The Two Natures of Jesus

No matter how one refers to Him, He is fully God and fully human. Because of humanity’s departure from wisdom, God decided to become man as a last ditch effort to save His people. This is best demonstrated in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. Jesus lived among His followers teaching them about the good news of the Bible and when it was time, He willing sacrificed Himself in order to forgive the sins of those who believed and guaranteed his/her salvation. Once He ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit remained, filling those who believed with the eternal love and guidance so that he/she may now spread the good news, just as His disciples did. Jesus’ identity and work is significant to the Christian worldview because they are the very core of this faith-based belief system. One learns from the Bible that one does not have to witness these works, just by merely believing will lead one to salvation. According to Merrick (2014), “Jesus Christ represents all humanity and offers to God a sacrifice that reconciles humanity and God” (final

Other characteristics include being in agony or being self-sacrificing (Foster 126). Although these are characteristics of a Christ figure, the character is not required to have all of these aspects in order to be considered a Christ figure (Foster 127). Jesus Christ chose to be crucified rather than falsely confess to accusation made against him. Although some believed him, many were against

Huston Smith brought up a thought that had never crossed my mind before, “What did Jesus think of himself?” Huston Smith said that it was impossible to find out or ever to know Jesus’ thoughts or personal feelings about himself. Then Smith also brought up the fact that Jesus may not have ever found out what he was, who he was, or what to think about himself. Huston Smith revealed that the importance of Jesus’ human needs should be defined as well as his divine needs. He stated that by considering both human and divine needs one can better understand who Jesus really was and what he was meant to do. Some things in this world could have also been a mystery to Jesus during his life though, just as it is in our lifetime. Huston Smith believed that when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and he saw the angel that it could have been the first time he came to the realization of who he was and what his significance to the world was. This idea was supported when Huston Smith went on to explain that the forty days and nights Jesus spent in the woods were spent to discover who he really was. This part of the video really made me think of my opinion of Jesus and whether I thought he knew who he was and who he was going to be.

Jesus demonstrated character even when it was not popular. Life is not going always going to leave in a favorable position. He preached on his power to forgive sins and to heal the sick.

As creatures created by God and who share in His life, we all have “inestimable value” (JP II 2). By virtue of the fact that He sent His Son to die for us on the cross in order to bridge what was broken in the Garden, God shows how much He really loves humanity. The Incarnation is proof positive how important human life is in the eyes of the Trinity. Jesus Christ could have taken on any form, yet as Philippians 2:7 teaches us, He took the form of a human servant and died a human death on the cross in order to provide salvation for humankind. Because of this relationship, all humans are valuable and share a divine dignity with one another and with God.

Although we were granted great gifts from God, such as mercy, our selfishness caused us to disobey and turn away from God. This was through sinning, worshipping false gods and idols, and not following God’s Word. All of this contributed to the corruption and destruction of humanity, leading to our ultimate condemnation. In order to save humanity, the Father created the Son, hence Jesus as the incarnation of God. Jesus was completely human, as well as completely divine, and “took our body, and not only so, but took it directly from a spotless, stainless virgin” (8).

He explains the significance of mankind’s creation and the original sin’s effect on creation. St. Athanasius states that humans were created in the Image of God to be aligned with God’s will, and remain incorrupt. Furthermore, man was created with a unique and special grace from God. However, mankind’s relationship with God was broken through the Fall, and death was the penalty. St. Athanasius argues that because of the original sin, the Word took on human form in order to rescue mankind, and grant salvation, so that death was no longer the penalty for sin.

Jesus is not a mere man. He is so much more than a man; we can see

Jesus Christ, God incarnate came to earth to save everyone from eternal damnation in hell. As humans, with Adam and Eve as our representatives in the Garden of Eden, they broke God’s one commandment, therefore allowing sin to come into the world. Because of this fall, we all deserve damnation, and because of the sin nature inside of us, everyone deserves to die and be eternally punished. However, because of the loving and gracious nature of God, He sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to be our representative for sin. When he took the cross, not only did he bear the physical pain of the lashes, the dehydration, and the cross itself, but he also drank God’s cup of wrath for us. Everyone on earth deserves to be on that cross, but Jesus, through his great love for us, paid the ultimate price of his own life to save us.

Next we must understand that Jesus was fully God and fully human. We must have both parts in order to understand that he saved us and that he was one and the same with God. McGrath says, “Although all people are children of God in some sense of the word, the New Testament holds that Jesus is the son of God.”(McGrath, 67) This shows us that Jesus is directly connected to God and therefore he

When exploring the concept of ‘God the Son’, the incarnation and attributes of God as seen in Christ enter the picture. In order for human sin to be covered, a human sacrifice is all that could meet the requirement ordained by God, yet, they had to be sinless. Only the incarnate God could fulfill this role, exhibiting qualities of God Himself, such as selflessness, unconditional love, and purity. Another core trait was humbleness, although Jesus held the highest status in all the world, which shone brightly in His ministry, as He also served the children of God. Paul captured the essence of Jesus as God and the reality of the incarnation in these verses, “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God…made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:5-7, NKJV).

Christ is part of the Trinity and is recognized as God in creation-John 1:3, judge of all things in the future-john 5:27, and he has omniscience-Matthew 9:4. Charles Ryre proves Christ's deity and involvement in the Trinity in Basic Theology, as he writes,

With the knowledge that the human form was fit for Jesus, now the focus can shift to the evidence that he was human and his human form was humanizing. Jesus lived a life on earth and suffered like every other person does. As mentioned previously, Jesus experienced temptation by the Devil as seen in Matthew 4. He experienced hunger as seen in Mark 11:12. He experienced weariness as seen in John 4:6, “So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well” (). He experienced sorrow many times as seen when Lazarus died in John 11 and several other places. He also experience pain and suffering on the cross and he died just as everyone on earth does as well. By every standard Jesus was a human being. He lived and died as everyone else on this planet does. His humanity was humanizing. He was a human being and demonstrated all the characteristics of being one. The only difference is that he was able to live a life without sin. So Jesus’ human nature was in no way dehumanizing; he exhibited every characteristic that humans face and conquered every struggle.

The two natures of Jesus refers to the doctrine that the one person Jesus has two natures, (Divine and Human). In theology this is called “the doctrine of the hypostatic union. ” it derives its meaning from the Greek word hypostasis (which is also

Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many great men who have left an impact on today’s world. Some of these men may have changed a certain system was run or established a better community for other people. While doing these things is certainly commendable, there is one man who stands above the rest. This man is unique in every way from His conception to His death. In addition, this man made astonishing claims and performed many great miracles. While there were many that embraced this man, there were many that called him foolish and a sinner. This man was Jesus Christ. Through the use of Old Testament prophets, various New Testament testimonies, and certain divine attributes, it is proven that Jesus Christ is unique in that He and God are one.