Just who was Jesus? Was He God or was He a man? Was He human or
was He divine? If someone were to ask you these questions, how would you answer
and how would you prove it, as a Christian? Most Christians have struggled over
this question for a long time and are confused about the answer. We should not
be in confusion because we are not worshipping a confusing God. We need to
know, without doubt, who and what Jesus was. Let’s see what the scriptures say
about Christ - was He God or human (man).
Know that controversy will come when we leave scripture out of
our doctrine (2Tim. 3:16).
Jesus
Divine
JOHN 1:1-3, 14-15. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All
things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made’.
v14. ‘”And
the Word became 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. v15. John
bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said,
'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"
1. Who is the "Word" from the above
reading?
2. How is it possible for one to come after a
certain person and yet to have been before that same person? That is what John
claims in verse 15.
COMMENT: John shows that the Word, the God of
the Old Testament, became Jesus of Nazareth. That is, the Word Jesus was God in
the flesh. That is the point that John is making here.
JOHN 9:35-38 Jesus heard that they had cast
him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the
Son of God?" He answered and said, who is He, Lord that I may believe in
Him?" And Jesus said to him, "you have both seen Him and it is He who
is talking with you." Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he
worshiped Him.
5. Why would Jesus allow this man to worship
Him? Who only are we to worship?
Who only is worthy of worship? NOTE: There are plenty of examples in the Bible that show
even an angel of highest rank would not let man worship him. (Rev. 22:8-9)
LUKE 9:47 And Jesus, perceiving the thought
of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him….
6. Is it possible for a human to read the
thoughts of others? Who can?
JOHN 8:56-58 "your father Abraham
rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." Then the Jews said to
Him, "You are not yet fifty years old and have you seen Abraham?"
Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
7. What did Jesus mean by
"I AM"? Do you remember the God who sent Moses to deliver the
Israelites from Egypt?
8. What were the Jews
reaction? Read verse 59. Why did they react that way? Because only God can
claim this
saying.
Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel”.
Jesus, Human ?
1. I think we can all agree that the Bible teaches that Jesus
was God. But, God is immortal (I Tim. 6:16), yet Jesus died. How is it possible
that Jesus died if He was divine?
Hebrews 4:14-15 Seeing then that we have a
great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let
us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin.
2. Jesus was tempted. Can
God be tempted? Read James 1:13, Heb. 4:15 and comment. How can Jesus, being divine fall to temptation
Comment: Satan tried to get to Jesus just as he got to Adam, by appealing to His
pride, vanity and lusts of the human flesh. Satan tried to get Jesus to do the
same as Adam: to go it alone apart from God. Adam decided for Himself what was
good and what was evil, and separated himself from his relationship with God.
Think of this, if Jesus could not have sinned, if it was impossible for Him to
sin, would Satan have wasted his time trying to tempt him to sin? Jesus could
have sinned, but He didn't, and the whole world owes Him for that. We have been
redeemed, been bought and paid for, and, therefore we owe our lives to Jesus.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us….
5. What does this passage teach us about the
nature of Jesus?
6. Why was it necessary for God to come in
human flesh? Consider Hebrews 2:9.
Comment: If Christ were flesh only, His death would have only saved Himself. But
because He was God in the flesh, His life was worth more than all of mankind
put together, because He created them. Therefore, His life and death that He
gave for us paid the penalty for all of man's sins. But if Christ was God only,
He could not have died. He was flesh and blood just as we are flesh and blood.
What a tremendous act of love from our Creator to us: To become God in the
flesh, human and divine to save us from the penalty of our sins, which is
death.
Summary
So who was Jesus? Jesus was both Man and God!
That's what the Bible teaches; that's what the apostles taught; that's what
Jesus taught; and that's what the church teaches today. Jesus was both man and
God so that He could be a perfect sacrifice to save all of mankind from the
penalty of death. There is no confusion about that.
And my advice
is that we should not subject this question to argument, where 1+1+1=3. 1John
5:7: “For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one”. (The surprise here is that why was this taken out of other bible
versions?)
But in all this, let us
remember, as in Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6 that Jesus is Immanuel- ‘God with
us’ and The Counseller, everlasting Father and mighty God. How can God die and
shed blood for the remission of our sins if He does not become mortal man? Read 1Tim. 3:16.
Amen!
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