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Is Jesus Christ God or man? The Bible answers, both. He is
true man:
- "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the
angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God,
might taste death for everyone...For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified
are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: 'I will
declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.' And
again: 'I will put My trust in Him.' And again: 'Here am I and the children whom God has given
Me.' Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise
shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is,
the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage." (Hebrews 2:9-15).
- "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now
accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, 'I thirst!'" (John 19:28).
- "And so it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living
being.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.'" (1 Corinthians 15:45).
- "...who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up
prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from
death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by
the things which He suffered." (Hebrews 5:7-8).
- "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in
the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." (Revelation 22:16).
- "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." (Luke 2:52).
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"This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is
preferred before me: for he was before me." (John 1:30).
- "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an
apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy
Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David
according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." (Romans 1:1-3).
- "But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and
immediately blood and water came out." (John 19:34).
- "For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give
aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren,
that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make
propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being
tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:16-18).
- "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.
Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." (Luke 24:39).
- "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders,
and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know. . ." (Acts 2:22).
- "But now you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not
do this." (John 8:40).
- "He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." (Isaiah 53:3).
- "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every
spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is
the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the
world." (1 John 4:2-3).
- "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth." (John 1:14).
- "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do
not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and
an antichrist." (2 John 1:7).
- "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth
His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4).
...and He is true God:
- "...of whom are the fathers and from whom,
according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed
God. Amen." (Romans 9:5).
- "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that
we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus
Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." (1 John 5:20).
- "And Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!'" (John 20:28).
Both questions receive an affirmative answer. The nature of deity
is not the same as humanity. The Old Testament teaches that God does not sleep: "My help
cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not
suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."
(Psalm 121:2-4). But Jesus slept: "And he was in the hinder part of
the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him,
Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (Mark 4:38). God cannot
die: "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light
which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see:
to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:16). But
Jesus died: "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that
he liveth, he liveth unto God." (Romans 6:10). This indeed is why
God the Son became man, in order to die for us. He took on human nature, which is
not the same as His own eternal divine nature. He was God before the ages,
who late in time became a man. He lost nothing in the transaction:
"'The Word was made flesh. . .' The Word who was in the
beginning, who was with God and was God, became incarnate, yet He
who dwelt among men was still the Word. In Person, He remained all
that He had ever been, and yet became that which He had never been.
He became flesh by taking to Himself all that pertained to true
manhood — human spirit, human soul, and human body — yet all apart
from sin." (H.. C. Hewlett, The Glories of Our Lord, p. 49).
Dissenters use His humanity as proof against His Deity. Mohammed ibn Abdallah considered
the fact that Jesus (and His mother!) ate food an irrefutable disproof of His Deity: "The Messiah,
Son of Mary, is but an Apostle; other Apostles have flourished before him; and his mother was a just
person: they both ate food. Behold! how we make clear to them the signs! then behold how they turn aside!" (Koran, Sura 5:79).
To eat food pertains to humanity not deity:
"For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.
Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" (Psalm 50:10-13).
But Jesus felt hunger: "Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in
those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward
hungered." (Luke 4:2). Inasmuch as Jesus Christ is both man and God, His eating food does display His humanity but in
no way disproves His deity. Since no one ever claimed His mother was
anything other than human, her eating food is scarcely remarkable!
One odd Bible fact to share with your Muslim friends is the time
when God, visiting Abraham, did eat:
"And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat."
(Genesis 18:8).
God is omnipotent. The burden of proof should be on those who say, there is one thing
which the omnipotent God cannot do, and that is to become a man.
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