A.In the previous lesson in this study of Deity, we considered how that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God and possesses all the fullness of Deity.
B.Let us now continue our study of Jesus by examining His simultaneous existence as both God and man.
1.Since the Gnostics in the first century, there has been contention regarding whether Jesus was really God and whether Christ was really a man.
2.We will see that the Scriptures present Jesus Christ as both God and man concurrently.
II.THE DEITY OF JESUS
A.Jesus demonstrated that He was Deity many times through His words, works, and wisdom.
1.The words Jesus spoke were unlike anything ever spoken by man.
a.He spoke “as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt. 7:29).
b.When the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to seize Jesus, the officers returned without Him, saying, “Never did a man speak the way this man speaks” (John 7:46).
c.He persistently claimed to be speaking the word of God (John 7:16-18; 8:38; 12:48-50).
d.He even made the claims to have preceded Abraham (John 8:56-58) and to be one with the Father (John 10:30).
2.The works He performed were signs of God’s power in Him.
a.The miracles, wonders, and signs attested that Jesus was the Son of God (John 20:30-31; Acts 2:22).
b.The works of Jesus were a witness to His Deity (John 5:36).He said, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (John 10:37-38).
3.The wisdom and insight He displayed were evidence of His divine omniscience.
a.Jesus “knew what was in man” (John 2:25), and many times He displayed awareness of things that could not have been known by human means.
b.Some examples of Jesus’ divine intuition are seen in His dealings with the scribes (Matt. 9:4) the Pharisees (Matt. 22:18), His disciples (Luke 9:47; John 6:61, 64; 13:11), and the Samaritan woman (John 4:19, 29, 39-42).
B.One of the greatest demonstrations of the Deity of Jesus was His transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-8).
1.The Scripture says that Jesus “was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (Matt. 17:2).
a.The word “transfigured” is translated from the Greek word metamorphoō, which means changed in form or transformed (this same word is used in Rom. 12:2 to describe a Christian’s spiritual transformation).
b.On that day, the likeness of man was rolled back to reveal the true, divine nature of Jesus.
i.Peter, James, and John saw one “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7; note – “form” is from morphē – compare to metamorphoō).
ii.They saw the glory of one who is described as the lamp of heaven (Rev. 21:23).
2.The voice of the Father in heaven announced the meaning of these things, saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (Matt. 17:5).
3.Writing many years later and after seeing many spectacular things, the apostle Peter was still awed by what he saw on that mountain (2Pet. 1:15-18).
C.At last, the resurrection of Jesus is a sign for all times that He is the Son of God.
1.The people of Jesus’ generation demanded a sign to prove that He is the Son of God.
a.When Jesus was dying on the cross, the people mocked Him, saying “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matt. 27:40).
b.Jesus did not come down from the cross, which was their choice of a sign, but He was raised from the dead, which was His choice of a sign (see John 2:13-22 regarding destroying “the temple”, i.e., His body).
2.To His and all generations, Jesus “was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4).
III.THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST
A.The humanity of Christ is evident throughout the Bible.
1.The first biblical reference to Christ’s incarnation is in Genesis 3:15, where He is called Eve’s seed.This means that He would be her fleshly descendant.
2.Likewise, Christ is the seed of Abraham in the flesh (Gen. 22:18; Gal. 3:16).
3.Similarly, Christ is the physical descendant of David who sits on his throne (2Sam. 7:12; Ps. 132:11; Acts 2:29-36; see Matt. 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38 for Christ’s lineage).
4.Christ was born and lived as an ordinary human being (Luke 2).
5.Christ even displayed all the weaknesses of humanity – hunger (Matt. 4:2), thirst (John 19:28), fatigue (John 4:6), temptation (Heb. 4:15), suffering (Luke 22:44) and death (John 19:30).
6.In acknowledgement of His humanity, Christ often referred to Himself as the “Son of Man.”
a.Just as the description “Son of God” shows the connection between Jesus and God, so also the description “Son of Man” shows the connection between Jesus and man.
b.The term “Son of Man” as a designation of Christ comes from Daniel 7:13, and Jesus applied this prophecy to Himself (Matt. 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 21:27).
B.Perhaps the greatest evidence of Christ’s humanity is found in the events of His crucifixion.
1.In the night that He was arrested, Christ prayed for relief from His burden (Matt. 26:36-44).
2.When He was arrested, tried, abused, and crucified, Christ quite literally “took it like a man” – He did not use any supernatural power to intervene in the process of His death (Matt. 26:52-54).
3.The afflictions of the cross – loss of blood, exhaustion, exposure, asphyxiation – all worked together to affect Christ’s death in the flesh as an ordinary human being (John 19:17-37).
IV.THE PERFECT ADVOCATE
A.Christ’s experience as a man enabled Him to become our Savior.
1.Jesus had to partake of flesh and blood in order to become a high priest and make propitiation for the sins of man (Heb. 2:14-18).
a.His human experience of temptation gives Him sympathy and mercy for all who are tempted (Heb. 4:14-16).He is an understanding high priest.
b.His shed blood enabled Him to make propitiation and atone for our sins (Heb. 9:11-28).
2.Jesus was perfected as the Savior by learning obedience.
a.Notice Hebrews 5:9-10 – “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”
b.Christ learned obedience when His will was different from the Father’s will.He surrendered His will to the Father when He prayed in Gethsemane, “Not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39).He then obeyed the Father by suffering death on the cross.
B.As both Son of God and Son of Man, Jesus Christ is the perfect Advocate for us.
1.Jesus is perfectly and uniquely equipped to represent God unto men and men unto God.
2.Notice 1John 2:1-2 – “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
a.The word “Advocate” is translated from the Greek word paraklētos, which means one who is called to another’s side to help or to plead a case (also used of the Holy Spirit – see Lesson 7).
b.Who could better intercede for us before God than Jesus, who has walked in our shoes?
V.CONCLUSION – DOES JESUS INTERCEDE FOR YOU?
A.If you would have the Son of God and the Son of Man to be your Savior and Advocate with the Father, then you must obey Him.If you haven’t obeyed Him yet, then why wait any longer?
B.Just as Jesus was “transfigured” (metamorphoō in Matt. 17:2) in appearance, so also we must be “transformed” (metamorphoō in Rom. 12:2) spiritually to conform to His image.Make the change today!
