Who Is Jesus Christ (Part 2)? The Son of Man

My family and I once attended a Barnes and Noble to look for some books for the children. My eyes glanced up to a display of books that are part of a “Who Was…” series (“Who Is…“when it is written about someone who is still living). Some of the people that these book focus on are Albert Einstein, George Washington, Muhammed Ali, etc. I was surprised to find that they had one titled “Who Was Jesus” (there we go with that “was” thing that I had mentioned in Part 1). My curiosity got the best of me and I skimmed a few pages. I wasn’t surprised to find that this Jesus wasn’t born of the Virgin Mary, nor was He God incarnate (or the “Son of God”), but that He was a “good moral teacher”. The title “Son of Man” would be a more fitting description for those who do not know who Jesus truly is or deny His deity. It is better described as His humility, or Him in the human flesh form. This is when Jesus hungered (Matthew 4:2), thirst (John 19:28), cried (John 11:35), and bled (John 19:34). It can also be viewed as a descriptive form of his humility in that he was born of a woman (“man” as a collective representation of “mankind”) and that He was raised by a man in His earthly father Joseph. Jesus also refers to Himself as the Son of Man in that He was claiming to fulfill prophecy as the Messiah. In Daniel 7:13-14 it says “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” Jesus was essentially saying that He was the one who Daniel prophesied about when He claimed the title the “Son of Man”.

In Part 1 I had briefly touched on the divinity of Jesus with His title “The Son of God”. I had just briefly touched on what it meant when He had called himself the “Son of Man”. However, to grasp these two titles we need to ask the important question: If Jesus is God then why did He come to earth as man? There was once a hit secular song by an artist by the name of Joan Osborne called “One of us”. In the chorus she sings “What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us. Just a stranger on the bus. Tryin' to make his way home.” (Some of you are all like “Oh yeah! I remember that song.”) In reality God did endure being a slob like one of us. He could have chosen to remain in Heaven and enjoy all of His glory and praise. But no. He chose to come here as one of us and endure the same hardships that you and I face. He traded His crown for thorns. His royal robe became a robe of blood. Can you imagine the creator of Heaven and Earth hanging on a cross as folks mocked him? Can you imagine trading praises from the heavenly host for jeers and scorn? Why would anyone do that? Why would any God so chose to be humbled in that way?

Philippians 2:5-7 states “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” (NASB). Jesus chose to set aside His place in Heaven and instead come as a humble man. In doing so He did three things: He showed us who God is, became a High Priest, and became the Lamb who was slain. These three things are very important and they deserve a deeper look.

The Mirror of God

Jesus said in John 14:7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Jesus revealed to us who God is. Studying the life of Jesus we see love, compassion, and mercy as He dealt with the sick and the poor, both physically and spiritually. He didn’t limit himself to just Jews, but even Gentiles (Mark 7:24-30). He said in Mark 2:17 “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” He also showed us righteous anger and judgment as He flipped over tables and chased the money changers out of the temple. We can learn that God too is merciful and desires repentance (2 Peter 3:9), but at the same time will judge those who are living outside of His will, whether saint (Hebrews 12:7-11), or sinner (Matthew 13:41-42).

The High Priest

Hebrews 2:17 states “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” What exactly does this mean? In the Old Covenant the High Priest entered into the Holiest Place in the temple to offer sacrifices for himself, as well as the people of Israel. The most remarkable thing about Jesus is that He was without sin, whereas the High Priest still had to atone for his. “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:14-15). Jesus, in His flesh, felt everything that we do. He walked with nowhere to lay his head. He knew thirst and hunger. He knew ridicule and mockery. He felt pain. He cried. He bled. He died. You get the point. Therefore, as or High Priest, He can have sympathy for what we endure because He endured them too during His pilgrimage here on earth. This He understands as He is our mediator in Heaven before God, as the High Priest was the mediator between God and the people. “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1).

The Lamb Who Was Slain

In 1 Peter 1 it states, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (vv. 18-19). This statement harkens back to the sacrificial lamb that was used by the High Priest during the Day of Atonement. This lamb was to be free of any defects and any spots. In other words, pure and one could say “perfect” for the sacrifice. As I had mentioned earlier from Hebrews 4 that Jesus was without sin. Therefore, He was the perfect sacrifice. Further in Hebrews the author states “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.” (Hebrews 7:25-28).

