The Person of Christ
Christology 1 • Sermon • Submitted
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In the next two class of our Christian Beliefs tract we will study the doctrine of Christ.
In part one (5 weeks) we will look exclusively into the glory of the person of Jesus Christ.
In part 2 (7 weeks) we will study the Atonement, Resurrection and Ascension, and the Offices of Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King.
In the person of Christ we look at his humanity and deity.
The Person of Christ
How is Jesus fully God and fully man in one person?
Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man in one person and will be so forever.
The scriptural material supporting this definition is extensive. We will discuss first the humanity of Christ, then his deity, and then attempt to show how Jesus’ deity and humanity are united in the one person of Christ.
The Humanity of Christ
The Humanity of Christ
1. The Virgin Birth
1. The Virgin Birth
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
The doctrinal importance of the virgin birth is seen in at least three areas:
The doctrinal importance of the virgin birth is seen in at least three areas:
1. It shows that salvation ultimately must come from the Lord.
1. It shows that salvation ultimately must come from the Lord.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
2. The virgin birth made possible the uniting of full deity and full humanity in one person.
2. The virgin birth made possible the uniting of full deity and full humanity in one person.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
3. The virgin birth also makes possible Christ’s true humanity without inherited sin.
3. The virgin birth also makes possible Christ’s true humanity without inherited sin.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
2. The Human Weakness and Limitations of Christ
2. The Human Weakness and Limitations of Christ
a. Jesus Had a Human Body
a. Jesus Had a Human Body
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Jesus was born just like all babies.
And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Jesus got tired.
Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Jesus got thirsty.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”
Jesus got hungry
And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
He got physically weak.
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
The culmination of Jesus’ human limitations is that he died.
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
Jesus’ arose from the dead with a physical body
See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
He ate after his resurrection
They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
In the same human body Jesus ascended to heaven.
I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
Just a few verses later Jesus said,
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine a. Jesus Had a Human Body
All of these verses taken together show that, as far as Jesus’ human body is concerned, it was like ours in every respect before his resurrection, and after his resurrection it was still a human body with “flesh and bones,” but made perfect, the kind of body that we will have when Christ returns and we are raised from the dead as well. Jesus continues to exist in that human body in heaven, as the ascension is designed to teach.
b. Jesus Had A Human Mind
b. Jesus Had A Human Mind
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
He had a human mind like ours when he spoke of his return.
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
c. Jesus Had a Human Soul and Human Emotions
c. Jesus Had a Human Soul and Human Emotions
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”
Jesus had a full range of emotions
When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
Jesus wept.
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Jesus never sinned, his moral backbone was strengthened with exercise as he obeyed his parents but he never sinned.
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.
The fact that he faced temptation means that he had a genuine human nature that could be tempted.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
d. People Near Jesus Saw Him as Only a Man
d. People Near Jesus Saw Him as Only a Man
Great crowds followed him after he healed every disease but when he came to his own village of Nazareth, the people who had known him for many years did not receive him:
And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
For not even his brothers believed in him.
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine d. People near Jesus Saw Him as Only a Man
Was Jesus fully human? He was so fully human that even those who lived and worked with him for thirty years, even those brothers who grew up in his own household, did not realize that he was anything more than another very good human being. They apparently had no idea that he was God come in the flesh.
Review
So this concludes this weeks Christology study…next week we will continue looking at the Person of Jesus Christ and ask the question, Could Jesus have sinned.
SCRIPTURE MEMORY PASSAGE
John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
HYMN
“Fairest Lord Jesus”
Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Thee will I cherish, thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight,
And all the twinkling, starry host:
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heav’n can boast.
Beautiful Savior! Lord of the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be thine.
from munster gesangbuch 1677, translated 1850, 1873
Music by Selah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBR0QpQYKdw