Jesus' Human Nature

[phipps]

Was Jesus born with a fallen sinful nature or with a sinless nature?

How important is this subject? The very core of the gospel is rooted in this subject. A misunderstanding of this subject will lead to a misunderstanding of topics such as - Sin, Salvation, Perfection of Character, Keeping of the Commandments, Remnant, Overcoming, Righteousness by Faith, etc. It will affect our eternal destiny.

 

[phipps]

What is the human nature of Jesus Christ?

Hebrews 2:14 says, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”

So Hebrews 2:14 is saying:

(a) Children are partakers of flesh and blood – i.e. all children are born with a fallen sinful nature.

(b). Jesus Christ partook of the same flesh as the children.

(c). The reason Jesus Christ took part of the same nature as children is - that He could die on the cross.

If Jesus took up a sinless nature, He would not be able to die since He would be immortal. In order for Jesus to die on the cross, He had to become mortal. And to become mortal Jesus had to take up the fallen sinful nature that we all partook after Adam and Eve sinned.

 

[phipps]

How did Jesus inherit the fallen sinful nature of man?

Matthew 1:16, “And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.”

Jesus was born from an earthly mother, Mary, and inherited a fallen sinful nature from her and became mortal. But He never inherited His mother’s sinfulness. Similarly, we all inherited a fallen sinful nature from our parents and became mortal, but not their sinfulness.

There was no way Jesus Christ’s humanity would have died on the cross if He had not taken the fallen sinful nature of man and became mortal.

Whose seed did Jesus Christ take on Him as a human being? Was it Adam’s?

No! It was Abraham’s seed. Note what Hebrews 2:16 says, “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.”

Some Christian churches teach original sin which means we are born sinful. That is one of the reasons they have infant baptism (its not biblical). However the Bible tells us that Jesus was born with a fallen sinful nature but He was sinless (Isaiah 53:9, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22, 1 John 3:5). Having a fallen sinful nature doesn't make us sinners. When we sin that's when become sinners and Jesus never sinned.

Other Christian churches teach that Jesus was born in Adam's unfallen nature before He sinned. That means Jesus did not partake the fallen sinful nature of Adam's descendants. That is contrary to Hebrews 2:16 above.

 

[phipps]

Why Human Nature?

Hebrews 2:18, "For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."

Jesus inherited a fallen sinful nature but did not yield to the inherent weaknesses of that nature. Although tempted in all points like we are, He did not respond by a single degree of indulgence to any of those temptations. His life was a constant fortress of invincible spiritual power against the tempter. By relying wholly upon His Father's ever-present strength, He demonstrated the victory that is possible for all mankind.

No one should fear or make an excuse that a sinless life is not possible due to the weakness of human nature because Jesus became one like us in human nature and proved it.

 

[phipps]

Christ overcame in our own nature

Had He not won the victory over Satan in the same nature we have, what encouragement could we draw from His victory? I did not need to be shown that it was possible for Adam not to yield to sin. I already knew that. What I need to know is that I can overcome sin, my nature being what it is.

Satan charged God with requiring something that couldn't be done. The reason fallen man could not produce obedience is clearly described in Romans 8:3-4: " For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

These verses are simplified when we ask a few questions. What could the law not do for us because we were too weak in the flesh to keep it? It could not save us.

Because we could not keep it due to the weakness of the flesh, what did God do? He sent Jesus to obey the law perfectly in the flesh. He condemned sin in the flesh by total victory over it.

What did His victory in the flesh make possible for us? "That the righteousness (just requirement) of the law might be fulfilled in us." It enabled us to obey.

How did His victory in the flesh make it possible for us to obey? By the miracle of conversion, which changes our walk from the flesh to the Spirit. Then Christ in us, through the Spirit, imparts victory over sin to our lives.

