THEO201 Fall B01 201040

Allen Cooke Student ID# L23197599

Short Essay #2

Allen Cooke
Student ID# L23197599

THEO 201

Dr. Don Allard

Liberty University September 17, 2010

THEO201 Fall B01 201040
Allen Cooke Student ID# L23197599

The Biblical basis for Jesus’ humanity can be seen in several different places in

scripture. We see in John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among

us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father,

full of grace and truth.” This simply states that God had come down in human form. We

also see the humanity of Jesus through his human birth, growing and learning. He

experienced hunger, anxiety and disappointment (Mark 14:33). He also died and was

buried.

The Biblical basis for His deity is seen in scripture as well. Jesus recognized that

His claim to be God was not enough to make Him God (John 5:31). We have the seven

“I AM’s” in the gospel of John. Using the phrase I AM not only linked Jesus to the deity

of Jehovah but it also linked him to the Old Testament (Exodus 3).

The Bible tells us that Jesus was both God and man. In Romans 9:5 Paul states,

“Christ himself was a Jew as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, who

rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise”. What this means is the human

nature and divine nature was inseparably united forever in the one person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ was totally God and totally man.

This incarnation was brought about by the virginal conception by the Holy Spirit in

Mary’s womb. If the conception had been generated by man, Christ would have been

total human and would have shared the guilt of sin. Since He was born sinless yet in

human flesh, his human nature was also free from the pollution of sin. The sacrifices

offered to God were required to be spotless and without blemish or physical defect,

therefore; the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus for the salvation of mankind had to be spotless
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and sinless. Christ was tempted just as we are (Hebrews 4:15). We have a Savior who

can identify with us because He is man, and who can also help us in temptation because

He has never sinned.

When we say that Christ was both God and man we are professing that Christ is God and

shares all the authority of God Himself. Christ is one person with two natures.

“Because Jesus is God, He is all-powerful and He cannot be defeated. Because He is

God, He is the only adequate Savior. Because He is God, believers are safe and can never

perish; we have security. Because He is God, we can have confidence that He will

empower us for the task that He commands us for. And because He is God, all people

will be accountable to Him when He returns to judge the world.

Because Jesus is man, He has experienced the same things that we do. Because He is

man, He can identify with us more intimately. Because He is man, He can come to our

aid as our sympathetic High Priest when we reach the limits of our human weaknesses.

Because He is man, we can relate to Him--He is not far off and uninvolved. Because He

is man, we cannot complain that God does not know what we are going through. He

experienced it first-hand.” 1

By overemphasizing the deity of Christ we fail to see that He was like us. We fail

to “connect” with a savior who was born, grew, was tempted and died. When we

overemphasize His humanity, we fail to acknowledge that He is God and because of His

divine nature; was sinless. Had He not been sinless, He would have not been a worthy

sacrifice.

The majority of objections to my view of Christ’s humanity and deity is the

misinterpretation of verses such as John 14:28 “You heard me say, 'I am going away and
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I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the

Father, for the Father is greater than I.” Some will use this verse to try to say that this

indicates that Jesus held a lower rank than the Father.

Sometimes we can get bogged down discussing theology and doctrine and fail to

personalize the effects of Christ in our lives. There are very few of us that understand at

the time of our conversion, the intricacies of just what it means for Christ to be both God

and man. We may not understand, in its entirety, the virgin birth or the incarnation of

Christ. Sometimes we have to allow our faith to speak. There are things that we know to

be true because the Holy Spirit tells us they are true. I only know that because Christ

came down in human form, that I identify with Him, not as a God who is far away and

unapproachable. I identify with him as a man who knows what the struggle is like to be

human.

1
www.DesiringGod.com “How can Jesus be God and Man?” Matt Perman
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Allen Cooke Student ID# L23197599

Bibliography

Towns, Elmer. Theology for Today. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2008, 2002

Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book

House Company, 1984, 2001