God the Son, Mentor's Guide, MG10

7 8 /

G O D T H E S O N

Jesus appeared on earth as a man to reveal to humankind the Father’s glory and redeem us from sin and Satan’s power. Jesus was fully human, conceived by the Holy Spirit and carried to birth by the Virgin Mary. Two ancient heresies contested Jesus’ becoming a human being: Nestorianism —that Christ was two distinct persons , and Eutychianism —that Christ has one blended nature . The Councils of Nicea (325) and Chalcedon (381) settled these questions, and affirmed that Jesus was fully God and fully human . Additional errors misread the meaning of Jesus’ humanity: Docetism which asserted that Jesus was not human and Apollinarianism which asserted that Jesus was not fully human . Jesus, however, is fully human and can represent us perfectly before God as our high priest, mediator, and new pattern for glorified humanity as our Second Adam. Three important aspects of Jesus’ life help us to understand the meaning of his Messianic mission. Jesus is the Baptized One who identified with the plight and peril of the sinners he came to save. Furthermore, Jesus is the Inauguration and Proclaimer of the Kingdom of God, reasserting God’s right to rule over creation, showing through his person, miracles, healings, and exorcisms the signs of the Kingdom present in his own person on earth. Jesus is also the expected Servant of Yahweh who proclaimed good news to the poor, demonstrated justice among God’s people, and ultimately, gave up his life as a vicarious sacrifice and a ransom for many.

Restatement of the Lesson’s Thesis

2

If you are interested in pursuing some of the ideas of Jesus, the Messiah and Lord of All: He Lived , you might want to give these books a try:

Resources and Bibliographies

Brown, Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah . New York: Doubleday, 1979.

Hoehner, Harold W. Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ . Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977.

Ladd, George Eldon. Jesus and the Kingdom . New York: Harper, 1964.

Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus . New York: Doubleday, 1991.

In covering so much theological ground in our lesson, we must take the time to pause and ponder what this high theology has to do with our lives in practical ministry connection. The humanity and life of our Lord touches upon dozens of practical issues in our lives which we need to address. What particular questions has

Ministry Connections