Introduction

Christianity is all about Christ. Christians are followers of Christ, believers in Christ. It is therefore critical that we understand who this person is. It may be safe to say that all major heresies begin with a denial of who Christ is, for He is the foundation of the Church (1 Cor 3:11)... the fundamental of fundamentals. Because of His life the world has been turned upside down... wars have been fought over this man, His name has become a curse, and no major religion today can deny Him a place in their beliefs for He is unable to be ignored. Jesus Christ once asked Peter, "Who do you say I am?"... this is the crucial question of our life, for the answer decides the outcome of our afterlife. Later Jesus said, "If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." What is your answer? Who is Christ to you? In this lesson we will focus on how the historic Christian faith has answered that question, as well as how those outside orthodoxy have tried to get around the answer.

Isn't there only one Christ?

Is it not enough to simply believe in Jesus and be done with it? Is it necessary to go into a detailed study of Christ to know Him? Can't we just look into our hearts and find Him? It is tempting to look at Christ's teachings on morality and love etc., nod our heads and say "Jesus was just a great teacher." The problem that arises out of such a subjective view of Jesus is that it opens us up to the possibility of following the wrong Christ ("Christ" is a title, it means "Messiah", savior, deliverer). Paul clearly taught in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 that there would be false Christs preached. These "other" Christs are not Christs at all of course, but merely counterfeits unworthy of the name...the only name by which we can be saved.

Jesus Christ's Attributes

In order to find out who Christ is, we must look at our source of knowledge of Him - the Bible. In its pages we can see Christ as He really is. We will start His attributes in time order, or more specifically, before time's existance...

Jesus: Pre-Incarnation

The notation of our calendar as BC (before Christ) is something of a misnomer, for there is no such thing. There was never a time when Christ did not exist.

• In the beginning, Christ already was...(John 1:1)
• Christ became flesh. (John 1:14; Rom 8:3)
• Christ was not created. (Col 1:16; Rev 5:13)
• Christ existed before He came to Earth. (Micah 5:2 cf. Hab1:12)

Jesus' Incarnation

Isa. 9:6 speaks of the birth of a human who was also God. Why did this have to be? Several reasons can be cited:

• To reveal God to us. (Heb 1)
• To provide an example for our lives.(1 Peter 2:21)
• To provide an acceptable sacrifice for man's sin. (Heb 10:1-10) with the result...(1 Cor 15:17)
• To destroy the Devil's works (1 John 3:8) on Earth.
• To be a mediator between man and God. (1 Tim 2:5)
• To be a sympathetic High Priest, as well as Judge. (Heb 4:14-16; John 5:22)

• He had a human body. (John 8:40)
• He had a human soul (Matt 26:38) and spirit. (Luke 23:46)
• He exhibited human traits : hunger (Matt4:2), thirst (John 19:28), testing (Heb 4:15), weeping (John 1:35), growth (Luke 2:52), weariness (John 4:6) etc.

• He possessed attributes that only God has: eternality (John 8:58), omnipresence (Matt 18:20, 28:20), omniscience (Matt 16:21), omnipotence (John 11:38-44), creation (Col 3:16), ability to forgive sins (Mark 2:1-12), to raise the dead (John 11:43), and to judge all people (John 5:22-27).
• He is called God by Himself and others. (John 10:30; Matt 26:63-64 "son of" means "in the order of" -see 1 Kings 20:35-; Luke 1:72 -see Mal 3:1-; John 1:1; Heb 1:8 etc.).
• Further, Jesus Christ is described as having the same attributes as God the Father:

It is difficult to imagine a doctrine made more clear than that of Jesus' divinity and identification with the one true God.

Jesus Christ...is the "God-Man"

Consider the following...Christ never ceased to be God, yet was man. There is a necessary paradox here, for man is separated from God by nature, and always has been. The answer? Christ now has two natures. Not only did He have two natures, but He does today. What is a nature? If it is thought of as substance we run into the false teaching that Christ was essentially two persons, which He was not. Rather, nature is a set of traits. These two sets of traits are not mixed together, they do not change one another, they are not divided, they are not separate...they are simply not expressed at the same time in all cases. as V said, "He became what He was not, He continued to be what He was."

Post Ascension

Notice the title of this section is not "Post Incarnation". Christ's dual natures continue today. Christ was resurrected in an eternal body (the first born of the dead...Col 1:18) just as we will someday be. It was, however, a perfected version of His earthly body:

• People recognized Him. (John 20:20)
• He still had the wounds from His crucifixion, (John 20:25-29)which He will keep. (Rev 5:6)
• He could eat. (Luke 24:30-33)
• He does possess new attributes such as the ability to move without limitation. (Luke 24:36; John 20:19)

• He is the head of His body, the Church. (Eph 1:20-23)
• He is our priest. (Heb 2:18, 4:14-16)
• He prepares a place for us. (John 14:1-3)

• raise the dead. (1 Thess 4:13-18)
• reward all people. (1 Cor 3-4; Rev 20:11-15)
• take rulership of this world. (Rev 19:15)
• judge the world. (Rev 19)

Two Heresies

Confusion between these two teachings that are both valid Biblically can easily lead to one of two heresies. The first being that Christ was not a man, the second that He was not God. During the first century it was a commonly occurring false teaching that Christ only appeared to be human, John addresses this in 1 John 4:1-3. For the next several centuries the pendulum swung to the other (equally false) conclusion that Christ was not God.

How can we arrive at a conclusion that incorporates all that Scripture teaches? An important verse to focus on here is Phil. 2:7. This "self-emptying"  shows that Christ voluntarily withheld use of His Godhood nature during His incarnation as a man on earth. He did not give up His divine attributes, He remained God all throughout the Incarnation. Thus...the God-Man. There is a dichotomy between God and man, and so this situation necessarily involves some interesting paradoxes - but no contradictions.

GOD	CHRIST	CHRIST
is not a man  (Num 23:19)	is a man (1 Tim 2:5)	is God (John 20:28)
cannot be tempted  (James 1:3)	was tempted  (Heb 4:15)	never sinned (John 5:19)
knows all things (Isa 41:22-23)	did not know some things  (Mark 13:32)	knew all things  (John 16:30)
cannot be seen  (John 1:18)	was seen (1 John 1:1-2)	was not, and cannot be seen (1 Tim 6:16)
cannot die  (1 Tim 1:17)	died (Phil 2:8)	could not be dead  (John 10:18; Acts 2:24)
never changes  (Ps 102:26-27)	learned and grew (Luke 2:52)	never changes  (Heb 1:10-12, 13:8)
is eternal (Ps 90:2)	was born (Matt 1:18)	has always existed (John 1:1, 8:58)
is everywhere present  (Ps 139)	occupied only one place  (Mark 14:32-40)	fills all things  (Eph. 3:17, 4:10)
is all powerful  (Jer 32:17)	was weakened  (John 4:6)	is all powerful  (Heb1:3)

 (Chart adapted from "Why You Should Believe in the Trinity" by Robert Bowman Jr. pg. 75)

It is impossible to resolve these truths by denying either Christ's humanity or His Deity. We must never attempt either to divide the person nor confound the natures. What could be so important that God Himself would have to do such a thing? To willingly humble Himself and take on the nature of a servant when He should be worshipped? To limit His power from that of Creator to mere creature? The answer lies in the fact that God is Holy and perfect. We are not. God, in His love, sought us out in the only way perfect love and perfect justice could. Our sin demanded punishment that no mere man could ever pay, and Jesus was no mere man!