Study 3: Jesus Christ
Everything in Christianity stands or falls with the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are wrong about Him, we are wrong at the very centre. This study asks who He is, why He had to come, and why He is not merely an important figure in the Christian faith, but the only sufficient Saviour of sinners.
Many people speak warmly of Jesus while holding a much smaller view of Him than Scripture gives. Some think of Him only as a teacher. Some as an example. Some as a helper added to our own efforts. But the Bible presents Him far more gloriously. He is the eternal Son of God, truly man and truly God, the promised Christ, and the only mediator between God and men.
Before you begin
We do not come to this study as spectators. The question of who Christ is reaches into our guilt, our fears, our hopes, and our eternity. If He is merely a creature, He cannot save us. If He is not truly man, He cannot stand in our place. If He is both God and man in one person, then here at last is a Saviour great enough for our ruin and near enough for our need.
This is why the church has guarded the truth of Christ so carefully. To lose Christ is to lose the gospel. To see Him truly is to begin to understand why the Christian faith is good news indeed.
This study at a glance
Jesus is God the Son
He is not a created being, but fully divine, sharing the same divine nature as the Father.
Jesus is fully man
He took to Himself a true human nature, yet without sin, so that He might save His people.
Jesus is the only sufficient Saviour
Because of who He is, He alone is able to reconcile sinners to God.
Read these passages first
It is good to let Scripture speak plainly before we begin to unfold its teaching.
Core passages
- John 1:1-14
- Philippians 2:5-11
- Hebrews 1:1-3
- Hebrews 2:14-18
Passages to compare
- Matthew 1:21-23
- Colossians 2:9
- 1 Timothy 2:5
- Hebrews 4:14-16
Why Jesus Christ stands at the centre
Christians are not simply people who admire Jesus or borrow some of His teaching. Christians are those who rest their whole hope upon Him. That is because Christ is not an optional part of the message. He is the heart of it. The Bible moves toward Him, promises Him, reveals Him, and proclaims Him.
We cannot know God savingly apart from Christ. We cannot understand sin rightly apart from Christ. We cannot have peace with God apart from Christ. If the Christian faith were reduced to morals, examples, or spirituality, it would leave us condemned and helpless. But the Lord Jesus is given as the answer to our deepest need.
Jesus is truly God
The Bible does not present Jesus as a merely exalted man, nor as the first and greatest of creatures. He is the eternal Son, the Word who was with God and was God. Divine names, divine attributes, divine works, and divine worship belong to Him.
This matters immensely. Only God can save in the full sense. Only One who is truly divine can bear the full weight of God’s righteous judgement, conquer death, give life, and bring us safely to God. A lesser christ would leave us with a lesser salvation, and that would be no salvation at all.
Divine names
He is called Lord, God, Son, and Christ in ways that show His full deity.
Divine works
Creation, judgement, forgiveness, life-giving power, and sustaining all things are attributed to Him.
Divine honour
He receives worship, trust, obedience, and glory that belong properly to God alone.
Jesus is truly man
The Son of God did not merely appear human. He truly became man. He took a real human nature, with a true body and a rational soul. He was born, grew, hungered, wept, suffered, and died. Yet He was without sin.
This also matters greatly. Humanity fell in Adam, and therefore a true man had to obey where man had disobeyed, suffer where man deserved to suffer, and stand in the place of His people. Christ came not only to teach us from a distance, but to enter our condition, apart from sin, so that He might redeem us from within our humanity.
One person, two natures
Scripture teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ is one person with two natures: divine and human. These are not mixed together, nor confused, nor divided into two persons. The Son remains what He eternally was, truly God, and has become what He was not before, truly man.
This is not a piece of theological ornament. It is the very shape of our salvation. The one who obeys, suffers, dies, rises, reigns, and intercedes for us is the God-man, the one mediator. His person gives infinite worth to His work, and His human nature makes that work truly representative for us.
Not mixed
His deity does not swallow up His humanity, nor does His humanity lessen His deity.
Not divided
He is not two persons working side by side, but one glorious person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
How this fits with the 1689 London Baptist Confession
In harmony with the 1689 Confession, we may say that the Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with the Father, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon Him man’s nature, with all its essential properties and common infirmities, yet without sin.
The same confession goes on to teach that these two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. That is the glory of Christ, and also the comfort of believers. The one who saves us is no mere helper. He is the God-man, fully able and fully willing.
Why did Christ need to be both God and man?
Because our need is this deep. Sin is not a surface problem needing only guidance or reform. It is guilt before a holy God, bondage of heart, and exposure to judgement. We need more than instruction. We need a Redeemer.
As man, Christ could obey the law in our place and suffer in our nature. As God, His obedience and sacrifice possess infinite worth, and He is able actually to save, keep, and bring His people home. In Him, God’s justice and mercy meet perfectly.
As man
He stands in the place of His people and truly bears what man had incurred.
As God
He gives infinite sufficiency to His saving work and actually secures salvation.
As mediator
He joins the two together in one glorious person, bringing God and sinners together in peace.
Why this matters personally
It is possible to speak of Jesus in a familiar way and yet still keep Him at arm’s length. But the Christ of Scripture does not allow that distance. He comes before us with majesty and mercy. If He is who the Bible says He is, then our lives cannot remain our own.
There is also profound comfort here. The One who calls us to trust Him is not weak, confused, or inadequate. He is not merely sympathetic, though He is that. He is able. He is sufficient. He knows our frame in His true humanity, and He holds all things in His divine power. For burdened sinners and fearful hearts, that is deeply precious.
You may be wondering
Why can Jesus not be simply a great teacher?
Because His own claims and the Bible’s teaching go much further. He is not presented merely as one who tells us the way, but as the way, the truth, and the life. To reduce Him to a teacher is to ignore His person, His work, and His claims.
Why does the deity of Christ matter so much?
Because only one who is truly God can save fully and finally. If Christ is not divine, then His work cannot bear the weight the gospel places upon it. But because He is truly God, His salvation is mighty, sufficient, and sure.
Why does the humanity of Christ matter so much?
Because He came to save human beings by taking our nature. He obeyed as man, suffered as man, and died as man, though never ceasing to be the eternal Son. His true humanity means He is a fitting mediator and a merciful high priest.
Can I really entrust myself to Christ alone?
Yes. Indeed, there is no safer place for the soul. The gospel does not invite us to add Christ to our own righteousness, but to rest in Him as the only sufficient Saviour. He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him.
Reflection and response
These questions are here to help you think honestly before the Lord.
- Who have I really thought Jesus was until now?
- Why is it important that He is both truly God and truly man?
- Do I tend to think of Christ as an example, a helper, or a Saviour?
- What difference does it make that Christ alone is the mediator?
- Am I beginning to see why my hope must rest in Him, and not in myself?
A simple prayer before moving on
Keep going
Having considered who Christ is, the next study turns to ourselves, our true nature, our fall into sin, and our deep need of mercy.
