The
Oneness of God
Lesson 4 - The Dual nature of Jesus Christ
We
have studied how that the scriptures exhaustively state that Jesus Christ is
the One God of the Old Testament. If
this is true, then this would mean that the One God became flesh. As we concluded our last study, we studied
scriptures that state exactly that:
Jesus Christ was the One God revealed in flesh! To this point we have focused on the fact
that Jesus is God, but now let’s look at the humanity side of Jesus Christ.
John
1:1, 10, 14a In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . .10 He was in the world, and the world was
made by him, and the world knew him not. . . .14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
If
Jesus Christ was God in flesh, then that must mean that Jesus Christ was all
God. That must also mean that Jesus
Christ was human also! Even though most
people do not realize it, this is a very Biblical concept, and the key to
understanding the Oneness of God!
Gal
4:4 But when the fulness of the time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
We
have already seen in several scriptures how that the term “Son” always refers
to the flesh that God became. Notice
that Paul says that the “Son” was not sent until “the fullness of the time.” God did not become flesh until “the
“fullness of the time was come.” To
what time is Paul referring here?
Remember that the Greek for “Word” in John chapter 1 above was “logos”
meaning “the thought, intent, and plan.”
God had a plan to come in flesh and redeem His people, but did not
become flesh until the time was right!
God decided that the time would not be right until He had progressively
revealed His will to man. 4155 years
after Adam’s sin, the fullness of the
time came to fulfill His plan, and God became flesh!
Notice
Paul also states that the “Son” was “made of woman.” This means that Jesus was also flesh. Let’s look at several scriptures of the conception of Christ.
Matt
1:20-21 But while he thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Joseph
was troubled by his wife’s claim that she was pregnant, and not by another
human being! God sent an angel to tell
Joseph that that which is conceived in Mary is “of the Holy Ghost!” The scripture says that it was conceived “in
her.” Some people have tried to make
Jesus Christ all God but not human flesh, but Jesus was conceived in Mary. In conception, the seed of the woman must
combine with the seed of the man. When
Mary conceived, her seed was combined with the seed of the Holy Ghost. Jesus had all the qualities of humanity on
His mother’s side, and all the qualities of the Spirit of God on His Father’s
side. This does not mean that Jesus was
half man and half God, this means that Jesus was ALL man and ALL God.
Luke
1:34-35 Then said Mary unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and
said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the
Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
When
Mary found out that she was about to have a child, she asked how it would
happen. The angel told her that “the
Holy Ghost” would overshadow her. The
terms “the Father,” “the Son,” and “the Holy Ghost” CANNOT refer to three
separate persons of a triune Godhead, because “the Holy Ghost” was actually the
Father of Jesus! If there is a trinity,
then how does Jesus celebrate Father’s day?
Does He have to buy two gifts, one for the “Father” who is not His
father at all, but says he is, and one for the “Holy Ghost” who is really
Jesus’ father but does not get any credit in the thousands of the trinitarian
churches today? The Holy Ghost
overshadowing Mary proves without a shadow of a doubt that “the Father,” “the
Son,” and “the Holy Ghost,” are different titles of the same One God, because
the angel went on to tell Mary that her baby would be called the Son of
GOD! Once again, the term “Son” does
not refer to another person in the Godhead but to the flesh that God became!
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What
all of this means is that Jesus Christ had two distinct natures that no human
being has ever had. The name of Jesus
can represent His human nature or it can be used to represent His divine
nature. For instance, we can say that
“Jesus wept.” This is a reference to
the humanity of Jesus Christ. We can
also say “Jesus raised a man from the dead” this is a reference to Jesus acting
according to His divine nature as God.
Jesus both wept and raised a man from the dead at the tomb of Lazarus
(John 11), but there was only one PERSON at the tomb, and that person’s one
NAME is Jesus! Jesus was ALL God and
ALL Man, and by using His NAME we can refer to either of His two natures! Another good example is that when we say
“Jesus died on the cross” we mean the flesh died on the cross, but when we say
“Jesus lives inside of my heart” we mean that the Spirit lives inside of our
heart. The name of Jesus represents
everything that Jesus was including humanity and Deity!
