Why does the Bible teach that Jesus is fully man and fully God? How can this be possible? How can we understand the relationship between God the Father and Jesus? I want to share a simple illustration that I hope would help us to understand this. (I have made a similiar post before but I want to simplify some things here.) Let’s say, the sea represents God. Vast and infinite. Now what if we take a glass and fill it to the brim with the sea water. What do we have? We have a representation of the sea in the glass. The exact same substance, the exact likeness. The glass holds as much of the sea that it possibly can, within it’s frame. That is Jesus. Jesus is the exact representation of God. In Jesus, the fulness of God dwells in bodily form. He was not a man who suddenly became God at birth. Jesus, who is The Word of God, already in existence from the beginning, took on the form of a man. And therefore, He could come to earth. This is why Jesus could say, “I and the Father are one.” Isn’t the substance in the glass the same as the substance of the sea? They’re one. And yet, Jesus also said, “The Father is greater than I.” Well, isn’t the sea greater than the “sea” in the glass? Where is the contradiction that many Muslims allege in these verses? It’s so clear. The glass, like the body of Jesus, is fragile. The body of Jesus is human. It can break. It can bleed. It can die. Jesus, who is the Word of God, limited Himself to such an extent within a human body that He emptied Himself of all His majesty and power and glory and authority that was His from the beginning. But the very presence of God was in Him. That is Jesus. In this way, Jesus is fully man and fully God. God in human flesh. Just like the image of that glass of sea water. The glass is 100% glass. And the substance in it, is 100% sea water. It does not become conjoined material called sea-glass, like some Muslims like to mock Jesus, calling Him god-man. As a man, He can get hungry and He can eat and He can walk and do everything that a human can. Except that He was sinless. This is what many people fail to understand. They question how can God eat and drink? And how God can feel pain and suffer? The answer is simple. Because Jesus’ body is human. With this simple illustration in mind, many so-called “contradictions” become clear. He was one with God, yet separated as a Man on earth. That’s why He could communicate with the Father and pray to Him. But Jesus was also God. As God, Jesus forgave sins. As God, Jesus accepted worship directed to Him. As God, He did and said many things which no one else has ever said or done. As God, He rose again from the dead and will return one day to judge mankind. And as God, He lives forever. No man or messenger dares to say this, but Jesus said: “No one has ever gone into heaven except the One who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” (John 3:13) God said: “I am the First and the Last.” (Isaiah 48:12) Allah said: “I am the First and the Last” (Sura 57:3) No human or angel or prophet or demon would dare to claim this name for himself, but Jesus did. Jesus said: ” I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” (Revelation 1:17-18) matthew2124.wordpress/
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 13:12:27 +0000
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