The Greatest Gift that ever lived!

The person of Jesus Christ!1

Matthew 1:18 – 25

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his
mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together
she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her
husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame,
resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that
which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son,
and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins. 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the
prophet:
23 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel

(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did
as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew
her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name
Jesus.

I want to read a quote to you from JI Packer:

The really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was

God made man – that the second person of the Godhead became the
“second man” (1 Cor 15:47), determining human destiny, the second
representative head of the race, and that He took humanity without loss
of deity, so that Jesus of Nazareth was as truly and fully divine as He
was human. Here are two mysteries for the price of one – the plurality
of persons within the unity of God, and the union of Godhead and
manhood in the person of Jesus.

1. Jesus Christ is fully and completely divine

2. Jesus Christ is fully and completely human
3. The divine and human natures of Christ are distinct
4. The divine and human natures are united in one person.

                                                                                                               
1  I  have  really  been  blessed  by  and  primarily  used  the  ESV  Study  Bible,  all  of  

these  notes  can  be  traced  back  to  the  section  entitled  “The  Person  of  Christ”  
under  “Biblical  Doctrine:  An  Overview”  in  the  “Articles  &  Resources.”  

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The Deity of Christ

Many Scripture passages demonstrate that Jesus is fully and completely God:

• John 1:1, 14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God… 14 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 1:18
18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's
side, he has made him known.

• John 20:28
28 Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God!

• Romans 9:5
5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the
flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

• Philippians 2:5 – 7
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a
servant, being born in the likeness of men.

• Titus 2:13
13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior Jesus Christ,

• Hebrews 1:3
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his
nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

• Hebrews 1:8 – 10
8 But of the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the
scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have
loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God,
has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. 10
And, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and
the heavens are the work of your hands;

• 2 Peter 1:1
1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the
righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

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Jesus Understanding of His own Deity (6)

He clearly saw Himself as God – it was not what his disciples made up

1. Jesus taught with divine authority (Matt 7:28 – 19) Sermon on the
mount refers – “but I say to you” “My words will not pass away” (Matt
24:35)

2. Jesus had a unique relationship with God the Father (Luke 2:49) “My
Fatherʼs house”

3. Jesus favorite self-designation was Daniel 7:13 – 14ʼs messianic

“Son of Man”. In Mark 2: 10 – 11 said that the Son of Man had authority
on earth to forgive sins & in 27 – 28 that He was Lord of the Sabbath.

4. The Ultimate question of His ministry as King of a Kingdom was

centered on Himself - Mark 16:15 – Who do you say that I am?

5. Jesus received worship (men, woman & demons) He never opposed

them like Paul and Barnabas did for being merely human.

6. Jesus equated Himself with the Father in John 5, 8 & 10 and for this
blasphemy the Jewish leaders at the time accused and crucified Him.

Implications of Christʼs Deity (4)

1. God can be known in Christ – definitively & personally John 14:9

“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”

2. Redemption is possible and has been accomplished in Christ,

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

3. In Christ Risen, ascended, and enthroned we have a sympathetic High

Priest with omnipotent power to meet needs.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to

sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has
been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

4. Worship of and obedience to Jesus is appropriate & necessary.

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The Humanity of Christ

From His virgin conception, the Divine Son of God, added to His humanity and
took on humble flesh – called the incarnation. The evidence of His humanity is
strong:

1. Jesus had a human birth

2. Jesus had a human genealogy

Gal 4:4 – 5 “4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who
were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

3. Jesus had a human body (From Mark Driscollʼs book “Vintage

Jesus”) There is no way to escape the humanity of Jesus!
o Born of a woman
o Had a normal body of flesh and bones
o Grew up as a boy
o Had a family
o Obeyed His parents
o Worshipped God and prayed
o Worked as a Carpenter
o Got hungry, tired and thirsty
o Asked for information
o Was stressed
o Was astonished
o Was happy
o Told Jokes
o Had compassion
o Had male and female friends he loved deeply
o Gave encouraging compliments
o Loved children
o Celebrated holidays
o Went to parties
o Loved His mom…
o Jesus was tempted to sin by the Devil himself
o He was poor, got ripped of, had to pay taxes and was at times
homeless
o He was attacked, rumored about, physically abused, mocked
and spat at
o He was pestered by religious people
o Some days were marked by loneliness, deep sorrow, exhaustion
and weeping.
o Jesus friends all betrayed him and were no help in time of
trouble
o His family thought He was crazy
o He knew what unanswered prayer was like and even felt the
rejection of God!

