Jesus Christ: His Humanity (Part 1) - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I think we're ready to go. Can we pray? Can we ask the Lord to help us tonight? So good to see you with your Bibles in your hands. It's an awesome sight.

Let's ask the Lord to help us. Father, we come in your presence. Thank you for giving us the ability to sing to you, reflecting on your salvation in our lives. Lord, we pray that as we dive into who you are, that you would give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, you would protect us from error, Lord, and confusion. And, Lord, that the end goal of this Bible study, as it has been the past few weeks, would be for our hearts to explode with adoration and a desire for obedience towards you.

Lord, blind us to everything else that tries to persuade us that they or those things are more beautiful than Jesus. Lord, we pray that you would show us the face of Christ in light of the scriptures, the depth of his love, sacrifice, and that we would sense him even tonight as we speak of him in a way that would fill our souls and satisfy us. But we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if you've been with us for the past few weeks, we've been diving into something that we've most likely concluded would be a series called Discovering God.

Discovering God according to the scriptures, not according to our imaginations, not according to who we think God is, but what the Bible testifies about who God is. And I mean, that can be a lifelong series, but we're really focusing on who he is as a being, who he is in essence, who he is in nature. And, really, the past three weeks, we've been diving into something that, again, deserves much more time, but we've been discussing the concept and the reality of the Trinity, how God is one in essence, but three in persons. Not three gods, one God, multi personal. And last week, we were building a case.

We were discussing about how God has manifested Himself, and here's a fancy term that describes that, theophanies or Christophanies, manifestations of Christ in the Old Testament, and the reason why we were doing that is because the Bible is proving to us that God can enter into His creation and make Himself known in a very tangible, real, and experiential way. He can be seen with the human eye. He can be heard with a human ear. He can be touched by the human hand, And all that really does in light of the narrative of the Bible is prepare the reader for something that we all know to be the incarnation, how Christ came into the world, not like in the Old Testament where he appeared temporarily as most of the time in a human form, but Christ comes into the world to take on flesh permanently. This is a powerful truth.

And so what we're doing now today is we are entering into a new avenue. We're we're gonna we're gonna go through a different angle now in our discovery of who God is by focusing on the second person of the triune God, which is Jesus Christ. We're gonna look at His Person, and there are so many things about Jesus Christ that is worthy of our adoration and our wonder and to marvel. So many things about Him, including who He is as a person. Now we understand again the Trinity, one in essence, three persons, but there is something about Christ as an individual person.

Remember, he's the second member, and the unique thing about Christ, unlike the Father and the Spirit, is that Jesus himself is dual in nature. Jesus himself is dual in nature. And the fancy term to describe his nature is known as does anybody know? What's the fancy terminology that describes the dual nature of the one person in Jesus? Hypostatic union.

Sorry, Barry. I think I took that away from you. You had your hand up. Hypostatic union is the fancy term. The term, though it's important to understand, what's more important is to understand what it means.

And what it means is this. This is very important for us to understand, that Jesus is 100% man, also 100% God. Jesus is not some God, more man, or more man, less God, or some it's it's not like that, nor is it a mixture of God and man, and Jesus is this third type of thing that he's uniquely holding. No. Jesus is, again, fully human in every sense of the word, fully divine without any of those full things compromising one another, and yet is one.

And you're probably thinking, this sounds a lot like the trinity where my head only can go so far and it's reaching a ceiling, and I say yes. So we we looked at the trinity, and we've come to a place in our minds where we go, there's only so there's only so much explanation that I can give and I can understand, which is true not only in the trinity, but even when you just zoom in on the person of Christ and try to explain his dual nature, which is okay. Because what we need to be concerned about more than anything is not trying to philosophically explain how this works metaphysically or no, no, no. What we need to know is, does the Bible tell us this? Does the Bible testify to this dual nature of Christ?

Does the Bible testify of God being triune? And we've covered, I hope, yes. And there are still scriptures that we have not even touched concerning God being triune, but what we're gonna do for the sake of time is come to Jesus and understand who He is, because this is more than just an idea. This is more than just an opinion. This is more than just something that we've agreed.

This actually is way more significant than you and I can imagine. So before we go into why this is important, let's try to understand how Jesus is fully God and fully man, because this is something that we can explain to a certain extent. Jesus Christ was always the Son of God. He was always God, who was with God, who is God. But what He did though as God is that He came into the world as a man and added to His nature by being born, conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin.

She gave a natural birth. This Jesus grew up like a normal child, had to learn how to walk, had to learn how to eat, had to learn how to say words. He grew up with real human experiences like you and I. He actually died as a human. But here's the thing that's important, he rose and he still remains flesh.

We're gonna get into that. This might this might be something that's hard to understand. Many people we talked about this in the sermon, Christmas sermon that Jesus is in fact still flesh right now. We'll talk about that later on. So here's a phrase that's common throughout the years that helps explain this.

Remaining what he was, he became what he was not. Remaining what he was, God, he became what he was not, human. Jesus Christ was not human before the incarnation, it happened at incarnation. And at the incarnation, he kept his humanity. So the Son of God was always fully divine, but added human nature to himself permanently for all time.

And the purpose of this session, as you've seen, is that we're gonna be talking about Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man, but we're gonna spend tonight mainly talking about his humanity. We're gonna talk about the humanity of Christ. Now we can ask the question, why is that important? And we can just go to the Bible to see that. Turn your Bibles to first John chapter four, beginning in verse two.

