Basic Beliefs #2 Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Fully God and Fully Man
In Jesus, God and man became one person, a person unlike anyone else the world has ever seen
His body was in every respect like ours
The Humanity of Christ
The Humanity of Christ
Jesus was fully and completely human
The Virgin Birth
The Virgin Birth
The doctrinal importance of the virgin birth is seen in at least three areas.
First, it shows that salvation ultimately must come from the Lord.
Scripture clearly asserts that Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother Mary by a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit and without a human father
The virgin birth of Christ is an unmistakable reminder that salvation can never come through human effort, but must be the work of God himself
Second, the virgin birth made possible the uniting of full deity and full humanity in one person
No other means would clearly unite humanity and deity in one person
It probably would have been possible for God to create Jesus as a complete human being in heaven and send him to descend from heaven to earth without the benefit of any human parent. But then it would have been very hard for us to see how Jesus could be fully human as we are
Third, the virgin birth also makes possible Christ’s true humanity without inherited sin
The fact that Jesus did not have a human father means that the line of descent from Adam is partially interrupted
Jesus did not descend from Adam in exactly the same way in which every other human being has descended from Adam.
And this helps us to understand why the legal guilt and moral corruption that belongs to all other human beings did not belong to Christ
Jesus Weaknesses & Limitations
Jesus Weaknesses & Limitations
Jesus had a human body
He was born just as all human babies are born (Luke 2:7). He grew through childhood to adulthood just as other children grow
Jesus also rose from the dead in a physical, human body, though one that was made perfect and was no longer subject to weakness, disease, or death
The way in which Jesus ascended up to heaven was calculated to demonstrate the continuity between his existence in a physical body here on earth and his continuing existence in that body in heaven
Jesus had a human mind
Jesus mind was likes our as well
He went through a learning process as other children do
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Jesus had a soul & emotions
Jesus felt the full range of emotions
When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
Jesus wept.
Before his crucifixion
Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”
People near Jesus saw him as only a man
Matthew reports an amazing incident in the middle of Jesus’ ministry. Even though Jesus had taught throughout all Galilee, “healing every disease and every affliction among the people” so that “great crowds followed him” (Matt. 4:23–25), when he came to his own village of Nazareth, the people who had known him for many years did not receive him
For the first thirty years of his life Jesus lived a human life that was so ordinary that the people of Nazareth who knew him best were amazed that he could teach with authority and work miracles
Jesus was Sinless
Jesus was Sinless
Though the New Testament clearly affirms that Jesus was fully human just as we are, it also affirms that Jesus was different in one important respect: he was without sin
The author of Hebrews affirms that Jesus was tempted but simultaneously insists that he did not sin
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
The essence of these temptations was an attempt to persuade Jesus to escape from the hard path of obedience and suffering that was appointed for him as the Messiah
In many respects this temptation was parallel to the testing that Adam and Eve faced in the garden of Eden, but it was much more difficult.
Adam and Eve had fellowship with God and with each other and had an abundance of all kinds of food, for they were only told not to eat from one tree.
By contrast, Jesus had no human fellowship and no food to eat, and after he had fasted for forty days he was near the point of physical death.
In both cases the kind of obedience required was not obedience to an eternal moral principle rooted in the character of God, but was a test of pure obedience
Why was Jesus’ full humanity necessary?
Why was Jesus’ full humanity necessary?
Representative Obedience
Jesus had to be fully human to serve as our representative
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
To be a substitute sacrifice
Jesus had to be human to die in our place
If Jesus had not been a man, he could not have died in our place and paid the penalty that was due to us
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
If he weren’t human, his death would’ve been meaningless
To be a mediator
His humanity allows him to serve as a mediator between us and God
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
He suffered so he is able to sympathize with us
For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Jesus Will Be a Man Forever
Jesus Will Be a Man Forever
Jesus rose from the dead in a physical, human body that was no longer subject to weakness, disease, or death
Jesus continues to reside in this perfect body in heaven
In John’s vision in Revelation, Jesus still appears as “one like a son of man” (Rev. 1:13), though he is filled with great glory and power, and his appearance causes John to fall at his feet in awe
and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
The Deity of Christ
The Deity of Christ
Incarnation = Jesus in Human flesh
Word “God” Used of Christ
Word “God” Used of Christ
Usually reserved in the NT for God the Father
It is used several times for Jesus
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
7 passages
Word “Lord” used of Christ
Word “Lord” used of Christ
Lord in the septuagint is translated Yahweh
Used as the creator and sustained of heaven and earth
The angles used it
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Elizabeth said it to Mary
And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
John the Baptist declared it
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’
Other Strong claims to be Deity
Other Strong claims to be Deity
Jesus claimed for himself the title of “I AM”
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
God designates himself as the eternal existing one
Another is the Alpha & Omega
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Evidence Jesus Possessed Attributes of Deity
Evidence Jesus Possessed Attributes of Deity
We see many examples of actions in Jesus’ lifetime that point to his divine character
Demonstrated his omnipotence we he calmed the storm at sea
Jesus asserts his omniscience by knowing people’s thoughts
And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?
He possessed divine sovereignty
Christ is Fully Divine
Christ is Fully Divine
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
HIs name is right called Immanuel… God with us
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Why was Jesus Deity Necessary?
Why was Jesus Deity Necessary?
Here it is appropriate to recognize that it is crucially important to insist on the full deity of Christ as well, not only because it is clearly taught in Scripture but also because of the following:
(1) Only someone who is the infinite God could bear the full penalty for all the sins of all those who would believe in him. Any finite creature would have been incapable of bearing that penalty.
(2) “Salvation is from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9 NASB), and the whole message of Scripture is designed to show that no human being, no creature, could ever save man—only God himself could.
(3) Only someone who was truly and fully God could be the one mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), both to bring us back to God and also to reveal God most fully to us
