This content explores the essential doctrine of Christ's humanity, arguing that it is as crucial as his divinity for Christian faith. It delves into the scriptural evidence for Jesus being fully human, addressing historical heresies and outlining the purposes and enduring nature of his humanity.
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well welcome back and good evening we
have kind of the the trifecta going on
we have Father's Day we have the whole
backdrop here sound words Elementary is
opening I guess in
2025 and we have summer in The
systematics Happening all happening on
one evening I'm going to have to keep my
thoughts straight here to focus on the
task at hand um after the first American
astronaut landed on the Moon Neil
Armstrong the president of the United
States uh one Richard Milhouse Nixon
praised the feat
referring to this event in no uncertain
terms as the greatest moment in
history well Billy Graham the Evangelist
after hearing of Nixon's announcement
put things in their proper context and
he said with all due respect the
greatest moment in human history was not
when man set foot on the moon but when
the infinite and eternal God set foot on
the earth in Jesus of
Nazareth amen yeah so we I mean we may
not agree with Billy Graham on
everything around here but he got that
one absolutely right welcome back to
summer in the systematics this is our
summerlong study as we know of the
doctrine of christology and we just got
out of our study of the deity of Christ
last Sunday night and this Sunday night
tonight we're going to wait into a study
of the humanity of Christ and we're
going to start the study this evening
with a quote from John walber he says
though the doctrine of the deity of
Christ is generally recognized as the
indispens sensible fundamental of
christology the doctrine of his his true
humanity is equally important on the
fact of his Humanity depends the reality
of his death on the cross his claim to
be Israel's
Messiah those who deny the true Humanity
of Christ are just as effective at
destroying the Christian faith as those
who deny the deity of Christ as in the
case of the doctrine of the deity of
Christ the scriptures Bear full
testimony to his Humanity and a denial
of those aspects of his incarnate person
would necessitate a denial of the
scriptures themselves for this reason
the doctrine of the true Humanity of
Christ has always been a part of
Orthodox Christian
faith and that's right the Bible does
teach clearly and unequivocally that
Jesus of Nazareth was not only perfectly
Divine but perfectly human fully God but
at the same time
fully man and the study of his perfect
humanity is an essential aspect of any
study of christology that that is the
study of the person The Works the
purposes of Jesus now how Christ's
perfect Divinity and his perfect
Humanity interplay with each other
that'll actually be the focus of our
study next Sunday night when we look at
the the two the two Natures of Christ we
look at the here's a fun word the the
theanthropic person of Christ and the
the hypostatic union we'll get into that
next Sunday night but tonight we'll be
focusing primarily on the humanity of
Christ and the question we're going to
be seeking to to answer this evening is
one the disciples raised after Jesus
stilled the storm in Matthew chapter 8
or they asked what kind of a man is this
that's an appropriate question for our
study this evening get us started Jesus
was absolutely a man and the question we
answer is well what what sort of
man as we did last Sunday night we're
going to attempt to cover our topic in
six points here I was told last Sunday
night that as people walked out in the
South Lobby that hands were cramping and
maybe some ice packs are in order uh
maybe we'll get there by the end of the
summer we'll hand out ice packs either
to cool down or to to uh heal cramping
wrists or or writing hands but I'm going
to go and give you the six blanks ahead
of time like we did last Sunday night so
you can fill in these blanks and then um
fill out the rest as you see fit but our
six blanks are these first is going to
be the perversions of Christ Humanity
there's a Rosy way to get us started
perversions of Christ Humanity second
would be the pillars of Christ
Humanity third would be periods of
Christ Humanity I'll show these to you
there's perversions blank one
one
pillar singular part two periods of
Christ Humanity would be heading number three
three
proofs of Christ's Humanity would be
pillar or heading number
four purpose of Christ's Humanity would
be number five and then number six would
be the perpetuity of Christ's
Humanity so we'll jump right into it
with our our first heading for tonight
which is going to be a a quick survey
under this first one perversions of
Christ Humanity this will be a a quick
survey of some of the heretical and
otherwise problematic teachings that
have been out there over the centuries
concerning or surrounding the human
of Christ now let me as we get started
on this first one make sort of a a big
picture statement which is that
relatively speaking as we look back over
the 2,000 or so years of church history
denials of perversions concerning the
humanity of Christ are far less common
than denials of or perversions
concerning the deity of Christ and why
might that be well I think it boils down
to our Humanity our human nature and
what we want and when we want it in our
natural sinful State we want to be able
to do what we want to do and go where we
want to go and be with whom we want to
be with and as long as the the deity of
Christ is sort of kept on the sidelines
so to speak so long as Christ has kept
in this orbit of of being a mere man no
matter how Noble he may have been or
exemplary exemplary he may have been if
he was a mere man he cannot lay claim on
our lives as the God man man he has no
de basis for demanding that we submit to his
his
lordship all that to say given who we
are as humans and given the truth that
the whole world lies under the power of
the evil one it's no surprise at all
that that those who would look to throw
off the so-called shackles of oppressive
Christian religion they would and as
they tried to wriggle their way under
Christ's yoke though it's gentle they
would focus most of their efforts on
challenging Christ
deity but at the same
time appropriate to our topic tonight
there have been certain heretical
teachings certain perversions of the
truth which have entered the Christian
church over the past many centuries
concerning the humanity of Christ like
this one
dotism dotism dotism is a form of
gnosticism and what gnosticism is was
was a form of philosophy and
understanding which was rooted in this
attempt to attain a superior form of
knowledge and what gnosticism taught was
that man's salvation whatever that meant
to them came through knowledge in the
pursuit of a a special form of knowledge
gnosis concerning the world and our
Origins and our place in it and the core
of Gnostic thought was this dualistic
philosophy of of the world and of man th
this form of philosophy was highly
influenced by ancient Greek philosophy
and at the risk of sort of
oversimplifying things gnosticism
heavily emphasized the distinction
between matter material things and the
spiritual spiritual things matter the
world the Earth our bodies anything
physical anything material was deemed to