These obvious truths point up one of the great problems in holding to the pre-fall human nature of Christ. If His victory over Satan, in the flesh, was for the purpose of enabling me to fulfil the requirements of the law, how could His victory help me at all if it was obtained in some other flesh than mine? Here is where this false doctrine strikes at the beautiful principle of righteousness by faith.

Righteousness by faith is the imputing and imparting of the results of His sinless life and atoning death. It includes both justification and sanctification. He imputes, or credits, to us the merits of His sinless experience to deliver us from the penalty of sin. This is justification. To deliver us from the power of sin, He does not merely reckon us as righteous, but He actually imparts the strength to overcome sin. In either case, He can only bestow upon us what He attained through His own incarnate experience as the Saviour of the world.

Some might claim that since justification only involves an imputing of Christ's sinless record to our account, it could be done in any kind of body. But is that true? The purpose of the incarnation was to redeem fallen man and not sinless man. To do so He had to "condemn sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3). Our sins that proceed from the flesh had to be condemned by Him, and the only way this could be done was to conquer that sinful flesh and submit it to the death of the cross.

Jesus came to take away the sin of the world, as John declared. How could He take away sin that was not even there in the flesh He assumed? To be more precise, how could he "condemn sin in the flesh" in a sinless flesh?

Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20). Why does he further state that we "were baptized into his death" (Romans 6:3)? Every sinner must pass, by faith, through the crucifixion and resurrection experience with Christ. In order to pass from death to life, every one of us must identify with the One who represented us as the second Adam. Our sins were in Him. When He died, we died; and the penalty against our sins was satisfied and exhausted.

Can't you see that He had to carry our own fallen nature to that cross in order to make it possible for our sinful nature to be put to death? Anything less would have failed to satisfy the justice of God. Christ had to surrender condemned humanity to the full wages of sin on that cross in order to make atonement possible for us. Otherwise, we could not identify with Him or be crucified with Him. Obviously, redemption requires that Jesus live and die with the nature of fallen man in order to provide the vital link of justification.

 

[Apheirox]

Good posts, phipps. You could create a blog about these.

 

[AspiringSoul]

Khalil Gibran, a lebanese christian btw, wrote a text called 'Jesus: The son of man'. It was fictional, his own imagination, but it was a fascinating read.

He was such a brilliant writer this guy. I posted his material once on the catholic forum and the fkers banned me. they were by far the most cultish online community ive ever come across. anything outside of their doctrine and ignorance, instant ban. they obv thought khalil gibran was a muslim. knobheads.

 

[phipps]

If Jesus Christ took up a sinless nature like Adam's before the fall, would He be able to die on the CROSS and pay the price for our sins?

No! He would be immortal and not be able to die on the cross. Adam and Eve were immortal before they sinned. After the fall, God told them the punishments they and all humanity would suffer because of sin and death was one of them (Genesis 3:16-19).

In order for Jesus Christ to be able to die on the cross, He had to be mortal. Jesus Christ had to take up the fallen sinful nature of man to be able to become mortal.

 

[phipps]

Was Jesus still Divine even when He was a human being?

Jesus is God. He can never stop being God. He will always be Divine. Philippians 2:5-11 says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Jesus voluntarily assumed human nature. It was His own act, and by His own consent. He clothed His divinity with humanity. He was all the while as God, but He did not appear as God.

One writer wrote, "God sent His Son into the world that divinity clothed with humanity might touch humanity... Though sin had produced a gulf between man and his God, divine benevolence provided a plan to bridge that gulf. The windows of heaven were opened and the showers of heavenly grace in healing streams came to our dark world. Had God given us less we could not have been saved." Our High Calling.

"The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." C.S Lewis.

Paul called it the “mystery of godliness.” “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed in the world, received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).

 

[phipps]

Jesus' life, death, and resurrection were part of the great controversy or war with Satan.

