The Humanity of Christ

Look on the back of your handout. I want to start off with showing you where we've been and also where we're going. This is week three in our study of Christology. In week one we did an overview, and we looked at the person of Christ, and we talked about how Christ is one person, but He has two natures. He has both a human nature and a divine nature. And we talked in week one about the common heresies that we saw in the first century. How some, such as, for example, the Docetists, they denied the humanity of Christ. They said, "Yeah, he looks like a man, but he's not really a man," because they would view the bodies as being beneath God and lowly, so to speak. And then there were some such as the Apollinarians that said, "Well, he was man, but he wasn't fully man. The divine Logos replaced his soul," so to speak. What we're going to be doing tonight is looking just explicitly at what the Bible has to say about the humanity of Christ and what that means to us. Next week we'll be looking at the divinity of Christ, and the following week we'll be looking at the union in Christ between His divine and human nature. Flip back over on the front here, and we're going to begin with Bible point number one.

In one person, Jesus Christ, there are two natures, a divine nature and a human nature. He is both God and man. Incarnation means coming in the flesh. We talked about that in week one. Christ came in the flesh. He was God adding flesh, adding a human nature to His divine nature.

In the incarnation, the Son of God added a perfect — that's the first blank — a perfect human nature to His divine nature. He was born of a virgin. A virgin is the second blank for number one.

He lived, suffered, died, and rose again. He is perfect man without sin. That's the third blank, sin. So let me reread that second half. In the incarnation, the Son of God added a perfect human nature to His divine nature. He was born of a virgin. He lived, suffered, died, and rose again. He is a perfect man without sin. As Christians, we believe Scripture's testimony about Jesus. There are many today in scholarship who don't believe Scripture's testimony about Jesus. You may have heard of things such as the Jesus Seminar trying to find the real historical Jesus. Well, we believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God, and that's what we trust to glean our information about Christ. And so we're going to look at His Word tonight, beginning in Matthew 1:23. "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel," which is translated, "God with us." Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. He's born of a woman.

Has a woman ever given birth to a puppy? No. Humankind gives birth to humankind, right? What Mary gave birth to, the Christ child — he was indeed truly man. And not just any man, but God incarnate, God taking on flesh. John 1:14, this is one we have read many times in our study over the last 50 lessons here in systematic theology: "And the Word became flesh." Who is the Word? Jesus. And how do you know that Jesus is the Word? What does John 1:1 say? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God," right? Well, John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." So we mentioned last week when we looked at the names of Christ, we talked about Jesus coming and taking on flesh to show us who the Father is, right? God is invisible. That's one of His attributes. We cannot see Him. He is Spirit. So in taking on flesh, He reveals to us the Father, right? And we see a God who's full of grace and full of truth.

The application for number one is this. If Christ displays God's glory — that's the blank, glory — can you? If Christ, who took on flesh, displays the glory of God, can you? Why?

Amen. In a limited way, Christ in us, the hope of glory, the Holy Spirit working in us — were we not created in the image of God? Now, of course, as we looked at when we studied anthropology, mankind, though created in the image of God, he fell, right, in the garden with Adam and Eve. But once we're united in Christ, He begins to restore that lost image in us, right? That image is lost but never eradicated, and Christ begins to conform us to His image, so we can indeed reflect the glory of God. That means that every child can image the glory of God, every adult can image the glory of God. If you have your faith set on the Lord Jesus Christ, and He indwells you, you are a chosen vessel, and your purpose is to shine Christ wherever you go, to let your light be set upon a hill so men can see it, and they'll give glory to God, right?

Bible point number two: Jesus called Himself and was also called a man. That's the first blank, or the only blank for number two. Jesus called Himself a man, and He was called a man. Look in John 8:40. Jesus says, "You seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth."

Christ did not say that He was a spirit. He did not say that He appeared to be a man. He says, "You seek to kill me, a man," right? Look in Acts 2:22, when Peter is preaching his famous sermon at Pentecost: he says, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you." And he tells them that they have crucified Him. With guilty hands they have killed the Messiah. So Peter calls Him a man under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Christ calls Himself a man. Flip over on the back. Let's look at reference marked number two in the lower left-hand corner. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15. He says, "For since by man came death," speaking of Adam, because in Adam's sin we all die, right? "By this man" — "Man" is capitalized here, speaking of Jesus — "also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive." Christ is called in Scripture the last Adam. Adam simply means man, right? He is the head of a new race. Just as Adam was the titular head of humanity, Christ comes as the head of a new humanity, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Flip back over on the front. Jesus calls Himself a man.

Peter calls Jesus a man. Paul calls Jesus a man. All of Scripture calls Jesus a man. The application is this. Do you trust the testimony of Scripture? Testimony is the blank there. Do you trust the testimony of Scripture? Is that enough?

