"Who is Jesus?" 4/22/25

Dear Brothers and Sisters,I wrote to you in a previous email;

"The early creeds, such as the Athanasian creed, were concerned with the person of Christ. They took seriously the apostle John’s teaching: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God” (1Jn4:1-3)."

John gives the people of God a litmus test for whether someone speaks on behalf of God. What was the test? Whether someone confessed that Jesus had come in the flesh. Now this is not the only test. John emphasizes LOVE for fellow Christians more than anything else in his letter. Nonetheless, the Incarnation of Jesus, the truth that He is God in the flesh, was so significant that John could say anyone who did not confess this truth "is not from God".

The importance of the doctrine of the Incarnation is on full display in the second portion of the Athanasian Creed.

After setting forth the doctrine of God as Triune, the creed continues:

"But it is also necessary for eternal salvation that one believe in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully. Now this is the true faith: That we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, is both God and human, equally. 

He is God from the essence of the Father, begotten before time; and he is human from the essence of his mother, born in time; completely God, completely human, with a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father as regards divinity, less than the Father as regards humanity. Although he is God and human, yet Christ is not two, but one. He is one, however not by his divinity being turned into flesh, but by God's taking humanity to himself. He is one, certainly not by the blending of his essence, but by the unity of his person.  For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh, so too the one Christ is both God and human."

As with the first part of the creed, the author begins with a simple statement and follows with an explanation of what this statement does and doesn't mean. 

The initial statement is a simple confession"Our Lord Jesus, God's Son, is both God and human, equally".

This statement is supported by many Scriptures, such as 

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth"John 1:1, 14

"He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the heir of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."Colossians 1:15-17

"For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" Colossians 2:9

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,1 Timothy 2:5

These and other Scriptures plainly teach us that the eternal Word, did not cease to be God when he became a man, but rather these two distinct natures (God and Man) were united in one person, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Though beyond our full comprehension,the truth that Jesus is fully God and fully Man is central and defining to the Christian faith. 

Why does this matter? 

A different Jesus could not save us, because....

1) Only God Himself is pure (unstained by sin) and powerful enough to save us.

2) Only a Savior who was like us in every way (except for sin) could rightfully suffer in our place.

In view of His glory, let us join the chorus of Heaven and sing:

"Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”"Revelation 5:11-12

Grace & Peace in Jesus,

Matt