First John chapter four, beginning in verse two. Here's what John, the beloved, testified about the importance of Jesus being and coming in the flesh. By this, you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ now look at this. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has, past tense, come in the flesh is from God.

So anybody that's truly of God, born of God, truly a believer must be able to testify and affirm that Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, did in fact come in the flesh. Now what happens if you don't? And this is the next part. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. Now you can't confess Jesus as we just learned without confessing that he's come in the flesh.

You can't have your version of Jesus that is divorced from the idea that He actually took on human flesh. You can't. This is the spirit of the Antichrist. That just went to a whole another level. For somebody not to affirm and confess and believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is in fact from the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and is now in the world already.

So this is the gravity of this doctrine, of this truth, that to reject or challenge in a way to disprove that Christ actually came in the flesh is motivated by a spirit, and that spirit is against Christ. Now it's a whole another thing if you can't wrap your head around it fully, or if you believe it but you may not be able to fully explain it, that's a whole another thing. But to directly look at that truth in the face and say, No, Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh is actually inspired and animated by the Antichrist. Now can anybody tell us just even one reason why understanding Jesus Christ coming into the flesh is important? What what nerves does that touch concerning our faith?

The cross, the dead, and his life and everything. Resurrection.

Your salvation in mind depends on Jesus coming in the flesh. The incarnation, the resurrection, all those things that we celebrate and look to and believe in, if we do not believe that Jesus Christ actually took on flesh, we have issues concerning the core beliefs of our faith. Not just has come in the flesh. Go to two John verse seven, it's one chapter. Two John verse seven and see what it says again.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, Many, not few, brothers and sisters. Many deceivers have gone out into the world. Those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. So we just talked about first John four about how he has come in the flesh. Here's second John verse seven saying that there are many who are not confessing and not believing and preaching against how Jesus is not coming in the flesh, which implies what?

That Jesus is in the flesh right now. Go to verse nine, please, in that same book. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ. And it what includes in the teaching of Christ? That he came in the flesh, that he's coming in the flesh.

That's a part of the teaching of Christ. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide, remain, believe, stay, affirm in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the father and the son. That's very crucial because many people claim they have the father by denying the son. I remember being in college, and I missed my bus, so I had to take a cab.

When I took a cab, the the cab driver was a Muslim, and I thought I'm late for class anyway, so might as well just have a conversation. So he pulled up to my classroom in the campus and asked him about his faith, and he looked at me. I was brand new in the faith, and he looked at me right in the eye and he says, you and I have the same God. The God of your Bible and the God of my Quran, we have the same God. Yeah.

Yeah. And he and he tried to deceive in a sense, and try to downplay the idea that what we have in our scriptures is nothing like what they have in theirs. And when I asked him what he believed about Jesus, he said, no, no, no, no, no. He's not God's son. He's not God in the flesh.

He's a messenger of God. But my Bible says that if you deny the teaching of Christ, you don't have the father. And so there are millions, if not billions of people in this world, not just Muslims, that deny the teaching that you and I are gonna discover. And to touch this teaching and to preach against it is in fact damnable. Now when we think about the doctrine of Jesus Christ, who he is in his person, we often rush to defending his deity, that he is God in the flesh, and rightfully so because many people attack his deity.

But in John's day, when we just read in first John four, what John was attempting to defend was actually the humanity of Christ, that He did come in the flesh. Because there is a philosophical group out there that had this idea that anything material, anything physical is evil inherently. And so they couldn't understand how God can come in the flesh because if it's flesh, it's wicked. This flesh pulls you into temptation. This flesh makes you wanna do things that are wrong.

If it's if it's flesh and bone, if it's material, if it's pleasurable, it's evil, it's wrong. So therefore, Jesus, if he is God, did not come really in flesh. He appeared to be as flesh. He manifested himself in a very convincing way, but he was not really flesh and bone. And John says, be careful.

Because if you deny that he came in the flesh, you deny a lot more than just that. And so he comes in inspired by the Holy Spirit to say, He did come in an actual human body, and this is so significant concerning your salvation and mine. So where do we start tonight as we discuss the humanity of Christ? We go to his birth. We go to the birth of Jesus in Luke one.

Luke one thirty five. Luke one thirty five. This is when the angel Gabriel comes to Mary, who was to be the vessel used by God to carry the Son of God and to give birth to him. And see what he says when she asked how this could be. Verse 35, and the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you.

Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. What is so important about this verse right here concerning the birth of Christ in light of His humanity? The Holy Spirit, in bringing about the birth of Christ, steps in and does it in such a way where he prevented this is so crucial to understanding if Jesus is fully human, prevented the transmission of sin that could have come from both Joseph and or Mary. He prevented it from coming, corrupting the moral purity of Jesus Christ. He comes in to prevent that transmission.

Because the reality is, we are all under this legal binding law that because Adam and Eve sinned, we are all now infected with a sin nature, and it's spreading to this day since the first parents of this world. But what the Holy Spirit does in the process of conceiving Jesus Christ in the womb of a true human is that he interrupts. He interrupts that unbroken lineage of Adam all the way down to this point in history of that sin nature being transmitted from one human to another, yet he does it in such a way where he still preserves the trueness of the humanity of Jesus. This is a powerful thing to do. So Jesus did not have to be conceived like how we were conceived.