Jesus’ death seemed like Satan’s final victory blow, but Jesus’ resurrection was the triumphal display of victory over Satan. When Adam and Eve sinned, Satan won dominion of this world and his government reigned. As long as the Messiah had not yet come, Satan was an undefeated foe. Satan had hurled every possible cruelty upon Jesus, after which Jesus cried "it is finished," and died. But because Jesus resurrected from the dead, Satan became a defeated foe. The world that Satan once claimed as his has been reclaimed by Jesus.

Jesus is the only one that could redeem us from sin. Jesus is God. Before He lived on Earth, He had lived and worked with the Father in heaven and He loved us (John 1:1-3). When Jesus lived here on Earth, He linked Himself to the human race with ties that will never be broken.

Because of all this, we now can TRULY be God's sons and daughters (Ephesians 1:5-6). That doesn't mean we are mini-gods. It does mean, though, that we are privileged to be viewed by God as though we had never sinned (1 John 3:1).

The most important thing to remember, however, is that Christ’s work is not finished! Just because He died on the cross to accomplish our redemption does not mean that He leaves us on our own. There are perhaps some that would prefer to keep Him as a tragic figure, a good example, or a hero that did a great deed, but that isn’t how it is. We need Him as much now as we ever did. He does not—He cannot—leave us just because He has gained the victory over Satan's hold on Earth and its inhabitants.

Satan, after all, is not yet gone. God promises to strengthen us in all our difficulties. He promises to be with us in the deep waters and fiery trails of life (Isaiah 43:1-2). And He promises to finish the work He started and bring us to a new place where there is no more sin (Philippians 1:6; Revelation 21:4).

Christ's job of atoning for our sin is not yet complete. We have not yet been reconciled with God to the point of Adam and Eve before sin. We don’t yet enjoy the company of God face–to-face in a world of peace with no death, pain, or sorrow. That is still to come. Today Jesus ministers for us in heavenly places, and His work in the heavenly sanctuary is as important as His death on the cross (Hebrews 1:3; 2:16, 17; 4:14-16; 8:1-5; 9:11-28; 10:19-22).

 

[phipps]

Jesus can relate with us because of His human nature.

Hebrews 4:15-16, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Jesus was tempted as we are tempted and so He can relate to every one of us. In fact, Jesus was tempted much greater than we could even think about being tempted. He was totally dependent on the Father because He never used His own divine power in order to overcome. His temptations by definition were far greater than ours could ever be because He is God.

 

[phipps]

‘A merciful and faithful High Priest’

Christ’s work of intercession as our great High Priest is affected by His likeness to us in nature.

Hebrews 2:17-18, "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."

"Jesus is a compassionate Intercessor, a merciful and faithful high priest. He, the Majesty of Heaven! The King of glory can look upon finite man, subject to the temptations of Satan, knowing that He has felt the power of Satan’s wiles." Spalding-Magan Collection, page 113.

 

[AspiringSoul]

If Jesus Christ took up a sinless nature like Adam's before the fall, would He be able to die on the CROSS and pay the price for our sins?

No! He would be immortal and not be able to die on the cross. Adam and Eve were immortal before they sinned. After the fall, God told them the punishments they and all humanity would suffer because of sin and death was one of them (Genesis 3:16-19).

In order for Jesus Christ to be able to die on the cross, He had to be mortal. Jesus Christ had to take up the fallen sinful nature of man to be able to become mortal.

in islam, the 'fallen nature' is just the Nafs aka our carnal nature consisted of our ego, desires and personality blinded by the material illusion.
a practicing muslim has the nafs under control akin to the 'cutting of the flesh' that the circumcision represents. Whilst the common muslim is not under that 'state of ISLAM/SUBMISSION' and hence breaking the laws and therefore considered 'uncircumcised in spirit', Jesus would be 'circumcised in spirit', under the state of submission to the will of God ie Islam. This is why in Isaiah 53, Isaiah 42 etc, the messiah was referred to as God's SLAVE/ABD. So even when you argue that he would have had a 'fallen nature', it is incorrect to confuse this with uncircumcised in heart to circumcised in heart. Both states still involve our carnal nature but are not the same.

