Humanity of Jesus
From Theopedia
The humanity of Jesus is as essential to the Christian faith as his deity. The New Testament teaching and the orthodox Christian position regarding the Person of Christ is that Jesus is truly God and truly man in the fullest sense of the terms. In His Person is a union of two distinct natures -- human and divine. In this union the two natures did not combine or confuse so as to produce a unique, third kind of nature; nor was there a dual personality. Rather, the product was a single unique Person, a Person with two natures. Jesus is truly human in every essential aspect. Indeed, Jesus, being sinless, is the most authentic human being who ever lived.
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[edit] The importance of Jesus' humanity
Only as man can Jesus truly represent men to God, (Heb. 2:17). He understands our lives because He has lived it also, (Heb. 2:18). Because He understands, coming to Him we "obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need," (Heb. 4:15-16). As man He provided for us the pattern for living as men, (1 Pet. 2:21).
[edit] Elements of Jesus' humanity
This Theopedia entry is taken from chapter 26 of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, (c) 1994, titled "The Person of Christ."
There are four elements to the humanity of Jesus.
- Virgin Birth
- Human weakness and limitations
- Sinlessness of Jesus
- Eternal Human Nature
[edit] Virgin birth
Matt 1:18 - "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 a child of the Holy Spirit."
This fact is reaffirmed in all of the gospels. The doctrinal importance of the virgin birth shows in three major areas: that salvation must come from the Lord (the conception of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit), it shows how Christ is both fully man and fully God (a human woman carrying the seed of the Spirit) and how Christ is fully human without inherited sin (see below).
See main page on the Virgin birth of Jesus
[edit] Human weakness and limitations
The fact that Jesus had a human body, mind, soul and emotions, as well as the fact that people close to Christ saw Him as only a man, show that Christ suffered the same human limitations as us. Though He had the power of all Heaven at His command, Christ's bodily form is still limited in the same we are: the need for sleep, food, etc. This is not to say that Christ had a sinful nature (see below) but these are just the natural products of being human.
[edit] Sinlessness
The key to understanding the duality of Christ's human nature and His sinlessness is understanding that sin, as part of the human condition, is not the normal condition. God did not create us as sinners, but as a result of the fall, sin has marred our lives. Christ's sinlessness is made clear in Scripture, from His 40 days in the desert, where Satan tempted Christ but failed to entice him in to sin, to the time of the beginning of His ministry where "the favor of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:40).
See main page on the Sinlessness of Jesus
[edit] Everlasting human nature
Jesus did not give up his human nature after his death and resurrection, as indicated in his several appearances to the disciples afterwards, including scars from the nails in His hands while on the cross. Also, Acts 1:11 speaks of the two angels promised that Christ would return "in the same way as you saw him go in to heaven."
Also, in Revelation 1:31, John meets someone described as being "like a son of man". This man describes himself by saying: "I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!"; many Christians interpret this to be Jesus. This meeting occurs after the resurrection of Jesus. So we may surmise that John perceives Jesus to be in human form after the resurrection.