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, so he was without sin, yet was still truly human. And this is where a lot of objection objections come and say, well, if he does not have a nature just like ours, including sin nature, then he's not truly human. How can he be truly human if he was prevented from being like all of us, inheriting a sinful nature. And this is where now we can discuss. How do you answer that objection?

Here's the objection. Jesus is not truly human because he did not inherit the sin nature like you and I did. Yeah, Paul.

In God's original design, man wasn't designed to have sin as part of his nature. Right?

Bingo. The sin nature element of what we carry, unfortunately, is abnormal to God's intention and desire for us. Here here's what you can simply do as a response. Was Adam and Eve not fully human before the fall? Were they fully human before they fell?

Yes. God created man in his own image, and they were without sin. And so it's not so far fetched of an idea to say that Jesus Christ is fully human, though we did not have a sin nature because Adam and Eve were fully human, though at first they were not corrupted by sin nature. So that objection is defeated. So now we understand his birth, but not just his birth.

We come to his upbringing. And this is why we have to understand, Paul is very carefully about discussing the nature of Christ. Though he is fully human, he's very careful to say things like in Romans eight three, in the likeness of sinful flesh. He didn't say in sinful flesh. He says, Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh.

We see second Corinthians five twenty one. He who knew no sin. So the apostles, the disciples, the writers of the New Testament were fully aware that Jesus Christ did not inherit a sin nature though he was yet fully human. K. His birth.

That's why the angel could say he is to be this child is to be born holy. Right? That's what it says in Luke one thirty five, he is to be born holy. And that can't be said of you and I. That can only be said of one who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, empowered by God because Christ is God.

So now we think about his upbringing. So we're already in Luke. You go to Luke two fifty two. Luke two fifty two. And what do we see in Luke two fifty two?

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Talking about the humanity of Christ. He increased in wisdom. He learned things. Again, he he he learned how to walk.

He learned how to eat. He learned how to talk. He learned how to play. He learned different elements. He he grew up like you and I grew up.

He grew up in stature. He got taller. He got wider. He got muscle. He he all these things like how you and I grew up happened to him as well.

And there's even a deeper thing that we learn about the humanity crisis, not found in Luke, but we're gonna put up on the screen. It's in Hebrews five. Hebrews five seven and eight. This is so profound. It's so awesome.

The book of Hebrews, I believe, is on par with Romans when it comes to the depths of revelation concerning Jesus Christ. And look what it says here in Hebrews five seven to eight. In the days of his flesh that's what we're talking about. Right? In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications.

Now look how he prayed, with loud cries and tears. To him who was able to save him from death. So we can focus this type of prayer specifically in the garden when he was crying out to the father. But look at that. There's emotion there.

Did Jesus have emotion in his lifetime? Did Jesus not grieve? Did Jesus not marvel at the faith of the centurion? Did Jesus not weep? Those are very human like emotions that Jesus experienced.

He prayed, and he was heard not check this out, the side note. He wasn't heard because of his cries or his tears. You know why he was heard? Because of his reverence. As a human, he was heard for his reverence.

That's an insight for you and me. Now look what it says here. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. That can be a complex verse. That can be an apparent contradictory verse.

He learned but wait, I thought he knew all things because he was God. What does it mean he learned obedience? Does that mean that he was not obedient and then as he grew up, he became more obedient? Does it mean that he was in a state in which he was perhaps rebellious and it came to a point where he finally grew up to be obedient? What does this verse mean?

He learned obedience through what he suffered. Anybody have an idea? Don't be afraid. It's it's brainstorm. It's bible study so we can discuss these things.

He learned obedience through what he suffered. How can Christ learn obedience? Was he not always obedient? Did he not always understand obedience? Yes, Leah?

He came to know what it

was in the eyes of man

through suffering, what it was to open a gorilla.

Yes. That's part of it. So he did learn an element of obedience in the experience of suffering, right, as a man. Absolutely. And I think that's really what it is.

What this verse is trying to say is not that he was disobedient and became obedient, that there was sin and now he walked out of that and he became more matured and ended up becoming morally perfect. That's not what it's saying. What it is saying is that Christ went from untested obedience to tested obedience as a human. That Christ went from, you can say, almost unchallenged obedience to challenged obedience. That when Christ took on flesh, he experienced something about obedience, though he was always obedient, perfect harmony within the triune Godhead.

But when he took on flesh, there was something about obedience that was unique. And what was unique that this obedience was now faced with resistance. This obedience was now faced with temptation. This obedience was now faced with testing. And he fully obeyed through all of those things, through all of those sufferings.

He experienced obedience in a way that was unique in terms of being flesh and having things that would almost try to derail him from obedience. He passed. He passed. Christ experienced obedience in his flesh, and he obeyed fully. So when it says he learned obedience, it's not to say that he didn't know what obedience was.

It's that there was something about obedience as a human that he experienced, and he fully obeyed in that experience. Does that make sense? This wasn't part of this, but I think this is we should talk about anyway. Should we? Okay.

We will. Could Jesus have sinned? Should we do the yes or no thing and then have the majority of people not answer as we always have? Could Jesus have sinned? Somebody can come up to you and ask you that question.

Who says yes? Who says no? Who says I don't know? At least everybody answered tonight. This is fantastic.

We're at a milestone in our bible study. If Jesus could have sinned, tell us why. Whoever is advocating that view. Aliyah?

