WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES
ABOUT JESUS CHRIST
Editorial
November/ December, 1983
Volume 18, Number 6
During the Christmas season we should remember especially
the coming of Jesus Christ in human flesh (the incarnation) to this planet.
Every Church of the Brethren pastor should joyously proclaim the essence
of paragraph 2 (in the statement approved for
circulation by Annual Conference in 1923): "The Church of the Brethren
... firmly accepts and teaches ... the doctrine of the virgin birth and
deity of Christ, the sin-pardoning value of his atonement, his resurrection
from the tomb, (his) ascension, and (his) personal and visible return."
What we believe about Jesus Christ is of supreme importance because our
eternal destiny is determined by our relationship with Him (Acts 4:12).
In 1 John 4:1-6, we are given instructions about how to
discern between truth and error. One of the tests that will help us determine
whether or not a teacher is a true spokesman for God centers around his
confessing "that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh" (I John 4:2). An untrustworthy
teacher need not "deny" that Jesus Christ has come in flesh. The Bible
says he is not to be trusted if he merely "confesses not" that the unique
Christ has come. Many false teachers do not openly blaspheme the person
of Christ and deny His deity, but neither do they come out with a strong,
clear, positive statement proclaiming His deity!
The question "What shall I do then with Jesus who is called
Christ?" is one which every human being honestly needs to face. The baby
born in Bethlehem was named "Jesus" because He would save people from their
sins (Matthew 1:21). The Scriptures again and again (from the first preaching
of the Gospel in Genesis 3:15, to the final praise of the ransomed hosts
in Heaven), declare the necessity of Jesus' birth so that He could die
for sinners. God's Word says, "You know that he was manifested to take
away our sins" (1 John 3:5).
The article in this issue of the WITNESS
is a briefly condensed version of Chapter 3 from the BBI Correspondence
Course entitled "Major Bible Doctrines (Part I)." (The Volume
16, Number 4 issue of
WITNESS contains a similar condensation
of Chapter 2 from the same Course). The Correspondence
Courses are available from BRF.
--H.S.M.
What the Bible Teaches About Jesus Christ
By Harold S. Martin
Christianity involves more than a belief in God. The Christian faith
owes its life and its unique character to the Person of Jesus Christ. What
a person believes concerning Him is of eternal importance.
The names given our Lord are significant. "Jesus" means "Saviour" and
is His human name. "Christ" means "Messiah" and speaks of His work. "Lord"
is His divine name and signifies that He was God as well as man. There
are other names (such as "Alpha and Omega") which were assigned to Jesus.
1. THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST
Many facts point to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is fully God. Many
other facts lead to the conclusion that He was perfect man. We will note
first what the Bible says about His deity.
His Preexistence. Strange as it may seem, the Bible declares
that Jesus lived before He was born! John the Baptist was baptizing in
the Jordan River, and when he spoke to the multitudes, he said, "After
me cometh a man which is preferred before me; for he was before me" (John
1:30). Yet Jesus was born after John the Baptist. Elizabeth was
an expectant mother six months before Jesus was conceived, and thus John
the Baptist was born about one-half year before Jesus.
Jesus himself says "before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). Jesus not
only claimed to have existed before
Abraham, but He also claims
for himself the name "Yahweh" - and thus He claims to be God (Exodus 3:14-15).
The prayer of Jesus in John 17:5 also confirms His preexistence. Jesus
lived with God the Father before the world was created.
Evidences of Deity. Many deny the deity of Christ, or at least
cast a veil over His deity, and say that He was only a man - a good, holy,
exemplary man but only a man. The denial is not new. The Ebionites, Arians,
and Socinians all regarded Jesus as merely a man. Today, Unitarians and
theological liberals and many of the cult groups deny the full deity of
Jesus Christ.
(1) His own claim - Jesus himself claimed equality with God when
He said that He and the Father are one (John 10:30). Those who heard Him
understood what He had said for they accused Him of blasphemy. Also, Jesus
received and accepted worship as God (John 20:28). If Jesus were
not God, He would have rebuked those who worshipped Him even as the apostles
did in Acts 14:15.
(2) His supernatural works -Jesus is said to have done certain
things which only God can do. Mark 2:7 describes His power to forgive sins.
John 5:25 says He will raise the dead. Colossians 1:17 declares that He
participated in the work of creation. All these activities are works which
only God can do. The supernatural works of Jesus are clear evidences of
His deity.
(3) His divine characteristics - Jesus possessed the attributes
which only God can have. His omnipotence
is set forth in the statement
found in Matthew 28:18. Furthermore, Jesus has power over sickness, nature,
and death (Matthew 8:16; Matthew 8:23-27; John 11:43-44). The omniscience
of
Jesus is described in Paul's words in Colossians 2:2-3. Passages such as
Mark 2:8 and John 1:48-49 confirm that Jesus knows everything. His omnipresence
is
disclosed in passages like Matthew 18:20 and Matthew 28:20. Jesus said,
"Lo, I am with you always."
