Uniqueness of Christianity III

A continuation of the articles by Jennyn Herrera…

The Incarnation of Christ 

The incarnation of Christ is also unique.  Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, and is God incarnate (John 1:1-14).  The Bible shows that Jesus Christ is 100% God and Man at the same time.  John 1:1-14 reads,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.  He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.  He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

 John 1 describes how Jesus came to Earth and tabernacled among us.  John 5:18 reads,

“For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” 

Jesus states, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” in John 8:58, equating Himself to I AM, Whom had spoken to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).  Jesus also says, “I and the Father are one” in John 10:30.  Describing Thomas’ post-resurrection encounter with Jesus, John 20:27-28 states, “Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.’  Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” David MacLeod writes, “Jesus Christ is truly God in His own person.  This fourth assertion about the Son’s superiority is that He is the ‘exact representation of His nature’” (David MacLeod, page 11).  It is an amazing mystery, but Jesus is in fact God incarnate.  As C.H. Spurgeon so beautifully says, “He was perfectly man, yet he was infinitely God” (Charles H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Sermon, No. 1835, “The Man Christ Jesus”, page 6). 

The virgin birth was essential in regard to the Christ taking on human flesh, but at the same time being full Deity.  Matthew 1:21 says, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”  In regard to the virgin birth, in Luke 1:31-35, the angel Gabriel tells Mary,

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.  Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’  The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”                          

                                                                                                 

The Gospel Record and the Book of Hebrews 

The Bible also records people worshipping Jesus.  In Matthew 28:9,17 and Luke 24:52, the disciples worship Jesus after He rose from the dead.  In John 9:38, the blind man whom Jesus, healed worships Him.  Matthew 2:1-12 tells how the wise men searched for Christ, and when they found Him, they worshipped Him and presented him with gifts. 

Jesus performed many miracles.  He healed the leprous, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, He could read men’s thoughts, and He knew everything that they would do in the future.  In addition, while all other “gods” and religious leaders in history wanted people to have lofty positions, the Son of God, who was God incarnate, was born in a manger and laid aside His privileges as God.  Philippians chapter 2 discusses how Christ humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death on a cross.  This fact is very unique of religion leaders.

Jesus Christ is the only religious founder in history to die and rise again.  Buddha, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, and the like, all died and never came back from the dead.  Yet Jesus prophesized His death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21) and His resurrection proved that He was God, that everything He said on Earth was true, and that God accepted His sacrifice for sin.  Jesus said in John 10:17-18, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.  No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative.  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Speaking to the men on the road to Emmaus, Jesus said to them, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”  The angels present at the tomb told the women, “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” in Luke 24:6-7.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”.  Matthew 16:21 also states, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”

            Hebrews 1:3 reads, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.  When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”.  As David MacLeod says in his article, “God’s Son is the final agent of revelation. He can say no more, and people must respond believingly to God’s final message in Christ” (David MacLeod, page 20).  He goes on to say, “Jesus Christ, who is the Lord over history, who manifests the divine nature, who embodies the divine essence, who governs the universe-He is the one who has effectively dealt with the sin barrier” (David MacLeod, page 21). 

 Jesus is our “representative towards God and God’s representative to them [man]” (Spurgeon, page 2). Christ is a priest in the order of Melchizedek “so that all kings in Abraham, and all priests in Abraham, did homage unto this man, who, as king and priest, was owned to be supreme” (Spurgeon, page 2).  “If Melchizedek was so great, how much greater is the man whom Melchizedek represents!” (Spurgeon, page 3).  As Spurgeon aptly says, “Consider how great this man was and is, and is to be; even the Man Christ Jesus” (Spurgeon, page 3).