The Humanity of Jesus

With all of the evil in the world and hateful acts being committed by humans we might star to feel like it is our humanity that is the issue, but it is evil working through humanity that is the issue.

When evil hurts or destroys humanity, that is one of the ways we know it is evil

Our Humanity

Genesis 1:26 (ESV)

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Genesis 1:27 (ESV)

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

We were created in his image. I used to wonder if God looks like us since we were created in his image

Some people speculate that being created “in his image” means we have consciousness since we are the only beings on earth that have consciousness so that must be what it means to be in his image

In the days of the Old Testament a king would put a likeness of his image on a statue and then place those statues in the far-off places or the borders of his kingdom. A human king can’t be everywhere at all times, but these statues would represent that he does have dominion and authority still in those places.

It was the same with the idols of the Gods. The people who worshipped a particular Greek god would often do so by worshipping the idol of the image of that God. They didn’t believe that the god was actually in the bronze or gold statue. They knew it was an image of that God and they were worshipping that god through the image.

Notice in what we just read that God says we bear His image and how will we do that? By having dominion over the land and the birds of the air and the sea. The intention was that we would stand as His image bearer and have dominion over the land, not in the way where we would rule it by our own authority but that we would rule it under the authority of Him, standing in His image.

He gave us the image of God and that allows us to share in the reigning and ruling of the earth by being his representatives or agents here on earth. It is not our authority but instead our ability to adequately reflect his image by allowing him to rule through us.

Jesus came because sin entered the world but what is sin? Sin is Missing the mark. Hamartia is the Greek word. Well, if sin is missing the mark, what is the mark? Reflecting the image of God! How did Adam and Eve sin? By not reflecting the image of God. How did they not reflect the image of God? By using the authority given to them to do something that God did not ask them to do and in fact told them not to. And worse than that, the sin they committed was designed to take the authority from God and put it in their own hands. This is the opposite of partnering with him in his dominion over the earth and instead steals that dominion from him and puts it into our own hands. Even worse than that, the area where they took dominion into their own hands was the area of deciding what is right and wrong.

Humankind was designed to be the image bearer and we must remember that our humanity is good. We often think of our humanity as something bad or negative, but this is the way God created us and we should not resent our weaknesses but instead rely on the power of the Holy Spirit and operate only under the authority of God.

Psalm 8:4 (ESV)

what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 8:5 (ESV)

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

Psalm 8:6 (ESV)

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet

We are tempted because of our view of humanity to think this somehow isn’t speaking about us. “man” here in this context actually means humanity. Even when we see the word son of man here, we might think of it in New Testament terms and say it must be talking about Jesus but when Jesus is referred to as the son of man it is referring to his humanity. Son of God is his divinity, but son of man simply means humanity.

It says we have been given dominion over the work of God’s hands which takes us back to Genesis where he has given us dominion over his creation.

There is nothing greater in all of his creation than humanity! He has given us dominion and he is King and ruler and he asks us to stand in here on earth as his representatives, being in his image and standing in the authority he has given us and using that power not for our good but for furthering the kingdom of God and operating under his reign.

Jesus’ Humanity

Jewish people in general do not have any issue accepting the humanity of Jesus but many do have a hard time accepting the divinity of Jesus.

Christians in general do not have a hard time accepting the divinity of Jesus, but we often have trouble accepting the Humanity of Jesus

To stop and think about the humanity of Jesus for a little while today might make us feel uncomfortable.

The accepted belief among nearly all Christians is that Jesus was fully God and fully man.

We talk a lot about his divinity but he was also fully man.

We will be delicate with this subject, and it will not dishonor or degrade his divinity to acknowledge his humanity.

The reality is, when Jesus walked on the earth, he was operating in his humanity and had laid down his divinity.

He was still fully God but laid it down to temporarily to be fully human.

Philippians 2:5 (NLT)

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Philippians 2:6 (NLT)

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Philippians 2:7 (NLT)

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,

Philippians 2:8 (NLT)

he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

He gave up his divine privileges and became fully man.

His identity was that he was still fully God but like a faucet that has two knobs one for hot and one for cold, he turned one of them off and used only the other one even though the other one was always available to him.

We can see this clearly because there is a dramatic difference between the way he walked the earth before the crucifixion and after. Before he was subject to time and space in much the same way we are. After his resurrection

he moves through walls and shows up here and there suddenly and without warning.

This means when he was a baby, he had dirty diapers.

When he was a toddler, he drove his parents crazy.

When he was a teenager, his parents lost him. Who hasn’t lost a teenager before!?

It means that he went through hormonal changes. This one is for me. I have teenagers and I just needed to hear this today.

He was tempted in every way that we are tempted.