be evil whereas things that were
spiritual things in the spiritual realm
were considered to be good as I
mentioned dotism was a form of
gnosticism and what dotism taught
specifically in reference to the person
of Jesus Christ was that Christ did not
have an actual physical body instead he
had only the appearance of a body that
that's the whole basis of dotism in fact
the the Greek word Doo that forms this
name means to to seem or or to
appear the Dost then they they rejected
the idea of Christ being fully human and
they rejected the whole idea of the
Incarnation of Christ because what that
would do contrary to their
presuppositions would be it would mix
good with evil good being the spirit of
Christ evil being a human body or or
human flesh uh here's how Louis buroff
summarized the whole position of
dotism uh he said according to them
Christ descended upon the man Jesus as
as of the time of his baptism but left
him again before his crucifixion while
according to others other Dost he
assumed a merely fantasmal
body here's moreon dotism from Donald
McLoud he says the Dost label covers a
group of sometimes bizarre speculations
bound together by a refusal to accept
that God could any in any real sense become
become
man the best known Dost were men like
serenus and marcian and
valentinus and we'll see some of those
men mentioned in these next quotes from
McLoud he notes that dotism rested on
two fundamental principles matter is
evil and the Divine can experience
neither change nor suffering these
principles obviously requireed a denial
of the most cherished Christian beliefs
the Son of God cannot be born of a human
mother and certainly not linked to her
by an unbilical cord nor could he suffer
and die nor take any or take an ordinary
Flesh and Blood
body he continues on by saying impelled
by these considerations sthus that was a
Dost for example drew a sharp
distinction between Christ and Jesus
Jesus was an ordinary M man born of Mary
in the usual way possessing a fleshly
body and crucified on the cross of
Calvary Christ by contrast was a
Heavenly being Who Came Upon Jesus only
at his baptism and left him before he
was crucified this meant that Christ as
such derived nothing from Mary had no
personal connection with matter and
experienced no physical pain
he goes on and note marcian another Dost
on the other hand regarded the humanity
of Christ as only a phantom he had the
appearance of a man but this was a mere
mask an image without substance hence
dotism from the Greek Deo I se his flesh
had no reality with the result in the
words of terlan that he was not what he
appeared to be and he feed himself to be
what he was not incarnate without being
flesh human without being
man dotism then rejected the idea of
Jesus being fully and truly man and and
to men like trolan who's quoted here
that this early Church Father this was
unacceptable there were standard bearers
for truth back in these days toolan
noted that to reject the true Humanity
of Christ would nullify the cross and
the resurrection even so terlan would
later write how will all this be true in
him meaning the cross the resurrection
if he was not himself true if he really
had not in himself that which might be
crucified might die might be buried and
might rise again in other words if it
was all just an appearance if it was all
just a a a fantasm then what did Christ actually
actually
accomplish but it wasn't just tulan and
other Church fathers who wrote against
dotism and and gnosticism so too did
some of the human authors of scripture
namely John the Apostle recall these
inspired words from 1 John 4 he says
beloved do not believe every Spirit but
test the spirits to see whether they are
from God because many false prophets
have gone out into the World by this you
know the spirit of God every Spirit get
this that confesses that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is from God and
every spirit that does not confess Jesus
is not from God
this is the spirit of the Antichrist of
which you have heard that it is coming
and now it is already in the world do
you see what he's saying there he's he's
saying it's a vital importance for one
who has made a profession of faith in
Jesus to affirm not only that he is
perfectly God but that he is perfectly
human perfectly man which includes that
confession that Jesus Christ Has Come In the
the
Flesh here's another early Church Father
Ignatius of Antioch who lived in the
early 2nd Century the early 100s he says
stop your ears therefore when anyone
speaks to you at variance with Jesus
Christ who was descended from David and
also of Mary who was truly born and did
eat and drink he was truly persecuted
under Pontius Pilate he was truly
crucified and died he was also truly
raised from the dead he then wrote
Ignatius didow he suffered all these
things for our sakes that we might be
saved and he suffered truly even as he
also truly raised up himself not as
certain unbelievers maintain that he
only seemed to
suffer you note ignatius' emphasis there
it's the word truly Ignatius was a a man
of his day a man writing in a specific
context in which these Gnostic and
docetic types were teaching that Jesus
was not truly fully human that he hadn't
come in the flesh
that he didn't actually suffer bodily
when he was on the cross but instead
that he only appeared to be going
through that Agony on our behalf I mean
when you think about it that does not
offer much comfort or hope does it to to
to think that Jesus didn't actually
bleed and suffer and die in our place
but only that he appeared to be doing
so as I
mentioned denials of the humanity of
Christ have been relatively rare in
church history as compared to denials of
the deity of Christ but they have
existed and we've just taken a quick
glance at at dos dotism a form of
gnosticism I'm now going to make a few
brief remarks about a few other forms of
false teaching which get the humanity of
Christ wrong uh one is an old heresy called
called
monarchianism uh this was a false
teaching that developed in the late 100s
ad at the end of the the second century
ad and what it was was a form of of
Unitarianism that's the easiest way to
think about it God was seen according to
this view as a single person not
tri-personal not trinitarian but a
single person namely God the father was
thought of as this this singular person
within the godhead and the other two
persons God the son and God the spirit
were looked not even as God I said that
wrong they were viewed as mere
manifestations of the one true
God well monarchians like I said were
like modern day unitarians they were
they were modalistic tdj would be a
modern example of a a a modalist and
what this meant in practice ancient
monarchianism is that they denied the
humanity of Christ see Christ to this
group didn't take on true Humanity he
didn't even take on true personhood
instead he was a mere mode or or a mere
manifestation of the the the unipersonal
god that they
worshiped that's
monarchianism in a minute here's a poin
Arian is M this was a heresy that
developed in the 4th Century in the 300s
ad it was named appropriately for aerys
and he was the bishop of leody deia
during this time and the way that this
movement denied Christ full humanity is
they affirmed that Christ in his
Incarnation had a an actual human body
but they denied that he had a human
