Jesus Christ is undeniably the most important person ever to walk the earth. By His birth, we divide the ages of time; by His death, we achieve atonement for sin; and by His resurrection, we are guaranteed eternal life. His birth and resurrection mark the two most important holidays in the world. The news of His life has reached every continent, and nearly every people. He sits at the right hand of God. The Church He established is the largest and most influential organization of all time. More is done is His name than any other. Obviously, then, He is history's most significant figure.
Since Jesus is the most important person ever to walk the earth, it is only reasonable that we should know about Him. It only makes sense for us to analyze who He is. Everything boils down to one question: who is Jesus Christ? Upon this question lies the fate of humanity.
The Bible tells us more about Jesus than any other source. It makes sense, then, that we should consult it in the question of Jesus. Where better to learn about Jesus Christ than four God-inspired biographies of Him and volumes of knowledge poured out by God Himself. As I have established before in my article "Jesus Is God," Jesus is definitely God in the flesh. That seems simple enough; am I right? Unfortunately, the answer is no. The question so many people ask themselves is, "What does it mean for Jesus to be God?" Here I set out to answer that question.
The Dual Nature of Jesus Christ
Jesus has two natures. They are completely distinct but function as one unit. There are people who claim that God was the Father, became the Son as a man, and then became the Holy Spirit. This is not true. Some claim that Jesus is half-god and half-man. That would make Him some sort of demigod, which He is not. There is also the claim that Jesus' God and man natures fused to form some new type of God-man nature. This is also false. Jesus Christ was completely God, which a fully divine nature, and completely man, with a completely human nature. This can be illustrated through another mysterious thing with two natures: matter.
According to the well-validated theory of quantum mechanics, matter has two natures. For years, people had debated whether light was composed of particles of waves. In the past century, they realized something startling: the answer is both. As if that was not confusing enough, they also discovered that matter was made of particles, but simultaneously composed of waves. As it turns out, things travel like waves but interact as particles. The details of the theory are very complicated, but it leads to a strange conclusion: matter has a dual nature. Matter is made of particles, and matter is made of waves. Every particle is both a particle and a wave. It seems to defy comprehension, but is true.
People often think it is incredible that one Being could have both a fully human and a fully divine nature. Yet even matter has a dual nature, each nature being equally valid and manifested in reality. Thus, the two natures of Jesus Christ, God and man, are simultaneous and codominant.
Jesus – Divine
Jesus was definitely God. He had an entirely divine nature in Himself, which manifested itself in many ways.
- Jesus accepted worship. In Matthew 8:2-3, among other places, people worshiped Jesus to His face. This is due to His divine nature. Being God, Jesus was naturally worshiped.
- Jesus receives prayer. In Acts 7:59, Stephen is being stoned and prays, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." God is the One who receives prayer, and thus accepting pray is a function of Jesus' divine nature.
- Jesus forgave sin. "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." That is what Jesus said in Matthew 9:2 to a paralytic before healing him. Since all sin is indebted to God, forgiveness of sin must be done by God. By forgiving sin, Jesus was executing His divine pardoning power.
- Jesus baptizes men with the Holy Spirit. When John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus, he was told that the Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit is a member of the Trinity. To baptize with God, you must be God. Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit through His divine nature.
- Jesus created all things. John 1:3 identifies Jesus as the Creator of all things. Omnipotence is necessary to create the world, and omnipotence is a divine trait.
- Jesus is the only Begotten of God, as John 3:16 so well point out. Everything that is begotten inherits the nature of what begets it. God is divine, and His Son is as well.
Jesus – Human
Jesus was definitely man. He has an entirely human nature in Himself, which manifested itself in many ways.
- Jesus worshipped the Father. In John 8:49, Jesus told His followers that He honored His Father. He often spoke of doing His Father's will, and He denied to worship Satan and chose instead to worship God. It is the job of humanity to glorify God.
- Jesus prayed to the Father. This is mentioned often in the Gospels, such as in Matthew 14:23. Since man is not with God personally, he can only communicate with God via prayer. Jesus prayed to keep close with the Father and as an example to others. This was a necessity of His human nature.
- Jesus bore the punishment of sin. Romans 3:25 speaks of Jesus being a propitiation for our sins. That means "atoning sacrifice." Sacrifices bear the punishment of sin. Any man who is left in his sins will have to pay the punishment of sin in Hell. Jesus bore the punishment of all men.
- Jesus was baptized in water. The Gospels agree that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Only humans have any reason to be baptized.
- Jesus had a created body. The body of Jesus Christ was created by God along with the rest of the universe. This is the same as anyone else. All people were made from earthen matter, and the body of Jesus came about the same.
- Jesus was the Son of Man. Many verses in the Gospels speak of Jesus as the Son of Man (such as Matthew 12:32). As I mentioned previously, anything begotten inherits the nature of that which beget it. Jesus was begotten of Mary, a human being, and inherited through her human nature.
There we have it, then. Jesus Christ was completely God and was completely man. His two natures are equally valid, distinct, and in perfect harmony. Only by understanding this can one fully realize the incredibility of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, our God.