IS
JESUS FULLY GOD OR FULLY HUMAN?
Introduction:
During my
Systematic Theology class, I was asked to write a paper on Who Jesus is? The professor
intended to help M.Div. Students who would become pastors learn to explain
Jesus adequately. I believe that question is not only meant for theologians and
pastors but for all the followers of Christ. We must know and understand who
Jesus is so that we can help clarify some of the misunderstandings surrounding
the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ.
These
misunderstandings are not new; they even existed during the time of Jesus,
where many people had a hard time understanding who He was! Jesus wanted to
clarify the muddled understanding of his disciples, so He asked them, "Who
do people say that the Son of Man Is? Well,
they replied, "some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say
Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. He probed further by asking them a
direct question. "But who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, "You
are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God."
Upon
that revelation that Jesus was and is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,
the Church was built. After Christ's death and the resurrection between 350 to
450 AD, some heresies arose. Each of them forcing the churches and the
followers of Christ to greater clarity in their answer to the question, who is
Jesus Christ"?[1]
Even to this day, these heresies continue.
Therefore,
the followers of Christ need to learn how to refute these and other heresies.
Keeping that as our framework, this morning, let us explore this crucial
question together, Is Jesus fully divine or human? By the end of our
time, we will find out how this understanding will impact the way we relate to
Jesus and one another in the body of Christ. And also, we will know how to
handle and any trials and adversaries that life throws at us. Let me introduce
to you, Jesus Christ, who is my Lord, Savior, my best friend, and also my
BIG brother.
I IS JESUS FULLY
GOD?
There
is no other name in the world that evokes passionate response or great eversion
than the name of Jesus Christ. For some, it is a swear word; for others, it is
just like any other name, but for many of His followers, it is the sweetest
name and the name above all other names. Yet there are so many people in the
world who cannot bear the thought of attaching divinity to Jesus Christ. Why
such sharp contrast? Let me try to answer the question Is Jesus fully God?
Here
is what C.S Lewis, one of the greatest thinkers of the last century, said about
Jesus in "Mere Christianity" You must make your choice: either this
man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can
shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can
fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any
patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left
that open to us. He did not intend to." On that note, let us look at some
scriptural evidence on Jesus' Divinity.
A. Jesus and the
Creation:
Jesus Christ was never created. Yet
he created everything. He had no beginning. He has always existed and always
has been and will always be God. Loaded statements. Let me back it up with some
scriptural evidence as to why I believe that Jesus is fully God.
John
1:1-3, "In the beginning, was the Word (logos), and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all things
were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made." John begins
with the words, "In the beginning," they strike a parallel with the
words, "In the beginning God," in Genesis 1.
If
we read the creation narrative, we see Jesus Christ, the "word" one of
the essential parts of the Triune God, was involved in creating the beautiful
world we see. The Apostle Paul further highlights the creating and sustaining
powers of Jesus Christ, the divine creator.
Col
1:15-16, "15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over
all creation. For in him, all things were created: things in heaven and on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before
all things, and in him, all things hold together."
B. Jesus and
Miracles.
During his ministry on earth, Jesus
performed several miracles, such as turning water into wine, healing the
paralytic, a leper, a blind man, and a woman with the issue of blood. He cast
out the evil spirits, walked on water multiplied a small portion of fish and
bread to feed thousands of people. He comforted the broken-hearted. He calmed
the fears. On a few occasions, he even raised the dead. By doing so, he
exercised and demonstrated His divine power.
C. Jesus and
Salvation
Jesus did not come into this world to
do miracles that would have branded Him a miracle worker. But he came to
fulfill a divine mission, which was to seek and save the lost sinners by
forgiving their sins. His authority to forgive sins is another indication that
He was God as only God could forgive sins. In the second chapter of Mark, Jesus
heals a paralytic man.
Before
he heals him, he says in verse 5, "Son, your sins are forgiven." In
verses, 6-7some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,
"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive
sins but God alone?" Robert Stein notes, "Their reaction shows that
they interpreted Jesus' comment "as the exercising of a divine
prerogative, the power actually to forgive sins." [2] The same Jesus who healed
the paralytic and adopted him into the family of God could heal your sickness
and forgive your sins soo that too can become his child and enjoy the blessings
of salvation. Let's answer the second part of our question.
II. IS JESUS FULLY
MAN?
Before
we address this question, let me make this declaration. The Triune God, The
Father the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all three are one God. They reign from
eternity to eternity. With that in mind, I assert that at no time did Jesus
ever cease to be God. However, several scriptures explain that at some point in
time, Jesus incarnated by taking the form of a man.
Consider
these scriptures: John 1:14, "So the Word became human and made his home
among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his
glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son." Gal 4:4-5, "But
when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the
law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law so that he
could adopt us as his very own children."
Jesus
becoming of a human at one point in history was not a forced thing but was his
voluntary decision. Philippians 2:6-8, "Though he was God, he did not
think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his
divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human
being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal's death on a cross."
While
some saw Jesu's Divinity, many couldn't get past the fact that he was from
Nazareth, and he was a carpenter's Son. Mark, 6:3 "Then they scoffed,
"He's just a carpenter, the Son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph,
Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us." They were
deeply offended and refused to believe in him."
Jesus
had a divine conception but a natural birth (Luke 1: 31, 2:7). As a child, he
had to be evacuated, and his family became refugees in Egypt because there was
a threat to his life (Matt 2:13). He needed to grow up in wisdom and strength.
(Luke 2:40). Jesus experienced sorrow and grief (Mt 26:37). Just like us, he
was tired, thirsty, hungry, and needed to sleep, etc.
III WHY DID JESUS
BECOME MAN?
As
we read through our passage, we can find some reasons why Jesus needed to
become a man. Vs. 5-8 The author asks why God would ever bother with humanity.
Despite the superiority of angels, God had initially placed the administration
of the earth into the hands of humanity. (Gen 1) However, due to the fall, man
was incapable of fulfilling that divine duty.
For
that reason, for a little while, Jesus took on the form of a man. He humbled
himself and became obedient to the point of death on the Cross. Jesus, though, he
never sinned became Sin for us and paid the penalty of Sin through his death so
that we might have eternal life.
Jesus
identified with us to a point he was not ashamed to call us his brothers and
sisters. Can you imagine what it is like to have Jesus as our BIG brother? Vs.
17-18 "Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect
like us, his brothers, and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and
faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would
take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering
and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested." Think of this
for a moment;
Jesus,
in every aspect, was made like one of us. He was subjected to similar trials
and even worse testing that any one of us could ever go through. It is
comforting for me to know that my BIG brother Jesus understands my struggles.
He is merciful, and like a high priest, He is interceding for me. After
following both his divinity and humanity, I am convinced that Jesus is fully
God and fully man. Another helpful way to say it is that Jesus is 100% God and
100% man. In closing, I will read
from Isaiah 53: 3-6, "He was despised and rejected a man of sorrows,
acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other
way. He was despised, and we did not care. But he was pierced for our
rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was
whipped so we could be healed." Amen!
[1] Bruce
L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1982), 112.
[2] Robert
H. Stein, The Method and Message of Jesus’ teaching, (Philadelphia:
West-minister, 1978), 114.