Well, it says, I think it's in Hebrews that we have high priest who can sympathize with our experiences with everything that we go through. And the way I see it is, it's not as

if he's been shielded his

whole throughout his whole journey as a human, and he couldn't have done anything even in the journey in the wilderness. He got tempted. And what what temptation is there if there's no

if he cannot sin, if there is no tempt?

Okay. So that that is sorry for did I do you have more? Sorry. So that that so the main argument that Leah is presenting is Christ's experience with temptation was not true temptation unless he had the ability to respond to that temptation by being able to sin. Okay.

We put that over here. Any other point in in light of yes, Eli?

I think if, if Christ did not have the choice to sin, then I don't think Satan would have attempted to tempt him into sinning because he must know that he's able to sin. So therefore, he attempted to sin or attempted to convince him to sin. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even tried.

So Satan would not even attempt to tempt Christ, lest he knew that Christ can, in fact, fracture his moral perfection by sinning. Okay. This is this is great conversation. Yes, please.

As God's nature, he is holy. Mhmm. So he cannot sin because he doesn't know sin, you know, doesn't know what sin you know, he doesn't have that experience also. He cannot sin because he's holy, but let's say, Satan does not, doesn't know that, you know, it's the incarnation is new thing to him, so that will lead him to tempt Christ, you know, as fully human, thinking that he will lead him to sin, but he is holy.

So you're on the other side. You're not with the side that Christ can sin. You're on the side that Christ could not sin.

No. Because he is holy. Okay. And his nature as God.

Okay. Because of his God nature, remember, that's a that's a big part of it. Paul, you're nodding your head, so you have something to say.

Okay? No. I agree. If that were true, then his humanity would be in conflict with his deity. His deity does not allow him to sin.

That would contradict what deity means. And so I don't think Christ was able to sin. K. This

is good. I hope this isn't called division. But this can be something in which we can converse afterwards. This is good, wholesome conversation to a degree. If you break friendships because because of this, that's a problem.

That's not the point of this bible study. Yes, Moody.

Well, this is a question I struggled with. So I just want a clarification at least for myself. Sure. When you say that you could say who he could sin or not, can we just make a distinction between fully man and fully god? So are we now talking about Christ deity or humanity when we say that he can sin or not?

Well, here's the here's where it gets complex. Though they are two distinct natures, they are he's still one person. There's a union between his divinity and his humanity. They're inseparable. So this is kinda giving a hint of where we're going with the answer with this.

Though he is fully man and fully god, he's not two persons. He's one person. There's a union, though not a mingling in which is this third hybrid kind of thing. So with that being said, and let me let me give this disclaimer. You have scholars that debate this.

You have scholars that debate this question. You have people that unwholesomely argue about this. This is just for the sake of trying to, through scripture, find a conclusion. And this is something that we wrestled with even as students, in in one particular class. And so any other input before we kinda come to a conclusion?

Yes, Stephanie.

I think that, for him, it would be unbearable to say.

Okay. Can you elaborate on that?

That he I guess he could, because he's fully man. Mhmm. But he would never attempt this because that would destroy who he I mean, who he is and what he stands for.

It it

just doesn't go with what he believes in. So he I don't think he would ever be capable of doing that. Okay. It's

yes. Go ahead.

Well, I think, Jesus died for our sins. He died to redeem us so that we would be worthy to be in the presence of God eternally who is perfect. So I think even though he had the opportunity to sin, he did not sin and instead died for our sins. So that we can be

made pure through him. So

Sure. Absolutely. Amen. Now would you say that he could have then or he could not have?

Yes. He could have. I mean, he was tempted for a reason. Okay. So at the same time, he would not have.

Okay. So he made that choice in order to be the right sacrifice without spot or blemish, in order to redeem us who have been infected by sin. Paul?

I'm, like, battling. No. I said firm what I said, but I'm sorry. The point is is if you say he could say you bisect his nature, you say that he's partially God and partially man. Because the God side can't, obviously, but But he's not two parts necessarily.

He's fully God and fully man. Wonderful. So that I think

refutes. Yes. Yes, Christian? Again yes.

But then if we if we if we take that division idea, we say God can never die. He's everlasting. Yet Christ in his blood died. So I think it's still a possibility. Right?

But when when our sin came upon him, god could not even it was that separation. I can't imagine that Christ could sin. Yeah. Okay. Well It doesn't matter.

You know, I cannot comprehend that. It it could be better.

Okay. But we building

on what Stephanie said then. Like, that's part of it. There was that imagination of separation with God. That is what sin is. It's disobedience of God.

So then he has full awareness of that more so than that. Even Adam needs this. So that separation, he knew that's happened. It wasn't time for that separation. There was there was ability plus, a higher understanding of what it was, what the implication was of doing that.

That's right.

K. I didn't know I was gonna go this and that, but Peter. You're gonna make it worse.

He who knew Muslim became sin.

Yes. Isn't that a choice to take on sin? So not Yeah. Kind of

a neat decision to take on sin. Sometimes he's not actually singing, but I think

Yeah. That's a that's a that's a very powerful verse, and people can take that to kind of entertain that thought that maybe he he did and I'm not saying you're saying this, but that verse is not saying that he did sin, but he took the sin of the world upon him. The account that he had on behalf of humanity was taken so that he can receive the just due penalty for that. So it was not that he did sin, but that he he took sin upon him in order to be the object of God's wrath. And so that's not saying that he was corrupted by sin, but that there was in in a sense in the same way that there is this yeah.

