Who is Jesus? Is he a true prophet? Is he a good teacher? Is he the perfect man?
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. In the unique person of Jesus
of Nazareth, the eternal Son of God entered history and became a real human being.
He is truly the Word of God (John 1:1-3)—that is, the perfect and culminating revelation
of God’s mind and heart, of God’s will and character—present in the intimate
fellowship of the Holy Trinity from eternity and fully engaged with the Father
in the work of creation and redemption.
Becoming human, Jesus was “all of God in a human body” (Colossians 1:19)
and “God with us” (Matthew 1:23)—a living tabernacle and the fullest expression
of God’s holy presence, “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14-18). His
divine-human identity is substantiated by the true witness of Scripture—in his divine
conception and virgin birth, in God’s own testimony concerning Jesus, in Jesus’
supernatural works of healing and deliverance, in his obedience to the point of
sacrificial death, and in his bodily resurrection from the dead, ascension, and
exaltation. He is now Lord over everything in creation.
The early church in the creeds of Nicea and Chalcedon accurately
interpreted and expressed the apostles’ witness concerning Jesus—fully God and
fully human. The significance of this is: in Jesus we are dealing with God
himself; in Jesus we have a human being who truly represents us.
Jesus Christ is God’s
only Mediator between God and humanity and God’s unique agent for the salvation
of the world. He is also the perfect expression of what humanity was created to
be. In his complete obedience, Jesus became the representative Human Being, a
second Adam, modeling for us human life and offering to God on our behalf human
life that is rightly in God’s image— reflecting God’s glory in a wholly
submitted life of steadfast love and righteousness. This same Lord Jesus
Christ, the incarnate Son of God, as shown in Scripture, is to be the center of
the Christian Church’s proclamation, worship, discipleship, and mission. As we
eagerly and prayerfully anticipate that “he will come again to judge the living
and the dead” and to establish God’s righteous kingdom in fullness and perfection,
we say, “Come Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)
+In Christ+
Pastor Jill
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