Jesus Christ: God in Man.

Scripture teaches us that Jesus Christ was both divine and human. This is undeniable. This post
will briefly explore both natures of Jesus through scripture.

Christ’s Humanity

Christ was born of a virgin (Matt. 1:23-25 ), but more importantly he was conceived through
the Holy Spirit (Luke1:35 ) to make the divine flesh (John 3:16 ), but more importantly, to
avoid being born in sin, as we are through the fall of Adam.

Scripture also teaches us that the person that was Jesus grew as we did. Not only did he
physically grow (Luke 2:40 ), but he also grew in knowledge (Luke 2:52 ). Scripture also
shows us that Jesus suffered from the same limitations having a physical body as we do.
Scripture shows us he became tired, as in Samarra (John 4:6 ), he was thirsty (John 19:28 ), he
was hungry after fasting 40 days (Matt. 4:2 ), but most importantly, his physical body showed
its ultimate limitation when he died on the Cross (Luke 23:46 ).

Understanding Jesus’ humanity is as important as his divinity because in order to be the perfect
sacrifice, the perfect example, Jesus had to be fully human. There is no way mankind could have
received salvation had it been any other way. Paul explains in Ephesians 5 that we are called to
live as Jesus lived in every possible way. When Christ was crucified, because he lived a sinless
life, he bore all our sins (1 Peter 2:24 ) so that we may “die to sin that we may live in
righteousness.”

Christ’s Divinity

While Jesus was fully human, he was also God in man. Because of this, Jesus was sinless even
though he was tempted in every way, just as we were. Paul affirms this in Hebrews 4:15
saying “…but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without
sin.”

Christ’s divinity is also asserted very early in his ministry when he was baptized by John. In
Matthew 3, when Jesus emerged from the water, heaven opened and a voice said “This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” God himself tells us that Jesus is the divine Son
of the Father.

There are also a number of scriptural references where it can be interpreted as Jesus staking
claim to his own divinity. Perhaps the strongest evidence is in Jesus’ own words. In the Old
Testement, prophets often used the phrase “Thus says the Lord”, but in the Gospels, Jesus often
says “But, I say to you…”, asserting his authority to speak directly as God instead of for God.

It is important to understand both natures of Jesus. Without becoming fully human he could not
have been the perfect sacrifice for our salvation. Without being fully divine, we could not be
saved through faith in him. If either nature were not present, Jesus would just be as a character in
a book. We know this to be not true, as he is our savior, our redeemer, our Lord. We know this
not only through faith, but because scripture tells us so.