The Bible does not present Jesus as a merely remarkable man or as God only appearing to be human. It presents the eternal Word as God and then says that the Word became flesh. If Christ is not truly God, He cannot be the Savior Scripture proclaims. If He is not truly man, He has not entered the condition of those He came to redeem.
READ THE KEY PASSAGES
Begin with what
Scripture says.
John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
Hebrews 2:14Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.
01
The Son is truly and eternally God
Colossians 2:9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
John begins before Bethlehem: the Word was in the beginning, was with God, and was God. The Son is not a created being who later became divine, nor a temporary appearance of God without personal distinction. Scripture gives Him divine names, works, worship, and glory.
His deity matters because salvation belongs to the Lord. A merely human teacher could tell sinners about God, but he could not bear the full burden of redemption, conquer death, reveal the Father perfectly, or receive the worship Scripture gives to Christ.
02
The Son became truly human
Luke 2:52And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
The Word was made flesh. Jesus was conceived, born, grew in wisdom and stature, hungered, grew weary, suffered, bled, died, and rose bodily. These are not stage details added to an appearance. They belong to true human life. Hebrews says He took part of flesh and blood because those He came to help share that condition.
His humanity was real, yet it was not sinful. Christ was tempted in every point like His people are, yet without sin. He did not become another fallen sinner in need of rescue. He entered Adam’s race as the holy Son, able to obey where Adam and every other man have failed.
03
One Christ, not a divided Savior
Hebrews 4:15[He] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Scripture does not ask us to choose which statements about Jesus are real. The same Christ who slept in a boat commanded the sea. The One who wept at Lazarus’s tomb called him from death. The One who was born of Mary is the One in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily.
We should not solve the mystery by diminishing either nature. The Son did not cease to be God when He took human nature, and His humanity was not swallowed up by deity. The Creator entered His own creation without becoming a creature in His divine essence.
04
The mediator must belong to both sides
1 Timothy 2:5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
First Timothy calls Christ the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. As true man, He can represent His people, obey in their place, suffer, die, rise, and sympathize with human weakness. As true God, His person and work have the worth and authority Scripture gives to the Savior.
Christ does not save from a distance, and He does not save as a fellow sinner. He came near in real flesh, offered Himself without sin, and now lives as the risen Lord. The believer’s confidence rests in the person of Christ, not in an abstract idea of redemption.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Questions for further reading.
- 01
What does John 1 teach about the Word before and in the incarnation?
- 02
Why does Hebrews insist that Christ shared flesh and blood with those He came to save?
- 03
What would be lost if Jesus were only God or only man?
Read patiently. Let God’s Word speak.
Jesus must be fully God and fully man because Scripture presents Him as the eternal Son who truly entered human life to save His people. His deity and humanity are essential to the biblical gospel and the one Mediator God has given.