To
save space, we will once again not be able to give a comprehensive list of
scriptures that prove that Jesus was ALL GOD and ALL MAN, but I will give a
list of several scriptures. Remember,
understanding that Jesus had dual natures is the key to understanding the
Oneness of God!
As
a man, Jesus: But
as God, Jesus:
Was
born a baby (Luke 2:7) Existed
from eternity (Micah 5:2; John 1:1-2)
Grew
and developed mentally, Never
changes (Hebrews 13:8)
physically,
spiritually, and socially
(Luke
2:52)
Was
tempted by the devil (Luke 4:2) Cast
out devils (Matthew 12:28)
Got
hungry (Matthew 4:2) Was
the Bread of Life (John 6:35), and miraculously
fed
multitudes (Mark 6:38-44, 52)
Got
thirsty (John 19:28) Gave
living water (John 4:14)
Grew
weary (John 4:6) Gave
rest (Matthew 11:28)
Grew
weak (II Corinthians 13:4) Was
Almighty (Revelation 1:8)
Slept
in a Storm (Mark 4:38) Calmed
the Storm (Mark 4:39-41)
Prayed
(Luke 22:41) Answered
prayer (John 14:14)
Was
scourged and beaten Healed
the sick (Matthew 8:16-17; I Peter 2:24) (John 19:1-3)
Died
(Mark 15:37 Raised
His own body from the dead (John 2:19-21;
20:9)
Was
a sacrifice for sin (Hebrews Forgave
sin Mark 2:5-7
10:10-12)
Did
not know all things (Mark 13:32) Knew
all things (John 21:17)
Had
no power (John 5:30) Had
all power (Matthew 28:18; Colossians 2:10)
Was
inferior to God (John 14:28) Was
equal to God and was God (John 5:18)
Was
a servant (Phillipians 2:7-8) Was
King of Kings (Revelation 19:16)
Was
a Son (Isaiah 9:6) Was
the Father (Isaiah 9:6)
Was
not 50 years old (John 8:27) Older
than Abraham (John 8:58)
On
earth (Mark 2:10) In
heaven and earth at the same time (John 1:18; 3:13)
Almost
every question about the Godhead can be understood when we understand the dual
nature of Jesus Christ. When we read
about Jesus doing or saying something, we must determine if it describes Jesus
acting and speaking as a human, or as God!
Whenever we see two natures in respect to Jesus, we must remember that
He was one person having one body and one name, but two distinct natures at the
same time! We should think of Jesus
Christ as both Spirit and flesh.
If
Jesus was doing something that you and I can easily do under our own power,
then He was in the role of man (ie... eating or sleeping). If Jesus was doing something that you and I
cannot do under our normal power, then Jesus was in the role of God (ie...
raising the dead, walking on the water).
Sometimes Jesus fulfilled both roles in the same story. For example, He went from sleeping in the
bottom of the boat (Flesh), to calming the storm from the boat (Spirit). He went from weeping over the death of
Lazarus (Flesh) to raising Lazarus from the dead (Spirit). Jesus could speak as God one moment and speak
as man the next moment.
No
matter which role Jesus was fulfilling, Jesus was always God and always
man. Some people have tried to teach
that Jesus was merely a man anointed by God, but the actions of Jesus in the
authority of God prove this false.
Other people have tried to say that Jesus was the “appearance of man”
but not fully human, this is also false as we have seen by scripture. Jesus had a dual nature unlike anyone has
had or ever will have. Even though
Spirit-filled believers have the Spirit of God dwelling inside of them, they
still cannot compare their existence exactly with Jesus’ because we were still
born the first time to an earthly father.
What may seem strange or impossible becomes very understandable when we
realize that Jesus was the only One who was fully man and fully God at the same
time.
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The
Bible does not describe in detail HOW exactly the two natures of Christ were
joined together in one person.
