In chapter 5 of “Knowing God,” J.I. Packer presents a wonderful explanation of the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ. Two statements summarize his exposition of the Bible’s teaching on this all-important subject:
1. The baby born at Bethlehem was God.
2. The baby born at Bethlehem was God made man.
Make no mistake, Jesus, God from all eternity, became a man. This is the teaching of Scripture in passages such as John 1:1-18, which Packer unpacks (no pun intended) with his unique combination of clarity and conviction.
John 1:14 is one of the clearest verses in the Bible on the deity and humanity of Christ. “The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The Apostle John has already told us that “The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then the Word became flesh. God became man. This is the glorious mystery of the incarnation and the foundational truth of biblical Christianity. This is what distinguishes our faith from every other believe system on the planet.
If you do not believe that Jesus is both God and man, please do not consider yourself a Christian.
I recall when Mitt Romney was running for president. People would ask me, “Are you going to vote for him? At least he’s a Mormon.” I cringed at the implications of statements like this. If a person holds to the teachings of Mormonism, he does not believe that Jesus is God, because Mormons do not believe in the deity of Christ.
It seems to me that many professing Christians are clueless about the beliefs of many religious organizations that do not subscribe to the Bible’s teaching that Jesus is God in a human body. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Baha’i – all these folks have a place for Jesus in their theology, but they all fail to accept His divinity.
I’ve written about the deity of Jesus on this blog repeatedly. I love this doctrine, because I love Jesus and I want to do everything I can to proclaim the truth of His identity. The world needs to know the Bible’s answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?” And God has given us the responsibility to lead people to see the real Jesus, the Jesus of Scripture.
Please take the time to read these articles to make sure you understand the meaning and significance of this all-important teaching: when the Bible refers to Jesus as “the Son of God,” it means that He is “God the Son.” Your eternal destiny depends on whether you understand, believe and embrace this essential teaching.
“Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God . . . He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:5, 12)
Who Is Jesus?
https://godwrotethebook.com/basic-bible-doctrine-who-is-jesus/
Who Says Jesus Is God?
https://godwrotethebook.com/jesus-is-god-mark-1/
How Do We Know Jesus Is God?
https://godwrotethebook.com/evidence-jesus-is-god/
NOTE: This is one of a serious of posts on the book “Knowing God” by J.I. Packer. For details on how to join me, blogger Tim Challies and hundreds of other Christians on this journey, click here. To read the other posts in this series, click here.
- Am I Really A Christian? (Part 4) - November 13, 2024
- The Greatest Knowledge of All - November 8, 2024
- How to Pray Like David (Volume 3) - October 30, 2024
