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).