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 o Jesus bled
o Jesus died.
o Jesus used His final breath to forgive those who destroyed him!

• No wonder His disciples could write such compelling testimonies of

Jesus because they saw with their eyes, heard with their ears and
touched Jesus with their hands! God in the flesh walked with them on
the beach, laughed with them, washed their feet, made them
breakfast and ate and drank with them.

4. Jesus continues to have an ongoing physical humanity in

resurrected state. In this way He is able to intercede for us before the
Father – knowing exactly what we are going through – yet He was
without sin so He knows exactly how to encourage us to do the right
thing every time! “See it is I myself, touch me”

5. Jesus had a human mind. He grew in wisdom; He learned obedience

as he endured suffering. He humbled himself by not using omniscience
to his advantage but limited himself – almost held himself back from
divine attributes that he carried to teach us reliance upon the Holy Spirit
and dependence upon the father while in the flesh!

6. Jesus experienced Human temptation. “For we do not have a high

priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who
in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 4:15

7. Jesus practiced spiritual disciplines as the means of a true

spiritual growth process:

a. Regularly prayed with passion

b. It was His custom to attend worship meetings at synagogues
c. Observed Sabbath
d. He read and memorized Scripture
e. Practiced solitude
f. Obeyed OT ceremonial laws
g. Received the fullness of the Spirit

8. For 30 years he did normal average stuff with His family in His
hometown – for 3 years His miraculous ministry offended people who
said – Isnʼt this the Carpenterʼs son!

Jesus will be a man forever – fully human as he represents

redeemed humanity for all eternity.

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Implications of Christʼs Humanity

1. Jesus humanity gives us a glimpse of true intended humanity had

we all not fallen into sin. Our problem is not that we are “only human”
but rather that we have fallen. What God created was “Very good” and
in Jesus we see the potential of humanity as God intended!

2. Jesus humanity enables his representative obedience for us. This

is such good news – Jesus lived a perfect life FOR US. Adam, our first
rep sinned and caused us all to be in sin from birth, but Jesus is the
perfect rep – By His righteousness He is able to be our new
representative before God, also be our perfect substitute on the cross.
When we put our faith in Jesusʼ life - God credits all Jesusʼs
righteousness to us as if we had always done the Jesus thing!

3. Jesus humanity means that He can be the perfect substitutionary

Sacrifice for mankind. He is the perfect sacrifice and makes himself
this in the place of all our rebellion and failure. A man died on the cross
for men – I am saved because one man died in my place as a man! By
faith in Jesus death, the sin that stores up judgment for me, is placed
on Jesus and is judged there in my place.

4. Jesus humanity means that He is a perfect and effective mediator

for me to the Father! Because He is fully God and fully man, He
stands in the gap for me. We can have relationship with God! There
are not 3 or 4 or hundreds of advocates trying to plead my case before
God, only One, the One! Jesus Christ!

5. Jesus is a sympathetic High Priest – He clearly understands our

plight in a fallen human world. We can call on Him for help with grace
in time of any need. He has walked it harder than we every will, He
knows!

6. Jesus is for all time our true example & pattern for human
character & conduct. He has invited us to follow in His footsteps!

Jesus both God and Man! What a marvelous Christmas mystery! If you are
going to believe in what many people through the ages have called a myth –
that God and man can be one in Jesus Christ – then rather let it be this and
not Santa Clause! The importance and distinction of our “religion” is too great
to be ignored and cannot in any way be compared!

This quote from “Why God became Man” written in the late 1000AD
summarizes the importance of Christʼs atoning work:

“It is necessary that the self same Person who is to make this
satisfaction [for humanityʼs sin] be perfect God and perfect man, since

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 He cannot make it unless He really be God, and He ought not to make
it unless He be really man”

What a gift – through Jesus, we are welcomed as family, brothers and sisters
at the Fatherʼs Christmas dinner!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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