In the Scriptures the name of Jesus is coupled with the names
of the other members of the Trinity in the baptismal formula. We are to
baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. This identification with the Father and with the Holy Spirit sets
Jesus apart as a divine person of the Godhead.
The doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ is exceedingly important.
Our salvation is dependent upon Jesus' being God. After Jesus disclosed
His deity in the eighth chapter of John, He said, "For if ye believe not
that I am he, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8:24).
2. THE HUMANITY OF JESUS CHRIST
Jesus was not only fully God, but also fully man, except that He was
without sin. We cannot explain the mystery of how Christ's two natures
were united in one Person. The biblical writers recognized His perfect
manhood and His full deity. He had to be human as well as divine if He
was to be the Mediator between God and man.
His Incarnation. The "incarnation" was the way in which
Christ who is God took on humanity. The word "incarnation" means "in flesh."
The method of incarnation was the virgin birth. Matthew 1:16 clearly
indicates that the conception of Jesus was connected exclusively with Mary
and not with Joseph. Matthew lists more than forty names in the ancestry
of Jesus, and says the one "begat" the other, but when he comes to Jesus
he simply says Joseph was "the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus"
(Matthew 1:16). The pronoun "of whom" is feminine singular. Jesus was born
of a woman - not as in normal human generation - of a man and a
woman.
The importance of the virgin birth of Jesus lies in the fact that when
a child is born by natural processes, his nature is tainted with sin, transmitted
from parent to child - but in the case of Jesus, the Holy Spirit transmitted
seed, and Jesus had no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Evidences of Humanity. The full and perfect humanity of Jesus
was manifested in a number of ways. Philippians 2:6-8 says that Jesus "made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant." The
idea of taking on humanity with its limitations was humbling, but it did
not involve His giving up any divine attributes. When Jesus became man
He did not subtract deity but He added humanity.
(1) He had a human body, soul, and spirit - The conception of
Jesus was supernatural, but His birth was natural. He possessed a human
body
which
grew normally (Luke 2:40). Near the time of His crucifixion Jesus said,
"My soul is exceedingly sorrowful" (Matthew 26:38). And while He was on
the Cross He said, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46).
Jesus possessed body, soul, and spirit.
(2) He had typical human characteristics - Jesus became hungry
(Matthew 4:2) and thirsty (John 19: 28). He experienced love and compassion
(Matthew 9:36). He wept (John 11:35). His body required sleep (Matthew
8:24). His mind possessed wisdom (Luke 2:52). His spirit learned obedience
(Hebrews 5:8) Jesus was tested but did not sin (Hebrews 4:15).
(3) He possessed human names - Jesus called himself "the Son
of man" eighty times and thus identified himself with us as sons of men.
Jesus was called "the son of David" (Mark 10:47), and "a man" in 1 Timothy
2:5. The one Mediator between God and man is "the man" Jesus.
The humanity of Jesus Christ was as real and as genuine as was His deity.
Both must be accepted and neither should be emphasized at the expense of
the other. Our Lord's perfect divine nature was so united with His perfect
human nature that a single divine-human Personality developed. Without
becoming less than God, Jesus Christ took upon himself complete human nature.
A proper knowledge of Christ's Person is crucial in understanding His
work. If Christ was God and only God, He could not have moved freely among
men, and experienced their trials and sufferings. If Christ was man and
only man, He could not have paid the price to buy us back from sin. Our
wonderful Saviour is a God-man.
3. THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST
Great men of this world are valued for their lives, but Jesus is known
above all for His death. Almost half of the Gospel according to John is
devoted to the week of His death. The death of Jesus is central to the
Christian faith. This is underscored by Paul's determination at Corinth
"not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified" (I
Corinthians 2:2).
Prophecies about His death. The shedding of blood on Israel's
altars was a symbol of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
(Hebrews 9:12; John 1: 29). The Passover Lamb in Egypt was a type of Christ
(Exodus 12:5-7; 1 Corinthians 5:7). The bronze serpent in the wilderness
pictured Christ lifted up on the Cross (Numbers 21:9; John 3:14-15). The
events surrounding the Cross are clearly foreshadowed in Isaiah 53 - numbered
with transgressors, wounded for our transgressions - and in Psalm 22 -
the mocking crowd, the intense thirst, the piercing of the hands and feet.
The accomplishment of His death. Christ's death was substitutionary.
This means that Jesus Christ died in the place of sinners. The New Testament
used three Greek prepositions when speaking of Christ's death:
"peri" - for us (used in Matthew 26:28)
"anti" - in place of us (used in Matthew 20:28)
"huper" - in behalf of us (used in 2 Corinthians 5:21) The prepositions
are used in many other passages of Scripture such as Titus 2:14, Galatians
2:20, and Hebrews 9:28. Jesus died for us, in place of us, and in behalf
of us. Jesus had no sins of His own, but He died for the sins of others,
taking the punishment they deserved.