Scripture does prove that both natures did exist together in Jesus
Christ, though, so we must accept this as true (See table above). We can definitely understand that Jesus
Christ had two natures, we just have trouble grasping as human beings HOW
exactly the Spirit and Flesh came together in the person of Jesus Christ. In the same way, our finite human minds
cannot really fathom the concept of “eternity.” It does not mean that eternity does not exist, but just that we
have nothing to relate it to because everything in our lives are currently governed
by time. In the same way we cannot exactly
understand HOW that Jesus Christ could be all human and all God at the same
time because we have never been like that before ourselves. We CAN understand that Jesus was God and
flesh at the same time though without understanding exactly how the Holy Ghost
fused with the DNA of the seed of Mary to form a baby that was ALL God and ALL
Man at the same time. In other words,
we can understand the result without completely understanding the process. Remember, IF there is a “mystery” of the
Godhead that cannot be understood it is HOW “God was manifest in the flesh” (I
Timothy 3:16)! In the past, many people
have tried to explain the process of the conception of Jesus with human logic. We must keep in mind that, however it
happened, we do know the result: God
fulfilled His plan to become flesh and dwell among us, and die for our
sins. Any man-made theory on the
conception of Jesus Christ that does not end in this conclusion, contradicts
scripture!
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Col
2:9 For in him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Jesus
had a human will, mind, spirit, soul, and body, but He also had the “fullness
of the Godhead” in that body. Yet,
Jesus had only one body and was only one person with one name. We cannot separate the two natures of Jesus
Christ into separate persons but must realize that they were joined in the one
person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ
was much more than just a human shell with God inside. He was human in soul, will, and intellect
with the Spirit of God dwelling within that soul, will, and intellect. The two natures were combined into one
person and could not be divided.
We
today can receive the Holy Ghost which means that we can receive God’s Spirit
living inside our human body. Jesus was
different than us in the fact that He WAS God.
In other words, just because we receive God’s Spirit within us does not
make us God. Jesus had all of the
power, authority, and character of God within Him. Even when we receive God’s Spirit within us, we do not have the
power to forgive sins because only God can forgive sins. Yet Jesus was able to forgive sins (Matthew
9:6). What is the point? Jesus was more than just an ordinary man
filled with God’s Spirit, He was literally God walking in earth in Flesh (John
1:10,14)! There has never been another
like Him, and Jesus was all God and all Man at the same time!
Let’s
discuss what exactly this means. The
Spirit of God was inseparably joined with the flesh of Jesus Christ. One could not serve their purpose without the
other. If the Spirit of God had not
become flesh, God would have had no blood to shed for mankind. If the flesh of Jesus Christ (the Son) would
not have had the Spirit of God, it would have been lifeless. We CANNOT separate the two natures of Christ
into two persons! Let’s now look at
other scriptures that support the dual nature of Jesus Christ!
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Jesus’
humanity did have one major difference from us, because Jesus did not have the
sinful nature of fallen humanity.
Rom
5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned:
Through
Adam’s sin, sin entered into the world.
But notice that Paul goes on to say “death passed upon all men!”
Heb
4:14-15 Seeing then that we have a
great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,
let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was
in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
The
Book of Hebrews teaches us that Jesus was tempted every way that we are tempted
yet did not sin!
I
Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was
manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
John
says that God was “manifested” or “revealed in flesh” to take away our
sins! John also states that “in” Jesus
there is no sin. The question then is
“if Jesus was human, and all humans were made sinners by Adam’s sin, then how
come Jesus did not sin nor was sin in Him?”
The reason that you and I inherited the effects of the sins of Adam, was
because we were descendants of Adam.
Our fathers can trace their lineage all the way back to Adam, and the
results of Adam’s sin have been passed down through the generations. Jesus did not have an earthly Father, but
was sired by the Holy Ghost! We have
already studied how that Adam was created in the image of Jesus and not vice
versa. Jesus did not inherit a sinful
nature but had the sinless nature that Adam had in the beginning before He
sinned! The reason that Jesus did not
sin was that He did not have the sinful nature to sin. We do not have to teach our children how to
lie, or act disrespectfully, because that is their inherited nature. Jesus did not have that inherited nature of
sin because of the miracle of His conception!
1
Cor 15:45-47 And so it is written, The first
man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. 46 Howbeit that was not first which is
spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is
spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the
Lord from heaven.
Paul
was writing about this very subject when he referred to Jesus Christ as the
“last Adam.” The first Adam became
natural because he sinned, the second Adam was spiritual because He did not
sin. Also notice that Paul clearly
states that the man Jesus Christ is “the Lord from heaven!”
