The Humanity of Christ

Basic Christian Doctrines 28

 

1.   Jesus Became a Man.

 

Jesus Christ was eternally God. At the appointed time, He became a Man by being born of a woman (Gal. 4:4). He “came into the world to save sinners” (I Tim. 1:15). He was not eternally human, nor was He human when He appeared in various manifestations in the Old Testament. He “became flesh” (John 1:14). This is called the Incarnation. He took on a human body and soul, and became the God-Man. He is still the God-Man. He became a male, started as a baby, and grew through the stages of life.

 

2.   His Deity Was Not Confined to His Humanity.

 

When He became Man, He did not cease being God. Deity is omnipresent; humanity is not. There was and is still something “extra” outside of His human nature, namely, His deity. This is sometimes called the “Extra Calvinisticum”, because Calvinists believe in it and Lutherans do not. When His human nature was on Earth, His divine nature was still everywhere including Heaven (John 3:13 in most translations). His human nature was limited to only certain places, such as when the angel said at the empty tomb: “He is not here.” The ocean cannot fit into a teacup. He is now with us everywhere in His deity, but His humanity is in Heaven.

3.   Jesus Was Born of a Virgin.

 

Matt. 1 and Luke 2 teach that Jesus had a human mother and a divine Father, but no human father and no divine mother. Mary was a virgin at the time, even up to the time Jesus was born. Jesus was conceived in her womb by the special miracle of the Holy Spirit. This is the only virginal conception and birth in history, a unique miracle. It guaranteed that Jesus would be both God and Man, and would be sinless.

 

4.   Jesus Had Two Natures in One Person.

 

The Lord Jesus was unique in several ways. He was the only time God became a Man, and He was the only Man who was also divine. He had two natures. We call this the Hypostatic Union. It is an incomprehensible mystery, worthy of awe and wonder. His deity was not humanized, nor was His humanity deified. The two natures were not mingled or confused, nor was there a third hybrid produced. The two natures are distinct but not separate. He has only one person, not two. He was thus fully God and fully Man, not half-God and half-Man.

 

5.   Jesus Had a Human Body.

 

Jesus became the Second Adam (Rom.5, I Cor.15). He took on a body of flesh and bone. He was not a mere spirit (Luke 24:39). Deity is a pure Spirit, incapable of death. Jesus took on a body so that He could die for us. He did not take on an angelic nature to save angels, but a human body and soul to save humans (Heb. 2). “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Many of the early Gnostics denied this; they said flesh is necessarily evil and so Jesus was but a ghost. I John 4:2-3 rebuked this as antichristian and demonic heresy. Jesus had a body the same as ours, except for the effects of sin. His body was never sick and  had no scars until the crucifixion. Yet He grew, had haircuts, ate, drank, slept, grew tired, etc. It was a tangible body that could be seen, touched and heard (1 John 1:1-2). Of special note is the fact that Hisbody had blood untainted by sin, with which He made the atonement.

 

6.   Jesus Had a Human Soul.

 

Some early heretics say Jesus had a human body and a divine soul, and no more. Actually, Scripture says He had a human soul in all its various parts and aspects. He had a human mind. Since humanity is limited, His human mind grew in knowledge and was not omniscient. He did not know the time of His Second Coming (Mark 13:32). He also had human emotions. He knew joy and grief. He wept for Lazarus and for others. He had a human will. He submitted it to the divine will: “Not My will, but thy will be done.” He had a memory, a conscience, a heart. He was fully human. 

 

7.   Jesus Was Sinless.

 

Two things differentiated Jesus from us: He was divine and He was sinless.  Since He had no human father, He inherited no Original Sin (Luke 1:35). Adam and Eve were only temporarily innocent; Christ was permanently sinless. In fact, He was also perfectly sinless. He was impeccable. Though He was tempted in all points as we are, He did not sin. And  He could not sin. The union of His deity and humanity was such that all temptations could only fail, for deity cannot sin. He was not only sinless and innocent, but perfectly and uniquely holy, even in His humanity. He was a perfect Man. He had a perfectly pure conscience.

 

8.   Jesus Veiled His Deity.

 

Though He was still divine, Jesus cloaked His deity under the veil of His humanity. Thus, most people  saw  just a man. Some saw a good man, others a bad man. Even His relatives, except Mary, only thought He was just another Jew. Phil. 2 describes the stages of Christ's humbling Himself. One was the Incarnation. Another was the humiliation of not being recognized and worshipped as was His rightful due as God. This is the great quality of the humility of Jesus. Yet, God the Father and the Holy Spirit knew who He was, as did the angels and demons.

 

9.   Jesus Was Our Example.

 

The Lord Jesus served as the perfect example for us in many ways. He did not sin. He did not fight back, lose His temper, slander others (I Pet. 2:21-23). The great passage in Phil. 2 begins by calling on us to imitate Christ's attitude of humility. A famous book developed the theme of how we should always pause and ask ourselves in every situation, “What would Jesus do?” Of course, there were some things in Him that cannot be fully imitated. We cannot die as a propitiation for sin, do miracles by our own power, be worshipped, etc. But those generally refer to His divine attributes. His perfect humanity is the example to follow in all things good and godly, such as love (John 13:34).

 

10. Jesus Had a Unique Family.

 

Joseph was his step-father. Jesus was raised by him and followed him in the family carpentry business. Joseph was a “righteous man”, but not perfect. He was justified by believing in his step-son. Jesus honored Joseph and Mary and kept the Fifth Commandment. Evidently Joseph died before Jesus began His ministry, for we never read of him after Luke 2 except in the past tense. And Jesus committed Mary to the care of John. Mary was a virgin in the incarnation and birth, but was not a permanent virgin, as Catholicism teaches. Nor was she sinless; she too needed a Savior. She did not ascend into Heaven physically. Jesus had 4 half-brothers and at least two half-sisters, born to Joseph and Mary (Matt. 13:55-56), who did not believe in Him until after the Resurrection. Jesus never married nor had children. But all true believers are His brethren (Matt. 12:50), His children (Heb.2:13), and His Bride (Eph.5).