The Humanity and Divinity of Christ

By: Pdt. Samuel T. Gunawan, M.Th

Debates in the first to fifth centuries in Christian doctrine revolved around the issue of knowing the person of Jesus Christ. Almost all debates take up this topic by asking: Who is Jesus Christ? From the various debates and discussions, various groups emerged that tried to propose the results of their discussion, by introducing who exactly the person of Jesus Christ was. But unfortunately there are some groups who are wrong in this introduction. Because some only emphasize the matter of Christ's humanity and ignore His divinity. Meanwhile, some only emphasize the matter of His divinity, even though their knowledge is not complete. Some examples of this erroneous view include: Ebionites believed that Jesus was only a human; Modalistic Monarchianists believe that Jesus is one of the models or manifestations of God; Monarchian dynamics on the other hand believe that the person of Jesus is just an ordinary human being; The Gnostics denied that Jesus Christ was incarnate as a human; Anti-Gnostics on the other hand rejected Christ's divinity as the Logos (Word of God); Arianism believes that Jesus is only a subordination of God.

THE CHURCH'S PATRISTIC VIEWS ON THE PERSONALITY OF CHRIST

Against all the above misleading teachings, the church father Athanasius defended the faith according to the teachings of the Bible, and gave birth to several councils of fathers (patristic) of the church. Among others:

1. The Council of Nicea (325 AD) affirmed that the person of Jesus Christ is a total God (whole) and a total man (whole).

2. The Council of Constantinople (381 AD) repeated the Council of Nicea's affirmation that the person of Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% human.

3. The Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) further formulated the relationship between the Divinity of Christ and the Humanity of Christ as follows: That Jesus has two natures in one person. The relationship between these two natures is: Not mixed, unchanging, non-sharing, and inseparable.

This truth is so unique. That the one person Jesus Christ has two different natures, namely the 100% perfect nature of God and the 100% perfect human nature. In fact, in this world there is not a single analogy or example that can explain and represent this truth. Like the Trinity truth, no analogy or example can perfectly represent or explain it. However, this does not mean that this truth is not important and should be ignored. In fact, it is very important and must be studied as far as what the Bible, the written Word of God, witnesses. Because the Bible is the standard or standard in our faith and knowledge of God. So, when the Bible speaks, we can understand and must believe. When the Bible is silent, we too must learn to be silent and accept the limitations of our thoughts, feelings, experiences and wisdom.

EVIDENCES OF THE HUMANITY OF JESUS CHRIST

1. Jesus Was Born Like Other Humans. Jesus was born to a woman (Galatians 4: 4). This fact is corroborated by the accounts of His virgin birth (Matthew 1:18-2: 11; Luke 1: 30-38; 2: 1-20). Because of this, Jesus is called "son of David, son of Abraham" (Matthew 1: 1) and is said to be "according to the flesh the begotten of the seed of David" (Romans 1: 3). For the same reason, Luke traces the origin of Jesus to Adam (Luke 3: 23-38). This event was a fulfillment of promises to Eve (Genesis 3:15) and to Ahaz (Isaiah 7:14). On several occasions Jesus is mentioned as the son of Joseph, but we will see that whenever this happened, the people who did it were neither friends of Jesus nor they knew Him less (Luke 4:22; John 1:45; 6:42; compare Matthew 13:55). If there is a danger that the readers of the Gospels will think the writer of the Gospels intends to claim that Jesus is really the son of Joseph, then the writer adds a little explanation to show that such assumptions are not true. Therefore in Luke 23:23 we read that Jesus was the son of Joseph "according to the supposition" and in Romans 9: 5 it states that Christ came from Israel in "His human state".

