Let me say emphatically and dogmatically; Jesus was FULLY MAN and FULLY GOD! In other words, Jesus was a true Man (i.e. Human) in every sense of the word, and He never ceased being God. Some have spoken of Jesus as the “God-Man,” for He was indeed God and Man in one Person. So, it isn’t correct to think of Him as half man and half God; He was one Person with a Divine AND Human nature.

In the First Century there were false teachings concerning the Person of Christ and to protect the truth that Jesus was fully Man and fully God the Holy Spirit inspired men to preserve this truth in the Holy Scriptures. The apostle John wrote these words in the gospel bearing his name, “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 beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14 NKJV). These verses clearly teach that Jesus was GOD and that He “became flesh”; that is, He “became a Man.” The apostles, by faith, “beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” Most people only saw a man, but their faith could see beyond His humanity and recognized that He was the Son of God. Later, the apostle Paul was inspired to write, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: GOD WAS MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH” (1st Timothy 3:16).

Space forbids us from giving a detailed account of Jesus’ full humanity, so we will limit ourselves to a few scriptures. Before we do, let’s ask a basic question: “What is a human?” When God created the first man (Adam) He gave him a body, soul and spirit. Genesis 2:7 declares, “And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (ASV). Man has a physical body, but he also has a soul and a spirit, which are not physical. The apostle Paul refers to man being a “tri-part being” in 1st Thessalonians 5:23, “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole SPIRIT, SOUL, and BODY be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The BODY connects us to the world around us with its five senses; the SOUL is the “emotional” part of man; and the SPIRIT is the “intelligent” part of man which gives us the ability to know God, for “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). It is the SPIRIT that sets us apart from the animal kingdom, for animals have a body and soul, but they were not created with a spirit.

We have already seen that Jesus “became flesh,” so we know He had a true, human BODY. But did He have a SOUL and a SPIRIT? In Matthew 26:38 Jesus said, “My SOUL is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” We had said that the soul is the “emotional part of man” and here we see that Jesus’ SOUL was “exceedingly SORROWFUL” as He contemplated the Cross on which He would die for lost sinners. After He had endured God’s judgment for sin on the cross He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My SPIRIT.’” Thus we see that Jesus was a true Man (i.e. fully Human), with a body, soul and spirit.

Some will admit that He was a true Man, but that He was not God. They either teach that He was never God, or that when He became a Man He “emptied Himself of His Deity.” They base this on a false interpretation of Philippians 2:7 which reads, “But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” The words “made Himself of no reputation” are literally “He emptied Himself” and thus some believe He emptied Himself of all His attributes of Deity. We believe, and Scripture confirms this, that He emptied Himself of “His rights to act as God.” He humbled Himself by become a Servant and everything He did was as a dependent Man. Again, He never ceased being God, but instead of coming to earth in blazing glory as the all-powerful God, He became a humble Servant and a true Man, in subjection to God His Father and in order to take Man’s place on the cross and to die for their sins.

Yet there were times when His Deity did shine forth, as on the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1-5). But on most occasions He acted, as a dependent Man, in the power of the Holy Spirit who came upon Him at His baptism (see Matthew 3:16). Yet even then the heavens were opened and the Father declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” When people did, by faith, recognize that He was indeed God (and not just a Man), He accepted their testimony. When He asked His apostles who they thought He was, Peter boldly declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). After His resurrection, He appeared to His disciples one day and we read these wonderful words, “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

We could add many more scriptures that teach the same thing; Jesus was FULLY HUMAN and FULLY GOD. And the marvel is that He will continue, throughout all eternity, to be a true Man and the true God. Hebrews 13:8 confirms this, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (280.1) (DO)