Who is Jesus?

A Child... a Son

To say that Jesus is Holy God, and perfect man is true, but seems a contradiction. Our finite minds have trouble comprehending the concept of divine God. But in Jesus we see both divinity and perfect humanity. In Isaiah 9:6 we read those wonderful prophetic words: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." In this verse both his humanity and divinity are referred to; "For unto us a child is born", his humanity, "unto us a son is given", his divinity. Back in the seventh chapter Isaiah wrote: "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (meaning God with us.)

Turning to the new testament we can continue with the story of his coming in the gospel of Luke chapter 1. In verse 31 the angel tells Mary "Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." Mary conceived and brought forth a son, making him fully a man. "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35) It is important to recognize that while Jesus became a man, he is always God. God is eternal, having neither beginning or ending. Jesus confirmed this when he responded to the Jew's boast of being Abraham's children. When he stated "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58) they tried to stone him because they recognized his statement as confirming his eternal deity.

Declared to be The Son of God

Paul wrote to the Roman christians, "Concerning his (God's) Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:3,4)Here at the very beginning of his letter to the believers in Rome Paul confirms both the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." This took place nearly two thousand years ago when Christ was born of a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem. But notice that scripture is careful here to make a distinction. While he was made a man, he was "declared to be the Son of God." Nothing here suggests that he became the Son of God. As Son of God he is the I AM, the ever existing one.

John began his gospel with the declaration that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, ... full of grace and truth." How careful God is to record witness to the deity of His beloved Son. In Hebrews the first chapter we read that God has spoken unto us "by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who (the Son) being the brightness of his (God's) glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Jesus Christ is the very essence of God. Truly, in Christ "dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. 2:9)

Here Am I

However, we would never have known the infinite love of God if Christ had not taken upon himself the body of a man. Prophetically Isaiah wrote "I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." We read the words of Jesus Christ in Hebrews 10: "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:17) "Christ Jesus ... took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:7-8) Christ left the splendor of heaven, took upon himself the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death. Yet God pronounces from the heights of heaven "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17)

Christ perfectly fulfilled the will of his Father. As he looked ahead to the cross from the garden on the Mount of Olives, his prayer to his Father was utter submission: "not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42) "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath subjected him to suffering. ... He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied" (Isaiah 53:10-11)

Our Perfect Sacrifice

In Jesus Christ we find our perfect sacrifice. A man of Israel was instructed in the law of Moses to bring a lamb that was clean and without any blemish as a sacrifice for sin. These sacrifices could "never take away sins" (Hebrews 10:11) but had to be offered continually. Abraham prophetically told Isaac that God would provide himself a lamb for an offering. The apostle John records the words of John the Baptist as he saw the fulfillment of that prophecy: "And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36) Later, at the cross John witnessed his master and Lord crucified, then the soldier with a spear piercing his side, and the blood that flowed out. His response was to proclaim "And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe." (John 19:35) Years later in writing his epistles he no doubt remembered that scene, and wrote: "the blood of Jesus Christ his (God's) Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7) "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)

Although God has recorded the perfect sinless humanity of His beloved Son for all to read, He further declared Christ to be His Son by raising him from the dead. The rulers had sought to hold Jesus in the tomb by rolling a huge stone across the entrance, sealing it, and setting a guard. Even here the power of God was displayed as He publicly declared His Son to be risen from the dead. Christ rose triumphant, breaking the chains of death and hell. Let us rejoice and praise him, as the hymn writer did when he wrote:

Death could not keep his prey - Jesus, my Saviour!
He tore the bars away - Jesus, my Lord!
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes;
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign:
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose.

"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8:34) Jesus Christ, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, is now seated in heaven interceding with his Father for us. "For we have not an high priest not able to sympathise with our infirmities, but tempted in all things in like manner, sin apart." (Hebrews 4:15) There was nothing in him that could respond to the temptation of sin. It is not just that he did not sin, that would just make him a good man. Rather he could not sin because he is eternal God. Yet he walked in this world for 33 years, and knows what trials and temptations we face each day.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." I have eternal life because the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. Someday soon he is coming again to take me to spend eternity with him in his heavenly home. Until then, I should be watching and waiting, and ever seeking to please him.