In this connection an important question has been raised: If Christ was born of a virgin, did He also inherit a sinful nature from His mother? The Bible makes it clear that Jesus has nothing to do with sin. The Bible emphasizes that Jesus "knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21); and that He is "the godly, blameless, without blemish, separate from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26); and that "in Him is no sin" (1 John 3: 5). In announcing that Mary would give birth to the Son of God, Gabriel referred to Jesus as "holy" (Luke 1:35). Satan has no power over Jesus (John 14:30); he has no right whatsoever over the sinless Son of God. "It is sin that gives Satan power over men, but in Jesus there is no sin." Through the miraculous shade of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was born as a sinless human.

2. Jesus Grows And Develops Like A Normal Man. Jesus developed normally as did humans. Therefore it says in the Bible that He "grew larger and became strong, full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:40), and that He "grew greater and more wise and loved more and more. God and men "(Luke 2:52). This physical and mental development of Christ was not due to His divine nature, but to the normal laws of human growth. However, the fact that Christ did not have a worldly character and that He abstained from works, which were sinful, certainly contributed to His mental and physical development. The mental development of Jesus was not merely the result of his studies in the schools of the day (John 7:15), but must be regarded as the result of his education in a godly family, his habit of always being present in the house of worship (Luke 4:16 ), His visits to the Temple (Luke 2:41, 46), His Bible study (Luke 4:17), and also because He used Bible verses when facing trials, and because of His fellowship with God Father (Mark 1:35; John 4: 32-34).

3. It Has The Essential Elements Of Human Nature. That Christ had a physical body is clear from the verses which read, "poured out the oil on my body" (Matthew 26:12); "which he meant by the temple of his own body" (John 2:21); "He also became with them and shared in their [flesh and blood] condition" (Hebrews 2:14); "but Thou hast prepared a body for me" (Hebrews 10: 5); "we have been sanctified once for all by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ" (Hebrews 10:10). Even after He was resurrected He said, "Touch me and see, for a ghost is not flesh and bones, as you have seen me" (Luke 24:39). Not only did Christ have a physical human body, He also had other elements of human nature, such as intelligence and voluntarism. He is able to think logically. The Bible speaks of Him as having soul and / or spirit (Matthew 26:38; compare Mark 8:12; John 12:27; 13:21; Mark 2: 8; Luke 23:46; the Indonesian Bible is often translated as heart and life). When we say that He took on a nature like us, we always have to distinguish between a human nature and a sinful nature; Jesus had a human nature, but He did not have a sinful nature.

4. He Has Human Names. It has many human names. The name "Jesus", which means "Savior" (Matthew 1:21), is the Greek word for the name "Joshua" in the Old Testament (compare Acts 7:45; Hebrews 4: 8). He is called "son of Abraham" (Matthew 1: 1) and "son of David". The name "son of David" occurs frequently in Matthew's Gospel (1: 1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30, 31; 21: 9, 15). The name "Son of Man" occurs over 80 times in the New Testament. This name is used many times for the prophet Ezekiel (2: 1; 3: 1; 4: 1, and so on), and once for Daniel (8:17). This name is used when prophesying about Christ in Daniel 7:13 (compare Matthew 16:28). This name was considered by the Jews to refer to the Messiah. This is clear from the fact that the high priest tore his robes when Christ applied Daniel's prophecy to Himself (Luke 26:64, 65). The Jews understood that this term referred to the Messiah (John 12:34), and calling Christ the Son of Man was the same as calling Him the Son of God (Luke 22:69, 70). This expression not only shows that He is truly human, but that He is also the representative of all mankind (compare Hebrews 2: 6-9).

5. He Has The Sinless Weaknesses Of Human Nature. Therefore, Jesus was tired (John 4: 6), hungry (Matthew 4: 2; 21:18), thirsty (John 19:28); He had slept (Matthew 8:24; compare Psalm 121: 4); He was tempted (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15; compare James 1:13); He expects strength from His Father who is in heaven (Mark 1:35; John 6:15; Hebrews 5: 7); He performed miracles (Matthew 12:28), taught (Acts 1: 2), and presented Himself to God by the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38; Hebrews 9:14). Christians have a high priest in heaven with infinite ability to feel compassion for them in all the dangers, sorrows, and trials they experience in life, because He himself experienced them, because He became the same as man. Again it must be emphasized that mentioning weaknesses in Christ's character does not mean sinful weaknesses.

6. Many times he was called a human. Jesus considered himself human (John 8:40). John the Baptist (John 1:30), Peter (Acts 2:22), and Paul (1 Corinthians 15:21, 47; Philippians 2: 8; compare Acts 13:38) called Him human. Christ was truly recognized as a human (John 7:27; 9:29; 10:33), so that He was known as a Jew (John 4: 9); He was thought to be older than his real age (John 8:57); and He was accused of blasphemy against God for daring to declare that He was higher than humans (John 10:33). Even after being resurrected, Christ appeared in the flesh (John 20:15; 21: 4, 5). After all, right now He is in heaven as a human (I Timothy 2: 5), will come again (Matthew 16:27, 28; 25:31; 26:64, 65), and judge this world with justice as a human ( Acts 17:31).

EVIDENCES OF JESUS CHRIST'S DIVINITY

1. Christ possessed and displayed the attributes of His divinity. Christ by virtue of His own confession Christ has the following qualities that are only possessed by God, namely: (1) Eternity: He claims to have existed since eternity (John 8:58; 17: 5); (2) Omnipresent: He claims to be present everywhere (Matthew 18:20; 28:20); (3) Omniscience: He displays knowledge of things that can only be known if He is omniscient (Matthew 16:21; Luke 6: 8; 11: 7; John 4:29); (4) Almighty: He demonstrated and demonstrated the power of the one Almighty (Matthew 28:20; Mark 5: 11-15; John 11: 38-44).

Other attributes of the Fault are revealed to Himself by others (eg "unchanging", Hebrews 13: 5), but what is quoted above is what He acknowledges for Himself.

2. Christ performed acts which only God did. Consider the following works and actions by Christ: (1) Forgiveness: He forgives sins forever. Humans may be able to do it temporarily, but Christ provides eternal forgiveness (Mark 2: 1-12); (2) Life: He gives spiritual life to whomever He wills (John 5:21); (3) Resurrection: He will raise the dead (John 11:43); (4) Judgment: He will judge all people (John 5:22, 27). Again, all of the above examples are things He did or confessions made Himself, not someone else.

3. Christ was given the Names and Titles of Godhead.

(1) Son of God. Our Lord used the title for Himself (although only occasionally, John 10:36), and He acknowledged its truth when it was used by others to refer to Him (Matthew 26: 63- 64). What does that mean? Although the phrase "son of" can mean "descendant of" it also means "of the people". Thus, in the Old Testament "sons of the prophets" means of the prophets (1 Kings 20:35), and "sons of singers" means the singers (Nehemiah 12:28). The indication "Son of God" when used of our Lord, means "the people of Allah and is a strong and clear claim to full Deity". In Jewish usage, the word "Son (of) ..." generally did not mean a subordinate, but rather equality and identity. For example, the name "child of comfort" (Acts 4:36) inevitably means, "the comforter." “Sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17) most likely means “bully.” “Son of man,” especially as it applies to Christ in Daniel 7:13 and always in the New Testament, literally means “One who Represents. for Christ to say, "I am the Son of God" (John 10:36) was considered by the people of His day to identify Himself as God, equal to the Father, who they thought was unworthy.

(2) God and Allah. Jesus is called Yahweh in the New Testament. This shows His full Deity (compare Luke 1:76 with Malachi 3: 1 and Proverbs 10:13 with Joel 2:32). He is also called God (John 1: 1; 20:28; Hebrews 1: 8), Lord (Matthew 22: 43-45), and King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16).

4. Christ Confessed Himself to be God. Perhaps the most powerful and vivid event of this confession, occurred during the festival of the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, when He said, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). The word "one" here does not mean that He and the Father are one Person but that they are unity in nature and activity, a fact which is true only if He is the same in Divinity as the Father. Those who heard this claim were so understandable that they immediately tried to stone Him for blasphemy because He claimed to be God (Job 33). How can anyone say that Jesus of Nazareth never claimed to be God? And that it is His followers who declare for Him? Most of the above quotes come from the words of Christ Himself.

