"There Is One God And One Mediator Between God And Men, The Man Christ Jesus" 
1 Timothy (2:5)

What Is A Genuine Human?

 


 

What Is a Genuine Human?

 

At first, we may not think of man as a spirit being because we are most familiar with our present appearance which we call flesh, and generally, upon death, this body of flesh will return back to the dust of the earth from which mankind was initially created from (a gradual process we call decomposition).

 

Man is considered to be flesh (of dust) but he is given a spirit, which we all receive from God. Without this spirit, our existence as living flesh (life as we know it on earth-it’s functioning/breathing/living) will cease (die).

 

There is a spirit that lives within us even though we cannot physically see it. It is not flesh yet it is who we are. It does not control us, in the sense that we have been given free will. We (our spirit) belong to God, who is the Father of all spirits of man. There is an appointed time for this spirit to depart from us (our flesh) and will return to God, and at some later point in time, we will all give an account for the things done in our earthly bodies. (Acts 17:30-31; 2Cor 5:10)

 

 

Numbers 16: 22           God of the spirits of all flesh

Numbers 27: 16           God of the spirits of all flesh.

1 Kings 17: 21             let this child’s soul come into him again.

Job 32: 8                    there is a spirit in man.

Ecclesiastes 12: 7       spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Isaiah 42: 5               he that giveth breath unto the people… and spirit to them that walk therein:

Zechariah 12:1           and formeth the spirit of man within him.

Matthew 26: 41           spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Mark 14: 38               spirit indeed is ready, but the flesh is weak.

1 Corinthians 2: 11     save the spirit of man which is in him?

1 Corinthians 6: 20     glorify God in your body, and in your spirit.

Hebrews 12: 9            subjection unto the Father of spirits.

James 2: 26              body without the spirit is dead.

 

 

 

Jesus The Man

Since the humanity of Jesus Christ is fundamental to every Christian doctrine, we should first be able to prove that Jesus was indeed human, thus you need to make sure that you really understand exactly what constitutes a man as being “totally human”. This is a very important matter because in order to prove who Jesus is (or who he is not) we need to be able to do two things:

 

1. Distinguish the difference between being “totally human” from that of being “totally God”; and

2. Distinguish the difference between having the “Spirit of God from the “spirit of man; that which makes man human and separates him (his humanity) from being God (1Cor 2:11).

 

Now in order for Jesus to be a man (a true human being) he would have had two (2) attributes:

 

1. He would have been limited in some aspects of his life (able to die, etc.); and

2. He would have had his own separate spirit having an independent will to obey God as do all men.

 

The scriptures indicate that Jesus did have these attributes, thus his humanity is confirmed.

 

(John 12:27) “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.”

(Luke 23:46)  “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

(Acts 2:22)     “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

(Acts 2:31-32)  “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up”

 

Note: These verses are always shunned. Now how do we honestly explain Jesus being raised by God then try to assert that JESUS ONLY HAD ONE SPIRIT? Unless we are somehow trying to claim that Jesus only had the spirit of God, then, in that case, Jesus was not truly “totally human” (man).

 

 

 

Separating The Truth From The Tradition

 

Q1. Have you ever wondered how Jesus could actually be BOTH (totally Man) and (totally God) “literally” as we claim without being contradictory?

 

The Issue The Church Didn’t Explain To You:

We say Jesus had a dual nature, which is true, Jesus had flesh (Luke 24:39) and a spirit (that which comes from God) and gives life to the flesh of all men (humans) (Ecc 12:7; Numbers 16:22; Isa 42:5; Zec 12:1 ). We say Jesus and God are “literally” one and the same person, however, no church (Apostolic/Oneness/Trinitarian/ etc.) has ever explained what happened to Jesus’ human soul, that part of his “totally” human nature, if what they claim is the truth. Not surprisingly this is a very unwelcome topic for those church leaders who have incorporated this manmade “incarnation” concept as part of their religious doctrine.

 

Now in order for Jesus to be a man (a true human being) he would have had at least two (2) attributes:

  1. He would have been “limited” in some aspects of his life (able to die, suffer, hunger, etc…); and
  2. He would have had a “human spirit/soul” thus having an independent will to choose whether or not to obey God, as do all humans.

Unless we say Jesus only had God’s spirit, in which case Jesus would not have been “totally” human, what happened to his human spirit/soul?

 

 

Q2. Can anyone explain: If (Jesus is totally God) then how is (God totally man)? Are you confused? You should be and here is why.

