Pastor Mills Blog

The Foundation Series – DOCTRINE - Lesson 5

There are three things that define the true Church:
1. Apostolic Doctrine
2. Pentecostal Experience
3. Christian Lifestyle



“The Dual Nature of Jesus Christ”

(Matthew 1:18-25/ KJV) says, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS .”

(Galatians 4:4-5/ KJV) says, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”


Lesson 4 affirmed that Jesus IS God! In this lesson we’ll discuss the other side of Christ’s dual nature—His humanity. The scriptures we just read describe what we call the Incarnation, which is the act of God in coming among men as a man, manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. Before Jesus was born with His human nature He was the invisible God. At His incarnation God took upon Himself the likeness of men. He assumed human nature at His incarnation but did not cease to be God.

This explains the Jesus of the Bible fully and comprehensively. All we have to do when we read our Bibles is to keep in mind this simple thought: Is Jesus acting as a man now or is He acting as God? Is Jesus speaking as a man here or is He speaking as God?—because He was both God and man. In Him deity and humanity were fused but NOT confused! He could speak from two separate standpoints. He could talk as Almighty God or he could talk as human. He could act as Almighty God or He could act as a human. We refer to this as “The Dual Nature of Jesus Christ.”

From the Bible we see that Jesus Christ had two distinct natures in a way that no other human being has ever had. One nature is human or fleshly; the other is divine or Spirit. Jesus was both fully man and fully God. The key to an understanding of the Godhead teaching is “The Dual Nature of Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Christ is both God and man! He is the one God incarnate. Jesus Christ is the image of Invisible God, God manifested in flesh, our God and Savior, and the express image of God’s own person.


“Son of God”

What is the significance of the title “Son of God?” It emphasized the divine nature of Jesus and the fact of His virgin birth. He is the Son of God because He was conceived by the Spirit of God, making God literally His father.

(Luke 1:35/ KJV) says, “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

In other words, the title “Son of God” recognizes the humanity while calling attention to the deity of Jesus. It means God has manifested Himself in flesh!

Jesus is the Son of God in the sense that no other being is or can be, for Jesus is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). He is the only One ever conceived or begotten by the Spirit of God. Therefore, His unique Sonship attests to His deity. He was called a “son” because He was God’s offspring. He was NOT an eternal son, or a created son, but a “begotten” son.

Jesus was not just a man who was anointed by God, but possessed a dual nature, enabling Him to live, function, and speak as a man, but also to act and speak as God. Since he was God manifested in the flesh, He could truthfully say things like, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30) or that “the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (John 14:10-11).

Jesus Himself said He was the Son of God (Matthew 27:43; John 3:18; John 10:36), the devils recognized Him as the Son of God (Matthew 8:29, Mark 3:11), His disciples referred to Him as the Son of God (Matthew 14:33), the Romans called Him the Son of God (Matthew 27:54), and the apostles preached Him as the Son of God (Acts 9:20; Romans 1:4; 2 Corinthians 1:19).



“Son of Man”

The term “Son of man” draws attention primarily to the humanity of Jesus; it alludes that He is the offspring of mankind. Jesus applied the term “Son of man” to Himself many times. In most instances, He used it as a synonym for “I” or as a title emphasizing His humanity. The title “Son” serves to remind us that Jesus really was a man.

Belief in Christ’s humanity is essential to salvation. (1 John 4:2-3, 9-15/ KJV) says, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world…

9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.”

If God did not truly come in the flesh, then there is no blood for remission of sin, no sacrifice of atonement. The very purpose of the Incarnation was to provide a holy man to mediate between holy God and sinful mankind.


Closing

It is necessary to distinguish clearly between the deity and the humanity of Jesus Christ. While Jesus was both God and man at the same time, sometimes He acted from the human viewpoint and sometimes from the divine viewpoint. As Father, He sometimes spoke from His divine nature; as Son He sometimes spoke from His human nature. Only as a man could Jesus be born, grow, be tempted by the devil, hunger, thirst, become weary, sleep, pray, be beaten, die, not know all things, not have all power, be inferior to God, and be a servant. Only as God could He exist from eternity, be unchanging, cast out devils by His own authority, be the bread of life, give living water, give spiritual rest, calm the storm, answer prayer, heal the sick, raise His body from death, forgive sin, know all things, have all power, be identified as God, and be King of kings.

“The Dual Nature of Jesus Christ” is the only thing that explains how he could sleep in the midst of the storm as a result of His humanity, yet calm the storm with three simple word as a result of His deity! His “dual nature” is the only explanation for how he could weep, being a man at the reality that his friend Lazarus had died, while as God, He could stand outside the tomb where Lazarus was buried and raise him back to life!

Although we must distinguish between the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, it is IMPOSSIBLE to separate the two in Jesus Christ. The Father united with humanity to form one being—Jesus Christ, the Godhead incarnate. While on earth Jesus was fully God, not merely an anointed man. At the same time, He was fully man, not just an appearance of man. He possessed the unlimited power, authority, and character of God.

We can identify four major themes in the biblical description of the Incarnation:
1. the absolute and complete deity of Jesus Christ
2. the perfect, sinless humanity of Jesus Christ
3. the clear distinction between the humanity and the deity of Jesus Christ
4. the inseparable union of deity and humanity in Jesus Christ