There's the great exchange. Right? So the same way that his righteousness is imputed to us. We're not righteous, but we have his righteousness imputed unto us. It is accounted to us.

And and on the cross, it was our sin that was imputed. Though he was not infected by it, it was imputed unto him so that he can receive the just penalty, the same way you and I can receive grace because of that imputation. There are some hands lifted up. You have not heard in.

I would say that it would be a complete contradiction of James one thirteen

Okay.

That God cannot be tempted.

Okay. So

if God cannot be tempted, his deity could not have been tempted. So his humanity could have contradicted that deity.

God cannot be tempted. Was Jesus tempted? Is Jesus not God? What part of Jesus was tempted then? His humanity.

Right? But that's a great verse. Yes, Cassie.

Okay. So, I don't know if this is right, but I'm thinking so, so you know how like in the old testament sometimes it says like, Jesus, a God remember. So like people ask him, do you forget? Like what but I think it's more about acting upon something. So like he could have sinned, but he didn't act on it.

But he could have. So it's like he didn't never forgot, but he just didn't act on something.

Sure.

That's why it says it.

Sure. Maybe that's

Sure. I think yeah. Evan? Go ahead. No.

Go ahead. Go ahead. This is good. This is good.

I couldn't know about this, but kind of going around with what Cass said, maybe he had the ability to experience, like, like, full temptation. You have your ability to sin. But his nature will not allow him to act upon it. Like, we have these impulses to engage in certain temptations if need be. But maybe his his character allowed him to not take that on.

So maybe he did have a choice. Maybe he had a choice, and maybe he had those temptations that and those little impulses maybe to, like, go towards that. But his deity, his character would not allow him to make that final step.

K. You can see how this idea of Jesus being fully human allows us to explore and almost wonder how much of this really, how does this all really work? And and really if you if you go back and forth with all of this, and you're probably wondering where where I stand on this, and I hope we can be friends no matter what side you're on, when you really boil it down, because of the humanity of Christ, yes, but because of his union in the divine, he could not have sinned. And I'll tell you why. Because if he did sin, then God would cease to be God.

If Christ did, you know, if he did sin or he was able to sin, then the entire Godhead and God himself would have been fractured, and he would cease to be God. And usually the the argument against the idea of Jesus not or rather being able to sin is that, well, how can he sympathize with our weaknesses like you brought him? That's a great verse. That verse popped to my head when when understanding try to understand this. How can God then therefore be a faithful high priest to you and me if He cannot sympathize with our weakness, if He was not able to then fully go on and to bite into that temptation?

And I would say this, just because you don't bite into temptation doesn't mean you don't know what temptation feels like. In fact, you and I have known the fullness of temptation when we have resisted it until its end. Right? For somebody to experience temptation and to bite into it right away does not know the full implication and weight and pull of that temptation until really they have resisted that temptation until the end, and Christ did that every single time and always. So don't if if you if you have this kind of conflicting thought that because Jesus could not sin, he can't sympathize with me when I'm tempted, realize that he's experienced that temptation to its fullest extent that what it can offer and passed and overcame it.

So for Christ to not be able to sin does not mean that he doesn't know what it feels like when you get tempted, in all ways. In fact, he knows the fullest pull of that temptation than you think. We can go more into those arguments, but I'm just gonna leave it at that. Now we come back to the script. We come back to understanding something about Jesus' humanity.

He felt various emotions. He experienced limitations in his body. He was hungry. He was thirsty. He needed rest.

But establishing that Jesus was truly human helped us understand very important things, things that, again, might be brought up by others to say, how can this be? For example, John chapter 20 verse 17. John chapter 20 verse 17. Look what Jesus says to Mary Magdalene post resurrection, and see this one little phrase that has apparently been used to stump many Christians in their understanding of Jesus Christ. Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, Now pay attention, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your god.

You believe Jesus is god. Right? Amen. You're telling me that your god is attributing godhood or is claiming that he has a god? That's what he says.

Right? To my God and your God. So how can your God say that he has a God? And understand the humanity of Jesus is very important in light of this. There are many answers to this question here because people bring up this verse and try to rub it in Christians' faces and say, Jesus has a God and you worship this God?

How can it be? There are many answers, but there's one strong one in light of our study tonight. The answer to understanding how Jesus can make such a statement such as that is found in Jeremiah Jeremiah 32 Jeremiah 32 verse 27. Jeremiah thirty two twenty seven. Behold, I am the Lord.

The Lord is speaking. Behold, I am the Lord, the God of what? What does it say? All flesh. Is anything too hard for me?

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. What is the Lord claiming by that statement? He's claiming this, that if anyone in creation is defined by flesh, by that alone, God assumes that He is God over you because you are flesh. No matter what, if you are under that category of flesh, meaning body, human, mankind, if you're under that category, automatically by default, God, because He is your Creator, is your God, and you identify Him as God. Now when we take that truth, and we take it to you don't have to turn there, but John one verse one to three.

In the beginning was God in the was the word rather, the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him. And was anything that was made was made, all that, that famous verse. You scroll down to verse 14, that word being the second person of the Godhead, what does it say?

That word became flesh. And when that word became flesh and dwelt among us, we have seen his glory, glory as only the Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. When that word took on flesh, he assumed and identified the Father as his God because he is flesh. Understand that? The reason why Jesus can say, my God is because Jesus took on flesh.

