![]() The reason we, as humans, sin is because “we are guilty as sinners in Adam” 7 (Romans 5:12, 19 1 Corinthians 15:22). Moreover, the incarnation and virgin conception of Jesus Christ shows sin not to be essential to being human. Adam became a sinner because he broke God’s Law (Romans 5:12 c.f. It is important to keep in mind that being human does not make one sinful as “sin is not an essential component of human nature.” 5 We must remember that God created Adam at the beginning of creation as sinless (Ecclesiastes 7:29) 6 and with the capacity not to sin. In his humanity, Jesus was subject to everything that humans are subject to, such as tiredness, hunger, and temptation but does this mean that like all humans He was subject to sin? The incarnation and virgin conception of Jesus Christ shows sin not to be essential to being human. Jesus became our sympathetic High Priest (Hebrews 2:18, 4:15) who now stands before the Father as our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus did this so that His righteousness could be transferred to those who put their faith in Him for the forgiveness of sins (2 Corinthians 5:21 Philippians 3:9).Īlthough God provided an atonement for Adam’s sin through an animal sacrifice in the garden (Genesis 3:21), 4 the blood of animals is ultimately insufficient to deal with sin, (Hebrews 10:4) which is why Jesus, the Last Adam, gave Himself as a sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 2:17, 9:11–14). Jesus had to do what Adam failed to do in order to fulfil the required sinless life of perfection. Jesus, the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), came to succeed where the first Adam had failed in keeping the law of God. While on earth, Christ did the Father’s will (John 5:30) by taking specific actions, teaching, working miracles, and obeying the Law in order to “fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Jesus did not live for approximately 33 years for no reason. If all Jesus had to do was to die for us, then He could have descended from heaven on Good Friday, gone straight to the Cross, risen from the dead, and ascended back into heaven. Jesus not only died for us, He also lived for us. ![]() However in focusing on the death of Christ, we often neglect the teaching that Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father (John 8:29). Much of Christian teaching focuses, rightly, on the death of Jesus. We often neglect the teaching that Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father. Just as a man brought sin and death into the world, it needed to be removed by a man. This is because sin came into the world through a man, Adam, and therefore all people have sinned by the fact that they are in him (Romans 5:12 1 Corinthians 15:22). The fact that He was to be called holy ( Luke 1:35, ESV) indicates that He was free from sin-something that no other human can claim (Psalm 51:5 1 Kings 8:46). The openings of the Gospels clearly teach the unique virgin conception 3 of Jesus (Matthew 1:23 Luke 1:26–31). However, the question we need to ask is why did Jesus take on a human nature? Why Was It Necessary for Jesus to Take on Humanity? ![]() 2 Jesus will in fact be the God-man forever (Matthew 26:29 Luke 24:39–43 Acts 1:11 1 Timothy 2:5). The belief that Jesus is both fully God and fully man is also known as the Hypostatic Union. 1 Yet, it tells us that Jesus was also fully human: Jesus was wrapped in ordinary infant clothing (Luke 2:7), grew in wisdom as a child (Luke 2:40, 52), was weary (John 4:6), was hungry (Matthew 4:4), was thirsty (John 19:28), was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–11), was sorrowful (Matthew 26:38a), and after His Resurrection He still had a human body (Luke 24:39).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |