Series:             Systematic Theology Part 2
Title:               The Person of Christ, Part 1
Purpose:          To examine how Jesus is fully God and fully man, yet one person.
Date:               March 30, 2025
 
I.                The humanity of Christ
A.    Virgin birth
1.     Salvation must come from the Lord - it cannot come through human effort
2.     Allowed humanity and deity in one person - could have had two human parents and then been made divine but we would not have understood it since he would have begun like us
3.     True humanity without inherited sin - sin and guilt come through the human father (Adam) and Jesus had none so He was not born with a sin nature
B.    Human weaknesses and limitations
C.    Sinlessness
D.    Could Jesus have sinned?
E.     Why was Jesus full humanity necessary?
F.     Jesus will be a man forever 
 
II.              The deity of Christ
A.    Direct spiritual claims
B.    Evidence that Jesus possessed attributes of deity
1.     Omnipotent - miracles
2.     Eternity - John 8:58
3.     Omniscience - Mark 2:8 “knew what they were thinking; John 1:48 “I saw you before Philip found you”; John 21:17 “you know everything”
4.     Omnipresence - Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always”
5.     Immortality - John 2:19 “destroy this temple and I will raise it up”
6.     Worthy to be worshipped - Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:6 “let the angels worship Him”
C.    Did Jesus give up some of His divine attributes while of earth?
1.     Kenosis theory - not fully God based on “he emptied himself” verse in Philippians 2
2.     Really means giving up status and privilege, not attributes
D.    Conclusion:  Christ is fully divine - Matthew 1:23; Colossians 1:19
E.     Is the doctrine of the incarnation “unintelligible” today?
1.     Only if we start with assumption that New Testament is not authoritative
2.     Unintelligent only to those who refuse to believe the simply stated facts in the New Testament account of Jesus’ birth
F.     Why was Jesus deity necessary?
1.     Only God could bear full penalty for all the sin of the world
2.     Only God can be a mediator between God and man