Rom
5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul
also finished this thought in Romans chapter 5. Before Jesus came, sin had reigned unto death, but after Jesus
Christ came and broke the cycle of sin in humanity, we can now have eternal
life! Jesus had a complete, yet sinless
nature.
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Luke
22:41-42 And he was withdrawn from them
about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if
thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but
thine, be done.
We
must always distinguish whether or not Jesus was speaking in the role of flesh
or in the role of God. Here, Jesus is
praying and is clearly in the role of the flesh. He prayed saying, “not my will, but thine.” Jesus obviously had a human will also.
John
6:38 For I came down from heaven, not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
This
scripture cannot prove that Jesus and the Father are separate persons because
Jesus clearly said in John 10:30 “I and my Father are One.” What it does prove is that Jesus had a human
will and a divine will. He had two
natures!
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Luke
23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a
loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and
having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Jesus
also had a human spirit as well as the Spirit of God. When a person dies, their spirit separates from their earthly
body. When Jesus Christ died, His human
spirit also separated from the earthly body.
In order to willingly face the cross, Jesus had prayed that His human
will would be in submission to His divine will. In order to die, Jesus had to submit His human spirit into His
divine Spirit. These scriptures do not prove
that Jesus and “the Father” were two separate persons or beings, but they DO
prove that Jesus had two natures. In
fact, the prayers of Jesus destroy a trinitarian concept of God, for if “the
Son” and “the Father” are equal and all powerful, then why did one have to pray
to the other? A trinitarian view of the
Godhead cannot answer that question because it is unscriptural. The reason that Jesus prayed becomes evident
to us when we realize that Jesus had two natures, the humanity and the Spirit.
That
Jesus had a human spirit as well as a divine one is evidenced by many other scriptures
also. For example, “he sighed deeply in
His spirit” (Mark 8:12), “waxed strong in spirit” (Luke 2:40), “rejoiced in
spirit” (Luke 10:21), “groaned in the spirit” (John 11:33), and “was troubled
in spirit” (John 13:21).
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Matt
26:38 Then saith he unto them, My
soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with
me.
Jesus
also had a human soul (also see Mark 14:34 and John 12:27). When a person died before Calvary, their
soul went to hell (which simply means place of the dead). (For a good illustration of this concept see
the story of the Rich man and Lazarus.
For what happens to a person when they die now under Grace see my
handout “What happens when I die?”)
Acts
2:27, 31 Because thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
. . 31
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his
soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Like
all souls before Calvary, Jesus’ soul also went to the place of the dead when
He died. The difference was that Jesus
was sinless and did not stay in hell!
Peter said in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost that David had prophesied
about this long before Jesus ever died.
Two things differed from all of the other humans that had died under the
Law, and David prophesied about both.
First, Christ’s soul was not left in hell. There are many other scriptures that bear this out. (see Ephesians 4:8-10, I Peter 3:18-19;
4:5-6). Second, the flesh of Jesus did
not decay (ie.. was not corrupted) but was resurrected on the third day just as
Jesus had said would happen.
Rev
1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead;
and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of
death.
Jesus
did go to hell (the place of the dead before Calvary) when He died, but the
important thing to remember is that He did not stay in Hell or bound by the
grave, He conquered Hell and the grave!
Death was the result of sin (Romans 6:23) but Jesus won victory over sin
because He was sinless when He died.
The power of death and Hell could not hold Him! There are far too many scriptures that teach
these principals to list a comprehensive list here, but understanding the
principal that Jesus’ soul conquered the grave explains many questions about
our lives, the rapture of the church, and our eternal destination. It also explains why Jesus told the thief on
the cross that this day you will be “WITH ME in PARADISE.” Their souls were going to the same
place.
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We
have seen that Jesus was tempted in “all points” like we are today and did not
sin, but what about the frequently asked question “Could Jesus have
sinned?” The sufficient answer to this
question is “It does not matter, because He did not sin!” In other words, the question is not one of
great importance because it did not happen!
