Foundations of Faith
JESUS CHRIST–WHO IS HE?
Scene:Religious Studies class at Learnwell University.
Professor Esser:Who can describe for the class the nature of Jesus Christ?
Eunice the Unitarian:He was a great human teacher, but no more.
Moses the Muslim:He was a prophet like Muhammad.
Gordon the Gnostic:He was a spirit being who only appeared to be human.
Kristina the Christian Scientist:He was his mother Mary’s ideal of what God would be like if He could appear on earth in person.
Spencer the Spiritualist:He was the Son of God, just as we all are sons of God.
Jennifer the Jehovah’s Witness:He was God’s highest created being; in fact, He and Michael the archangel were the same person.
Morris the Mormon:He is the highest of the spirit children of God.
Christopher the Christian:According to the Bible, He is fully God and fully man, united in a miraculous way in one Person.
Prof:Chris, since virtually all that we know about Jesus Christ is what we find in the Bible, and since you are the only one who referred to the Bible as the source of information about Jesus Christ, I would like to ask you to give us specific evidences from the Bible to support your statement that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully Man.
Chris:Could you give me the weekend to prepare?
Prof:Certainly.
Scene:Same place, the following Monday.
Prof:Are you ready, Chris?
Chris:Yes. Let me first give evidences for the deity of Christ.
Prof:Excuse me. Would you define for the class the word “deity”?
Chris:Deity is the state of being God.
Prof:Thank you. Please proceed.
Chris:I have several lines of evidence from the Bible that show that Jesus Christ was fully and truly God.
(1) He claimed equality with God when He said, “I and My Father are One” (John 10:30). Also the Gospel of John opens with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We are told in John 1:14-18 that “the Word” is the same as Jesus Christ. (See Assignment 10)
Jen:Excuse me, Chris, but the expression, “I and My Father are One” doesn’t necessarily imply that Jesus thought He was equal with God.
Chris:Well, the Jews thought that was what He meant, because they took up stones to stone Him for speaking blasphemy. And Jesus didn’t try to tell them that they misunderstood Him.
Jen:Um, well, anyway I also want to correct the wording of the verse you just quoted. The best translation, the one we Jehovah’s Witnesses use, says, “And the Word was a god.” There is no definite article in front of “god.”
Chris:You are quite correct about there being no definite article there; however, the best Greek scholars disagree with you as to how it should be translated. In fact, three other times in that same chapter the word “God” is found without a definite article in the Greek text and in none of those places (John 1:12,13,18) is it translated “a god” in your Bible.
Jen:Hmm, I’ll have to check that out.
Chris:Let me proceed.
(2) He is referred to as “Son of God” in many places in the New Testament (Matt. 14:33; 1 John 4:15). Now in Job 1, angels are referred to as “sons of God,” and in the New Testament, Christians are referred to as “sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). But never do we find an individual other than Jesus Christ calling himself–or being called–“the Son of God.”
(3) He is the exact representation of God (Heb. 1:3) and the revealer of God (John 1:18). How could anyone less than God Himself be described in these terms?
(4) He came from God and returned to God (John 3:13; 14:2).
(5) In contrast to Jen’s statement that Jesus and Michael the archangel are the same persons, the Bible tells us that Jesus was better than the angels (Heb. 1:4-14).
(6) He received worship from men and women on a number of occasions (Mark 5:6; Luke 19:37-40; John 20:28), and claimed equal honor with God the Father (John 5:23). In contrast, the apostles (Acts 10:25,26; 14:13-15) and angels (Rev. 19:10; 22:8,9) refused worship from men.
(7) He manifested a number of divine attributes, that is, characteristics that are reserved for God alone. These were (a) eternal existence (John 1:1; 8:58); (b) omnipotence (having all power), including the declaration that He was the Creator Himself, not just the highest created being (John 1:3), along with the performing of a great number and variety of miracles while on earth (John 7:31); and (c) omniscience (knowing all things) (John 2:24,25; 6:64; 16:30). The Apostle Paul summed it up well:”In [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).
