His Identity

His birth divided history into two halves- BC & AD. He is the only person whose birth and resurrection continue to be celebrated on a global scale. Ironically, His is the only name used in both worshipping and cursing. He is the most widely known, yet misunderstood person who ever lived. Discovering the real Jesus may be the most important discovery you will ever make.

 THREE TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW

_________________________________________ - “IN CARNIS = IN FLESH”

And Christ became a human being and lived here on earth among us. (John 1:14 – LB)

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. (John 1:14 – CEV)

 Incarnation is the theological term used to describe that Jesus, the Son of God, became a real human being. The incarnation is foundational to everything we believe. The incarnation was Christ’s human birth but it was not His beginning.

____________________________________________________ - “TO EMPTY”

 He emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! (Philippians 2:7 – TPT)

 When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. (Philippians 2:7 – Msg)

 The Greek word for “emptied” is kenoō. When Jesus became a human being, He divested Himself of certain rights as God the Son. This can be seen in three ways. First, He restricted Himself to a human body with all its limitations. He gave up His position when He became a human being. Second, He veiled or hid His glory from the people. Finally, He exercised His relative attributes only by the will of God the Father - never on His own initiative. In kenosis, Christ voluntarily became a servant for those He loved. He willingly stepped off His high throne in heaven to be born in a stable - for the purpose of ultimately going to the cross.

 ________________________ _____________ - (“HYPOSTASIS = NATURE”)

 The Son is the dazzling radiance of God’s splendor, the exact expression of God’s true nature—his mirror image!  (Hebrews 1:3 – TPT)

 He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature. (Hebrews 1:3 – NASB)

This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. (Hebrews 1:3 – Msg)

 Jesus is the most important person who has ever lived since he is the God in human flesh and the Savior of the world. He has two complete natures: one fully human and one fully divine. What the doctrine of the hypostatic union (mysterious though it be) teaches is that these two natures are united in one person in the God-man Jesus Christ. He was 100 percent God and 100 percent man 100 percent of the time. Jesus was not two persons, He was one person. He was not half God and half man, He was both perfect humanity and undiminished deity all at once. These two natures, divine and human are separate yet act as a one in the person of Jesus.

 INCARNATION - KENOSIS - HYPOSTATIC UNION - A FINAL WORD

 For in Christ there is all of God in a human body. (Colossians 2:9 - LB)

While He was on earth  - living as a human being - Jesus ____________________ Himself (He was fully man)

 But Jesus did not  ____________________ Himself (He was fully God)

 LIFE’S ULTIMATE QUESTION - WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS?

 A man who was 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 the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. (C. S. Lewis)