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There is this fascinating yet crucial teaching in the Bible about Jesus. It deals with two key ingredients of the Person of Jesus. There is the deity of Jesus. And there is the humanity of Jesus. Together, these two aspects of Jesus’ nature help us to understand what He was qualified to do on our behalf.
Consider this for a moment. You and I are separated from God because of sin. As a result, we can’t approach God, draw near to Him or have a relationship with Him because of the stain of sin on our life. And as a result of our sin, we’re dead men walking, destined for eternal separation from God. And because we can’t approach God, we need a mediator to approach and intercede on our behalf. We need a mediator who can intercede between God and Man.
That's where the deity of Jesus and humanity of Jesus comes in. |
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Jesus is the Son of God and is one with the Father; which proves that He is fully God (deity).
- John the Baptist said Jesus is the Son of God. ‘I have seen and I testify that his is the Son of God.” (John 1:3-4)
- Mark said Jesus is the Son of God. “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1)
- Peter said Jesus is the Son of God. “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Matt. 16:16)
- Paul said Jesus is the Son of God. “God sent His son, born of a woman, born under law.” (Gal. 4:4)
- The angel Gabriel said Jesus is the Son of God “..the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
- Jesus said he was the Son of God. “again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ ‘I am’, said Jesus” (Mark 14:61-62; Matt. 26:46;:John 10:36)
- The crowning testimony came from the Father who said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17)
- Jesus has the power to CREATE. (Throughout the bible the power to create is attributed to God. Yet, the same power is also ascribed to Jesus (John 1:1-3; Eph. 3:8-11; Col. 1:16-17)
- Jesus has the power to FORGIVE. This is an exclusive power of God. Yet in Luke 5:20-25, Jesus states that He has the power to forgive sins and demonstrates by healing the paralytic.
- Jesus is the proper OBJECT OF WORSHIP. God alone is to be worshiped. Nevertheless, this honor is given to Jesus by the Father. “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the son just as they honor the father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the father, who sent him.” (John 5:22-23)
Jesus is also born of a woman and became flesh and lived among us and had the same qualities and characteristics of a man; which proves that He is fully human.
- Jesus had to grow intellectually as well as physically (Luke 2:52)
- As a human, there were certain things that Jesus did not know. (Mark 13:32)
- As a human, His character had to mature through suffering (Heb. 2:10; 5:8-9)
- As a human, Jesus had to submit to the Father (Matt. 26:39; John 6:38)
- As a human, Jesus had to pray to the Father (Luke 6:12)
- As a human, Jesus experienced temptation (Luke 4:1-13; Heb. 4:15)
At the same time, Jesus is both God AND man. In fact, Jesus is at the same time, fully God and fully man. This is crucial to understand, because this enables Jesus to be the only Mediator and Intercessor who can give you and I access to God. Jesus is the God-Man who reconciles man to God.
Jesus’ full deity and full humanity is what gives us hope. We have hope because Jesus is qualified to intercede for you and I and make atonement for the sins of each of our lives that has separated us from God. It is the person of Jesus, his full deity and full humanity, that allows us to embrace what He accomplished for us.
Q: Why couldn’t any other human being have died for my sins? A: Because, now matter how good they were, they would never had been good enough.
Q: What can I do to earn a place in heaven? A: Not one thing or even ten million things. There is only one way for you and I to have access to God. Through the God-Man, Jesus. Through faith in what the person of Jesus accomplished in His finished work on the cross and His resurrection from death.
Man has reconciliation with God through the God-Man. The two ingredients of the person of Jesus that are crucial for our salvation.
Do you believe this? |
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