This paper will address three characteristics about Jesus Christ and how they are applicable to our lives and ministries. These three things are the incarnation, the deity, and the humanity of Jesus. They are important parts of our faith but all too often we forget how they apply to us and that their truth should make a difference in the way we think and do things. Without the incarnation there is no salvation for mankind, without Jesus being God there is no full atonement of our sins, and without the humanity of Jesus there is no sacrifice for the cost of mankind’s sins. These are vital pillars of our faith.
The incarnation of Jesus Christ is an amazing event. Grudem calls it “by far the most amazing miracle of the entire Bible—far more amazing than resurrection and more amazing even than the creation of the universe” (Grudem 563). Without the incarnation of Jesus there would be no salvation, forgiveness, or redemption for mankind. Only because God chose to become a man and die can we be washed clean of our sins. There is no salvation for fallen angels because God did not choose to be like them and pay their debt, but He became man and paid our debt. The embodiment of God is amazing and something that we should never cease to be amazed by.
When Jesus was conceived, God and man had become one. The all-powerful God of this universe lowered Himself so that He could rescue us from our sins which we were once dead (Ephesians 2:1). Without this union of God and man there is no way that mankind could have ever relieved itself from the slavery of sin, the relief had to come from someone who was free from sin. Jesus being conceived by the Spirit was free from sin yet born from woman. By this Jesus was fully able to pay for our sins, He was sinless and man. Jesus being God and sinless He was able to pay the price for our sins. By Jesus being man He was able to be the sacrifice to deliver that payment. Jesus was the Passover lamb to pay for sin for all time.
How does this affect us, how do we apply this to our lives and ministries? It affects us in that because of this truth we have been saved and freed from sin. We are now able to worship and serve God and to grow in His image. It affects us because we are able to see the truths of Scripture, apply and teach these truths. We are able to lead others to the redemption given by Christ all because He was human and gave Himself for our sins. “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). As stated before, there is no salvation without Jesus being man because there would not be a sacrifice to deliver the payment.
The question is posed by Elwell. “How could one and the same person be both God and man? How could he who is infinite become finite; he who is eternal become temporal; he who is God become man?” (Elwell 266). This is a great question, Jesus was fully man, but He was also fully God. How that works out I don’t think we will ever completely know or understand. At the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451AD they came to this conclusion;
Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us. (Chalcedonian Creed, 451)
The council affirmed the Deity and humanity of Jesus without taking away from one or the other. In the desire to understand the humanity and deity of Christ there have been some ideas such as docetism and adoptionism. Docetism is a methodology that limits the deity of Christ for the emphasis of His humanity. While adoptionism emphasized His deity at the expense of His humanity. Both of these fall short of the amazing union which the Bible describes.
As Bob Deffinbaugh has said, “The principle of incarnation applies to every Christian personally. God has not only chosen to reveal Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, but also personally through the godly lives of His saints” (Deffinbaugh). The practical application of Christ’s deity, humanity, and incarnation in our lives is to realize that God (Jesus) came down to earth and fully submitted to the God (Father) so that His will would be done. He (Jesus) set out to do the work which the Father predestined before hand and laid the foundation for use to continue that work which He has predestined (Ephesians 2:10). He is our example as He prayed we should pray and as He submitted to the Father we should submit to God. By Jesus being fully human we can and must look at Him as our example and guide. The things He said and did are the things that we should study and apply to our lives that we may be obedient and live as He has called us.
Jesus did not sit on His butt at home and watch TV whenever He was free, but He was always out doing the work which the Father willed for Him. As it should be for us! This is arguably our biggest lacking. We are too concerned with our lives, work, and theological issues that we are not in the world enough doing His work and calling people to repentance. Years ago one of my teachers said “there’s to much world in the church” and I will add saying there’s not enough church in the world. It is a horrible shame that we as a church and as individual believers have failed to spread the Gospel in our everyday lives. Christ did and He is our example, He is who we are to live as and to mimic.
At the same time, we seem to forget how amazing it is that God became man, and died for us. God lowered Himself and became man so that He could pay the price. Jesus, being an infinite God through whom all creation came to being gave up His infinity and became man to be confined and to dwell fully in man. This is the sacrifice that God made for us. As His servants what sacrifice should we then make for Him and His will. Whatever it takes! God is so amazing and has given us so much grace who are we to spend our free time watching TV and doing other things that keeps us from interacting with the world, proclaiming His greatness to all the earth through our words and through our actions.
I truly believe that this is the practical application of Jesus’ deity, humanity, and incarnation. This is our example to serve fully and fully submit. We should never fail to be amazed by what our God has done and what He has in store. I pray that this be true in my life and in all the saints.
References
Deffinbaugh, B. (2004). 4. Personal Implications of the Incarnation (Part 1) Philippians 2:5-18. Bible.org https://bible.org/seriespage/4-personal-implications-incarnation-part-1-philippians-25-18
Elwell, W. A. (Ed.). (2001). Evangelical dictionary of theology. Baker Academic.
Wayne, G. (1994). Systematic theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.