S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

Jesus Himself understood the speculation about His identity. He asked His disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?' (Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27). The answers varied, as they do today. Then Jesus aske...

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July 01 2013 • 10 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jeremiah Kaaya Supporter Pastor at Springs of Power Church, Teacher by professional

Yes, Jesus is God in the flesh. And this is what is giving multitudes of people trouble to digest. Yet by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it will digest well in you (John 16:13). It is entirely for our own good that we understand who Jesus is. For He already knew who He is and where He is destined to. He thus pitied us if we fail to understand who He is. Whatever then Jesus went through was entirely for us not Him. It thus makes absolutely no sense to grieve at the suffering of Jesus. We only do so out of fleshly thinking. He asked the daughters of Jerusalem not to weep for Him. He had realized they hadn't understood who He was and what His mission had been for (Luke 23:28). Yet to fail to understand Jesus and what His mission had been for is a direct visa and ticket to hell. Jesus is God (God's word dressed in flesh (John 1:1-4)) who put on flesh and allowed to suffer in it for the remission of sin. 

Yet the question is; why is it important that Jesus who is God had to appear in Human flesh? The following could be some of the reasons;

He had come to save the man in the flesh
It was to be Him
It required one with the person of God.

He had come to save the man in the flesh
To save the man in the flesh had to be done by a man in the flesh. For sin came into the world by a man in the flesh (1Cor 15:22). For there was not to be any magic in this. If to say, if I love to put on a clean shirt the only solution is to wash it. Now, how I do that is another matter. The difference though is in the fact that Adam failed to live to His abilities but Jesus did. For Adam failed to apply God's word in real life, but Jesus did.

Why God in flesh?
For the person of man had terribly failed in all. The descendants of Adam had his personality and thereby shared in his sin (John 10:8). As that, a sinful man can't save a sinful man. Enoch had been a righteous man, but it was only enough for him (Heb 11:5). Thus the Savior had to be one with the person of God, but in human flesh so as to save those in the flesh. Thus to say; "....Emmanuel" (God with us) (Isaiah 7:14), (Matt 1:23). Thus Jesus unlike Adam who had come from beneath, came from above with a superior saving personality (1Cor 15:45), (1Cor 15:47), (John 8:23). 

Jesus had to make a literal sacrifice with the actual shedding of blood just as it had been in the Old Testament. For in Jesus are all the sacrifices. Jesus was therefore to appear in flesh so that He is victor over it. For the source of sin are the; pride, desires, and demands of the flesh. But Jesus never succumbed to any of such (John 8:46). We thus assuredly look to Him for victory. Not to cover upon but cleanse away all sin. Thus to say; if Jesus had not appeared in flesh, it would have simply been another piece of magical drama organized and staged by a shrewd drama actor or film star. 

Additionally and most importantly to understand is the fact that the genealogy of Jesus is not of the world, it is of heaven. Thus John understands it better and unlike the other gospel writers, he gives the proper and true genealogy of Jesus (John 1:1-4). Jesus had no earthly father. He therefore never shared in the sin of man. For if only Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, sin wouldn't have come into the world. But when Adam ate, it meant he had succumbed to the devil. For the covenant had been made between God and Adam not Eve. So, Jesus is not of the sinful Adam but of God. Only His righteousness can lead us to the Father (2Cor 5:21). Jesus was therefore both; man and God Himself.

To put it literally, you know that your carrier job or assignment will dictate how you prepare and dress up for the job. For example, if I work in an animal farm, I can't dress like a doctor, lawyer, cook, judge etc. This is what I am trying to say; a professional cook is to dress like so. Will a cook dress like a judge? Jesus appeared in flesh because the mission He had come to execute required that He does so. For Jesus came to save (Luke 19:9).

February 18 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Andre Washington Supporter

It occurs to me that in order to affirm that one is a Christian is to know, not just by reading the Bible and believing what it says, but more importantly by having an experience of that truth, such as Paul did (Acts 9:3-8). I don't mean to suggest that you must be knocked down and blinded before you can become a Christian. But when you hear the word of God and have a change of heart AND mind, you may claim to be such a one. But you will find that when you are truly converted, you will begin to see life differently. You will experience a sort of resurrection of a mortified soul to a new way of living--to The Way.

May 27 2019 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Shirley H Supporter Wife, mother, veteran in the spiritual war we all face!

As S. Michael stated in Matthew 16:16, Peter declares that Jesus is God in the flesh. Why is that important for us to know?

It is important, because we understand that He has experienced what it is to be human. He suffered, he felt grief, He can relate to our emotions. He bled. He cried. He loved. He felt compassion. He got dirty...etc. Etc. He knows...

In this way, we can relate to Him. At the same time, we can experience wonder and mystery all together.

February 22 2021 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Justin Hale Supporter

The Bible describes two types of 'material bodies' in detail in 1 Corinthians 15:42-49. Jesus demonstrated both for us during His time here among us.

The first type of 'material body' is the only one also called 'flesh and blood.' Scripture says that Jesus 'appeared' into our reality as a man, (1 John 1:2, 1 Peter 1:20), using natural childbirth as the 'medium' of this divine appearance. Jesus was not 'created' during a procreative act, but He was real 'flesh and blood' just as we are.

Thus Jesus began His demonstration of the first 'type' of material body called 'psychikos soma,' (Biblical Greek: literally, 'soul-based body'). This is usually translated 'natural body.' The 'soul-based body' is weak and frail, prone to disease and decay and fully mortal. In order for Jesus to 'legally' represent us as a 'race,' He HAD to come to us in this manner. This gave Him the divine title 'Son of Man,' which also came with the power to 'judge' us as a race, (John 5:27), as well as 'forgive our sins' (Matthew 9:6). 

After completing His sacred work as the 'Son of Man,' Jesus succumbed to death upon the cross and was 'resurrected' into the 'other' kind of material body called 'pneumatikos soma,' (Biblical Greek: literally, 'spirit-based body'). This is usually translated 'spiritual body.' 

How do we know that this is also a 'material' body? Jesus demonstrated its capabilities for us over a forty day period after His resurrection. You will find this near the end of the gospel narratives as well as in the book of Acts. Jesus demonstrated a type of body that still retained its 'touchable scars,' (preserved as a reminder of His holy work as our Redeemer, the 'Lamb of GOD'), was capable of eating and drinking, but was also capable of concealing Himself in plain view, traveling at great speeds to other locations, passing through solid objects and reappearing in material form. 

This is the type of 'material body' we will each be similarly 'resurrected' into before the next 'age of mankind' begins. It is powerful, swift, incorruptible, indestructible and immortal. The conditions of that age do not sound 'survivable' to anyone who still has the 'flesh and blood' body of the 'first Adam.' 

As a race, this is the future of 'mankind' and our Lord, (the 'last Adam' or 'consummate Adam'), will have the title 'Son of GOD' and with it the legal power to 'resurrect' us into these new bodies just as He was by GOD the Father, (John 5:25). 

Unless Jesus first came to us as 'flesh and blood,' NONE of this would be possible, which is why we can always tell the Holy Spirit of Jesus from the 'spirit of antichrist' (the only other available 'option' of human inspiration now), by its insistence that 'Jesus' either came to us in some other 'superior' or 'non-material' form,' or not at all, and is nothing but a work of human fiction, (2 John 1:7). 

Don't allow yourself to be deceived by either.

February 24 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report