For men and women, you should know he was tempted with sexual feelings in the same way we are. He did not sin but he was tempted

Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I know this is difficult to think about, but it should be comforting as well. Look at the way it is described in Hebrews.

Hebrews 2:17 (ESV)

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 2:18 (ESV)

For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

People have often wondered about him staying back at the temple

He ended up obeying his mother when she told him to make wine but surely he must have tested his parents as a kid.

We say well he was Jesus so it was ok for him to break the Jewish laws.

Remember to them though, these laws were given to them by God, and it was a sin to disobey them.

We say he never sinned but to people who strictly followed the Jewish law, he broke many of their laws.

He was called a drunkard and he associated with people that the Jews were not allowed to associate with.

In this case we have to go back and ask ourselves what is sin? Sin is missing the mark. Missing what mark? The mark of bearing the image of God.

The Pharisees were operating under the knowledge of good and evil, but Jesus was perfectly upholding the image of God.

If Jesus were walking the earth today we might have a harder time accepting him than you would think. We would eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and we would decide for ourselves what is right and wrong, and we would most likely accuse him of sin.

But he perfectly reflected the image of God and he never sinned.

We see him say over and over that he does nothing and says nothing that does not first come from the Father.

A moment ago, we read the Psalm that describes humanity. In Hebrews it shows that Jesus came and fulfilled that role of humanity for us.

Hebrews 2:5 (ESV)

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.

Hebrews 2:6 (ESV)

It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?

Hebrews 2:7 (ESV)

You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,

Hebrews 2:8 (ESV)

putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

Hebrews 2:9 (ESV)

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Jesus was the most human of any human that ever lived because to be properly human means you reflect the image of God

Jesus is the ultimate Human and the standard by which we should strive for in everything we do.

Jesus’ Suffering

One thing that is clear in reference to Jesus being human is that he suffered greatly.

He endured an overwhelmingly and exceedingly painful beating torture before being nailed to the cross.

He suffered through the pain of being human and endured all things even unto death.

The truth of being human is that we will experience suffering but because he also suffered, he shares in our humanity with us.

1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV)

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

This is an important distinction made here. We have a way to God through the man Jesus Christ. It is because he became a man and because he perfectly completed the role of humanity by bearing the image of God and died in our place bearing our sins that we can go to God. Prior to Jesus no man could even look at the face of God but now through Jesus we have our mediator.

He pleads for our forgiveness even crying out on the cross forgive them for they know not what they do! He pleads for you too! Bearing your sins and all your failures on the cross and cries out for you.

He never scorned a sinner but instead offered grace at all times and showed us how to properly live in humanity by bearing the image of God.

This means that when you mess up or when you are suffering, there is only one man that you should run to and that is the one who understands you and feels your pain.

Have you ever felt lonely? Jesus is the loneliest of all humans to have ever lived! He had infinite love for every human being in existence and everyone has turned their back to him at least once. In his darkest hour many of his closest friends abandoned him. He feels overwhelming sympathy for you, and no one can comfort your loneliness the way he can.

Ever felt anxiety, fear, sadness, grief, loss, emotionally hurt, physically hurt? Jesus understands.

Charles Spurgeon said if you could choose to have an angel live with you and know all your secrets or to have Jesus live with you, you should not delay in choosing Jesus for an angel may treat you with contempt for his unsuffering mind does not know your plight and we would be afraid to confess our smallness to him but to THE MAN Christ Jesus you will never need to hesitate to let him in on your suffering because he has tasted it himself and knows the pain.

It is said that King Alexander used to walk with his men instead of riding a horse or carriage and no matter how hot or miserable it was he walked with them and when they would stop for water they would offer it to their king first and he always refused and said he would not drink until his men were full. This strengthened his army because they knew he suffered through everything that they did.

“There is no abyss of grief into which Jesus has not descended. Sickness of body and pangs of soul, bereavement, poverty, scorn, slander, desertion, treachery—he knows all these things: malice, envy, contempt, and deadly hate, all shot their fiery darts against him. He has sounded the deeps of the ocean of sorrow. Did he not say that he was exceeding sorrowful even unto death; and did not the sweat of blood which encrimsoned his face show how terrible were the inward agonies through which his soul was passing? Prince of sorrow art thou, O Jesus! Emperor in the realm of woe, art thou, O Christ! Thou couldst say far more truly than the prophet of old, “I am the man that

hath seen affliction.” Comrade with us in every grief and woe, he is always at our side when our hearts are heavy. He carried up to heaven the selfsame human heart which was pierced below, and there he remembers Calvary, and all the griefs he suffered on our behalf. He sympathizes with us still.” C.H. Spurgeon

The MAN Jesus is the only one to run to. His law is love and his gospel is grace. His compassion is never exhausted, and no one understands you more than he does.

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