I respect every person’s right to
believe what they so choose. I also respect their right to share their beliefs. That said, this is what I believe: I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ;
I believe He is God, equal in nature, distinct in person, and subordinate in
duties.[1] I
believe that He was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, was
crucified for the forgiveness of our sins, was buried but rose on the third day,
and ascended to heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father (Eph.
1:1-21).
I realize that there are those who
question whether Jesus was fully human. To this I would quote the apostle John
when he states, “and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The apostle Paul weighed in when he
said, “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Gal. 4:4).
In the Jewish culture, the linage of a person was traced through the bloodline
of the father; but Paul, as well as others, refers to Mary as the mother,
rather than Joseph as the father. The reason is simple: Jesus was not Joseph’s
biological son. Jesus’ only father was God the Father.
There are other arguments questioning
the deity of Christ; again, we can look to the Scriptures for these answers. We
have God the Father proclaiming Jesus as His Son at His baptism (Mark 1:11;
Mat. 3:17; Luke 3:22), and John the Baptist’s testimony of what God had
revealed to him, this being that Jesus was the Son of God (John 1:32-34). In
chapter five, verses 19 through 46 in the book of John, we are given a good
example of who Jesus said He was, and what role He fills. Clearly, if we take
the Bible as the Word of God, these claims are indisputable.
Grasping the full deity and full
humanity of Christ can be a bit perplexing. One doctrine that explains this is
called the “Hypostatic Union.” Produced by the Council of Chalcedon, fourth
ecumenical council of the church to discuss the two natures of Christ, it
states, “In the incarnation of the Son of God, a human nature was inseparably
united forever with the divine nature in the one person of Jesus Christ, yet
with two natures remaining distinct, whole, and unchanged, without mixture or
confusion, so that the one person, Jesus Christ, is truly God and truly man.[2] This basically states that Jesus was given
human nature at His birth, in human flesh, while never loosing His deity. Jesus
was, is, and ever shall be, God.
So what does it mean for Jesus to be both God
and man? Orthodox theologians have always taught that in the one person of
Christ, we have true God and true man.[3]
Even in human flesh, Jesus never gave up His Godly attributes. Although He
experienced pain, sorrow, hunger and so forth, He still maintained His
omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.
In order for God the Father to save
fallen man, a perfect sacrifice had to be made. Since all of mankind is born in
sin (Rom. 3:23), it is beyond our
ability to live a perfect life; therefore, no man could measure up. God knew
this and planned a way to overcome this dilemma. By sending His perfect Son,
Jesus, He alone could be the perfect sacrifice once and for all. But to do
this, He had to do it as a man. Christ Jesus had to experience temptation,
pain, human weakness, and prevail sinless, to be our propitiation (Heb. 2:17). By fulfilling this requirement, He not
only became our Great High Priest, but He covered our sin debt, becoming the
sacrifice as well.
To deny Christ’s deity or humanity is
to err greatly. As stated earlier, Jesus was, is, and ever shall be God. For those
who reject His deity comes condemnation: “he who does not believe the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:18; 3:36).
This means eternal separation from God, or hell. To deny His humanity is
equally dangerous as we basically call His Word a lie and Christ a liar. Consider
Hebrews 2:17, which states that Christ had to be made like His brethren. Again,
Paul says He was, “born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and
declared to be the Son of God” (Rom.
1:3-4), and “God was manifested in the flesh,” (1 Tim. 3:16).
Some common objections to the
traditional understanding of Christology are Ebionitism, “Christ being born
naturally, on whom the Holy Spirit came at His baptism,” and docetism, “which
asserted that the suffering of Christ were apparent rather than real.”[4]
Other false teachings included Gnosticism and monarchianism (dynamism,
modalism, Sabellianism).[5] Arius
“denied the possibility of any divine emanation, or contact with the world, or
of any distinction within the Godhead.”[6] He also “denied to Christ a human soul.”[7] After
the Council of Nicea, a question arose about the possibility of Jesus being
truly God and truly man. A man by the name of Apollinaris, trying to do good,
but badly mistaken, denied His complete manhood. Later, Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople,
caused problems by refusing to approve the phrase “mother of God” in reference
to Mary.[8]
Another man by the name of Eutyches, caused controversy when he asserted, “that
in the incarnate Christ the two natures coalesced in one. This implied a docetic
view of Christ’s human nature and called in question his consubstantiality with
us.”[9] Then
there arose a question as to whether Christ had two wills, since He had two
natures.[10] Down
through the years, many have argued over this and that concerning Christ. While
I may not be a theologian, I do have opinions on the matter. First, I believe
there are things about God that we do not, nor can we understand or know. Second,
I know enough to take the Bible as God’s Word in truth. Thus, if it says Jesus
was fully God and fully man, I believe it. Next, I believe whatever Jesus’
feelings, nature, or will might have been, He was correct. There is no
indication in all of Scripture of the Father not being pleased with Him or His
actions. Being God, He could not go against His nature.
The fact that Jesus became a man and
experienced everything that I face encourages me. He set an example for us to
follow and we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. He never said we have to be
perfect and He doesn’t expect us to earn our salvation. He loves us and bore
our sins upon himself. My goal this side of Heaven is to grow more like Him
everyday until I see Him face to face.
If He, as God, was willing to become a
man, leaving His home in Glory, to walk among us and face the shame of the
cross, which He did not deserve, to save one such as I, how can I not worship
Him? No mere man could do what Jesus did.
Bibliography
Elwell, Walter. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House Company,
2001. (would not let me space this line)
Towns, Elmer.
Theology for Today. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008