soul and that's an important distinction
one we're going to actually get into
much more deeply next week when we
consider the two natures of Christ and
the Council of Caledon in 451 ad and the
calcedonian Creed stay tuned but we are
going to see next week that to be
Orthodox you you have to in consistent
with the scriptures affirm not only that
Christ had a human body in his
Incarnation but a perfect human soul he
he was perfectly and eternally Divine
and by part of him becoming man he not
only put on flesh but he had a perfect
human soul again more on that next week
last one I'll mention and this one hits
very close to home like across the
street close to home uh this would be Christian
Christian
Science the Christian Science movement
Mary Baker Eddie its founder um like the
Dost like the gnostics like the
monarchians like the apollinarian before
her she denied Jesus's true
Humanity um like s sthus of old Eddie
Drew this false distinction between
Jesus and the Christ she saw these as as
different manifestations of the second
person there was Jesus and there was
Christ she put a wedge between the two
Christ was uh spiritual in in her
judgment Christ didn't have a body Jesus
had a body but Christ was purely
spiritual as we get into this next week
that falls right in line with various
heresies of the 4th Century that were
rooted out by aanus and others um point
being challenges is problems perversions
of the humanity of Christ pervade they
they exist still today even across the
street here's our second point for this
evening we've just looked at
perversions of Christ's Humanity next
will be singular a pillar of Christ's
humanity and specifically by that I mean
that through the Incarnation through
Christ's virgin birth the Eternal son of
God took on
Humanity the pillar is the Virgin birth
of the the Incarnation here are a few
quotes about the Virgin birth and the
the Incarnation to get us warmed up and
prepared Martin Luther speaking of
Christ here says he did not flutter
about like a spirit but he dwelt among
men he had eyes ears mouth nose chest
stomach hands and feet just as you and I
do he took the breast his mother nursed
him as any other child is nursed CS
CS
Lewis says thee second person in God the
son became human himself was born into
the world as an actual man a real man of
a particular height with hair of a
particular color speaking a particular
language weighing so many Stone the
Eternal being who knows everything and
who created the whole universe became
not only a man but before that a baby
and before that a fetus inside a woman's
body if you want to get the hang of it
think how you would like to become a a
slug or a
crab I'm sure there are breakdowns in
the logic there but you can always
appreciate the colorful way Lewis
communicates Robert gaki says although
Jesus Christ was God his Humanity was a
true and perfect Humanity he was not
like Superman a visitor to Earth from
the fictional Planet Krypton his eyes
did not have X-ray vision and bullets
would not have bounced off his chest he
was not a science fiction character with
Martian Frankenstein or Dr Jackal Mr he
qualities Jesus was truly human as we
are there was no difference between us
we are neither more nor less human than
he was when his hands feet and side were
pierced blood came out of the wounds it
would have been the same for
us again we're not sacrificing the deity
of Christ there but we're just handling
the humanity with a quote like that but
anyway these are a couple of helpful
colorable hopefully memorable ways to
start thinking about Christ and his
Humanity taking it on through the Virgin birth
birth
and the
Incarnation but it's not just through
theologians that we get these truths
these truths ultimately come from the
Bible the scriptures teach us about the
Eternal and pre-existent Son of God
becoming incarnate to reveal God to man
John 1:14 of course the word became
flesh and dwelt among us and then this
one John 1:18 says no one has seen God
at any time the only begotten God who is
in the bosom of the father he has
explained him he meaning Christ has
explained revealed exed God the Father
the the scriptures are the ones that
teach us that that that Jesus was
supernaturally conceived as we started
to work through in the Gospel of Luke
this morning and the scriptures teach us
that Jesus had a normal human
birth Jesus was born in Bethlehem
Matthew 21 of Judea in the days of Herod
the king or Luke 2:11 for today in the
city of David there has been born for
you a savior who is Christ the Lord he
was was born of a woman just as any
other human yes the
conception was Supernatural but not the
birth the birth as we see here was a
normal human birth Galatians 4:4 when
the fullness of the time came God sent
forth his son born of a woman born under
the law and he had a normal as we saw
this morning though favored mother who
brought him into this world Luke 2:7 she
meaning Mary gave birth to her firstborn
son and she wrapped him in cloths and
laid him in a manger and because he
underwent this normal human birth
through his normal human mother he could
be said to have been born of the seed of
David according to the flesh Romans
1:3 here's gaki again he says the
miracle of the
Incarnation this goes back to what I
said just a moment ago the miracle of
the Incarnation occurred at the
conception not at the birth apart from
the overshadowing ministry of the Holy
Spirit Mary's pregnancy was no different
than that of any other human mother her
giving of birth was accompanied with the
normal birth pains if spanked the Child
Jesus cried as his lungs filled with
fresh air there was nothing magical or
extraordinary about the birth procedure of
of
Jesus now an important question is often
raised in in connection with Christ's
birth we know he was conceived by the
spirit and and that happening we we know
that that's one way in which he was
prevented from having a sinful nature on
his father's side because there was no
human father who was participant in the
in the conception but but what about on
his mother's side though virgin born did
did Jesus somehow inherit a sinful
nature from a sinner like
Mary the answer is no no he didn't and
one of the ways we can establish that
and we'll have more Arguments for this
next week when we look at his his dual nature
nature
is that scripture is very clear that
that Jesus was separate entirely
separate from sin in his Incarnation he
made him who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf that's speaking of
Christ this is also said of our Lord he
was holy innocent undefiled separated
from Sinners Hebrews
7:26 1 John 35 says you know that he was
manifested in order to take away sins
and in him in Christ there is no no sin
not only that we're going to see next
Sunday morning in our study of Luke at
the Annunciation the angel Gabriel spoke
of Jesus this way the holy spirit will
come upon you to to Mary and the power
of the most high will overshadow you and
for that reason the holy child shall be
called The Son of God he was a holy
sinless sinless
Child these words from har Henry
Clarence ton that are accurate through
the miraculous overshadowing of the Holy
well we have started by looking at
number one perversions of Christ
Humanity we just looked at the pillars
of Christ Humanity namely his
Incarnation and virgin birth next we're
going to look at periods of Christ
