The Glorified Humanity of Christ: The God-Man Who Reigns
Orientation
A common misunderstanding is that Christ's divinity overshadows His humanity, making His human nature less significant for our salvation and hope.
- This view can make Christ feel distant, as if He didn't truly become one of us.
- It risks turning justification into a legal abstraction, disconnected from our human experience.
- It can obscure the biblical truth that our destiny is to share in the glory of a glorified Man.
For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
— Hebrews 2:10
Clarification
The resurrection did not make Christ divine, but declared His glorified humanity to share in the divine Sonship He eternally possessed.
- Christ's humanity was not left behind but was uplifted and glorified through death and resurrection.
- He reigns now as the God-Man, holding all authority in His human nature as the Last Adam and Head of a new race.
- This glorification of His flesh is the pledge and pattern for the destiny of all who believe in Him.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
— John 1:14
Structure
Biblical logic reveals that Christ's incarnation, death, and exaltation glorify humanity itself, establishing Him as the mediating Head of a new creation.
- The incarnation was necessary for Christ to become our representative and lead many sons to glory.
- His exaltation as a Man to the right hand of God secures a dominion far above Adam's, extending into the heavenly realm.
- Believers are united to this glorified Man, destined to share His authority and reign as co-heirs.
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.
— Ephesians 1:20-21
Weight-Bearing Prose
The core assertion is that Christ’s work glorifies His humanity. He partook of flesh and blood to become the Seed of the Woman, Abraham, and David—the promised representative. His resurrection declares His human nature as the Son of God with power, not making Him divine but glorifying the humanity He assumed. This is divinization in the biblical sense: His humanity is brought into the full sphere of divine life and authority. He now holds all authority in heaven and on earth as the God-Man, the Last Adam, and the Head of a new human race. This is not a secondary point. If Christ’s humanity is not glorified, then our justification, sonship, and inheritance lose their anchor in a human representative. Paul’s categories of the Last Adam (1 Cor 15:45) and the exalted Head (Eph 1:22) establish that believers’ destiny is to share the reign of this glorified Man. The objection that this diminishes Christ’s divinity fails; it is because He is the eternal Son that His assumed humanity can be so exalted. The result is a salvation mediated by a true Man who has passed through death into resurrection life, securing for us a share in His dominion.
Integration
Our assurance and hope are anchored in a Person, the glorified Man Christ Jesus. He is not a distant God, but the One who took our nature, carried it through death, and raised it to the highest throne. Your destiny is not an abstract reward but a share in His life, His authority, His reign. This is all secured by His work, not your effort. Christ as the Last Adam has already achieved this dominion; your union with Him by faith is your qualification. There is no pressure to advance to earn this. The truth is given to stabilize you: you are destined to reign because you are in the One who reigns. Rest in the finished work of the God-Man. He is your righteousness, your sanctification, your redemption, and your reward. The Father’s purpose is to bring many sons to glory in the Son, and that purpose cannot fail. Your humanity is included in His.