Jesus Truly God and Truly Man

Transcription

1 Jesus Truly God and Truly Man Roman Emperor Constantine took baptism just before his death. Before that he worshiped the sun. He murdered several of his relatives for example one of his sons. His religious purpose was solely aimed for improving the unity of the kingdom and not for religion in itself. Religion was just a tool. The raising of Jesus to God was therefore a doctrine dictated mainly by a small group of representatives serving political purposes. But how is it possible that the Holy Spirit was forgotten to raise to divinity, and only in 381 in the Constantinople synod this deficiency was corrected and the Holy Trinity was raisedinto part of the triune God. Believing in the Triune God became mandatory for Christians under the threat of death. One clergyman has said that the trinity is such a mystery that it takes several months to understand it. Paul wrote 2 Cor 1:13 For we write no other things to you, than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end; Col 2:8 Be careful that you don t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ. What Paul writes in 2 Cor verse 1:13 should be kept in mind if the theologians offer too recondite doctrines, and in 2:8, too, emphasizes the Word proclaimed by Christ instead of adopting the most wondrous doctrines from around the world. In Chalcedon AD 451, the definition of Christ was expanded: We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin;

2 begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us. Heb 2:17 Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. Phl 2:7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. The doctrine defined in Chalkedon is thoroughly Catholic. Perhaps its most important feature is the fact that Jesus is at the same time true God and perfectly human. Criticism against this principle is directed against the fact that God cannot die. Later scholars have come up with the most astonishing explanations for how it is possible that God can die. The Chalkedonian Creed that Jesus is perfect in divinity and the same time perfect in humanity, true God and the perfect human being (doctrine of dual nature of Christ), is against the Philippine letter. When Jesus was crucified, did he really die? The question seemed to me to be senseless, but there is a good reason to present it. Namely, if one believes that Jesus was God in

3 heaven and on earth when he was both God and man at the same time. God cannot die. If you believe this, you cannot believe that God would have died on the cross. This leads to the discovery of an account of the death of Jesus; It is explained that Jesus died in his human nature, and only experiencing what it is like to die, because the real Jesus / God cannot die. I have examined the divinity of Jesus from the perspective that in order to be Almighty God, Jesus must have existed always. He certainly existed in God s plans before the dawn of the ages, but not as a concrete person, because God the Father has created / conceived him. Almighty God has always been and is immortal. Therefore, the good question is: why is the Father God said to be the only one who is immortal, and secondly, why would he have to give life to Jesus if he has always been the Almighty God? Jhn 5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted the Son to have life in himself. John also emphasizes Jesus humanity: 2 Jhn 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist. In his first letter, 1 John 4:1 John urged not to believe in every spirit. He says Beloved, don t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world; and he continues 2 This is how you can recognize God s Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and could atone for the people s sins (Heb 2:17). This is Jesus final mission: he is the high priest (according to Melchizedek). When Jesus Christ arrives for the second time, he takes the kingdom of the whole world and rules with

4 the apostles and saints for a thousand years. And when these thousand years are fulfilled: 1 Cor 15:24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. Jesus therefore surrenders the power he has received from God to the Father and as verse 15:28 says: When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all. The Son of God is subjected to the Father so that God is all in all. This shows that God is the Father, because Jesus is also subordinate to him and gives away the power given to him by His Father. Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. That is what we all Christians know and believe. What does it mean? Strong s Greek Dictionary of the New Testament defines flesh as follows: (spec.) A human being. The definition of Vine s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words is: In the totality of all that is essential to manhood. Jesus was born into man and died as a human being. Between God and people, he a man acts as a mediator. 1 Tim 2: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Why is it important that Jesus is a man? Hebrews 2:17 says: Thus he had to become like his brothers in every way, so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and could atone for the people s sins. When the man Adam fell into sin, but the second perfect man (Jesus) had to rectify this fall. This is testified in 1 Corinthians 15:21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. Jesus humanity is emphasized in the Bible by saying that we have one mediator

5 between God and men, a man Jesus Christ. For me, it is significant that the sin of men atoned with God a human being, not God; Adam fell into sin of disobedience and the humanity began to degenerate from him. A human being living a completely sinless life atoned to God the sins of mankind. Not God, but a sinless man. There is an opinion that Jesus and Jehovah are the same God. I disagree. Some people think that yes, Jesus is a god or that Jesus is a Lesser God. Was Jesus God already in Heaven? Was Jesus on Earth only a human or was he God in the human body? Mainly I m interested to consider and determine on the basis of the Bible the relation of the divinity of Jesus to the Father. For Jesus to be God, the Almighty, he should be eternal, without beginning and end. He should also be with the God the Father before anything else, i.e. before the creation of the world. Jesus did not originally have eternal life, because the Bible tells us that he received it from the Father. Jhn 5:26: For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. 27 He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. Jesus Christ has received from God not only the eternal life, but also the absolute power to judge. Some interpret the words of God let us make man so that the words are addressed to Jesus. This is what I was already discussing in a previous section about one God. But did Jesus exist in Heaven with the Father before anything else existed? This would therefore require Jesus pre-existence about which I am going to write in more detail. The traditional Bible concept is that Jesus has always been in heaven with the Father, and God has sent him down to earth to release people from the power of sin and to preach the kingdom of God.

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