This blog is based on a couple of posts from another forum whereby
I answered the following questions:
If Jesus is not God then who is he?
another god?
a man?
(All other questions
asked are showed in red.)
My response:
A man! Now, a glorified
immortalized man!
The Firstfruits!
(John 1:30) This is he of whom I said, After me
cometh a man which is preferred before
me: for he was before me.
(John 4:29) Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I
did: is not this the Christ?
(John 8:40) But now ye
seek to kill me, a man that hath told you
the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
(John
9:11) He answered and said, A man that is called
Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool
of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
(John
10:33) The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for
blasphemy; and because that thou, being a
man, makest thyself God.
[Our Master Rabbi Jesus the Messiah explains
in verses 34-35 using Psalms 82; in what sense he can indeed be called
'god']
(Acts 2:22) Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among
you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you,
as ye yourselves also know:
(Acts 17:31) Because he hath appointed a day, in
the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath
given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
(Rom
5:15) But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the
offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace,
which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath
abounded unto many.
(1 Cor 15:21-22) For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
[HINT:
Adam was the man via which death came;
Christ was the man via which resurrection came!]
(1
Tim 2:5) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus;
So if Jesus is simply a Man, as you have
pointed out, then he was born with Sin in him...therefore he was not a perfect
sacrifice?
My response:
You appear to have a low view of what being 'a Man' is!
I have already
shown verses which state that Jesus is 'a man'.
Therefore, let me start of
by saying, that the first man God created was 'Adam'. Agreed!
He was 'a man'! Agreed!
Now ... when
God made Adam was he made with
Sin? NO!
Adam was a man made without sin! Agreed!!
However,
when Adam was tempted, he succumbed, and committed sin (i.e. transgressed GOD's
commandment) and because of this, death came into the world. [Rom 5:12].
GOD, therefore promised a solution:
(Gen 3:15) And I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
(Rom 5:15) But not as the offence,
so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of
God, and the gift by grace, which is by one
man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
(Rom 5:17) For if by
one man's offence death reigned by one;
much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ.)
(Rom 5:19) For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
(1 Cor
15:21) For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
One "man's" disobedience caused the mess that we are in.
GOD's
promised another 'man' whereby through this "man's" obedience many will be made
righteous.
Jesus was and is THAT MAN!!
Hence Paul
calls him the second man [1 Cor 15:47]
and the last Adam [1 Cor 15:45];
and
Paul compares and juxtaposes the two men
[Rom Ch. 5; 1 Cor 15:21; Phil. Ch. 2]
Now we know that Jesus is GOD's
only-begotten son; generated & begotten by the power of the Spirit of GOD;
and to whom the Spirit of GOD was given without measure [Luke 1:35, John 3:34]
So let
not even bother with the "just a man or mere
man" argument
Although Jesus is indeed a man; he isn't just a man!
He is the Son of GOD; GOD's only-begotten;
GOD's chosen one;
GOD's Anointed one
(hence His Messiah); he is GOD's Lamb ...
GOD's perfect sacrifice for all
sinners.
(John 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(John 1:29) The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of
the world.
(John 1:36) And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith,
Behold the Lamb of God!
(John 4:42)
And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have
heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Now in the OT, we can see what the qualifications for a sacrificial lamb
are.
(Exo 12:5) Your lamb shall be without blemish ... (Passover Lamb; cp. 1
Cor 5:7)
(Lev 1:10) And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the
sheep ... he shall bring it a male without
blemish.
(Lev 22:19-21) Ye shall offer at your own will a male
without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats. 20 But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not
offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you. 21 And whosoever offereth
a sacrifice of peace offerings unto YAHWEH to accomplish his vow, or a freewill
offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect
to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
(Num 28:3) And
thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer
unto YAHWEH; two lambs of the first year without
spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering.
(Deu 17:1) Thou
shalt not sacrifice unto YAHWEH thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that
is an abomination unto YAHWEH thy God.
As you can see, the
general consensus is that the sacrifice had to be 'perfect'; i.e. without spot
or blemish!
Remember, the first Adam ... (Gen 1:27) So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God
created he him; male and female created he them. (Gen 1:31) And God saw every
thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very
good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Well,
here comes the Last Adam, Jesus!
Like, the first Adam, he was tempted ...
therefore does 'this man' qualify as a 'perfect sacrifice'?
- (2 Cor 4:4) ... Christ, who is the image of God ...
