(5). How much can Jesus relate to my Human Nature?
In our last study we studied about the supreme sacrifice of Jesus and it’s superiority to any sacrifice in the universe in the past, present, or even future. We learned that it was His unconditional love for mankind that compelled Him to go through with such a sacrifice.
But was there a certain condition “required” for Jesus to become in order to identify Himself as our substitute and qualify as our savior? Did Jesus become fully human, ½ human, or what? What difference does it make anyways? Well many scholars and theologians agree that Christ became human but that He took on the nature that Adam had before He sinned. In other words, they teach that Christ took on a sinless, perfect, nature that had no real struggle with temptation. Others teach that Jesus took upon Himself our physical weaknesses, such as hunger, thirst, and exhaustion but nothing else. If this is true then Jesus can only personally relate to us when it comes to our physical needs (hunger, thirst, rest, etc), and not with the temptations and trials we have daily. Is their teaching supported 100% by the scriptures? Can Jesus only relate to me a small percentage with what I struggle today in this body and mind I have? Or does the Bible present a different picture? Well today we will see what scripture has to say.
First we’ll cover the existence of Jesus and what He was like before He came to our world. Then we’ll go into what took place when He became man. (See lesson 11 for more info on Jesus’ equality with God)
1. How long has “The Word” existed with God and how many things were made by Him? John 1:1-3
Jesus is called “the Son of God” (Jn. 1:34), and “in the bosom of the father” (or in unison with God the Father) and is the only individual who has seen Him-Jn. 1:18. We see from Jn.1:1-3, 15 that He existed in the beginning of time with God the Father and everything was created and made by Jesus!
2. How many things in heaven, earth, visible, and invisible, were created by Jesus? Colossians 1:14-17.
This confirms Christ creating everything and states that all things are upheld by His power even today! In Colossians 1:15 it also states that Jesus is the “image” of God.
3. Who’s brightness of glory and express or exact image does Jesus reflect? Hebrews 1:1-3.
The word Image in verse 3 has been translated from the Greek word Charakter. The definition for Charakter is “same as the original, exact character.” This is used this one time to describe that Christ is another “exact person” of God the father or in other words He is equal with God in every way! That’s why Jesus could say in Jn. 10:30; 17:11,21 that He is one with the Father. (See supplement for more insight) Now let’s do a quick review of lesson 2:
4. According to Romans 5:12, how many people did sin get passed onto, when Adam sinned?
The word “sin” is translated from the Greek word Hamartia. In Bible context this word means missing the standard/mark of God’s law, because of a selfish nature or a will bent toward self. This is the meaning of the word translated as sin in most Bibles! We usually view the word sin as a deliberate act of disobedience, such as murder, rape, etc., But the Bible defines sin different and says that Adam passed on to us Hamartia or a selfish nature, but not all these acts of willful disobedience. However when we submit our mind to our selfish nature we transgress or willfully disobey God’s Law.
When Adam sinned his nature changed from an Agape nature, (Gen. 1:26-Naturally unselfish and loving like God) to a selfish nature that is naturally selfish and self-dependent. At that point, the human race was out of sync with God’s unselfish Law of love, and needed a Savior to deliver us.
5. What did Christ have to “be” in order to save us? 2 Corinthians 5:21
Look up the word “sin” in the Greek for this verse and you’ll find that it is hamartia! He took on the same nature as us! “He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin (hamartia) for us…”
6. What type of body or “flesh” was Jesus made into? Romans 8:3
Our English Bibles say “sinful flesh” in this passage but the Greek says “hamartia flesh” which is the same thing said in all the other verses speaking about the humanity of Jesus. Notice that it says in this passage that Jesus was made in the “likeness of hamartia.” The word “likeness” in the Greek is homoioma, which can mean to be like something else in an external sense. Some say this is why He could only identify with our physical needs since He was made in the “likeness of sin”. However we will allow scripture to clarify this for us in the following questions.
7. Where exactly does the “law (or principle) of sin” reside in a human being? Romans 7:23
According to this scripture the principle sin dwells in the members of our body.
