Board index ‹ Jesus

[Astronaut]

I'm an atheist, by the way, and a little confused, since I've read a few different things. Perhaps it's open to interpretation. Is he God in human form? Is he a vessel in which the Holy Spirit(?) resides? Is he a separate entity altogether?

[jimwalton]

Jesus is God in human form. John 1.1: The Word [Jesus] was with God and is God. Also John 10.30. The Bible teaches that Jesus was fully divine: God in every sense: omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, performed miracles, forgave sins, etc.

The Bible also teaches that Jesus was fully human. He had emotions, fatigue, hunger, flesh and blood, etc. He called himself a man (John 8.40). The only part of humanity he did not share with the rest of us was that he was sinless (Hebrews 4.15).

- He has existed forever, and is not created. John 1.1-2. John 8.58 means he always was. Also John 17.5 and Philippians 2.6.
- As a matter of fact, he himself was the Creator of all things (John 1.3; Hebrews 1.2)
- He voluntarily emptied himself to come to earth as a man (Philippians 2.7)
- He was sinless, and therefore perfect (Heb. 4.15). He never offered sacrifices for sin, never prayed for forgiveness, and never did anything wrong.

As C.S. Lewis said, "A man who is merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God."