- (1 Pet 1:19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot:
- (1 Pet 2:22) Who did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth: (cp. Isa 53:9)
- (1 John 3:5) And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and
in him is no sin.
- (Heb 4:15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities; but was in all
points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin.
- (2 Cor 5:21) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him.
- (Heb 9:14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
- (Heb 10:12) But this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of
God;
- (Eph 5:2) And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
(1 Cor 5:7) Purge out
therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.
For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for
us:
- See also Luke 1:35 & Heb 7:26
It appears so!
The man Christ Jesus was tempted in all points. The man
Christ Jesus triumphed accordingly. The man Christ Jesus succeeded where Adam
failed. The man Christ Jesus was without spot and blemish throughout his
ministry. No guile/deceit was found in him [Isa 53:9; 1 Pet 2:22]. Although he
was tempted, he committed no sin. He never disobeyed GOD.
He indeed does qualify
as the Lamb of GOD, the perfect sacrifice for man's sins.
Hence (John 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son ...
GOD gave His Lamb, His perfect sacrifice, the man
Christ Jesus.
If GOD could make a sinless man and woman out of the
dust of the earth and a rib of a man; the same GOD is more than capable to make
a sinless man 'of a woman' [Gal 4:4]; the same Spirit that moved in
Gen. 1; is the selfsame Spirit that generated & begat Jesus the Messiah in
the womb of Mary.
Therefore Jesus was begotten, conceived, born
without sin.
It is down to us ... the onus is on us ... to
accept GOD's perfect sacrifice, THE MAN Christ
Jesus!
But you said he was a
man, you have contradicted yourself. If he is not just a man then what is
he?
My response:
I am simply pointing out that Jesus is not
just a mere man!
He is a
special man. The head of the new human race, so to speak.
As Adam is the
head of all those that die; Jesus is the head of all those that live. [1 Cor
15:22]
He is the New Adam.
Additionally, he is NOW
an immortal glorified man
Therefore, he is the only 'such man'
of his kind (until the First Resurrection).
So in my wording "he is not just a man"; I am simply trying to
highlight his pre-eminence, his uniqueness, his greatness.
Jesus is GOD's
ultimate representative ... He is truly the archetypical man.
The true
'image of GOD'. [2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3]
You say he is God's only begotten well
then he must have some kind of supernatural parts to him
right?
My response:
The scriptures say that he is GOD's only begotten [John 1:14]
Jesus is a new 'man'! He is (or I should say 'was') as
human as Adam (and Eve) was before the Fall;
flesh and blood [Heb 2:14].
A man who was given (or anointed with) the spirit of GOD without measure.
[John 3:34]
He was definitely supernaturally
conceived;
for that very reason (dio
kai), the angel Gabriel said he would be called the Son of GOD.
[Luke 1:35]
But
having supernatural parts??? NO! Jesus is no hybrid or
demigod. That sort of thinking comes from pagan Greek philosophy!!
Jesus, rather, is NOW glorified and
immortalized, the firstfruits of the dead [1 Cor 15:20, 23].
So he is the
first glorified, immortalized man.
In that sense, he is now supernatural because he is the first man to
have a spiritual body that comes via
Resurrection
[1 Cor 15:42-44]
Natural first, then the Spiritual
[1 Cor 15:46]
In the Resurrection, so will all the dead in Christ be in
like-manner glorified. Yet all NT saints have been born again of GOD
without supernatural parts!! So neither
did Jesus, GOD's only-begotten, have any supernatural parts via his birth.
Who raised Jesus from the dead?
(Acts 3:15) And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the
dead; whereof we are witnesses.
(Acts 4:10) ... Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead ...
(Acts 13:29-30) And
when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the
tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from the dead:
(Rom
6:4) ... Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father ...
(Rom 10:9) ... believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead
...
(1 Cor 15:15) Yea, and we are found
false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up
Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be
that the dead rise not.
(Gal 1:1) ... Jesus Christ, and God the
Father, who raised him from the dead ...
(Col 2:12) ... the operation of
God, who hath raised him from the dead.
(1 Pet 1:3) Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead,
(1 Pet 1:21) ... do believe in God, that raised him up from the
dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Who did the Apostles mean by God?
(1 Cor 8:4) ... that there is
none other God but one. (6) But to us there is
but one God, the Father ...
(1 Tim 2:5) For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
(Eph 4:6) One God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Nuff
said!!
