Fully God Fully Man, it matters

 

Hebrews 1:3

Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…

I love the Christmas season! However, I do like to celebrate Thanksgiving first and then focus on Christmas.  As we enter this Advent Season, I have been thinking about the meaning and purpose of Christmas. It is so easy to lose focus on the true meaning and get caught up with trivial things. 

Consider our Thanksgiving practice, set aside a day to be thankful for what you have, followed by Black Friday and Cyber Monday that try to get you to buy everything you don’t have. How did we get two of the most materialistic days of the year to follow the one day we set aside to be content and grateful? 

Similarly, Christmas has become a materialistic holiday for many, but for the Christian it is to be a time where we remember the first coming of our Savior. Over the next few weeks, I want to pause and consider the importance of the first coming of our Lord.

What are your thoughts about Jesus? What concepts do you have about him? 

We don’t often pause to consider our thoughts about Jesus and the implications of those thoughts. Do you believe Jesus is God? Do you believe that Jesus is human? What does that look like? Is He 50% God and 50% man? Why is that important anyway? 

There have been many misunderstandings and misrepresentations of Jesus over the years. Some have taught that Jesus was God but not man. Some have taught that Jesus was a man but not God. Others have taught that Jesus was a mystic phantom and neither God nor man. But what does the Bible say? 

Jesus is 100% Man 100% God, or fully God and fully man.

This is the theological teaching called the Hypostatic Union. How Jesus can be both fully God and fully man and yet be one person. It is a mystery for sure, something that can only be fully understood by God. You and I are only one nature and one person. Jesus is one person with two complete natures. 

Read John 1:1-5, 14; Hebrews 2:14-18; Hebrews 4:14-16 for a few passages that refer to his humanity. Jesus is fully human like us, in every respect – human body, heart and mind – except for sin.

Read John 1:1-5, 14; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-4 for a few passages that refer to his divinity. Because Jesus is also fully God, He is the perfect sacrifice for sin and is able to save us.

Why does Jesus have to be 100% God and 100% man with no division? So he can fulfill all that is necessary to provide forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with the Father. If he was not fully God and fully man, he would not have been able to fulfill all that was required of him. 

Watch this brief video to remember what Jesus, the God-Man accomplished for us.