It is a mighty phenomenon to grasp that the Creator of all things, manifested himself in and through his son Jesus Christ. And yet Jesus was a distinct person, keeping the relationship of father and son, having to develop a character under trial, just like those he came to save.
Paul speaks of this, in a quite difficult verse to understand: 1 Timothy 3:16: "And without dispute great is the mystery of godliness. He who was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit,seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." Jesus Christ overcame without failure. We overcome through many failures.
Christ's sonship to God was told openly while he was in the flesh:
- Matthew 3:17: "This is my beloved son..."
- John 1:34: "I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God"
- Galations 4:4: "God sent forth his son, made of a woman"
- Hebrews 2:17: "In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren"
- Isaiah 9:6: "...the government shall be on his shoulders, and he shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting [age] Father, the Prince of Peace."
- He was born of the Spirit
- Angels celebrated his birth
- A star guided wise men to his home
- At 12 years of age he confounded Doctors of Law
- He was called the arm of the Lord
- He was without spot or blemish
- He was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him.
Let this fact be noted that the human brain brings no wisdom into this world. It is like a clean sheet of paper and wisdom is only acquired by experience and even then it does not always come.
John Thomas wrote in his book Eureka Vol 1, page 112 and 113: "Was the Holy Thing born a mere Son of Adam? Did the union of Spirit (God) and flesh (Mary) annihilate Spirit and leave only flesh? There was a connection between God and his son that other men never had. Of no other man could it be said." John 14:9-10 "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" and John 10:30 "I and my Father are one."
In John 6:38 it says "I came down from above" and in John 8:23 it says "You are from beneath, I am from above."
Now we know the mind of Christ was strengthened by being born of the spirit. We need also note the imperfect body that he had inherited from his mother. This body of his was born under the sentence of death, even though he always kept it under subjection.Because the wages of sin is death, by this inherited law in his flesh (even though he had never given in to its impulses) he had to die. But he never sinned!? No, he never sinned and that is why he could not stay dead - he didn't deserve that. The Bible says that the grave could not hold him.
- For Him: A body to die no more, to be made higher than the angels, to rule over the whole earth and turn it into a paradise and thus glorifying his father.
- For us: That if faithful we may gain life everlasting, be made an equal to the angels and glorify God in righteousness for ever.