False concepts about His death. The martyr theory says
that Christ's death was similar in kind to that of John Huss or Polycarp
or the early Anabaptists. Just as martyrs gave up their lives as a sacrifice
for a principle, so, they say, Christ died for the principle of truth.
The moral example theory states that the example of Christ's suffering
ought to soften human hearts and help a person to reform his own condition.
The
governmental theory says that God punished Christ because He
wanted to make Christ's suffering an example to show men how He hates sin.
These views of Christ's death have some elements of truth, but each omits
the basic concept of substitutionary sacrifice as payment for sin. It
was my sins that put Jesus on the Cross. He becomes my Substitute.
The benefits of Christ's death. God's provision for the salvation
of sinful man lies in the death of His Son. Christ's death brings redemption
(paying the price), propitiation (turning away wrath), reconciliation (getting
together by removing enmity), justification (declaring righteous), and
cleansing (removing the stain). Each of these benefits of Christ's death
will be considered in more detail when we study the doctrine of salvation
in a later WITNESS article.
Christ's death at Calvary is the central theme of the Scriptures (Luke
24:25-27,46). The death of the Saviour will be the grand theme of heaven,
where a new song of worship is addressed to Him: "Thou art worthy, for
thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood" (Revelation 5:9).
4. THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
Christianity is the only religion which bases its claim for acceptance
upon the resurrection of its founder. The implications of the resurrection
are enormous. We should seek to understand them as fully as possible and
rejoice in these truths.
The fact of the resurrection. We are faced with the fact of the
empty tomb. To say that the body of Jesus was stolen by enemies is useless,
for if enemies had stolen the body, all they would have had to do,
was to produce it as evidence that Jesus was still dead. If a wild beast
had devoured the body, the grave wrappings would have been left in
disarray (John 20:6-7). If the disciples had taken the body away,
they would then have died as martyrs (most did die as martyrs) for
something which they knew to be a lie. People will sometimes die for what
they mistakenly think is true, but they do not die for what they know is
false. The only alternative then which explains the resurrection is that
Jesus arose miraculously as He had predicted.
The nature of the resurrection. Jesus Christ arose bodily
from
the dead. The resurrection does not mean simply that His memory lives on,
nor was it a resurrection of spirit. It was the body that was placed
into the grave, and it was the body that was resurrected.
After his resurrection, Jesus had bodily characteristics which the disciples
saw (Luke 24:39; John 20:27). The resurrection body of Jesus was identified
with the same body which had been crucified and buried, and yet it was
different in that it was not subject to normal limitations. After His resurrection,
Jesus passed through closed doors (John 20:19), and it is stated that His
body would not ever die again (Romans 6:9).
The significance of the resurrection. There are a number of significant
results of the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
(1) The resurrection proved the validity of Christ's claims. Jesus
said that He would not only be killed but that He would rise again, and
that it would occur on the third day (Matthew 17:23). Not just any person
can make a claim like that. We have good reason thus to accept a# that
Jesus said as being valid and true.
(2) The resurrection confirms the forgiveness of our sins. Because
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we know that we are not trusting a
myth, but that we are forgiven through the work of a living and active
Christ (1 Corinthians 15:17).
(3) His resurrection is a guarantee of our own resurrection. Jesus
said, "Because I live ye shall live also" (John 14:19). We know with assurance
that the grave is not our end and that we will be raised as He was (2 Corinthians
4:14).
(4) Resurrection faith provides power for service to Christ. We
do not believe in a dead Christ, but in the Christ of the empty tomb. The
living
Christ
is an incentive for obedient service. Ephesians 1:18-19 speaks of God's
exceedingly great "power toward us who believe..which he wrought in Christ
when he raised him from the dead."
The resurrection of Jesus Christ may be denied but it cannot be successfully
refuted. Jesus showed himself alive by many infallible proofs (Acts 1:3).
The resurrection is linked with Christ's deity (Romans 1:3-4); it is connected
with regeneration (1 Peter 1:3); it is related to prayer and victory (Hebrews
7:25). Jesus Christ is not a historical character who once walked the dusty
roads of Palestine; instead, He is a living Person who right now presides
over the affairs of earth.
The proof of God's power in the Old Testament was the deliverance of
Israel from Egypt, and especially the opening of the Red Sea. The resurrection
and the ascension of Christ described in the New Testament is an even greater
demonstration of God's power. Men can deny and ignore Jesus Christ in this
life, but they must someday acknowledge His position and authority (Philippians
2:9-11). It is much better to trust Him now as Saviour, and then to forever
enjoy His blessings.
SELF-CHECK TEST
1. Give a brief meaning for the names "Jesus" and "Christ" and "Lord."
2. Name three evidences of Christ's deity.
3. Name three evidences of Christ's humanity.
4. Name the three Greek prepositions that speak of "substitution. "
5. List five benefits of Christ's death and give the brief description
of the meaning for each word.