And according to Jeremiah, if you understand the Trinity, it is not so complex to say that the second person who is distinct from the father and the spirit took on human flesh, and when he took on human flesh from that moment, identifies the father as his God because by default being a flesh being identifies God rightly as his God. It's because of the flesh aspect of Jesus Christ that he can say my God because God is the God of all flesh, including the second person, the triune Godhead. See why understanding the trinity is important. See why understanding how they're distinct is important. See why understanding the humanity of Christ is important.

Because Jeremiah testifies through the Holy Spirit, God himself saying, If anybody is in the flesh, they have to relate to me as their God, and Jesus does so in his lifetime. So how can Jesus say, My God? Because Jesus was flesh. Now this is where it gets even more interesting in light of our study. You go to a verse like Revelations three twelve.

Who's speaking here? Jesus Christ. And look what he says in verse 12. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Now we just covered that.

He says it again. My God, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes from down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. Four times in one verse, he identifies Jesus Christ, letters in red, if you ever read the letter Bible, identifies as God as his God. Now here's where it gets really interesting.

This is not Jesus Christ walking on the Earth. This is Jesus Christ resurrected, ascended, exalted. And here He is speaking to John, through John, to the church, and He's still in that state of glory identifying God as my God. Now how can that be when we've covered that Jesus in the flesh identified God as His God? We've conferred that through Jeremiah thirty two twenty seven.

But how does that make sense in the last book of the Bible where Jesus has conquered death, is sitting at the right hand of God, my God, what is that assuming? This is what it's assuming. He's still in the flesh. The reason why he could say my God in Revelations three twelve is because Jesus Christ in glory right now is the God man. Fully God, fully man, forever.

That's why he says, My God in Revelation three twelve. Further proof? We're in the book of Revelation chapter 22 verse 16. Chapter 22 verse 16. Now we are going to defend the reality of the permanence of Christ's humanity.

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. Now look at this. I am. Jesus Christ does not say I was. He says, I am.

Currently, present tense. I am the root. I understand if you're the root, but I'm not just the root. I am the descendant of David, the bright morning star. Hold on.

You're speaking present tense, and you're saying that you are the descendant of David. You're in glory. You're in heaven. You've resurrected. You've been exalted, and you're saying I'm the root.

Yes. I am the root, not just the root, the descendant. I have a human lineage. I am the descendant of a human ancestry because I'm still flesh. The descendant of David.

Currently, right now, this is powerful. So let's further make this concrete. Let's go past the fact that He was human for thirty three years. Let's realize that at His resurrection, in His current ministry, and in His return, we're gonna see the God man. Ready?

Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two. Step by step proof that Jesus is still in the flesh. Acts chapter two twenty nine and thirty one.

This is Peter's infamous sermon, the first Christian sermon that was preached. And after quoting a crucial text about Jesus that was prophesied by David. It says here in verse 29, brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Now why is he saying that? Because prior verse 25 down, he quotes Psalm 16, and it says, look in verse 27, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your holy one see corruption.

You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. So what is Peter trying to do as he's preaching the sermon? He's trying to prove to them that though that was written by David, David was not speaking about himself. When it says that you will not let your holy one see corruption, what Peter is trying to prove in his sermon, see, this is what this is how we know that the new how the New Testament apostles preach.

They use Bible. They use prophecy. They use scripture to make their points. They said, that holy one that David prophesied about, that David spoke about was not him because we know where his tomb is. We know that he's buried.

Verse 30, being there for a prophet, he acknowledges that David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write what he wrote. And knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that he would not set one of his descendants on the throne, he foresaw look what it says. David foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did what? His flesh. See corruption.

What is he stating there? That God did not allow the Son of God, Christ Jesus, to remain in the tomb long enough for his flesh to be decayed, to be corrupted, to be eaten up by worms, so to speak. His flesh did not see corruption. In fact, He raised it up from the grave and glorified it, and He remains glorified to this day. So even at His resurrection, we know that it was a body that went into that tomb, and it was a body that came out of that tomb.

That's why Paul can make a statement like this in one Timothy two:five. In one Timothy two:five, he speaks again in the present tense, speaking about Christ's ministry. And he says in one Timothy two:five, For there is one God, praise be to God, and there is one mediator. There is right now, not there was. There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

The man, he emphasized the the the humanity of Christ, that he represents man, and he represents God to man, and he stands in that place of mediation for us. And we can take hope and glory in that. There's only one who can present us before God, the one who was the perfect man, Jesus. Jesus Christ. So we speak about his resurrection.

We seek about his current ministry right now, and then you go to Acts 17 verse 30 to 31, and you realize something about his return. I pray that this this is stirring your heart tonight. The times of ignorance God overlooked, for those that don't like the message of repentance, they'll have a tough time with this verse. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by what? By a man.

By a man. He has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteous by a man whom he has appointed, and who is this man? A prophet? Who is this man? A righteous man?

No. And of this, he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. He raised up Christ from the dead, and guess what? It wasn't a disembodied spirit. It wasn't a spiritual body.

It was a full on human body. Why is that important? Because now our bodies can conquer death. Now when you go to the grave and I go to the grave, we don't stay in the grave. Even our bodies are redeemed to the glory of God, and it is the man Christ Jesus that is gonna come back and judge the world.

That's a powerful truth. That's a powerful statement. That's a powerful thing right now. Can you imagine what it's like in heaven right now? There's a man sitting at the right hand of God, and all those spiritual creatures are there around him.