The verse from Hebrews 7 is a great summary for the point that I am trying to make. Jesus offered up himself as the perfect and final sacrifice. Only the High Priest could do such a thing to intercede for the sins of the people. Jesus acted as the High Priest by offering himself as the final sacrifice to atone for our sins. He continues to act as intercessor through His blood for those who believe on Him. So we see evidence from this verse alone that Jesus was the slain Lamb, as well as the High Priest. But what set him apart from all the other High Priests that His sacrifice was the final one and that God would accept it as that? “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission [of sins]. Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” (Hebrews 9:22-28).

As High Priest He offered a final sacrifice. But it is a sacrifice whose atonement isn’t for once at a set point per year, but is ongoing for everyone who believes and confesses their sins (Romans 10:9), always interceding on our behalf. This He did as the perfect Lamb because He chose to be the sacrifice in our place because we deserve to die instead for our transgressions. But He, as God the Son, chose to die so that we may live.

I may have briefly touched on Jesus’ divinity in Part 1 and the reasons for His becoming the “Son of Man” this time, but honestly I can’t do such a great truth the justice that it deserves while being brief. Next time I will finish this series by exploring the “Name above all Names”.

Walk The Line

In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices (Colossians 3:7-9).

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:1-3).

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:9-11). Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life…(Philippians 2:14-16). Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude 1:24-25).

There are many “diseases” that run rampant in the world of Christianity. Throughout the life of my blog I will touch on some of these “diseases”. But one of the major diseases are Christians who profess to be Christians, but act like heathens. Why do I consider this a disease?

As we all know, a disease begins when something negative permeates something that is positive. When germs enter into an otherwise healthy body, causing sickness. The body then becomes infected with the disease, which can sometimes overwhelm it. Although some diseases can be treated or even cured with medication, some become terminal and death is certain.

I personally know supervisors who belittle and insult the intelligence of their employees; men who curse, tell dirty jokes, and get drunk right before the eyes of their children; women who fornicate with live-in boyfriends; married couples who have an open marriage and knowingly cheat on each other; people who lie and bring drama into their lives for attention; and others who have hearts of hate and spite for one another. All of which publicly profess to be Christians. If this isn’t a disease among the body of Christ, then I don’t know what is.

If you profess to know Christ, shout praises in the streets before men, then turn and live in disobedience to His word by blatantly sinning before the same men, then you are doing nothing more than slapping Jesus in the face over and over again. How can your lips shout His praises, then give way to the devil’s speech? How can you profess that you are His, then give your body to another out of wedlock? How can you be joined to another before Him in marriage, and then have date night with the gifts of Satan? How can you open the gates to recklessness in your life and allow the flood waters to consume you, all the while saying that your life is His and you are saved? How can you say “love thy neighbor”, while your love for your neighbor is as black as death?

Not just is your hypocrisy a death sentence to your soul, but your disease is like a cancer that can spread to the rest of the body of Christ-other Christians. When you say “I am a Christian” and publicly live a life of self gratification, debauchery, and malice, you are saying to new believers, or those who are weak in their walk, that it is OK to live this way. Then they are deceived into thinking that there needs to be no change in their lives if they choose to walk with Christ. No repentance, no sanctifying, no obedience. Nothing. They can live as a member of the body of the world, not of Christ, and all is well. This becomes a stumbling block. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD (Leviticus 19:14).

Also you are helping the anti-Christians and atheists out too. How common do we hear the voices of these groups saying that Christians are hypocrites. You know what you do when you DO live like a hypocrite? You prove them right, weaken the power of The Lord, destroy proof of His existence by making His presence void in your life, and make His hallowed name hollow. Now, I am not talking about hidden sins here. I am not bringing out skeletons in the closet or monsters from under the bed. However, your sins will find you out and your darkness will become public (Numbers 32:23). I am not picking on Christians who are at war with the darkness in their hearts, constantly praying for deliverance with a broken heart. I commend you for fighting. Keep praying and keep the faith. I am talking about people who publicly live in contrast to the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ, while praising His name and professing to know Him personally and intimately. Those who plant the flag of lawlessness right into the ground of righteousness and proudly wave it for all to see. This is what misleads the weaker brother and gives ammunition to the enemy.

