Part 4 · Deep dive
Who Jesus is
True God and true man: why the identity of Jesus is inseparable from the good news.
Jesus asked His disciples, 'Who do you say I am?' (Matthew 16:15). The answer is not a side issue. If Jesus is not who Scripture says, His death cannot save and His resurrection means nothing for us.
Truly God
John opens: 'In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.' Jesus forgives sins, receives worship, claims the divine name 'I AM', and is called 'my Lord and my God' by Thomas.
Truly human
Jesus was born of Mary, grew, hungered, wept, was tempted, suffered and died. He was like us in every way, except sin. He did not merely appear human; He became one of us.
Why must the Savior be both?
Only a human could stand in humanity's place and die. Only God could defeat death, bear infinite guilt, and give divine life. In Jesus, God and humanity meet in one person, so He is the one mediator between them.
The early church
Athanasius of Alexandria · c. 318 · On the Incarnation 8–9
Taught that the Word took a mortal body so that, dying in our place, He might destroy death and renew humanity from within.
Gregory of Nazianzus · c. 382 · Letter 101
'What He has not assumed He has not healed': Christ took a complete human nature so that the whole person could be saved.
Messiah, Son of God, Lord
Christ (Messiah)The anointed King
The anointed King
'Christ' is a title, not a surname: the anointed one promised to David's line.
Son of ManJesus' favorite self-title
Jesus' favorite self-title
From Daniel 7: one who comes with the clouds to receive an everlasting kingdom.
Lord (Kyrios)The name above every name
The name above every name
The Greek Old Testament uses Kyrios for God's own name. Calling Jesus 'Lord' applies to Him what belongs to God alone (compare Isaiah 45:23 with Philippians 2:10–11).
The church's confession: Nicaea and Chalcedon
When Arius taught that the Son was a created being, the Council of Nicaea (325) confessed Him 'of one substance (homoousios) with the Father'. The Council of Chalcedon (451) confessed one person in two natures, divine and human, 'without confusion, without change, without division, without separation'.
Orthodox, Catholic and the major Protestant traditions all hold these confessions as faithful summaries of Scripture.
Declared Son by the resurrection
The resurrection vindicated Jesus' claims. He was 'shown to be the Son of God when He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit' (Romans 1:4). The one who died for us now lives and reigns.
Key takeaways
- Jesus is fully God and fully human, one person.
- Only the God-man could stand in our place and defeat death.
- The creeds of Nicaea and Chalcedon guard this biblical truth.