humanity meaning his his stages of
development in his
Humanity now for
starters he was
born Matthew 2:1 that's where we start
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in
the days of Herod the king he was born
as a baby not as a full-grown adult that
would have been weird he was born as a
baby and then he grew up normally Luke
2:40 now the child continued to grow and
become strong being filled with wisdom
and the grace of God was upon him and
then just down the page in that passage
Luke 2:52 says and Jesus was advancing
in wisdom and stature and in favor with
God and Men
I like what G Campbell Morgan says about
that passage he says the whole story of
the childhood of Jesus from infancy to
his religious coming of age is contained
in one
verse well we know that he Jesus grew up
in a family which included physical
brothers and
sisters Matthew 13:55 and 56 is not this
the carpenter son is not his mother
called Mary and his brothers James and
Joseph and Simon and Judas and his sisters
sisters
are they not all with
us again I think I mentioned this not
this morning but last Sunday morning
that kind of does away with the whole
idea of the Perpetual virginity of Mary
Jesus had
siblings and on several occasions
Outsiders referred to Jesus as Joseph's
son which was an indicator that they
perceived him as being human like here
in Luke 4:22 all were speaking well of
him and marveling at the gracious Words
which were coming forth from his lips
and they were saying is not this Joseph's
Joseph's
son or john: 145 is similar Philip found
Nathaniel and said to him we have found
him of whom Moses in the law and also
the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth the
son of
Joseph and then one more here John 6:42
says they were saying is not this Jesus
the son of Joseph whose father and
mother we know how does he now say I
have come down from heaven these are all
indicators of his his Humanity here's
another one uh Jesus in his Earthly
ministry as young men would do during
those days he worked and apparently is a
carpenter Mark 6:3 is this man not the
carpenter the son of Mary and brother of
James and Joseph and Judas and
Simon here's another thing though Jesus
was not formerly educated in the
physical or rabinal sense uh he wasn't
like Paul who was trained at the feet of
gel we see this the Jews then were
marveling John 7:15 how has this man
become learned not having been
educated so while not formerly educated
he did receive some sort of learning in
his Humanity all through this Godly
upbringing he received from his Earthly
parents and that Godly upbringing is is
scattered all throughout the gospel
accounts we see references to it like in
in Luke 4:16
which speaks of his regular attendance
at the synagogue says he came to
Nazareth where he hadd been brought up
and as was his custom he entered the
synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to
read or we also know of his regular
visits with his family to the temple in
Jerusalem Luke 2:41 his parents would go
to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of
the Passover we're down the page in Luke
246 and it happened that after 3 days
they found him in the temple sitting in
the midst of the teachers both listening
to them and asking them questions
we also know that Jesus grew in learning
in his Humanity through his study of the
scriptures this is from uh Luke 4:17
says and the scroll of the prophet
Isaiah was handed to him and he opened
the scroll and found the place where it
was written that alone says something
his it's speaking to his familiarity
with the scroll of Isaiah the spirit of
the Lord is upon me because he anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor he
has sent me to Proclaim release to the
captives and recovery of sight to the
blind to set free those who are
oppressed to proclaim the favorable year
of Our Lord see Jesus was not growing in
or familiar with the scriptures as an
aspect of his deity since being fully
God in his deity he's the one who gave
us the
scriptures but he was famili familiar
with them and growing in his familiarity
with them in his Humanity which is why
we see him handling them and referencing
them this way not only in Luke 4 but in
places like Matthew 4 when Satan tempts
him in the wilderness again we're going
to get into that next week and we look
at how that this works this interplay
between Jesus and his Divine omniscience
and Jesus and his and his human learning
and growth in
knowledge and last we know and under
this heading that that Jesus in his
Humanity regularly communed with God the
Father like here in Mark 1:35 in the
early morning while it was still dark
Jes Jesus rose up went out of the house
and went away to a desolate place and
was praying there and he had moments of
communing with God the Father like this
really all the way to the end of his
life here on Earth there there continual
pictures even all the way to the Garden
of Gethsemane at the very end of his
going out and finding desolate places to
pray and commune with the
father well as we consider each of these
stages and aspects of Jesus's
developments in his Earthly life in his Humanity
Humanity
uh these words from Robert gaki again
are helpful he writes Jesus's
development reflected the original
purpose of God for man in his human
growth Jesus became what all men could
have achieved were it not for the
presence and transmission of the sin
nature man today is in a fallen State
Christ was not Jesus experienced normal
human intellectual physical spiritual
and social growth in a sense he was more
a man than we are
his life was the normal human life ours
is not it is as if we are trying to run
a 100 yard dash with 100 PB weight
attached to our backs that's not normal
in his life experiences Christ had no
weight of sin to keep him from
fulfilling all goals outlined for Man by
God hopefully that's a helpful way of of
thinking about Christ in his Humanity
with that we move into our our fourth
heading for the evening if you haven't
already can turn your worksheets over
where number four we're going to look at the
the
proofs of Christ's
Humanity proofs of Christ Humanity to
eventually be that that perfect
sacrifice to atone for the sins of men
Christ himself had to be one he had to
be man he had to be human so in addition
to what we've already covered what are
some of the key scriptural proofs for
the humanity of Christ now let's start
with the fact that he had a human
body he had a human body that was made
up of Flesh and bone and blood joints
and Senus and tendons and ligaments and
the fact that he had a human body is
made clear from scriptures like these
for when she poured these are the words
of Our Lord for when she poured this
perfume on my body she did it to prepare
me for
burial or in John 2 Jesus answered them
destroy this sanctuary and in 3 days I
will raise it up the Jews then said it
took 46 years to build this sanctuary
and you will raise it in 3 days but he
was speaking about the sanctuary of his
body Hebrews 2:14 therefore since the
children share in Flesh and Blood he
himself likewise also partake partook of
the same Hebrews 10:5 therefore when he
comes into the world he says sacrifice
and offering you have not desired but a
body you have prepared for me Hebrews
10:10 by this will we have been
Sanctified through the offering of the