8. What 3 parts are mentioned in this verse in regards to a whole human being?
1 Thessalonians 5:23
A human consists of “Body, Soul, and Spirit.” The word “Soul” in Greek is Psuche, and by definition it is the seat of the feelings, desires, affections. Decisions are made here. Psuche is where the word Psychology comes from. Psychology is the study of the mind. So the word itself shows that the “soul” mentioned in this verse is equivalent to the mind where choices are made. The word “Body” in this verse is the part that carries out what the “Soul” tells it to do (walk, run, etc.). Though the principle of sin dwells in the Body (Romans 7:23) it tries to take control of the mind. The Spirit is the place where the Holy Spirit may dwell; In Gen. 1:26 it shows that before sin, we were made in the “image” (internally like God) and “likeness” (externally like God) and God is love, so that is what we were. Gal. 5:22 mentions “love” as the first fruit of the Holy Spirit. So the Bible does support that before sin, the Holy Spirit used to dwell inside of us naturally producing all His wonderful fruits (Gal. 5:22-23) within us. This is confirmed in Titus 3:3-7, which tells us that through the gospel the Holy Spirit has been renewed for us. It didn’t say that the Holy Spirit has been introduced to humanity for the first time, but “renewed” (See concordance for other texts that also emphasize the “renewing of the Spirit” also). Therefore though sin has marred the working of the Spirit in us, it may be “renewed” unto all who believe the lord Jesus. (See also Acts 10:44-48)
9. Where did Jesus bare our sins? 1 Peter 2:24
Notice how the principle of sin (hamartia) resided in the body or members of Jesus! Therefore He destroyed our hamartia “on the cross in His own body!” This has already happened and so we accept by faith that Jesus already conquered hamartia or sin. Butby experience we still have hamartia, or a selfish human nature when we are born today and over time it has produced the selfish minds/hearts that we have now, which has also produced more and more evil in our society today. (A future lesson will cover more on this subject)
Romans 8:3 said Jesus was made in the “likeness of sinful flesh.” We can now better understand how He took upon Himself the same flesh that we struggle with today. So why would the writer even put the word likeness in this verse? The difference is that our mind/heart has yielded to this “flesh” and has also become wicked (Jer. 17:9) whereas Jesus never yielded to this “flesh” and so “He had no sin found in Him” (1 Peter 2:22). Did Jesus have a greater advantage than us since He was the divine Son of God? If Jesus did use His undefiled mind or divinity to beat off the flesh, He would show that a regular human being who wasn’t divine like Him, has no way of beating the flesh. Unfortunately many religions believe exactly that, and limit the power the Holy Spirit of God has to write God’s law on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). However, 1Peter 2:23 & 2 Cor. 13:4 says, He trusted in the Spirit and power of God (the law or principle of the Holy Spirit) to give Him victory over the “flesh,” not in His own divinity.
10. What example of humbleness is given for us today in this passage? Philippians 2:5-8
11. Why was it necessary for Jesus to be made into hamartia? Hebrews 2:14-17
Praise Jesus for taking such an amazingly low step down from being God, to being made into sinful human nature, so that He can now be “a merciful and faithful high priest for us in the things pertaining to God.” Not one human being deserved this sacrifice, but His amazing agape unconditional love for us is what drove Him to such depths for you and for me.
12. In how many points was Jesus tempted as we are today? Hebrews 4:15
Conclusion
Jesus is our example in every way: despite being tempted in all points as we, He never sinned. According to Galatians 5:16 our victory over sin is gained through the same steps that Jesus took: walking in the spirit of God. Because Jesus had hamartia (the “will” bent toward self dependence) + His divinity as the Son of God, I believe His temptations were even greater than ours because it is a greater temptation to depend on yourself when “yourself” is actually capable of beating sin (as it was for Jesus), than it is if you know “yourself” is not capable of beating sin (which is how it is for us, without Christ). We will study the temptations and attacks of Satan toward Christ in the supplement, which explains how He was “tempted in all points as we are.” 1Timothy 3:16 calls the nature of Christ “the mystery of Godliness,” because it makes no sense to human logic or science how He could be both God and Man but needs to be believed by faith.