Understanding the dual nature of Jesus Christ does give us insight as
far as what would have happened IF Jesus would have sinned so, for whatever it
is worth, we will respond:
Jesus
could have gone against the will of God just like Adam did in the Garden of
Eden. If Jesus could not have sinned,
then His temptations become meaningless and pointless. Because His Father was the Holy Ghost, Jesus
did not have the inherited sinful nature and tendency to sin like you and I
have today and was as Adam and Eve were at their creation. Of course, we all know that Adam and Eve did
sin, so Jesus theoretically had the capacity to sin when viewed on His human
side.
Jesus
was different than Adam though in that He was God in flesh. The Spirit of God was inseparably joined
with the Humanity of Jesus. What this
means is that IF Jesus would have succumbed to temptation and sinned, the
Spirit of God would have immediately separated from the human body leaving a
dead, lifeless carcass. This lifeless
body would not have been Jesus, because Jesus is everything that God is and
will be (see Lessons 2 and 3). The
correct answer to the abstract question “Could Jesus have sinned?” should then
be “not and continue to dwell in the earthly body.” The important point to realize in this is that IF Jesus could NOT
have sinned, then He cannot be the High Priest that the writer of Hebrews says
(see Hebrews chapter 4), and if He would have sinned, He would not have been
able to be the spotless Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world
(John 1:29). Jesus in theory could have
sinned, but in redemption could not sin so He did not sin!
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The
great truth in understanding the dual nature of Jesus Christ as it pertains to
sin, is that --because Jesus did not sin and yet paid the price of sin-- the
sins that wiped out were OURS and not HIS!
Peter, the disciple with the great revelation that Jesus was the “Son of
God,” summed up the redemptive work of Jesus Christ powerfully:
1
Pet 2:21-25 For even hereunto were ye
called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled,
reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself
to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our
sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live
unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were as sheep going astray;
but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Jesus
bore OUR sins in his own body when hanging on Calvary! Peter reveals the two main reasons that God
came in flesh and dwelt among men. One,
to shed blood and pay the price for sin.
Two, to live a sinless life as an example for us. That is why Jesus Christ was baptized: to be an example for us to follow. That is also why Jesus as a man prayed for
His will to be submitted to God’s Will, because he knew that you and I today
would need to pray the same prayer! All
of scripture becomes understandable and does not contradict when we understand
the dual nature of Jesus Christ and how that He was ALL God and ALL Man AT THE
SAME TIME!
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The
fun thing about this duality of natures is that Satan did not understand why
Jesus Christ had come. Satan knew that
Jesus was flesh because he tempted Him in the wilderness (Matthew 4; Luke 4).
Satan also knew that Jesus was God in flesh:
Matt
8:28-29 And when he was come to the
other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed
with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man
might pass by that way. 29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What
have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come
hither to torment us before the time?
The
devils screamed out “Jesus, thou Son of God.”
Remember the term the “Son” always refers to God becoming flesh, so the
devils knew that Jesus was God in flesh.
Notice the next phrase though, “art thou come hither to torment us
before the time?” Satan and his demons
knew that they would one day be eternally punished, knew who Jesus was, but did
not understand why He had come to earth before the end.
1
Cor 2:7-8 But we speak the wisdom of
God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world
unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world
knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
If
Satan would have realized that Jesus’ death would break his stronghold and
freed man from the effects of sin, then he would have never tried to crucify
Jesus. Satan did not understand why
Jesus had come until it was too late!
God had come in flesh to fulfill the law and redeem humanity!
James
2:19 Thou believest that there is one
God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
The
reasons the devils tremble when they think about the fact that there is only
ONE God is because they remember what the ONE God did at Calvary! Satan could not understand why God had come
in flesh because he could not understand God’s great love for a lost humanity!
In
II Thessalonians 2:7, Paul wrote about the “mystery of iniquity” as being why
man would love himself enough to try to make himself a god. The “mystery of Godliness” is why God loved
us enough that He would make Himself a man.
You and I can not fully fathom that kind of love, but God has freely
given it to us! We should be thankful
that the One God of glory loved us enough to come in flesh, so that He could
pay the price of our sins! He gave His
life for us, and the only way that we can repay Him is to live our lives for
Him! I owe a great debt to my Saviour
and that is why I love Him and I serve Him!