The Humanity of Jesus Christ

The virgin birth of Jesus Christ was necessary in order to show that he was fully God and fully human.

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If He had been created by God and sent down, we couldn’t have seen Him as “one of us”. He is accepted because of His ability to relate to our needs. Mary was betrothed to Joseph, and an angel came to her and told her that she was pregnant. She argued at first, saying that she was a virgin and hadn’t even married Joseph yet, but the angel said He was of the Holy Spirit and would be a savior to the people.

Joseph was also confronted by an angel and didn’t cast Mary away, but instead married her. After not finding any room at the inns, they finally settled on a stable, where Jesus was born. The point of being born of a virgin relates to the fact that He had to be fully God and fully human. Because He was born of a virgin, it made it more believable to be spiritual, and it showed that He wasn’t fully human. So yes, it was necessary.

Jesus didn’t have the capability to sin. He was 100% God, and God can’t sin. If He did sin, God wouldn’t be God. Jesus was “The second man” or the “new Adam”. He was sent to show us what we should be, not what we are. Humans weren’t made to sin, we were made to glorify God in all we do, but because of Adam and Eve, sin entered the world and we now have a sinful nature.

He was tempted like we are, yes, because Jesus was God in the flesh, but He overcame, an example to us that we ourselves can overcome sin. If Christ wasn’t fully human, we wouldn’t be able to accept when He said that He knew what we were going through. If an angel said that they understood our earthly problems, we wouldn’t believe them, because they’re different than us. But because Jesus was 100% human, we can relate to that.

Jesus was hungry and angels ministered to Him (Matt. 4:11), He cried when Lazarus died (John 11:35), He became angry at the people who turned the temple into a “den of thieves” (Matt. 21:12), and we can relate to multiple if not all those things. We know what it’s like to be hungry, we know what it’s like to be angry or sad, so we accept Jesus and listen to Him. He came down to our level and that’s what makes Him so different from others false gods or idols. In conclusion, Jesus’ humanity, being born of a virgin, was necessary to show that He was fully human and fully God. His human aspects let us relate to Him and be open to His teachings. Because He had been through what we have been through, we can believe Him when He assures us and encourages us. Essay Two: Deity of Christ Jesus was fully human and fully God, even if He did have to give up some of His divine attributes while on earth. In order to be human- or the best version of one- He gave up omnipresence, omnipotent, omniscient, etc. In Isaiah 9:6, it says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God...”. It refers to Him as the literal God.

Also, in the Old Testament, the word for Lord (Gk. Kyrios) was used in the New Testament as well to translate the Lord that Jesus was referred to. In John 8:58, when He said that “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am”, He was calling himself God, something that the Jewish leaders recognized and tried to stone Him for. In order to come down and be “one of us”, Jesus had to “give up” some of His divine attributes. He gave up His omnipotence, omnipresence, etc. In Philippians 2:5-7, Paul says that He “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,” which obviously means that he had to give up some of his God-like attributes. He “humbled himself for our sake... becoming poor... giving up the glory He had and deserved” (Grudem 240). The deity of Christ is necessary for salvation. Grudem says, “Only someone who is infinite God could bear the full penalty for all the sins of all those who would believe in Him”. Scripture says that “salvation is from the lord” (Jonah 2:9) and only someone who was fully God could be the mediator.

The author goes on to say that “if Jesus isn’t fully God, we have no salvation...”, which would leave us hopeless. In conclusion, Jesus is completely God. He was fully human too, even if he did give up some of his divine attributes for us. If he wasn’t God, then we wouldn’t have salvation and would be completely hopeless. Essay Three Grudem wrote that, “...a precise understanding of how full deity and full humanity could be combined together in one person was formulated only gradually in the church...”. Jesus’ God and human attributes can be combined into one person who is fully God and fully human. One of the incorrect views of the person of Christ is Apollinarism. The man who started it, Apollinaris, was a bishop who taught that, “the one person of Christ had a human body, but not a human mind or spirit, and that the mind and spirit of Christ were from the divine nature of the Son of God”. This view was incorrect because we need salvation for our human minds and spirits also, so the teaching was rejected by several church councils. Another view is Nestorianism, who was started by a “popular preacher at Antioch”.

Nestorianism is incorrect because it divides Christ’s attributes into two separate people. The church rejected this also and backed it up with the fact that nowhere in scripture was Christs’ humanity and deity treated separate. In John 14:23, He says, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him”. This verse doesn’t leave much to the imagination, making it clear that Jesus and God are equal if not the same. He also says, “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matt. 28:20), once again contributing to the fact that he’s God and is always with us. Scripture also demonstrates his human nature. In Luke 3:23, Jesus is thirty years old, and in Matthew 4:2 and Mark 15:21, he’s “tired and weak”. Another testament to his human nature is that he died, literally, and stayed dead for three days. But afterwards his deity is once again shown when he raises from the dead.

In conclusion Jesus’ God and human attributes worked together in coalition. He was fully God and fully Human. They were combined and made Him into one person. Like Grudem says, “It is by far the most amazing miracle of the entire Bible—far more amazing than the resurrection and more amazing even than the creation of the entire universe”.

Works Cited

Grudem, Wayne. Bible Doctrine: Essential teachings of the Christian Faith. Zondervan, 1999. “Jesus Is Fully Human.” Desiring God, 2 Nov. 2019, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/jesus-is-fully-human.

“The Virgin Birth.” Desiring God, 2 Nov. 2019, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-virgin-birth.

Kimble, Jeremy. “The Man Christ Jesus.” The Gospel Coalition, The Gospel Coalition, 20 May 2019, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/man-christ-jesus/.

“Did Jesus Diminish His Divine Power to Become Human?” Desiring God, 1 Nov. 2019, https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/did-jesus-diminish-his-divine-power-to-become-human.