Fully God, fully man. And when he comes back, he's gonna come back as a man. We're gonna see him. And this is not just New Testament truth. If there's a verse that should stir your heart in light of all of this, let's go there together.

Flip those pages to Zechariah. Zechariah. Zechariah. Zechariah. Zechariah chapter 14, beginning in verse three.

Then the Lord Who's gonna go? The Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. Now we talk this is talking about the end times. It's talking about one of the final battles that God will make with the world, and it says clearly that the Lord will go out and fight. Now look how this describe how the Lord will fight.

On that day, his feet his feet shall stand on the Mount Of Olives that lies before Jerusalem and on the east, and the Mount Of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the mount shall be north move northward and the other half southward. What is he saying? That the Lord will come and fight a battle one day. And when it describes how it's going to look and how it's going to be initiated, it says His feet will descend, and when they touch the Mount Of Olives, it will split. Feet.

God has feet. God has feet. Well, if you believe God is fully man, yeah, you believe that there is the God man in heaven right now, yeah, That's gonna come with pierced feet that's gonna touch the Mount Of Olives. And you know who else testifies to this? You've read it before.

You don't have to turn there. Just listen to it. In Acts one eleven, when the disciples saw Jesus Christ ascending from where? The Mount Of Olives. And angels appeared and look what they said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?

This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. The same way you saw this body that said, hey look, I can eat. Hey look, I'm talking with you. Hey look, in Luke 24, that same Jesus that went up in a body is coming back with a body and Zechariah says his feet is gonna touch the Mount Of Olives. They were on the Mount Of Olives when the men of Galilee testified that they saw the ascension of Christ.

We are going to see the God man. You say, what does this imply in terms of my devotion to him? It implies this, Hear me very carefully, brothers and sisters, and I hope that you would hear the piercing love of Jesus Christ for you and me. That when He, within the Godhead, as we discussed, planned the redemption of mankind, Jesus knew fully well that when He would take on flesh, He would stay flesh. That when He would come in the flesh, He would add to His nature forever humanity.

Why? Because that's how much He loves you and me. Why? Because He knew that if He were to take on flesh, He would be the appropriate sacrifice for all of humanity. Why?

Because He knew that if He came in the flesh, and He went to the grave, and God would raise Him up from the dead, that would mean that you and I would raise from the dead. Why? Because of his desire for you and me to spend eternity with him in glory, he added to his nature forevermore. And when you and I see him in glory as the God man, you will I will forever be reminded that he paid a price in which he had added to his nature for you and me to be added to his family. The God man.

This is not some simple trick that God performed. There is price to this. There is sacrifice to this, and not temporarily for thirty three years, but for the rest of eternity. Christ, fully man, fully God. Why is understanding Jesus, apart from the fact that it's an expression of his love, why is it important to understand that Jesus Christ came in the flesh?

There's two categories to that. One, it deals with our redemption. Two, it deals with our sanctification. We're closing with this. Why was it important for Christ in terms of our redemption to take on flesh?

Jesus needed a body to live obediently in perfection on our behalf. Jesus needed a body to represent all of humanity, and in His body, living out as the perfect Israelite every single command that God has given, so that when you put your faith and trust in Him, that righteousness is granted to you and me. That's why. So in taking on a body, Paul writes in Romans five eighteen-nineteen something that is so glorious, because many people object to the federal law idea, the federal head idea that Adam because they say, you're telling me that Adam sinned and because Adam made a mistake, it's transfused to all of us as humans. That's not fair.

And we believe in the federal headship of Adam that because he was the first parent, he committed sin. It is transferred to all of us. And for those who would object to such an idea must be consistent with their objection and say, well, if you don't believe that Adam has transferred his sin to you and me, then you can't believe that based on one man's obedience that you have grace. You wanna reject the idea that Adam, as one man representing humanity, spread sin and death to all men? Reject it.

But if you wanna be consistent, you also have to reject that by one man's obedience, righteousness has been transferred to all men by faith. That's what Paul says. Therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men. We believe that. One act of trespass led to condemnation for all men.

So one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. The next verse. For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. So we can look to Christ needed a body to stand on behalf of humanity the same way Adam stood on behalf of humanity. And because he represented us, we've been infected by sin because of his sin.

But because of Christ, the God man, he walks righteously and perfectly and holy. And by faith in him, his righteousness is yours and mine. God in Christ needed a body to live on our behalf. Number two, God in Christ needed a body to be the appropriate sacrifice for you and me. Hebrews chapter two sixteen and seventeen.

Hebrews chapter two sixteen and seventeen. For surely, it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Jesus Christ did not come to die for angels. That's a whole another topic for another. Jesus Christ did not come to redeem demons.

Jesus Christ had one thing in mind in His plan of redemption, redeeming the offspring of Abraham, redeeming humans, And in order to do that, what did Christ have to do? Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect. You see this verse? So that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God and make propitiation for the sins of the people. So in order for this legal thing to happen, this transaction to be made smoothly, in which God's justice, yet His mercy at the same time is not compromised, Christ had to be made like humans, Christ had to be made like His brothers in every respect, in order that as a sacrifice, it would be able to and this is the beauty about fully God, fully man.

He was fully man, but one man cannot bear the sins of all humanity. There was there had to be this act that was performed in which someone that was man according to this verse, but at the same time had the capability of bearing the sins from the past, present, and future. And that's why he's fully God and fully man. Because only God can do such a thing. Do you see how this works together?

