Dear RareDesign,
Like you, I'm not exactly sure that this is the correct method for communicating with you, but I'll give it a try.
You are correct that the Bible clearly states that Jesus was a man. Indeed, he was all man. Yet, Jesus was also the Messiah, or the Christ. This role could not be filled by mere man, but by God Himself. Jesus was all man, and all God. This too is made very clear by scriptures found in both the Old Testament and the New.
Jesus Christ was either God or a liar. If a liar, then He was not only not God, but a child of Satan, the Father of Lies. There is not other option. Jesus Himself declared, "I and my Father are one," for which the Pharisees sought to stone Him, for they realized that He made Himself equal with God. This is also confirmed by 1 John 5:7 which reads, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
John 1:1 tells us plainly who the Word is: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." To remove all doubt, God's Word follows up in verse 14 by saying, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
Besides these evidences, God emphatically declares that He alone is the only Savior, and that His Glory He will not share with any other. (Isaiah 42:8, 48:11) Yet, despite this absolute declaration, Jesus is declared as having a name that is above all names, and it is to His name that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess (Romans 14:11, Phillipians 2:10) that He is Lord, and it even says that this would be "to the glory of the Father."
So, if Jesus the Christ is not God, then He cannot be a Savior, which makes Him a liar. (Which He is not, for it is impossible for God to lie.) If Jesus is the Savior, then He must also be God, for God declared that beside Himself there is no Savior. (Isaiah 43:11; Hosea 13:4)
With this in mind, consider all the passages in the New Testament that speak of the Saviour. They freely interchange who is the Saviour, declaring that both God is the Saviour (Luke 1:47; 1 Timothy 2:3, 4:10; Titus 1:3), and that Jesus Christ is the Saviour (Luke 2:11; John 4:42; Acts 5:31; Ephesians 5:23; Phillipians 3:20). So if God has plainly and absolutely declared that there is no Saviour beside Himself, did God lie? God forbid. Jesus Christ is both God and Savior. He is God, in the flesh: Immanuel (lit. - "God with us.")
I hope this helps.
Till Chris Returns,
TigerFX
theology@tigerfx.com
TigerFX,
God did not die. It was a man that died. Jesus was and is a man, whom God raised up, the same as the Sons of God are raised.
(Act 2:32) This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
(Acts 2:36) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
(Act 2:24) Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Can God die? Do you believe in dead diety?
As David prophecied (Act 2:27) Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Jesus knew that it was the Spirit in him that made him who he was:
(Luke 18:19) And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none [is] good, save one, [that is], God.
Let's look at an overview.
In the beginning, there was only one thing, and that was the Word. That Word is God. Whatever God spoke, became. We know that God is a spirit. Spirits and souls are refered to differently. A spirit is an essense of characteristics. God is all that there is. He is the substance of life, for God is life.
God spoke and created all that there is, and formed a man because he wanted interaction from the beginning. This man was made in the image of God, as well as the woman, as the bible states. The image of God, is an eternal spirit with the characteristics of God. That is how we can behold as in a glass, and are changed into that same image.
This first man, fell from communion with God, but God said from the beginning that there will be another. A second Adam. Adam was not God, but he was man. So was Jesus, the second Adam.
This time, God did not want to just walk with man, he wanted to be IN man. By His word, a woman conceived, and God placed His Spirit in Jesus.
This man lived with all temptations as we do, and conquered Death, Hell, and the Grave. Jesus went to Hell, because human acheivement cannot get you to heaven, and all is as filthy rags. Nevertheless, His sin was not His own, and God raised Him up to be both Lord and Christ. Which to this day, Jesus remains the mediator between God and man.
Now, Jesus was the son of man, and the Son of God. The bible says, that as many as are baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. I am crucified with Christ, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. Jesus was the first born among MANY brethren. NOW are WE the Sons of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Verily I say unto you, except a man be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Many have searched the scriptures, and many have not understood.
The bible is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
The spirit of God, which is the Holy Ghost, will lead and guide you in all truth.
I have the spirit of God, which is manifest by speaking in tongues. I am part of the Body of Christ, and when he looks at me, he does not see ME, he sees Jesus, for the head is all that has the identity. (Eph 3:15) Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
I come in the name of Jesus as His body in the present day.
(Eph 4:16) From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
May you find that God did not send His Son to keep you separate, but to be in you, and give you His Spirit, that you carry His name as does the whole family of heaven.
Raredesign
Call me... let's talk about it. 601.544.7273