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Brief Reflections on our Statement of Faith: #3 The Lord Jesus Christ


Article 3. – The Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe that the eternal Son of God became incarnate through the virgin birth, and received a human body and a sinless human nature. He became and remained a perfect man, and yet He retained His absolute deity, and is at the same time very God and very man (Luke 1:30-35; 2:40; John 1:1-18; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 4:15).
We believe that in fulfillment of prophecy He came first to Israel as her Messiah-King, and that being rejected of that nation, He, according to the eternal counsels of God, gave His life as a ransom for many. Jesus Christ died on the cross in our place, for our sins, as our substitute (John 1:11, 29; Acts 2:22-24; Romans 3:23-26; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 21; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 10:5-14; 1 Peter 3:18).
We believe that Jesus Christ literally arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died. The resurrected Christ walked and talked with men and women. His resurrection confirmed the truth of all He said, and it guarantees the redemption and resurrection of all who believe in Him (John 20 & 21; Romans 1:4; 5:8; 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:5-6; 15:20-22; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Ephesians 1:19-22; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
We believe that Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as Head of the Church and as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9-11; John 14:2; Ephesians 1:20-23; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 4:14-16; 6:20; 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2).

Why is it important to believe that Jesus was truly God and truly man? Fundamentally, because were he not both of these things, he could not be our Savior. 

In Romans 5:12 and following, the apostle Paul helps us understand that because it is through a man that sin entered the world, it will only be through a man that sin is dealt with. However, no mere man can pay the penalty for sin. Our own sins are too much for us, and to add the sins of another to our account would make the burden impossible. We need a Savior who is a man, but who is also more than a man. 

And so we read that the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. The eternal Word of the Father came into history as the man Christ Jesus. His divinity, his God-ness, is the real thing. He has always been God and been with God. Yet his humanity is also the real thing. He took on our human weaknesses, and experienced our temptations. But he didn't ever sin. And so, as a sinless man, he was fit to stand in the place of human sinners. But as the God-man, he was also able to take our sins and pay them in full.

 This is what Christians call the Gospel, or the Good News. Jesus died and rose again so that sinners who trust in him may have eternal life. And it is all dependent upon Jesus being truly God and truly man.

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