The Christadelphian Bible Journal
October 2003 Volume 1 Number 10
One tenet of present-day Unamendia suggests that our Lord Jesus Christ was born into a state of alienation from His Father. "How could anything born of sin's flesh not be 'alienated' from God?" is the common rhetoric heard in certain quarters. Such reasoning, however, is more specious than true. While it is quite correct that our Lord was made in all points like unto his brethren, that is, of the constitution of sin, it does not, therefore, follow that he was alienated at birth from His Father.
The word "alienated" occurs only twice in the New Testament. Both are from Paul's writings and in each instance the Greek signifies, "to alienate, estrange, to be shut out from one's fellowship and intimacy" (Thayer's). Indeed, the Apostle so uses the word in this precise manner: "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works..." (Col. 1:21). "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Eph. 4:18). Such language could never apply to Christ. Not at his birth. Not at any time.
We have it on Old Testament authority that our Lord had a very special relationship with His Father, even from the womb. This is clearly set forth in a prophecy of Messiah in Psalms 22. Here David writes: "I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly." The New Testament is not silent either. In the Gospel of Luke we read: " And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." In neither of these texts is there the slightest hint of alienation. On the contrary, to be born holy is to come forth as one set apart by the Deity for a special purpose: in this case, the Only Begotten Son of God.
Although in the days of his flesh Jesus' communion with his Father was limited by mortality, at no time was he shut out from God's fellowship and intimacy, for both he and his Father were of the same mind. Once the One Great Offering was effected and he was made consubstantial with El, the communion between Christ and his Father was then complete, not only in mind but also in nature.
As we walk down the probationary path, our communion with the Deity is incomplete. We now have only limited access and that is through our Great High Priest, even the Lord Jesus Christ. If we make every effort to put on the mind of Christ, through God's mercy we too shall become partakers of the Divine nature and the communion for us shall be complete. May we, therefore, look unto him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.