The Son of Man

2018-01-13

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was completely God, yet He was distinct from God the Father. However, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son Jesus to become a man, and to die for the sins of the world (Galatians 4:4-5). Jesus identified Himself as the Son of Man far more than He did as the Son of God. This essay will discuss the humanity of Jesus.

Passages on the Incarnation

This eternal Son of God became a human being. The Bible tells us that “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

We also read in 1 Timothy 3:16: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” Not only did Jesus become a human being, after He died on the cross and rose again, He was received up into heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father. He will remain there until the Day of Christ, where He will receive His own and judge the world.

Here is a passage in detail:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

Let us look at this a piece at a time:

Jesus was equal with God. He was God, but distinct from God the Father. Philippians 2:6.
Jesus became a servant or no reputation. He voluntarily decided to leave the glory He knew in heaven as the royal Son of God, and made Himself a servant. Philippians 2:7.
Jesus was made in the likeness of men. He became a human being. He always was the Son of God, He always was God, since eternity past. But at a distinct point in history, Jesus decided to become a human being. Philippians 2:7.
Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death. He not only gave His life, but He gave Himself to the violent death of the cross. Philippians 2:8.
Jesus was highly exalted. God the Father exalted His Son because of His obedience. Philippians 2:9.
Jesus was given a name above all names. He once had all the power in heaven, but now risen from the dead, He has been given all power and authority (Matthew 28:18). Philippians 2:9.
Every creature will submit to the Son. Because of this authority He has received, everyone will submit to Him and recognize His authority. Philippians 2:10-11.

Other related passages can be seen in Isaiah 53:1-12 and Daniel 7:13-14.

Jesus as an Infant

Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, and explained what was going to happen:

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 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. (Luke 1:30-35)

Let us look at what is happening here.

Jesus was going to be born as a baby. He was not going to appear as a grown man, as it seems Adam was. He was born as a baby, dependent on His mother. Luke 1:31.
Jesus shall be great. Though He started off as a baby as any ordinary human being, He would become very powerful. Luke 1:32.
Jesus shall be called the Son of the Highest. As an espoused virgin, there would be no human father. Jesus would be the Son of God. Luke 1:32.
God will make Jesus King. He would be the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. Luke 1:32.
Jesus will be king forever. As fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, He would rule forever. Luke 1:33.
Jesus is the Son of a virgin. Mary was never married before, and she was only betrothed to Joseph at this point. Jesus was going to be born before the marriage was consummated. Luke 1:34.
The Holy Spirit will miraculously cause this to happen.
Jesus will be the Son of God. Jesus already was the Son of God from eternity past, but now, even as a human being, Jesus’ Father is God.

The Baptism of Jesus

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:11-17)

Baptism is discussed at length elsewhere, but the summary of the matter is that baptism is an association or an identification. Jesus had already become a human being; now He was identifying with the human race, and would minister to them over the next few years. As water baptism for the Christian is a picture of the spiritual baptism we received, Jesus’ water baptism is a picture of His incarnation. Let us look at the event:

Jesus is a baptizer of the Holy Ghost and fire. John the Baptist may have been baptizing with water (a picture and foreshadowing of what was to come), but Jesus was going to do the real baptism: saving sinful men and setting them apart as His own. Matthew 3:11.
John the Baptist would not baptize Jesus at first. John rightfully recognized Jesus as the Christ, but did not understand why Jesus would seek John’s baptism. Matthew 3:14.
Jesus’ baptism was related to fulfilling all righteousness. This baptism was the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. He is the fulfillment of everything John the Baptist had preached. Matthew 3:15.
God the Father declared to the world that Jesus was His Son. Jesus had done everything His Father had commanded Him, and was pleased. Matthew 3:17.
Jesus received the Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost was upon Jesus at this momentous event, at the beginning His ministry. He would be the first to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, for He would be the one who would be baptizing with the Spirit in the years to come. Matthew 3:17.

Limited Himself

As a human being, Jesus limited some of his attributes while on this earth. We already saw how He became a suffering servant for our sakes. Take for example, this Scripture:

But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. (Mark 13:32)

This day and hour pertains to the Day of Christ, when Jesus Himself would return to the earth to rescue His people. Notice how He says that even He does not know when the day would be. Therefore, His omniscience was not fully what it was, so He could not tell the disciples when the Day would come. However, we know that when He was risen from the dead, He said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). I believe at this point He had all omniscience and all power as the Son of God with power (Romans 1:4).

We also read the following:

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. (Luke 2:40)

...and...

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. (Luke 2:52)

We see that Jesus grew from being a baby, to be a boy, and then to be a man. As a boy of twelve years old, we see that He very much increased in wisdom, as He was reasoning with the doctors of the law in the temple (Luke 2:46-47).

Conclusion

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a human being. As a human being, He could redeem humanity from the bondage of sin, Satan, death, and hell. He was completely God and completely man at the same time. He entered into our experience because He loved us, and wanted to rescue us from our low estate.