The Deity and Humanity of Jesus Christ is the most important doctrine in the Bible.
Occultism surrounds the Deity of Christ as Eternal God, and failure of the occult to distinguish between the Deity of Christ and the Humanity of Christ. Satan always attacks the Deity of Christ and the Cross of Christ. The Person of Christ as True Humanity and True God in One Person is at the core of occult ignorance.
The most misinterpreted and misunderstood scripture in the Bible relates to the Deity and Humanity of Jesus Christ. From these misgivings, heresy and the occult establish their erroneous conclusions and resultant false theology. The unseen leadership of all occult religions are the Satanic forces of evil.
Jesus Christ is God! He always has been, always will be. Jesus Christ by Divine Decree (see study on Divine Decrees) became one of us (humanity) to pay the penalty of sin which is death. Adam’s sin is inherent in every human being since Adam. Jesus Christ is the light of the world (light of life – there is no life apart from God the Son), there are no shadows in Him. There never was a time when Christ did not exist as God (John 1:1-5; 9-14).
For clarification, two words of terminology should be understood: Christophany, means appearances of Christ after His death and resurrection. Theophany refers to appearances of Christ before His incarnation (before He became Man).
Christ is the Son of God as declared by God the Father: (Psalm 2:7; Matthew 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22; 9:35; 20:13).
Jesus Christ declared Himself as the Son of God the Father. In these numerous declarations, Christ speaks from His humanity, not His deity, even though He is deity. These declarations make Him equal with God, His Father: Matthew 7:21; 10:32, 33; 11:27; 12:50; 16:17; 18:10; 18:19; 10:23; 24:36; 25:34; 26:39; 26:42; 26:53; Luke 2:49; 10:22; 22:29; 24:49; John 5:17; 6:32; 6:65; 8:19; 8:28; 8:38; 8:49; 8:54; 10:18; 10:29, 30, 32, 37: 12:26; 14:7, 12, 20, 21,23,28; 15:1, 8, 15,23, 24; 16:10; 18:11; 20:17; Revelation 2:27; 3:5, 21).
The Theophanies of Christ declare His pre-existence before the creation, especially before the incarnation; thus, His eternal life. Christ as the Angel of Jehovah, identified as Jehovah: Genesis 16:7-13, 22; 11:18; 31:11-13; 48:15, 16. Also compare Exodus 3 with Acts 7: 30-35; Exodus 13:21; 14:19; Judges 6:11-23; 13: 9-20. Angel of Jehovah distinguished from Jehovah: (Genesis 24:7, 40; Exodus 23:20; 32:34; 1 Chronicles 21: 15-18; Isaiah 63:9; Zechariah 1:12, 13). Angel of Jehovah is the second person of the Trinity – visible God or God incarnate. However, after Christ became incarnate, the Angel of Jehovah no longer appears because the Angel of Jehovah was Christ before the incarnation. Having come in the flesh, His manifestation as the Angel of Jehovah was no longer necessary: (John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Timothy 6: 15, 16; 1 John 4:12).
Jesus Christ is referred to as Jehovah: Isaiah 9:6, 7; 40:3; Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Zechariah 12:10.
HYPOSTATIC UNION
As Messiah, Christ stands alone. There is no other and never will be. Christ is Undiminished Deity and True Humanity in One Person. The theological term is called Hypostatic Union. As True Humanity, Christ did not empty Himself of Deity. Therefore, Christ is the Unique Person in Heaven and Earth.
Jesus Christ is uniquely God and uniquely man in one person forever. Jesus Christ represents God to man. Jesus Christ represents Man to God (1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1).
The Humanity and Deity of Christ in the incarnation are declared in Philippians 2:5-7.
The Theological Doctrine of Kenosis means to “deprive oneself of proper function.” In other words, Christ became a man without losing or diminishing His Deity. Deity cannot lose Deity. The characteristics of Deity cannot change (see definition of “Immutability.”)
During the incarnation of Christ, He relied totally on the Indwelling Holy Spirit and God’s Word to sustain Him from birth to the Cross; through death and His resurrection. By age twelve, Jesus already knew the wisdom of Scripture and was a mature believer (Luke 2:40-52). We are referring to the humanity of Christ. When ever you read Scripture that refers to human characteristics of Christ you must remember this is referring to His humanity, never His deity.
Christ did not use His Divine Attributes (characteristics) during His incarnation. He had to remain true humanity in order to go to the Cross. Proof of His perfect humanity is the fact that he went to the Cross and God the Father was propitiated (God’s perfect Justice…satisfied) with Christ’s perfect life and substitutionary death for our sins. His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God is proof of our salvation by faith. When we trust the Cross-work of Christ, God accepts us into His precious family permanently and forever (see the study “Doctrine of Eternal Security” for details).
Jesus Christ made that permanence possible. God accepted Christ’s sacrifice and perfect life and as a result, salvation is available to whosoever will believe and accept Christ’s payment (death) for their sin. Furthermore, because Jesus Christ is forever man and God in one person, we have Divine proof that man as a believer will live forever. Jesus Christ as the unique God-man is God, the second person of the Trinity, just as He has always been and always will be (see “Doctrine of the Trinity“). Jesus Christ is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit (John 1:1-3, 14). The union of Christ’s two natures (Divine and human) is hypostatic forever. Believers will receive a new resurrection body like Christ’s body and we will never be subject to death again (Philippians 3:21).
God the Son, Christ, (the second person of the Trinity) had to become man to pay the debt of man. God became man to save man from God’s wrath. Remember, Deity cannot die so Deity could not go to the Cross. Perfect humanity had to go to the cross and since all men inherit Adam’s sin-nature, no human being since Adam could go to the Cross. Only God could save fallen man and He did – meet Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
Christ, born of God had no sin-nature because of the virgin birth. God is the father of Christ. Christ had no human father. He is the only man besides Adam who had no human father. Eve is the only woman who had no human father. These three, Adam, Eve, and Christ, stand alone in history. Two of these three (Adam and the Woman – Eve) acted independently of God. The result was the fall of man which resulted in the nature to sin – the sin nature (Genesis chapter 3).
Adam was created without a sin-nature. Christ was born without a sin-nature. God cannot be tempted (James 1:3) so the temptations of Christ came through His humanity which is another reason for the necessity of the virgin birth. The Adamic nature (the nature to sin) is passed down through the father to every generation. Christ did not have a human father, therefore he had no human nature. As a result He is our only hope of salvation because he had no human nature and he never sinned against God during His entire life.
Adam failed the first volitional (free-will) test when he disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the “Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The ‘second Adam’ (Christ) did not disobey God. He resisted the temptation of not going to the Cross. As a result, humanity, through faith in the Cross-work of Christ, can be (has been) restored to a relationship to God through Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:35, 36; Luke 22:42). Jesus Christ was able not to sin and not able to sin.
All honors in heaven and earth belong to Jesus Christ now and forever. To reject the Deity of Christ, or the Cross of Christ, results in condemnation to the lake of Fire. The unbeliever is not reconciled to God – he remains in sin lost and hopeless in his own ego arrogance.
After His ascension into Heaven, Christ became our mediator (Job 9:2, 32, 33; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6). Because He is both true humanity and deity, He is equal with both God and man and therefore qualified to mediate and reconcile our differences. Christ became our High Priest (Hebrew 7:4, 5, 14-28; 10:5, 10-14). A high priest must always be a man because he represents man before God.
Most believers do not understand the ‘Celebrityship’ of their Savior. They cannot appreciate His uniqueness and His Love for them until they understand the necessity for His perfect life and sacrifice as the God-Man-Savior. The Hypostatic Union (Christ as the God-man) is the most phenomenal and selfless thought-gift ever given by God to man, because Christ gave Himself to save us and became Hypostatic, forever, for us.
The Deity of Jesus Christ is unquestionable and undeniable. To reject God’s perfect Son is the quintessence of arrogance. The Lake of Fire is much more understandable and believable when the Deity and Hypostatic Union of the God-Man are truly understood by the believer. When we realize what God went through to provide our great salvation, we are truly humbled and at the same time we can understand the justice of God against those who are defiant. Jesus Christ is both the Inspired and the Incarnate Word. He is the Creator!
Christ is the great I Am of the Old and New Testament (Genesis 15:1; John 1:1-5; 9-14). If you have access to a concordance, look up every verse that you can find regarding Jesus Christ. Do you need motivation to live the Christian life? Study God’s Incarnate Word through the Inspired Word as often as you can.
Happy Studying!