body of Jesus Christ once for all
Colossians 2:9 we think of this in the
in the the deity sense but look at the
other part of it for in him all the
fullness of deity dwells what
bodily and then again we've already seen
this passage but first John 4:3 beloved
do not believe every Spirit but test the
spirits to see whether they are from God
because many false spir prophets have
gone out into the World by this you know
the spirit of God every spirit that
confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
flesh
is from
God or this one from the gospel account
and specifically the crucifixion but one
of the soldiers pierced his side with a
spear and immediately blood and water
came out it wasn't the appearance of
blood it was actual blood actual water
and of course as a result of this
crucifixion we know Jesus died we know
he was wrapped in burial clothes we know
he was buried we know he rose and then
he rose What in in in in what form
eventually he rose bodily it was a
bodily Resurrection which is why he
would say this post Resurrection in Luke
24 see my hands and my feet that it is
myself or that it is I myself touch me
and see for a spirit does not have Flesh
and Bones as you see that I have so
Christ clearly had a human body but not
only that he had a human
soul a human spirit in his
Incarnation post virgin birth and we
have to get this Locked In Christ in his
Humanity he had both material and
immaterial components material meaning
he had a perfect human body and
immaterial meaning he had a perfect
human soul or spirit and he was perfect in
in
both look at all these examples from
scripture of Christ having a soul or a
spirit a a human soul or spirit Matthew
26:38 he says my soul is deeply grieved
to the point of death remain here and
keep watch with me Mark 28 immediately
Jesus aware in his spirit that they were
reasoning with that way within
themselves said to them why are you
reasoning about these things in your
hearts Luke
23:46 and Jesus crying out with a loud
voice said father into your hands I
commit my spirit having said this he
breathed his last Mark 8:12 and sighing
deeply in his Spirit he said said why
does this generation seek a sign truly I
say to you no sign will be given to this
generation John 12:27 my soul has become
dismayed and what shall I say father
save me from this hour but for this
purpose I came to this
hour last one when Jesus had said these
things he became troubled in spirit and
bore witness and said truly truly I say
to you that one of you will betray
me so our Lord had a human body he had a
human soul or Spirit during his Earthly
Ministry his
Incarnation next as we work through some
more scriptural proofs we're going to
see that he had a human nature a human
nature we're again we're going to get
more into this next week as we look at
the two Natures of Christ his divine
nature and his human nature and how the
two interrelate with each other but for
now in saying that Christ took on human
nature or a nature we're focusing on his
his human nature and in doing so I want
to make sure we're being very careful
and noting that in taking on a human
nature Christ did not take on a sinful
human nature like ours no well while
Christ did take on a human nature he
took on a sinless human nature as the
supernaturally conceived Son of God and
what this means is that with a human
nature he was able to experience various
infirmities that we experience as humans
though in his case as we know and we'll
see this in a minute he was able to do
so without
sin this is why we have examples of in
the scriptures Christ experiencing
things like
weariness like here in John 4 he had to
pass through Samaria so he came to a
city of Samaria called sikar near the
field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph
and Jacob's Well was there so Jesus
being wearied from his journey was
sitting thus by the well it was about
the sixth hour this is why the
scriptures can refer to Jesus
experiencing things like hunger like in
Matthew 4 Jesus was led up by the spirit
Into the Wilderness to be tempted by the
devil and after he had fasted 40 days
and 40 nights he then became
hungry or Matthew 21:18 now in the
morning when he was returning to the
city he became hungry this is why Jesus
could experience thirst John 19 after
this Jesus knowing that all things had
already been finished this is him on the
cross in order to finish the scriptures
said I am thirsty irst y a Jar full of
sour wine was standing there so they put
a sponge full of the sour wine upon a
branch of hisp and brought it up to his
mouth this is why Jesus slept behold
Matthew 8 there arose a great storm on
the sea so that the boat was being
covered with the waves but Jesus himself
was sleeping this all goes back to Jesus
having a human
nature this is also why Jesus is
recorded as experiencing human emotion
like compassion Matthew 9 and seeing the
crowds he felt compassion for them
because they were distressed and
downcast like sheep without a
Shepherd this is why Jesus is recorded
as as experiencing feeling love John 11
now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and
and
Lazarus or John 19 when Jesus then saw
his mother and the disciple whom he
loved John standing nearby he said to
his motherwoman behold your son this is
why Jesus could be recorded as
experiencing sorrow John 14 I'm sorry
Mark 14 and he said to them my soul is
deeply grieved to the point of death
remain here and keep watch or my kid's
favorite memory verse John 11:35 Jesus
wept this is why Jesus is recorded as experiencing
experiencing
Joy Luke 10 at that very time he
rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit and
said I praise you oh Father Lord of
Heaven and Earth that you have hidden
these things from the wise and
intelligent and have revealed them to
infants yes Father for this way was well
pleasing in your
sight John 15 another instance of
Christ's Joy these things I have spoken
to you so that my joy may be in you and
that your joy may be complete or John 17
but now I come to you and these things I
speak in the world so that they may have
my joy made full in themselves this is
why Jesus is recorded as experience ing
anger like in the legalism that he saw
in Mark 3 and he entered again into a
synagogue and a man was there with a
withered hand and they were watching him
to see if he would heal him on the
Sabbath so that they might accuse him
and he said to the man with withered
hand get up and come forward and he said
to them is it lawful to do good or to do
harm on the Sabbath to Save a Life or to
kill but they kept silent and after
looking around at them with anger and
here's another one grieved at their
Hardness of Heart he said said to the
man stretch out your hand and he
stretched it out and his hand was
restored or here's another instance of
the righteous indignation of Jesus and
they were bringing it children to him so
that he might touch them but the
disciples rebuked them but when Jesus
saw this he was indignant and said to
them permit the children to come to me
do not hinder them for the kingdom of
God belongs to such as these this is why
Jesus's human nature he demonstrated his
dependence upon the father for strength
Matthew 14 after he'd sent the crowds
away he went up on the mountain by
himself to pray and when it was evening
he was there
alone or Hebrews 5 says he in the days