Do you see how in God's wisdom, he goes fully man, fully God? Because, yes, there is the aspect of humanity that is very much needed for redemption, but there's an also an element of impossibility that only God can perform. And let's make a union so that it can be done. Hebrews two tells us that he needed a body in order to be a sacrifice for you and me. That's our redemption, but let's close with our sanctification.

Jesus Christ took on flesh, yes, for our redemption, but two, for our sanctification. Because first John two six tells us that if anyone claims to abide in him, he must walk as He walked. Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. What this verse is trying to tell us is that you and I cannot make the excuse that just because Jesus was God and He is God, that His lifestyle is something in which we cannot emulate or imitate or walk after because He was God. What this verse is implying is that He was fully human.

So you can take hope that if Christ overcame temptation, you can overcome temptation. If Christ had control over His anger, you can have control over your anger. If Christ and all those things put it on the list, and you and I can as well. There's an example that's set for us, first Peter two twenty one, that he's been given to us as an example to know how to suffer. So Jesus Christ has been put on display before all humanity to say that, yes, he is the reason why you can have redemption, but he's also the reason why you can walk like him.

In the same way that Jesus, yes, fully God, depended upon the Holy Spirit, you and I have been given the same Holy Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead in order to live like Jesus on this side of heaven. If we claim to abide, you have relationship with Him, you walk with Him, then you ought to walk the same way in which you walked. He's saying perfectly, but we strive for it. We strive for it. Will we fall?

Will we stumble? Will we attain perfection? No. We're not sinless perfectionists, dear. But we desire to live like Him.

And listen, this is one thing that you can know that you've been truly born again, that you have that desire. If you have no desire in your heart to walk like Christ, to live like Christ, to imitate Christ, to respond like Christ, to represent Christ, You gotta ask yourself some serious questions of where you are with the God man. That's just one, in light of many things. One of the evidence of a regenerate heart is, yes, I know I'm saved, but, oh, I wanna walk like him. I wanna walk like Him.

And you have better days than others, but down deep inside you can say, I do have a desire to love Jesus and live like Jesus. He's given us an example through his life, through his body. Oh, so I can look at Christ's prayer life and not say that's the God version of Christ. No. With loud cries and tears, he cries out to God and with reverence so I can imitate his prayer life because he was man.

Hebrews four fifteen to 16. Christ came in the body, not to just give us an example. Christ came into the body, came into a body, experienced temptation, experienced trials, experienced suffering. For what reason? So that when you go through trials, when you go through testing, when you go through sufferings, he can sympathize with you and me.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Yet without sin. You know what that means? That means there is nothing that you can bring before the feet of Jesus in which he goes, suck it up. But in every respect, as you go through this life, and you might feel like you're the only one burning with that temptation, you're the only one experiencing that frustration, you're the only one feeling that feeling of giving up, you can come to the master, and Jesus with compassion and mercy looks at you and says, I know what that feels like.

So I don't push you away, and I don't whip you back into submission, but I

extend my hand, and I give you the grace and the

power to overcome what you need to overcome. You know what that means for me as a believer in Christ, and you as a believer in Christ? That I can have a fearless conversation with Jesus in prayer about what I'm struggling with, and not fear that He's gonna reject me or look at me as a failure. That's what that means, because He is currently the God Man. He took flesh.

He walked through this earth. He experienced all those things in greater intensity than you and I could ever imagine, because all of hell was blasting against them. And you and I, as we go through this world, can come to our rooms, can drive in our cars, can whisper in that hallway and say, Jesus, you know what this is like. Give me the power to overcome it. I can have a conversation because you and I can find in somebody that's experienced something like we've experienced.

Do we not? Do you not immediately call that person that you know went through what they went through, what you're going through? You know who I can call at any time, at any place, at any moment? The one who's experienced everything that I've experienced. I can run to him because I know he's been through it.

I can run to him and know that he's gonna come for me. I could run to him because I know he'll give me wisdom because he's been through it as the God man. As the God man. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you became the flesh. You became flesh, and you rose as flesh to say that this flesh is gonna be redeemed by you as well.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ, the God you and I just sang to and are about to sing to is fully God, fully man. We touch on His humanity. Next week, by the grace of God, we're gonna touch on His deity. Would you bow your heads as we pray? And take the time to let those Scriptures just marinate in your heart, to realize the extent of His sacrifice for you and me, to realize the relationship that I can have with God because he became flesh.

Father, we come in realization of the testimony of the scriptures that say that Christ took on flesh forever. Thank you for living the life that we could not live. Thank you for dying the death that we deserved. Thank you that we can come to you and receive sympathy. Thank you that we can look to you and not have excuses.

We may not fully understand it Lord but we fully believe it. And it causes us to stand in awe of you. Who is man that you are mindful of him? Thank you that your word alone quoted and declared has so much power. So, Lord, we simply sit here tonight in awe of you, and we worship you.

And we love you because you first loved us. Lord, no words can express and explain how much we feel about you. Lord, we're we're just stunned by the majesty and the glory and the complexity that we just unpacked today. So we do what your word shows us what somebody should do in response to the glory of God. We sing.

We sing in light of who you are. Lord, if there's anybody in here that was blinded throughout this entire bible study and has failed to see the beauty of Jesus in a new way before they walked in here, Lord, we pray that during even this session, it would click and they would realize the length of your sacrifice in taking flesh. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.