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He was called the 'Son of man' (man) and was
named Jesus.
In Bible terminology, when a baby is born the father begets the
baby (contributing the seed from his body) and the mother brings forth the baby. Jesus was born to a virgin called
Mary. God the Holy Spirit and God the Father were involved in the conception of
the baby. "Luke 1:35
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."
But neither of them
begot the baby, as a father
would,
but they created a body in the womb of
the virgin.
"Heb 10:5
--- when he cometh into the world, he saith,
---but a body hast thou prepared me:"
This was
called, the seed of the woman and the seed was created from her
own body.
"Gen 3:15
And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;-."
We may say that Mary begot as well as brought forth the baby. 'God the Word'
entered the body as a human soul, to be born as a human child. He was
born as a baby boy of Mary, and for Mary alone.
"Matt 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:---."
Even though his birth was
supernatural, he grew as any other child. He needed to grow in the spirit and to
receive the grace of God, as any other human child. "Luke 2:40
And the child
grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was
upon him." However, as a boy He remembered that
He
was after the business of His Father.
"Luke 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that
ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
Isa 53:11 - by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;
for he shall bear their iniquities."
God
is a Spirit. "John
4:24 God is a Spirit:--."
But God the Word was made
flesh (man). "John
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. 14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," He was
made a little lower than angels. "Heb
2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for
the suffering of death,---"
Since God or angels cannot die,
' God
the Word' had to become a mortal man in order to suffer death. He was the lamb of God and
His pure blood, without (sin) spot or blemish, was shed for the sins of the world.
"John 1:29
The
next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world.
1 Pet
1:19
But
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot:"
He was lead through sufferings and considered as
stricken of God. "Isa 53:4
Surely
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."
He has died in our place for the forgiveness of our sins as a sacrificial lamb.
One of
His roles when He became a man was to be
sacrificed as the lamb of God for the forgiveness of sins of his people. "John
1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
1 Pet 1:18 Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot:---" By sacrificing
Himself in order to redeem us
from our sins, He purchased us with His own blood. Now we
belong to Him. "Acts
20:28 --- to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood." Another
aspect of His sacrifice is that He became the author of our salvation. So His
pardon will apply to only those who obey Him, but not to those who call him
Lord and not obeying Him. "Heb
5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all
them that obey him;." Only those who obey
Him
are His people and God will save them. Those who call Him Lord without obeying Him are rejected. "Matt 7:21 Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
We
all know that Jesus Christ died for our sins. But what we do not know is that
He left a life of example. That is,
He lived a perfect holy life as an example
for us to follow in the steps of His life. Those who follow Him will reach where He
has reached, that is the throne of God in heaven. "1 Pet
2:21 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:
Phil 2:5
Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will
I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down
with my Father in his throne."
If God disguised as a man and was able to live a holy life, then it is not sure
whether a man can live a holy life. But if a man, with the grace
of God, lived a holy life and showed men how to live such a life,
then we have no more excuse but to live a holy life. If a
man lived a holy life then we should be able to live a holy life.
Let
us ask
ourselves a question who our God is? Immediately our mind will retrieve a concept of
God. This picture of our minds will differ from person to person depending
on our doctrinal believes. Setting aside our sentimental, traditional or
even denominational views about God, let us look into the view of the Bible.
You may click on this:
"Who is God?",
to
see the view of this article based on the Bible. Having understood the
Biblical position of who God is, then try to study whether the Son of man, Jesus
of Nazareth, was God while living on earth as a man.
As a child he had to grow in spirit,
wisdom and grace. "Luke 2:40
And
the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of
God was upon him."
God
is a Spirit.
"John
4:24 God
is a Spirit:--."
The Spirit of God has the power
attributes as Omnipotence, Omnipresence and Omniscience. He did not keep the privilege
of being equal with God the Father. He voluntarily ceased to be God (a
Spirit) and has declined the power attributes of the Spirit of God.
"Phil 2:6
Who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God."
He did not keep the reputation or the power attributes of the Spirit when he became a servant. "Phil
2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men."
That is: He
was made just flesh, meaning he was a mere man.
He fully obeyed
' God the Father' even to
die.
"Phil 2:8 And
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross."
The fear and agony with which he was praying to
'God the Father' at Gethsemane, it is evident that He was not God while
He was a man. He was just a man.
"Matt 26:38
Then saith he unto them, My soul is
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I
will, but as thou wilt."
God did not come in the disguise of a man to put up a show to deceive people.
Spirit became flesh. "John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh
..."
God became a
man.
The Omnipotent, Omniscient, and
Omnipresent 'God the Word’ became a man on His own accord. When He had
become a man, He obeyed 'the
Most High God' to do the will of God with perfect obedience.
"Heb
10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of
me,) to do thy will, O God."
The
following scripture passage
"in the days of his
flesh"
denotes that during this period on earth as a man, He had kept
the status of the flesh and not the Spirit. God is a Spirit. "John 4:24 God is
a Spirit:--."
The fact that He was only flesh and not a Spirit
means that He was only a man and not God. Because of the fact that
He prayed to God with supplication and with strong crying for the salvation
of His own self from death and He had the fear of death, He surely had
not maintained the status of God but He had certainly become just a man.
"Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had
offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him
that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;"
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