(8) He is frequently identified as being the same as Jehovah of the Old Testament. Both are Shepherd (Psa. 23:1; John 10:11); both are the I AM (Exod. 3:14; John 8:58); both are the First and the Last (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 22:13); both are a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense (Isa. 8:13,14; 1 Cor. 1:23; 1 Pet. 2:3-8); both are King for ever (Psa. 10:16; Luke 1:31-33). (See Assignment 11)
(9) He lived a perfectly sinless life (John 8:46; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5).
(10) He rose bodily from the grave (John 20,21; 1 Cor. 15:4-7) and ascended bodily into heaven (Acts 1:9).
Prof:That was a very thorough job, Chris. Does anyone have any questions for Chris before he gives the evidences for Jesus Christ being a Man?
Eunice:Why can’t we just agree that Jesus was a great human teacher, like Buddha, Confucius, and others, and drop this business about His being God?
Prof:Chris, would you like to respond to Eunice?
Chris:Certainly. I would just ask Eunice a question:What should we think of a man who claims to be God but really isn’t? There are two possibilities:either (1) he is a boldfaced liar who deliberately deceives His hearers to lend authority to His teaching or because he is on an ego trip; or (2) he is self-deceived, mentally ill like many persons today living in insane asylums who claim to be God. When we examine the life and teachings of Christ, do we find any evidence of the abnormalities and instability found in a person who is mentally deranged? No. Rather, we find the people marveling at His wisdom and rationality (Matt. 13:54; 22:22). And what evidence do we find of an egomaniac in the One who stooped to wash His disciple’s feet (John 13:4-12), and who escaped to a mountain when the people wanted to make Him a king (John 6:15)? Jesus couldn’t possibly have been accepted as a great teacher and at the same time be either a liar or a lunatic!
Eunice:Well, then, maybe the writers of the Gospels and the Epistles made up all that stuff about Jesus performing miracles and being raised from the dead to make it look like he was God and to gain a greater following for their new religion.
Chris:What do you do with all of those Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled by the birth, life, death, and burial of Christ? [See the February 1993 issue of GROWING for examples.] And even more important, how could the Christian message ever have been accepted on such a broad scale–in spite of persistent efforts by the Jewish leaders to stamp it out–if it had been founded upon a bunch of lies and myths. There were too many people around who had actually been healed by Christ, or who had witnessed His miracles, or had seen Him after His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:4-7) who confirmed the facts being taught by the apostles. And why would the apostles be willing to die for that which they knew to be false?
Prof:You make good arguments, Chris. Now how about the evidences for His humanity.
Chris:In all of the following ways He showed He was human:He was conceived in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:31), He was born in the usual manner for humans (Luke 2:5-7), He was circumcised (Luke 2:21), He grew in stature (Luke 2:52), He aged (John 8:57), He got hungry (Matt. 4:2) and thirsty (John 19:28), He ate (Luke 24:43) and drank (John 19:30), He got tired (John 4:6) and slept (Mark 4:38), He died (Matt. 27:30) and was buried (Matt. 27:60). Furthermore, He experienced and expressed human emotions such as affection and sympathy (John 11:35,36), compassion (Matt. 9:36), feeling troubled and in mental agony (Luke 22:44; John 12:27), and desiring the company of others (Matt. 26:40). To be sure, there were miraculous elements in all of this. For example, He was born of a virgin (Matt. 1:23), He was totally without sin (John 8:46), and He laid down His life by His own power and will (John 10:18). But this doesn’t take away from His being fully human. Rather it means that He was more than human–He was God as well.
Prof:What do you think was the purpose of the Son of God coming to earth and becoming a Man?
Chris:There are a number of things I would list:(1) He came to reveal God to man and help man to communicate with God (1 Tim. 2:5); (2) He came to provide a sacrifice for man’s sin by dying on the cross (Matt. 1:21; Heb. 9:26) (He could not have represented us on the cross if He had not been fully human); (3) as a Man He experienced trials and troubles so that He might be fully able to understand us, sympathize with us, and help us (Heb. 2:17,18; 4:15,16); (4) He came to be an example for those who believe in Him and follow Him (John 13:15; Phil. 2:5; 1 Pet. 2:21).
