Christ was one hundred percent man. This is something that we forget about and often ignore. Yet to deny this doctrine, is just as serious as to deny the deity of Christ.
The Hypostatic Union is the doctrine that Christ has two full natures. He is one hundred percent man or the Son of Man, and one hundred percent God or the Son of God. The virgin birth made this possible.
The reason for Christ’s coming was for the redemption of sinful man. Just after Adam’s fall into sin, God covered Adam with animal skins, a picture of Christ’s death covering the sins of believers.
I want you to consider this truth for a moment. God, the creator of all things, and in full control of His creation, took on a human body and lived with man. Why? The Psalmist asked it this way: “What is man, that thou are mindful of him?” Christ emptied himself of the outward form of Deity, taking on the limitations of the human body.
How deeply have you thought about this? This would mean that all the simple things that came with growing up as human, Christ had placed Himself under and endured even to the moment of the death of this body.
If you have children, you know well about getting up in the middle of the night to change a diaper. Christ had placed Himself in such a situation, that He too must be cared for as a baby. The God of this world, had to be carried by a human in order to be mobile. Christ ‘s voice box had to be trained, just as ours, in order to speak. He had to train His legs to walk. He became hungry and had to eat.
As Christ grew, while walking for miles up and down hills, He would get tired. Each night He had to rest His body. Each day, He would thirst. But again we must ask why?
Cur Deus Homo?
The statement above is from the name of Anselm’s theological masterpiece. It means “Why God Man?” Why indeed.
1) He Came to Reveal God to Man.
The Incarnation of the Son of God unites earth to heaven. God’s greatest revelation of Himself to man is in Jesus Christ. Revelation is the disclosure of truth previously unknown. All of what God had to say to mankind was found in Christ His Son.
2) He Came to Reveal Man.
Jesus Christ reveals man to himself. He shows us what we are and what we may become. He shows us the meaning of life and our need for salvation.
3) He Came to Restrain Satan.
The purpose of the Incarnation is further revealed in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Three verses, linked together, assert that the coming of Jesus Christ was to destroy the devil.
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man . . . Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same [flesh and blood]; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:9, 14, 15).
Did God have to do these things? No! God was under no obligation to redeem man. But in grace and mercy and the pleasure of His will, He saw fit to do so.
And What did Man Do?
Man spat in His face...beat Him... struck Him with the palms of their hands. They demanded Jesus be scourged. They mocked Christ and put a scarlet robe on Him laughing at His Royal Deity. They took and twisted a crown of thorns with thorns up to six inches long and put it on His head.
They scourged Christ, making his back open with deep cuts. They lined the path of the Via Delarosa, the way to Christ's place of Crucifixion, in order to mock Him as he walked by. They demanded Christ carry His own cross of death. 300 pounds of wood fell on Him as man watched Him and laughed. The rough wood of the beam gouged into the lacerate skin and muscles of the shoulders.
They placed nails in Christ hands, and feet. They gave Him vinegar when He asked for a drink. They placed a sword in His side.
And What did Christ do?
With all the power of God still within Him, would He lift the limitations He had placed Himself under as a human and show these men that He indeed was God? The God of this world, how did he react?
On the Cross He said..
“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”
Once we get beyond the unbelievable forgiving spirit found here, we must consider this phrase. “for they know not what they do”. This does not mean that the enemies of Christ were ignorant. They knew full well that they had cried out “Crucify him”. Yet it is clear, they did not know or understand He was indeed God.
The thought is still much greater than the above meaning. They did not know, for they nailed Him there, hoping to get rid of the One that showed them who they were. Christ’s body did die that day. In doing so, they had fulfilled the main reason Christ came. Christ’s redeeming power came in His death. Christ came to save sinners, and sinners wanting their sins rather then salvation, placed Christ on a cross that brought about salvation.
Wow. That is a powerful thought.
“Father, forgive them”
This was not just a statement to the ones nailing Him to the cross for the actions they were involved with. This statement was much greater. The believer’s sins were forgiven on the cross.
Christ said it Himself. “It is finished”
What was finished? Gods salvation plan was now complete in the death of Christ.
Arthur W Pink wrote:
“The Lord Jesus was crucified at mid-day, and in the light of Calvary everything was revealed in its true character. There the very nature of things was fully and finally exhibited. The depravity of the human heart, its hatred of God, its base ingratitude, its loving of darkness rather than light, its preference of a murderer for the Prince of life, was fearfully displayed.”
One must then ask, do you too, choose your sins over God’s salvation plan? Do you join the ones that mock His death? Do you laugh at God’s ways and demand that He prove He is God? Do you know not what you are doing with such actions?
May God forgive you.