Is Jesus Christ a man,
or is He God?
Jesus Christ is most
definitely
God. He created
Adam and
Eve, the first man and woman, in his image. He is the Creator
of the universe. The Bible says, "Through him all things were
made; without him nothing was made that has been made"
(John 1:3). This includes all the
stars, all the original
animals and plants, and even the
angels. (Colossians 1:15-17).
It is important not be confused. God did not create Jesus.
Jesus is God, and he has always existed.
Jesus proved that he is God by doing many things that only
God could do. These are called
miracles. He made dead people alive. He walked across a
great lake. He made blind eyes see perfectly again. He healed
deadly diseases with a word.
The exciting truth is that Jesus is now also a man,
and will
remain so for all eternity. He
humbled himself to become like one of his own creations. He
chose to become a man to help us in an extremely important
way. This
amazing event happened about 2-thousand years ago. The
results have changed the world forever.
The part of God that is called the
Holy Spirit created God's human body inside of a woman
named
Mary (Matthew 1:20). God went into this human body that grew
inside of Mary. The baby was born and grew into a man.
At various times in the past, Jesus had appeared to people
in human form. One example is when he appeared to
Abraham just before the judgment of the evil cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah. But now, for the first time in history, God did
not simply appear as man, he became fully human. Yet, he is
still God. He is both God and man.
One huge difference between this man and every other man
and woman, or boy and girl, is that Jesus was (and still is)
sinless. We humans are full of
sin. We sin every day. Jesus never did anything wrong, not
even once. No matter what temptations came to him, he
refused to sin. He has always remained pure and perfect.
Isn't it amazing to think about?! Our Creator walked among
us. Like us, our Almighty God smelled the flowers and touched
the animals that he had created. He loved boys and girls.
As a man, God experienced the same
temptations that we feel (
Hebrews 2:18). He suffered the same kind of physical pains
that we suffer with. He also experienced emotional pain. He
even wept about the city of
Jerusalem John 11:35). He was ignored, unappreciated,
unloved, misunderstood, and even despised -- even though he
did nothing wrong, and always loved everyone 1 Peter 2:23).
Not only is Jesus Christ the greatest man that ever lived; he is
our Creator. He deserved all glory and honor!
I am sure that you have heard what people did to him. It
was horribly painful and terribly unjust.
He had the power to stop their torture and taunting at any time.
His power is awesome beyond anything we can understand.
Yet, he did not defend himself. He let himself be like a perfect,
innocent little lamb that hurt no one, and was sacrificed for the
sins of the people.
He did this for us, because he loves us. Only he could pay
the price for our sins. Only he could save us from the
punishment we deserve. He suffered for us
1 Peter 2:21; 3:18; 4:1).
Today, he lives in Heaven and works to help us (<
Romans 8:34). The Bible tells us that one day he will return to
earth to become the rightful king of the entire world. That will be
a most wonderful time! Finally, we will have a leader that is
good and wise in every way. The earth will be filled with God's
glory and justice. Life on this planet will become so much
better. Even the dangerous animals will become harmless (the
wolf will lie down with the lamb) (
Isaiah 11:6).
Is Jesus Christ God or man? The amazing answer is
BOTH; he is God and man.
Why did God become a man?
God did this wonderful thing for various reasons, including:
- To fulfill the prophecies of God's Word
- To satisfy the
law, paying for all who are guilty of sin (
Isa. 53; Heb. 9:12,15). By his sacrifice, he purchased the right
to give us salvation.
- To show us an example of how to live, and to tell us
important stories face-to-face.
There are many other fascinating things to learn about
God!