of his flesh offered up both prayers and
supplications with loud crying and tears
to the one able to save him from death
and he was heard because of his
reverence Mark 1: 135 we saw this
already in the early morning while it
was still dark Jesus rose up went out of
the house and went away to a desolate
place and was praying there showing his
Reliance his dependence on the father in
his human nature John 6 so Jesus knowing
that they were going to come and take
him by force to make him King withdrew
again to the mountain by himself alone
all of these examples show us that that
Jesus was truly human fully human
perfectly human he didn't merely appear
to be human he wasn't faking it as
though he was human no he had a genuine
human nature which allowed him to
experience genuine human emotions
sinless human emotions because unlike us
he was perfect in his
Humanity here are a couple of quotes on
this subject Warfield says it belongs to
the truth of our Lord's Humanity that he
was subject to all sinless important
word there human
emotions Calvin colorfully says Christ
has put on our feelings with our
flesh and he also says Those Who imagine
that the Son of God was exempt from
Human passions do not truly and
sincerely acknowledge Him to be a
man and the result is because of his
humanity and because he has a true human
nature albeit sinless we have in every
respect a truly sympathetic high priest
and savior Hebrews 2 therefore he had to
be made like his brothers in all things
so that he might become a merciful and
faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God to make propitiation
for the sins of the people for since he
himself was tempted in that which he has
suffered he is able to come to help
those who are tempted and then Hebrews
4:15 we do not have a high priest who
cannot sympathize with our weaknesses
but one who has been tempted in all
things like we are yet without
sin FF Bruce is helpful on this he says
Christians have in heaven a high priest
with an unequaled capacity for
sympathizing with them in all the
dangers and sorrows and trials which
come their their way in life because he
himself by virtue ver virtue of his
likeness to them was exposed to all these
these
experiences and then Bruce demerest says
Jesus differed from us he he qualifies
it here what what Bruce just said Jesus
differed from us in one significant
respect his manhood was untainted by the
corruption of sin he who called others
to repentance had no need to seek
forgiveness for any sin of his own for
he embodied the high EST holiest manhood
the world has ever known today's
newspapers are filled with reports of
people demanding human rights the fact
is that mankind in its Fallen state is
subhuman in the character and conduct
man is a pale image of the original
unspoiled creation of God only in Jesus
do we see authentic uncorrupted Humanity
as God intended
it we've seen that our Lord had a human body
body
a human nature he experienced human
emotion another set of proofs related to
his identity is that he had a or his
humanity is that he had a human
identity and by that I don't only mean
that he and others called him a man but
there are other markers of his human
identity let let's start with the fact
that he did call himself a man John 8:40
but now you are seeking to kill me a man
who has told you the truth which I I
heard from God this Abraham did not do
John the Baptist called him a man he
said this is he of whom I said after me
comes a man who has been ahead of me for
he existed before me again this is just
further evidence of his Humanity Peter
referred to Jesus as a man he says men
of Israel listen to these words Jesus
the Nazarene a man attested to you by
God with Miracles and wonders and signs
which God did through him in your midst
just as you yourselves know this man
delivered over by the predetermined plan
and forn knowledge of God you nailed to
a cross by the hands of Lawless men and
put him to death Paul referred to our
Lord as a man 1 Corinthians 15 for Since
By A Man Came Death By A man also came
the resurrection of the dead I'm going
to skip a couple here for there is one
God and one mediator also between God
and Men the man Christ
Jesus it wasn't just the Forerunner John
the Baptist it wasn't just the apostles
though who referred to Jesus as a man so
did the general populace of Jerusalem
and Judea during our Lord's Earthly
Ministry John 7 some of the people of
Jerusalem were saying is this not the
man whom they are seeking to kill and
look he is speaking openly and they are
saying nothing to him do the rulers
truly know that this is the Christ how
however we know where this man is from
but whenever the Christ comes no one
knows where he is from John 9:29 we know
that God has spoken to Moses but as for
this man we do not know where he is is
from John 10 the Jews answered him for a
good work we do not Stone you but for
blasphemy and because you being a man
make yourself
God and there were other ways that
people referred to him as a man not just
with the word man but in other markers
of identity like here they were
commenting on his na the Samaritan woman
was commenting on his nationality she
calls him a Jew well that that's a a
mark of his Humanity not a Jewish rock
or a Jewish dog he's a Jewish
man we're commenting on his age in John
8:57 the Jews said to him you were not
yet 50 years old and have you seen
Abraham well that that age reference is
is an indicator of his
Humanity in addition he was given a human
human
name Jesus for he will save his people
from their
sins and then we know he went by the
title son of man we looked at this last
time as a a a mark of his deity which it
is it's an indicator of his deity but it
also showcases his
Humanity Ezekiel going back to the Old
Testament prophets spoke of this son of
man stand on your feet he was referred
to as the son of man Ezekiel was that I
may speak with you Daniel referred to
the son of man in in Daniel 8:17 but in Daniel
Daniel
7 that term son of man was used
prophetically about the anticipated uh
Messiah of Israel I kept looking in the
night visions and behold with the Clouds
Of Heaven one like a son of man was
coming and then we get to the Jews of
Jesus's day they they understood this
phrase this son of man phrase to be
referring to the Messiah the crowd that
answered him we've heard from the law
that the Christ has to remain forever
and how do you say the son of man must
be lifted up who is this son of
man and this Messiah would not only be
truly God as we saw last week but he
would be truly human he would be a
representative of all
Humanity Hebrews 2 one has testified
somewhere saying what is man that you
remember him or the son of man that you
are concerned about him you've made him
for a little while lower than the Angels
you've crowned him with glory in honor
and have appointed him over the works of
your hands you have put all things in
subjection under his feet for in
subjecting all things to him he left
nothing that is not subject to him but
now we do not yet see all things
subjected to him but we do see him who
is made for a little while lower than
the Angels Jesus because of the
suffering of death crowned with Glory
and Honor so that by the grace of God he
might taste death for
everyone so the title son of man while
indicating his deity also linked him to
his mission here on