 

The Issue The Church Didn’t Explain To You:

Unfortunately, the totally God-man theory is impossible to explain truthfully. This is because this theory has its own, self-contained contradictory clause built-in; hence to be the “totality” of anything leaves NO ROOM to be anything else!

Therefore, whatever the one is, the other he is NOT! (Numbers 23:19 (NLT), 23:19(KJV); Hosea 11:9; John 5:37 (NLT), 5:37(KJV))

 

Distinguishing A Fact From A Paradox:

The Bible’s definition of God is not disputed: God is an invisible/all-powerful/immortal spirit.

The Bible’s definition of man is not disputed: Man is a visible/not all-powerful/mortal flesh

What is true by definition will always remain true unless we start redefining things. For example, 2+2=4. This equation will always remain true. The only way this can ever become false is if we decide to change the definitions of the component parts.

 

The “attributes” of a Spirit

A Spirit is regarded as supernatural and is separate from matter. Matter is whatever occupies space and is perceptible to the senses – (man is an example of matter)

Jesus confirms this definition to be true: “God is a Spirit” and “a spirit hath not flesh and bones” (John 4:24, Luke 24:39)

Supernatural is not explainable by the known forces or laws of nature; specific, of or involving God, ghosts, spirits, etc.

The definition of the word spirit does not provide information as to what it looks like. If a spirit is a supernatural being (something not explainable by the known forces of the laws of nature) then it is possible that a spirit can live inside a human being and not have the physical form of a human being. (John 1:18; John 5:37; 1 John 4:12)

Therefore, if a spirit is something that is “not explainable by known forces of the laws of nature” that means a spirit can be in anything and anywhere because it is not bound by the laws of nature.

 

These are NOT the “attributes” of a man.

* To be a man means to be limited: (lacking in knowledge, prone to mistakes, imperfect, flesh)

* To be God means just the opposite: (all powerful/knowledge, immortal, perfect, spirit)

Now, by definition, a thing cannot be the opposite of itself. A thing cannot be “limited” and “unlimited” at the same time. The presence of one of these qualities implies the absence of the other. Jesus was either one or the other. He cannot logically be both.

To say someone is limited and unlimited is like saying that you saw a square circle. This is an impossibility. Are you saying the circle was not round, in which case it was not a circle? Or are you saying the square was circular? This is not a paradox; this is meaningless nonsense; however imaginative it might be.

To say that someone is limited and unlimited at the same time is to say that “X” and “not-X” can both be true. This is either to abandon the meaning of these words or else to abandon logic and in either case, this means we are speaking nonsense that can have no meaning for us.

The orthodox say that Jesus was imperfect with regard to his human nature but perfect with regard to his divine nature. The problem with this position is that it implies the existence of two persons occupying the one body of Jesus. You need for this two minds, two wills, two characters.

But the “Jesus is God” creed does not allow this necessary conclusion and insists that Jesus was not two persons but one only. Now, this one person had to be either perfect or not, infallible or not, unlimited in knowledge or not.

Now a paradox is something that seems impossible but can be demonstrated to be true. On the other hand, the creedal statement may seem true to some people but logic demonstrates it to be false.

 

 

The TRUTHFULNESS of this matter is something that can be easily PROVEN.

 

 

Q3. Either Jesus COULD sin or Jesus COULD NOT sin; WHICH IS IT?

Note: (Having the “ability” to commit sin (or disobey God) is different than putting that ability into practice).

If Jesus was NOT “capable” of sinning, he would indeed be totally GOD!!!!

 

 

The Issue The Church Didn’t Explain To You:

If Jesus was “capable” of committing sin he would be human (or not “totally” God), because all humans are capable of committing a sin against (or disobeying) God. It is this aspect of Jesus’ total obedience to God (John 8:29-30, Romans 5:19) that was remarkable. God’s plan, even before the foundation of the world, was for Jesus to be our savior and redeemer. (1 John 4:14-15; Galatians 4:4-8; 1 Peter 1:19-21)

If Jesus was “totally” God, it would be impossible for God to sin because God has no one to whom he must obey, Jesus would have never “truly” overcome the world as our example of being sinless flesh by a surrendered will to another.

God’s Spirit (divinity) indwelling the human body of Jesus (humanity) demonstrated two different types of spirits in one body. This is why Jesus said the words he spoke were not his, but that of his Father [God] (John 12:49-50; John 14:24)

 

 

(See also: The Humanity Of Christ )

 

 

Top Of Page

 

 

Search