As you can tell from the scriptures quoted at the beginning of this post, there is a common theme in the third paragraph. The word “blameless”. Can Christians be perfect? No. But can they live a life that is blameless? Yes. And this is the goal that every Christian needs to strive for. Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree (Mark 14:55-56). “And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." (Luke 23:41).

What do we notice here during Jesus’ trial and crucifixion? No one could find any charges, or blame, against him. The thief knew that Christ had done no wrong. The accusers could not find any blame before Pilate. They just looked at each other saying “I can’t find anything wrong. Can you?”. They eventually had to bring false accusations in order to see Him to the cross. We are to follow Christ. Every Christian has been taught this. I would quote scriptures to back this up, but then this post would become a novel. But how great it would be to stand before God on Judgment Day, and to hear Jesus say on your behalf “Father, I find no charges against him. ‘Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.'(Matthew 25:21)“ You walked blamelessly as your Savior. Now enter The Kingdom. Wow!

However, can you say the same? Or when you stand before God, will Christ say “Although he said ‘Lord, Lord’, I find many charges against him. He and his wife found their love had grown cold. So he failed miserably as the spiritual leader when he allowed Satan to convince them that committing adultery with other married couples would bring their love back” or “She claimed to know your love and truth Father, but this was overshadowed by her slanderous tongue and lies in order to get pity from her loved ones. Many innocent men were proclaimed guilty so that she could get what she wanted” or maybe “How he walked in your light Father! Or did he? As he praised you at one time, another time the devil’s speech came from his lips. Spite, hate, filth. Do I need say more?” And you will say “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” and Jesus will say “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:22-23). What a shame! You knew of Him and heard His truths, yet you chose to slap Him in the face.

When you live like this you don’t walk a line, you straddle it as you walk. One foot on the side of righteousness, the other foot on the side of lawlessness. You will trip over your own stumbling block trying to enter God’s kingdom walking like this, as you see in Matthew 7:22-23. You need to have both feet on the side of righteousness and walk on the path of Christ. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14). I pray that you will ask in prayer: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24). Live blamelessly like Christ, because you never know who is watching and who you may take down with you when you fall. Not just will it be your blood on your hands, but the blood of those who you deceived with your life. That’s too many lives to be accountable for when you stand before God, isn’t it?

I would like to close with the morning May 17th passage from C.H. Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening” daily devotional:
"So to walk even as He walked." --1 John 2:6
Why should Christians imitate Christ? They should do it for their own sakes. If they desire to be in a healthy state of soul--if they would escape the sickness of sin, and enjoy the vigour of growing grace, let Jesus be their model. For their own happiness' sake, if they would drink wine on the lees, well refined; if they would enjoy holy and happy communion with Jesus; if they would be lifted up above the cares and troubles of this world, let them walk even as He walked. There is nothing which can so assist you to walk towards heaven with good speed, as wearing the image of Jesus on your heart to rule all its motions. It is when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are enabled to walk with Jesus in His very footsteps, that you are most happy, and most known to be the sons of God. Peter afar off is both unsafe and uneasy. Next, for religion's sake, strive to be like Jesus. Ah! poor religion, thou hast been sorely shot at by cruel foes, but thou hast not been wounded one-half so dangerously by thy foes as by thy friends. Who made those wounds in the fair hand of Godliness? The professor who used the dagger of hypocrisy. The man who with pretences, enters the fold, being nought but a wolf in sheep's clothing, worries the flock more than the lion outside. There is no weapon half so deadly as a Judas-kiss. Inconsistent professors injure the gospel more than the sneering critic or the infidel. But, especially for Christ's own sake, imitate His example. Christian, lovest thou thy Saviour? Is His name precious to thee? Is His cause dear to thee? Wouldst thou see the kingdoms of the world become His? Is it thy desire that He should be glorified? Art thou longing that souls should be won to Him? If so, imitate Jesus; be an "epistle of Christ, known and read of all men."

Love In Christ!