 

[phipps]

Living Without Sin

Is it hard for us to believe that Jesus in His humanity could maintain an absolutely pure, sinless mind during His 33 1/2 years in this world? Is it possible for anyone in human flesh, even under the power of God, to reach such a point of victory over sin? The Bible answer is clear: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

This promise is made concerning sinners in the flesh who turn to the delivering power of the gospel. How much more would our blessed Lord, with no acquired propensities for sin, be able to claim His Father's enabling strength to keep from sinning! The Word of God assures us that we may partake of the divine nature of Jesus and have the "mind of Christ." His sinless experience in the flesh is a guarantee that any of us may have the same victory if we will depend upon the Father as He did.

This means that in overcoming sin He had no advantage over us. He fought the enemy in the same nature and by the same spiritual weapons that are available to us. If He had any advantage over other men it was simply that His inherent human nature was never further debilitated by personal indulgence in sin.

Can we equal the perfect pattern of Jesus' sinless life? No. All of us have degraded human nature further by giving way to the flesh. Not only have we brought the curse of death upon ourselves by breaking God's law, but we have also made ourselves more vulnerable to Satan by cooperating with him. Jesus never responded to a single sinful stimulus, and Satan could find nothing in Him. He lived all His life with the surrendered mind and will of the fully sanctified. He committed no sins to be atoned for.

But even though we cannot equal the pattern, we should seek earnestly to reflect that holy life of Jesus as fully as possible. By the grace of God, we may put away every known sin and be perfect in our sphere with no consciousness of cherished wrongdoing.

Does that mean we will be boasting about living without sin? On the contrary, the closer we come to Christ, the more we will sense our unworthiness. Those who attain the standard of Christ will be the last ever to recognize it, much less boast of it. Is it important that God have an obedient people at the end of time that He can point to as a vindication of His character? The Bible reveals that the whole cosmic conflict between God and evil can be traced to Satan's original desire to take God's place and rule the universe. It was his program of false accusation that stirred up rebellion in heaven and alienated a third of the angels. Satan misrepresented God's character and charged the Creator with making unreasonable and impossible demands.

How could the devil be proven wrong? God had to provide a demonstration that would forever silence the adversary. It was a long, painful demonstration that led the mighty Creator God to step down into a human body of fallen man and, within the limits of that nature, to overcome everything Satan could hurl against Him. Had He utilized any divine power to overcome sin that was not available to others in the flesh, Satan would have used it to bolster his claims that no one could keep God's law.

At the cross, Jesus demonstrated to the entire universe that Satan was wrong. He had proven that it was possible, in the flesh, to be obedient through dependence on the Father. The final step of vindication will take place when the character of Christ has been reproduced in that persecuted little remnant that remain faithful through the firestorm of Armageddon and beyond. Long after Satan's knee has bowed to acknowledge the righteousness of God, and eons after he and his followers have tasted the eternal consequences of their sin, the 144,000 will still be bearing witness to the honor and integrity of God's government. As their new song of victory and deliverance is heard by listening angels, unfallen worlds, and the unnumbered multitude of the saints, all will unite in an oratorio of praise, saying, "Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen" (Revelation 7:12).

It is easy to understand why that little group who sing the song of Moses and the Lamb will be so signally honored as they stand nearest to God's throne. It is through their experience that God's character will be vindicated at last.

In summary, we can see how the ancient error of Adam's imputed guilt has led to a chain of related deceptions. The most significant truths of salvation have been cleverly counterfeited. The humanity of Jesus has been denied, the imparted righteousness of Christ has been challenged, and the possibility of victory over sin has been ridiculed. It is only as we recognize the basic falsehood that we can avoid the perversions that follow. May God give us the wisdom to stand firmly upon the word alone and to reject every doctrine that is not rooted in Him.