Earth I'm going to skip a few more
slides for time's sake and we're going
to get right to our fifth heading on
your worksheet these slides are always
available on the work the website about
a week later so you can always pull down
the ones I skipped in your free time uh
here's the fifth heading on your
worksheet this would be the purpose of Christ
Christ
Humanity um in addition to the the long
list of scriptural proves that we've
just worked through establishing that
Christ was truly and and fully and
perfectly man the scriptures also teach
that there were purposes that this
should actually be plural there were
purposes of Christ's Humanity God became
man for multiple reasons and one of them
was to be a
substitute purpose number one would be
to be a substitute putting it simply if
if Jesus had not been a man he could not
have died in the place of of men and
women like us he and he could not have
paid the penalty which was
due what which the penalty we owed God
he had to become a man not an angel for
instance because God was concerned with
saving men not Angels not the inanimate
objects around our world this would be Hebrews
Hebrews
2 for assuredly he does not give help to
Angels but he gives help to the Seed of
Abraham therefore he had to be made like
his brothers in all things so that he
might become a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God
to make propitiation for the sins of the
people but to do this he had to be made
like us in every way so that he might
become as it says here the propitiation
for for us so that he might present a
sacrifice that would be an acceptable
substitute for us if he were not fully
man he could not have died to pay the
penalty for man's sins and could not
have been the substitute the the
sufficient substitutionary sacrifice for
us Romans 8 for the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus has set you free
from the law of sin and of death for
what the law could not do weak as the as
it was through the flesh God did sending
his own son in the likeness of sinful
flesh and as an offering for sin he
condemns sin in the flesh so that the
righteous requirements of the law might
be fulfilled in us who do not walk
according to the flesh but according to the
the
spirit so one of the purposes of Christ
taking on Humanity was to be our
substitute another was to be our
mediator that' be a second purpose to be
our mediator because we were alienated
from God by sin we needed somebody to
stand between God and ourselves and to
bring us back to him we needed a
mediator who could represent us to God
and God to us and there's only one
person who has ever fulfilled that
requirement 1 Timothy 2:5 there is one
God and one mediator also between God
and Men the man Christ Jesus and in
order to fulfill this role as mediator
to stand in that gap between God and man
adequately he had to be fully man as as
well as fully
God here's our next one our next purpose
for Christ taking on Humanity that would
be to be our
example to be man's
example 1 John 25 and 6 says we are to
walk the same way he walked that's my
paraphrase 2 Corinthians 3:18 says we
are to be continually changed
transformed into his likeness we with
unveiled face beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord are being
transformed in the same image from glory
to glory just as from the Lord the
spirit that moves us then to our goal
Romans 8:29 of being conformed to the
image of his son you see that in the
middle of the passage there and then 1
John 3 tells us that when he appears we
will be like him we know that when he is
manifested we will be like him because
we will see him just as he is 1 Peter 2
says that Christ has left us in example
for this you've been called since Christ
also suffered for you leaving you an
example that you should follow in his
steps throughout our Christian Life we
to run the race before us Hebrews 12
fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and
perfector perfector of faith and then
when we get discouraged the next verse
says we consider him who has endured
such hostility by Sinners against
himself so that you will not grow weary
fainting in
heart Jesus is also our example in death
as Paul notes in Philippians 3 that I
may know him and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of his
sufferings being conformed to his death
in order that I may attain to the
resurrection from the
dead and then here's our last purpose
for Christ taking on Humanity that I'll
mention here and that would be to be our
sympathetic high priest for since he
himself was tempted in that which he
suffered he is able to come to help
those who are tempted and we've already
looked at this one but Hebrews 4:15 we
do not have a high priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses but one
who has been tempted in all things like
we are yet without sin therefore let us
draw near with confidence to the throne
of grace so that we may receive mercy
and find Grace to help in time of need
if Jesus had not become man he would
have not he wouldn't have the ability to
know by experience as a man what we go
through in our Temptations and struggles
in this life but because he lived as a
man he's able to sympathize more fully
with us in our
experiences and that brings us to our
final heading on your worksheet there
for this evening's message on the
humanity of Christ that would be the
perpetuity of Christ's Humanity the
perpetuity of his humanity and what that
means really simply is that Jesus did
not give up his human nature after his
death and after his resurrection rather
he he still has to this day a human
nature he is at this very time at this
very hour both fully and perfectly
Divine and fully and perfectly
human and for that we look at truths
like these the fact that he appeared to
his disciples as a man after his
resurrection other disciples were saying
to him we have seen the Lord but he said
to them this is Thomas unless I see in
his hands the imprint of the nails and
put my finger in the place of the nails
and put my hand into his side I will not
believe and after 8 Days his disciples
were again inside and Thomas with them
Jesus came the doors having been shut
and stood in their midst and said peace
be with you then he said to Thomas bring
your finger here and see my hands and
bring your hand here and put it into my
side and do not be unbelieving but
believing we also know that in his
post-resurrection State Jesus had Flesh
and Bones he had nail prints in his
hands like we saw in the Thomas
encounter but he had Flesh and Bones
look at the very bottom of this quote
here he says touch me and see for a
spirit does not have Flesh and Bones as
you see that I have we also know that
post-resurrection he ate food Spirits
don't do that says while they were still
not believing because of their joy and
were still marveling he said to them
have you anything here to eat they gave
him a piece of a broiled fish and he
took it and ate it before them so it was
as a man that he rose from the dead and
then he appeared in that
post-resurrection state in human
informed to
them which is why we see even more
statements like like this John 20
post-resurrection Jesus said to her
woman why are you crying whom are you
seeking thinking him to be the gardener
she said to him sir if you have carried
him away tell me where you have laid him