Therefore, we have to face the only option: whether what He admits is true or is He a liar. And what He acknowledged was a complete and perfect Godhead - nothing was lacking or subtracting during His life on earth.

5. Christ Claims the Same Respect with God

In John 5:23 it says, "That all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son, he also does not honor the Father who sent Him". In this verse, Jesus made it clear that humans would honor Him as they honor the Father. If you start reading from verse 16, you will find that the Jews wanted to kill Jesus. The Jews said that Jesus taught that He was equal to God (verse 18). If Jesus did not become equal to God, He would certainly justify them. He will make it clear to them that He is not the same as God. Did He do this? Not. Instead, Jesus told them that "All people honor the Son as they honor the Father." Notice in Philippians 2: 6, "who, although being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a possession to be defended" This verse tells us that Jesus became God before He came to earth. Jesus never thought that He took away God's rights by being equal to God, but He was claiming equality with God because He was God Himself.

6. The divinity of Christ is based on its unity in the Trinity. In Matthew 28:19 it says "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". In particular, the Greek phrase written in Matthew 28:19 is "baptizontes autous eis to onoma tou patros kai tou uiou kai tou agiou pneumatos" which is translated as "baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit", where it what is interesting is that although there are three names mentioned here, namely Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Greek word "eis to onomo" which is translated "in the name" is a singular nominative (singular, not plural)! The plural form of the Greek word "onomo (name)" is "onomata". In English translated name (singular), not names (plural form). Therefore this verse not only shows that the three Persons are equal, but also shows that the three Persons are one or one. In English translated name (singular), not names (plural form). Therefore this verse not only shows that the three Persons are equal, but also shows that the three Persons are one or one. The word "esa" which is used in Deuteronomy 6: 4 in the Hebrew is "Ekhad" which refers to "a unity which implies plurality; and not an absolute one. If what is meant is "the only one; or one that is absolute ”so in Hebrew it is used is“ yakhid ”.

INTEGRATION OF THE DIVINE NATURE AND THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST

This point is a very deep secret. How can there be two qualities in one person? Even though it is difficult to understand this concept, the Bible recommends that we meditate on this secret of God, which is Christ (Colossians 2: 2,3). Jesus Himself stated that a true knowledge of Him would only be obtained through divine revelation (Matthew 11:27). Studying the person of Christ is very difficult because His personality is so unique; there is no other person who is the same as Him so we cannot argue from things we already know to things we don't know.

1. Wrong thinking about the combination of the two natures of Christ. (1) The combination of divine nature and human nature in Christ cannot be compared to a married relationship, because the two parties in a marriage are still two different persons even though they are married; (2) The combination of the two attributes is not the same as the believer's relationship to Christ. Nor is it correct to assume that the divine nature abides in Christ as Christ abides in the believer, for that means that Jesus is only a man indwelt by God and he himself is not God. (3) The idea that Christ had a multiple personality is not biblical. It is not stated in the Bible that the Logos took the place of the human mind and spirit in Christ, because in this way Christ was united with imperfect humanity. Likewise the two characteristics do not unite to form the third nature, because in that case Christ was not a real man. (4) Nor can it be said that Christ gradually received the divine nature, for in this case his divinity was not an essential reality because it had to be consciously accepted by the humanity of Christ. The church in general emphatically blames these views as unbiblical and therefore unacceptable.

2. Right thinking about the combination of the two natures of Christ. If the above meanings are all wrong, how can we explain the combination of these two characteristics in Christ to produce one person, but with two consciousnesses and two wills? Although there are two natures, there is only one person. And although the characteristics of one quality cannot be said to be the characteristic of another, the two natures are in one Person, namely Christ.

