Again, some may wonder if this really matters. It sure does! These are claims made by Jesus, and everyone who comes in contact with Jesus is faced with the validity of these claims. He is either a big liar, or He is telling the truth. If He is telling the truth, then both have to be true. So what is the truth? Can Jesus be both God and Man? Let’s see what the Bible says.
First, we’ll look at what God’s word says about Christ’s divinity. According to John 1:1–4, 14, John says that Jesus is the Word, the One who was in the beginning with God, and was God. All things were created through Him. We read a similar passage in Hebrews 1:1–3, 8, 9—which not only calls Jesus God, but says He is “the exact imprint of his nature.” In Titus 2:13 Paul says, “We wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” And again in Romans 9:5, Paul says that Christ is “God over all.”
The Bible says that Jesus was there from the beginning, He created the universe, and He would be worshipped. He would be called Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6). Every characteristic of God is given to Jesus. He did many miracles. He cast out demons. He healed the sick. He forgave sins, something only God could do. Because He is the Son of God. The centurion knew it when Jesus died on the cross (Matt 27:54). The demons knew it when Christ arrived to cast them out (Mark 5:7). Satan knew it when he tempted Him in the wilderness (Matt 4:3, 6). John the Baptist knew it when the Lamb of God came to be baptized (John 1:34). God announced it to the world when His Beloved came up out of the water, by saying, “This is my son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). Yes, the Bible is plain: Jesus is the Son of God. He is God.
What about Christ’s Humanity? He’s God, but is He also man? Back in our first text, John 1:14, it says that the Word (Jesus, God) became flesh. In order to become flesh He would have had to be born. Entering this world as an infant. And the prophet Isaiah told us that He would be called Immanuel or God with us (Isaiah 7:14). The Son of God with us. Galatians 4:4 says that “when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law…” And Luke 2:52 tells us that he grew in wisdom and in stature.
According to Paul in Galatians, He was also born under the same rules as we are. He didn’t get a break for being “the Son.” He was under the same Laws of God and the same laws of nature. He had the same fears and hopes and the same ups and downs that we do. He felt hunger pains (Matt. 4:2) and the grief of a friend’s death (John 11:35). He was tempted with power and greed and doubt (Matt 4:1–11)—without falling. Jesus became thirsty (John 19:28). He became sleepy (Matt 8:24). He laughed and cried. He also suffered and was bruised when He was hit. He bled when His skin was pierced. He died when He was murdered—on the cross. Because He is the Son of Man. In Hebrews it says that He is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. It was important to Him to become like us in every way (Hebrews 2:14–18). And while the Bible may not list every temptation that Jesus endured, it does say that He was temped in every way that we are (Hebrews 4:15). That is what makes Him sympathetic to us. He knows because He lived it. Again the Bible is clear: Jesus is the Son of Man. He is man.
The Bible teaches Jesus as both the Son of God and the Son of Man, and it is the perfect combination of these two that gives us hope. We must not forget this because our salvation is counting on both of these to be true.
Jesus has to be God. Humanity in itself cannot save itself from sin. We are filthy with sin, and like the leopard we cannot change our spots—our reward is death. Neither could the angels come to save us because they too are created. It had to be the Creator. The One who loves His creation so much that He’d give up His own life for them—even if they hated Him. Furthermore, there’s only One who could conquer death: the Author of Life. The Great I AM. Any other sacrifice is worthless, because it needed to be the Son of God on that tree. Jesus has to be God, and He Is.
God’s plan required Jesus to be more than God though. The creator had to become one with His created—one of His created. In order to save us from our sins, He had to live what we should have lived and die what we should have died. He shared in our suffering so we would be able to share in His joy. He had to sweat, to cry, to laugh, to walk, to feel, to hurt, to bruise, and to bleed. For it is by His stripes that we are healed. It is His blood that covers our sins. It is His death that redeems us. He had to take our place, because it needed to be the Son of Man on that tree. Jesus has to be man, and He Is.
The Son of Man’s hands were nailed to the cross, the Son of God’s love held Him there.
The Son of Man’s body was broken by the cross, the Son of God’s heart was broken by our sin.
The Son of Man’s blood was spilled for your sins, the Son of God’s blood was spilled for your redemption.
He is the Son of Man to understand you, He is the Son of God to save you.
Yes, Jesus is both God and Man. This is why He loves us like He does. This is why He would die for us while we are still sinners. This is why the Gospel can proclaim: “For God so love the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Praise God, Jesus is the Son—of God and of Man!