and I will take him away she thought him
to be the gardener the resurrected
Christ John 21:4 but when the day was
now breaking Jesus stood on the beach
yet the disciples did not know that it
was Jesus he's right there before them
in his human form and then later when he
was talking with his disciples we know
he was taken up to heaven still in his
resurrected body and the two angels who
were there promised that he would return
in the same way acts 1:1 they said men
of Galilee why do you stand looking
toward Heaven this Jesus who has been
taken up from you into heaven will come
in just the same way as you have watched
him go into heaven so he's going to come
he he left bodily he's going to return
bodily even after his Ascension Steve
even gazed into heaven this is right
before his stoning and saw Jesus in
bodily form behold I see the Heaven's
opening up and the son of man standing
at the right hand of God and then still
later Jesus appeared to Saul later Paul
in bodily form as we see in some of
these passages like acts n in his human
form I am Jesus whom you are persecuting
Paul would then say later in 1
Corinthians 9 have I not seen Jesus our
lord he's not talking about some some
Phantom that was speaking to into his
ear and then 1 Corinthians 15:8 last of
all as to one untimely born he appeared
to me
also and then last actually second to
last in John's Vision in in Revelation 1
Jesus appeared physically bodily in
human form as one it says like a son of
man with all those glorious descriptions
of him in his glorious state
today and then this one is interesting
as yet another and a final evidence of
Christ's humanity and
perpetuity he promised his disciples
that he would drink wine with them in
the future coming
Kingdom but I say to you I will not
drink of the fruit of the vine from now
on until that day when I drink it with
you in my father's Kingdom it's a bodily
reference a a a a human
reference now what do these scriptures tell
tell
us these last ones we just looked at
they tell us that Jesus did not
temporarily become man rather his his
human nature was permanently United to
his divine nature so that he lives
forever not only as the Eternal Son of
God that the second person of the
Trinity though he does but also as Jesus
the one who was born of Mary and and
also as the Christ the Messiah and
savior of his people at his Incarnation
and the Virgin birth the Eternal Christ
became eternally wedded to a a human nature he didn't throw off his Humanity
nature he didn't throw off his Humanity or any part of it at his death his
or any part of it at his death his resurrection or his Ascension rather he
resurrection or his Ascension rather he will he is and he will remain fully God
will he is and he will remain fully God and fully man in one person
and fully man in one person forever that's it we have covered the
forever that's it we have covered the perversions of Christ's Humanity the
perversions of Christ's Humanity the pillar of Christ Humanity the periods of
pillar of Christ Humanity the periods of Christ Humanity proofs of Christ
Christ Humanity proofs of Christ Humanity purpose of Christ Humanity and
Humanity purpose of Christ Humanity and the perpetuity of Christ Humanity this
the perpetuity of Christ Humanity this is really unfair to try to squeeze this
is really unfair to try to squeeze this into one hour I hope we have done it
into one hour I hope we have done it justice let's pray Lord thank you for a
justice let's pray Lord thank you for a chance
chance to do a deeper dive this evening into
to do a deeper dive this evening into the reality that in sending your son
the reality that in sending your son into the world you sent him as fully God
into the world you sent him as fully God fully man he he did take on a Divine he
fully man he he did take on a Divine he had a divine nature eternally but took
had a divine nature eternally but took on a human nature and is a a
on a human nature and is a a perfect substitute as a result God thank
perfect substitute as a result God thank you that in your perfect wisdom you saw
you that in your perfect wisdom you saw fit to send the Lord Jesus into the
fit to send the Lord Jesus into the world that he had all these attributes
world that he had all these attributes that we've been studying attributes of
that we've been studying attributes of deity has all these attributes of deity
deity has all these attributes of deity but also has ongoing in perpetuity these
but also has ongoing in perpetuity these attributes of humanity God I pray that
attributes of humanity God I pray that that would motivate us to to pray to you
that would motivate us to to pray to you in in ways that maybe we haven't thought
in in ways that maybe we haven't thought of before of course praying reverently
of before of course praying reverently to you oh God as God but also
to you oh God as God but also remembering that we do have this
remembering that we do have this sympathetic high priest this sympathetic
sympathetic high priest this sympathetic savior who understands and knows in
savior who understands and knows in various ways the types of Trials and
various ways the types of Trials and ordeals that we go through the grief and
ordeals that we go through the grief and the anger and the worry and the hurt
the anger and the worry and the hurt that we go through of course he did so
that we go through of course he did so sinlessly and perfectly but he
sinlessly and perfectly but he nevertheless is a sympathetic Savior and
nevertheless is a sympathetic Savior and we praise you for that God I pray that
we praise you for that God I pray that this week as Andrew prayed earlier that
this week as Andrew prayed earlier that you would go before us and go before our
you would go before us and go before our church that you would do a great work
church that you would do a great work through our upcoming uh VBS God that you
through our upcoming uh VBS God that you would strengthen those who are serving
would strengthen those who are serving all week I know it is a sacrifice and
all week I know it is a sacrifice and and a labor of love for many to to serve
and a labor of love for many to to serve in that way and there will be a certain
in that way and there will be a certain type of exhaustion that will come with
type of exhaustion that will come with it especially by Friday night but I pray
it especially by Friday night but I pray that you would give joy to those who are
that you would give joy to those who are serving and that they would see the
serving and that they would see the Eternal value of what they're doing and
Eternal value of what they're doing and God I do pray that you would turn the
God I do pray that you would turn the hearts of many young children to you
hearts of many young children to you this coming week I pray the gospel would
this coming week I pray the gospel would go out clearly and and and accurately
go out clearly and and and accurately and that through conversation and
and that through conversation and conviction of the Holy spirit that you
conviction of the Holy spirit that you would save souls in this place this week
would save souls in this place this week For Your Glory we thank you and give you
For Your Glory we thank you and give you praise for this day in Jesus name amen
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