In his exegetically rich and historically conversant theological dogmatics on Christology, Daniel Treier unfolds the progressive revelation of Scripture’s claims about who Christ is, summarized as follows:
The eternal Son of God, enjoying the communion of the blessed Trinity,
gives human beings a creaturely share in such blessedness,
becoming the Bridegroom through whom we will enjoy the eternal consummation of our union with God.
The book is Lord Jesus Christ, New Studies in Dogmatics, ed. Michael Allen and Scott Swain (Zondervan, 2023).
Treier’s argument proceeds by way of ten theses. I thought these were so clear and helpful, tethered to biblical texts, that it’d be worth reproducing here for your edification.
1. The Son of God
As epitomized in Ephesians 1:3–14,
Jesus Christ is the Son of God,
who enjoys eternal communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
2. The Unique Image of God
As epitomized in Colossians 1:15–29,
Jesus Christ is the unique Image of God,
who embodies the divine Wisdom active in the creation of the world.
3. The Messiah
As epitomized in Luke 24:13–35,
Jesus Christ is the Messiah,
who fulfills God’s covenant promises.
4. Immanuel, God with Us
As epitomized in Isaiah 7:14,
the Old Testament anticipated the first advent of Jesus Christ as Immanuel, God with us, incarnate in a fully human life.
5. The Word
As epitomized in John 1:1–18,
Jesus Christ is the Word,
whose incarnation is God’s ultimate self-revelation.
6. The Lord
As epitomized in Philippians 2:5–11,
Jesus Christ is the Lord,
whose humiliation as Servant revealed the glory of God’s love in rendering the ultimate human obedience.
7. The Savior
As epitomized in Luke 4:14–30,
Jesus of Nazareth is the Savior,
whose earthly mission inaugurated God’s kingdom in person.
8. The Son of Man
As epitomized in Mark 10:32–45 (with Isaiah 52:13–53:12 in the background),
Jesus Christ is the Son of Man,
whose passion was the once-for-all act of atonement through which God redeemed us.
9. The Mediator
As epitomized in Hebrews 7:22–8:6,
Jesus Christ is the theandric Mediator between God and humanity,
whose bodily resurrection and ascension inaugurated his exaltation.
10. The Bridegroom
As epitomized in Revelation 21:1–22:5,
Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom,
whose return will bring the consummation of creation and redemption, glorifying the covenant people to be fully at home with God.