Prof:Thank you, Chris. I have learned a lot myself from your presentation; you have given me much to think about. (Bell rings.) Class dismissed.
GOD THE SON–FURTHER QUESTIONS (I)
God the Son, like God the Father, has always existed. In addition to the verses Chris used for this, there are two Old Testament scriptures, prophetic of Christ, that speak of His eternal existence. In Isa. 9:6 He is called “the everlasting Father,” or “Father of eternity.” Then in Mic. 5:2 we read:”But you, Bethlehem Ephratah … out of you shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
No doubt all who believe in the deity of Christ also believe that He existed eternally. However, some who clearly accept His eternal existence (such as the popular radio preacher, John MacArthur, as well as teachers and writers of the past such as F.E. Raven and C.A. Coates) teach that He became the Son of God in the Incarnation (that is, when He became a Man).
While the Bible never specifically states that Christ was eternally the Son, it certainly implies it when it tells us that God the Father sent the Son into the world (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9,10,14). In other words, He didn’t become a Son by reason of His birth as a Man, but was the Son of God before being sent by His Father. The relationship of son to a father need not imply a subordinate or inferior position. We all know business firms that have names like “Johnson and Sons.” In many cases, the father and the sons may be equal partners in the firm.
No doubt the names of “Father” and “Son” used to describe the relationship between the first and second Persons of the Godhead are intended to show us the deep and continual love that existed between them (John 14:31; 15:9,10; 17:23). The relationship of Abraham and his son Isaac whom he loved (Gen. 22:2) is a picture of the love between God the Father and God the Son. Doesn’t the fact that Christ died for our sins become all the more precious to our souls when we realize that His own Father sent Him from His side to do that work for us!
Running the Race
WHY ME?
“Why does everything happen to me? Why do I have so many problems? It almost seems as if God isn’t there, or doesn’t care about me.” Maybe some of our readers have felt this way, or perhaps have known someone who has voiced a complaint like this.
The fact that the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise Son of God has become a Man and is personally acquainted with the full range of human experience Himself offers much help and hope to us.
Are you poor and needy? So also was Jesus (Matt. 8:20; Mark 12:15). He preached in a borrowed boat, rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, and was buried in a borrowed tomb.
Do you feel alone in the world, and neglected by those who ought to love you? So also was Jesus. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11). His own disciples “forsook Him and fled” (Matt. 26:56).
Are you misunderstood, unfairly treated, charged with other people’s wrongdoings? So also was Jesus. He was called a glutton and a wine drinker (Matt. 11: 19). False charges were brought against Him and an unjust sentence carried out against Him.
Does Satan tempt you and put terrible suggestions in your mind? So also did he tempt Jesus (Matt. 4:1-10).
Do you ever feel great agony and conflict of mind? So also did Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as He thought about the cross that loomed before Him (Luke 22:44).
Do you ever feel like you are in darkness, as if God has left you? So did Jesus, except that with Him it was an awful reality there on the cross (Matt. 27:46), while for David (Psa. 22:1) and for you it only seems like God has forsaken you.
Isn’t it comforting to know that whatever we may be going through, we have a loving Saviour who has gone through all that and much, much more Himself while a Man on earth? And furthermore, our risen Saviour is now carrying out a ministry of help to all of His own who are experiencing problems of any kind (Heb. 2:18).
Knowing this, let us not forget to cast all our cares and burdens upon Him (1 Pet. 5:7).
(Parts of this article were adapted from Holiness by J.C. Ryle.)
Assignment 10: In Mark 2 Christ refers to Himself in at least three different ways that indicate His deity. How many of these can you identify?
Assignment 11: In Isaiah 43 we find a number of characteristics of the Lord or Jehovah that are also characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament. Please list these characteristics and also see if you can find some of the New Testament references where they apply to Christ.