It is not correct to say that Christ is a divine being with a human nature, or that he is a human being indwelt by a divine being. In the first case, the human nature will not get its proper place and role, and in the second case it is the divine nature that will not get its proper place and role. The second person of God's Trinity accepts the human condition in all its characteristics. Thus the personality of Christ resides in His divine nature, because God the Son is not united with a human being but with a human nature. Apart from the incarnation of the human nature of Christ is impersonal; however this is not true of his divine nature. So perfect is this union into one person that, "Christ at the same time possesses seemingly contradictory attributes. He can be weak and almighty, increased in knowledge yet omniscient, finite and infinite," and we may add, He can is in one place but He is omnipresent.

Jesus spoke of Himself as one whole and one person; He did not show any signs of personality division. Furthermore, those associated with Him considered Him to be a single and undivided personality. What about His self-awareness? It is clear that in a divine self-awareness Jesus was constantly aware of His divinity. That divine self-awareness is always fully operational, even in childhood. "But there is evidence that with the development of human nature the human self-awareness becomes active." Sometimes He will act from a human self-awareness, and at other times He will act from a divine self-awareness, but the two never contradict. The same can be said of His will. Certainly, the human will wants to stay away from the cross (Matthew 26:39), and the divine will wants to abstain from being made sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). In His life, Jesus willed to do the will of His Father who is in heaven (Hebrews 10: 7, 9). This He fully accomplished.

So if the two attributes of Christ are perfectly blended in one person, then what is the nature of the assimilation? Most of the answers to this question have been discussed in the previous section. It is impossible for us to provide a precise psychological analysis of Christ's unique, personality, even if the Bible provides few hints.

(1) The combination is not theanthropic. Christ himself is theanthropic (meaning that he has a divine and human nature), but he is not. That is, a person can talk about God - man if he wants to refer to Christ himself; however, we cannot speak of the divine nature, but we must speak of the existence of a divine nature and a human nature in Christ. This is clear from the fact that Christ had infinite understanding and will and also had limited understanding and will; It has divine consciousness and human consciousness. His divine intelligence is limitless; His human intelligence is increasing. His divine will is omnipotent; His human will is limited only to the abilities of an un-fallen human. In His divine consciousness He can say, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30); in His human consciousness He can say, "I thirst" (John 19:28). But it must be emphasized that Christ is still God - man.

(2) The combination is personal. The combination of the two natures in Christ is called a hypostatic union. That is, these two attributes are a personal way of being. Since Christ is not united with man, but with human nature, Christ's personality takes place in His divine nature.

(3) This combination includes a variety of human and divine attributes and actions.

Both human and divine nature and actions can be performed by the God-man without exception. Thus the various attributes and characteristics of men are associated with Christ under the divine titles, "He shall be great and shall be called the Son of God Most High" (Luke 1:32); "they will not crucify the glorious Lord" (1 Corinthians 2: 8); "the church of God, which he obtained with the blood of his own Son" (Acts 20:28). From these verses we see that Allah was born and Allah died. There are also passages which mention various divine attributes and attributes and attribute them to Christ under His human names, "He who came down from heaven, the Son of Man" (John 3:13); "And what if you see the Son of Man ascending to the place where he was before?" (John 6:62); "The Messiah is in His human condition, who is above all things. He is a God to be praised forever and ever" (Romans 9: 5); The Christ who died is the Christ who “filled all and all things” (Ephesians 1:23; compare Matthew 28:20); He is the one whom God has appointed to judge the world (Acts 17:31; compare Matthew 25:31, 32).

(4) Such union guarantees the constant presence of the divinity and humanity of Christ. The humanity of Christ is present with His divinity in every place. This fact adds to the beauty of the fact that Christ is in His people. He is present in His divinity, and through the union of His humanity with His divinity, He is also present in His humanity.

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* Pdt. Samuel T. Gunawan is a Protestant-Charismatic, Pastor and Pastor at GBAP Jama'at El Shaddai; Lecturers at STT IKAT and STT Others.

Source: https://artikel.sabda.org/keman Manusia_dan_keilahian_kristus