did not die that day when He was crucified for your sins and mine. God, therefore, cannot and did not die and go to the grave.

So, can we in spirit and truth, sing “God Eternal humbled to the grave”? I cannot. You must decide for yourself if these words can truthfully be sung. I’m not suggesting that we ditch the song entirely. Although, its not as if we don’t have plenty of other choices to sing. When standing with the church and this line comes up, I choose not to sing it. I might sing “Christ Incarnate humbled…”, or I might just remain silent. In my conscience I cannot sing something I know in my heart is not true. My encouragement to you is that you examine this for yourself and make your own choice.

“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers,” (John 4:23, NASB95).