Link

 

[phipps]

Christ the Second Adam

1 Corinthians 15:22, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

The fall of man filled all heaven with sorrow. . . . The Son of God, heaven’s glorious Commander, was touched with pity for the fallen race. His heart was moved with infinite compassion as the woes of the lost world rose up before Him. But divine love had conceived a plan whereby man might be redeemed. The broken law of God demanded the life of the sinner. In all the universe there was but one who could, in behalf of man, satisfy its claims. Since the divine law is as sacred as God Himself, only one equal with God could make atonement for its transgression. None but Christ could redeem fallen man from the curse of the law, and bring him again into harmony with Heaven. Christ would take upon Himself the guilt and shame of sin– sin so offensive to a holy God that it must separate the Father and His Son. Christ would reach to the depths of misery to rescue the ruined race. . . .

The plan of salvation had been laid before the creation of the earth; . . . yet it was a struggle, even with the King of the universe, to yield up His son to die for the guilty race. . . . Oh, the mystery of redemption! the love of God for a world that did not love Him! . . . Through endless ages immortal minds, seeking to comprehend the mystery of that incomprehensible love, will wonder and adore.

Christ is called the second Adam. In purity and holiness, connected with God and beloved by God, He began where the first Adam began. . . .

Christ was tempted by Satan in a hundredfold severer manner than was Adam, and under circumstances in every way more trying. The deceiver presented himself as an angel of light, but Christ withstood his temptations. He redeemed Adam’s disgraceful fall, and saved the world. . . . He lived the law of God, and honored it in a world of transgression, revealing to the heavenly universe, to Satan, and to all the fallen sons and daughters of Adam that through His grace humanity can keep the law of God. . . .

Christ’s victory was as complete as had been Adam’s failure. So we may resist temptation, and force Satan to depart from us.

Link

 

[phipps]

Conclusion

Satan had made a charge that God’s law was unjust and impossible to obey. Satan tempted Adam to transgress God’s law and sinned against God. Satan then pointed at Adam’s sin as proof that man could not obey God’s law. Satan has since taught that man is born guilty of the original sin of Adam, and therefore man sins because he is born with the guilt of Adam. But this concept is unbiblical.

The Bible teaches that no one is guilty of another’s sin. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ezekiel 18:20). This clearly should settle the concept of original sin.

In disputing Satan’s charge, God responded by “sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). Christ was born in our fallen human nature yet had no sin. The concept of original sin could not be sustained. But instead of Satan conceding defeat, he devised a deception that Christ came in unfallen human nature and hence was not affected by the original sin concept. But this too is unbiblical.

The Bible clearly teaches that Christ was of the same flesh and blood as our fallen nature, and that He could call us His brothers. “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11). Christ could not call us His brothers if He had unfallen nature contrary to our fallen nature, for brothers possess the same nature.

Equally, Christ could not have partaken of the nature of the seed of Abraham if He had unfallen nature. “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God” (Hebrews 2:16). The text clearly teaches that Christ did not have unfallen nature such as of angels nor unfallen nature that Adam had before the fall, but partook fallen nature like that of the seed or children of Abraham. Abraham’s seed had the fallen nature, our human flesh. The only difference is that Christ did not yield to sin.

It is by faith in Christ that we can live without sinning. Christ says, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Understanding this, Paul declared, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). Christ lived in our fallen nature yet did not sin. Christ bids us crucify our old sinful ways and live out His sinless life by faith. Like Paul, we can then declare, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Christ in fallen human nature obeyed God’s law, so that we too could obey and vindicate God’s character against the charge Satan had made. Christ was a living representative of the law. No violation of its holy precepts was found in His life. Looking upon a nation of witnesses who were seeking occasion to condemn Him, He could say unchallenged, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” (John 8:46). What Christ taught, He lived. “I have given you an example,” He said to His disciples, “that ye should do as I have done.” “I have kept My Father’s commandments” (John 13:15; 15:10). Christ lived a perfect life in our fallen nature, so that we too can, by faith in Christ, live a justified perfect life, for “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).

Finally, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).