And it has to be. It's the very Word of God, God-breathed, right? There are some of the German theologians from the 19th century who said, "No, Jesus — yes, he said he was a man, but he was only a man in appearance. He was an apparition, if you will, a theophany," because they did not, of course, believe that God could take on flesh. But we trust the testimony of Scripture, right? And so against the Docetists, against the Gnostics who tore up the early church, so to speak, we stand fast in the Word of God that Christ indeed was truly man.

Bible point number three: Jesus possessed the essential elements of the human nature — a material body, that's the first blank, and an immaterial soul, that's the second blank. So body is the first blank, soul is the second blank. When we did the section on anthropology, we said that man has two parts. We have a material part and an immaterial part. We have our body and we have our soul, and those two form an organic unity — that's one, right? A body without the soul is dead, right? Because the soul has departed the body. And so in heaven, we do have pictures in the book of Revelation of souls that are in heaven without their body waiting for the resurrection. And one day, when Christ returns, our bodies will be resurrected out of the grave, recreated in the image of Christ, glorified, brought into heaven, and reunited with our souls as we were originally created, but in a better sense, right? So Jesus possessed what every human possesses, and that's a body and a soul. He was not a soul floating around like Casper the ghost, pretending to be a man. He was truly man.

Matthew 26:38: "Then Jesus said to them, 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me.'" He wasn't saying that His body was exceedingly sorrowful. We just talked about that immaterial element of humanity, right? We all have a soul and we know that our soul can be grieved, our soul can be saddened, our soul can be burdened. And Christ was all those things in Gethsemane. Luke 24:39, this is post-resurrection, after Christ resurrected from the grave and He's appearing to the disciples. What does He say? "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."

The application for this is: does Christ's resurrection give you hope?

In what ways does Christ's resurrection give you hope? The hope of glory. The hope of glory, yes. First of all, if Christ is the firstborn from the dead and He rose from the dead and He's promised that we will too, we have an example right there. Exactly. Also, our poor bodies — the older we get, the more we feel it, right? Things don't work right. We get aches and pains and bad knees. Yesterday I was cleaning the pool and wasps decided to grace me with a bite on my leg. And my leg still doesn't feel right on my left leg, you know. But one day, when I get to heaven — oh, we're not going to have to worry about wasps anymore, right? There's not going to be any evil entering heaven, and wasps are for evil, right? It's going to be a glorious day when we have our resurrected body. So the resurrection of Christ gives us hope, right?

That one day, as great as suffering can be — I'm being a little bit flippant about our suffering, but getting down to where the rubber meets the road, many of you in this room are suffering greatly physically. It may not be apparent to everybody, but people have autoimmune diseases. People have nerve issues. People have inner pains in their bodies and frailty of mind that often can't be seen. And we struggle with that, right? So we pray for God to remove that. As Paul prayed three times that God would remove this thorn from his flesh. But we know that one day all things will be made new. And that includes our bodies too, right? So Christ was truly man.

Bible point number four: Jesus shared common human development — development is the first blank — and experiences — experiences is the second blank — with us in every respect except — that's the third blank — except for sin. Let me reread that. Jesus shared common human development and experiences with us in every respect except for sin. Instead of having a verse here, I have a bunch of references. Look at Galatians 4:4. You don't have to turn there, but just look on the sheet. Jesus was born of a woman, right? It says He was born of a woman, born under the law. That is to say He was born flesh and blood like us. And He was born under the law as a Jew, right?

Jesus was subject to His parents and increased in wisdom, stature, and favor. This is speaking in Luke chapter two of Christ as He was growing up. Our little ones here — y'all always bless us by reciting Scripture. And we love to hear you sing. And we love to hear you play the piano as y'all bless us with the talents that God has given you. And it is fun for us as adults, as parents, as grandparents to see you develop, right? To see you grow. You know that Christ developed? Because He was truly a man. He was at one time a little boy and He grew. He grew in wisdom. He learned things. He grew in stature, grew in height, and He grew in favor both with God and with man, right? So that's just like us. You may think, well, I'm still growing. And maybe we're not talking about physically growing as we get old, but we're saying we're still growing and maturing, right? We're still growing in grace as Christians, I hope, right?

If we've ever got to the point of saying, "No, I've got it all down. I've arrived," then you're wrong.

Look at the Apostle Paul. He says, "I don't count myself as having attained or arrived, but I press forward to the high prize of the calling that we have in Christ Jesus." So Christ shared the same common human experiences we did, and He had development.

Jesus knew hunger. In Matthew 4:2, how did Satan try to tempt Him in the wilderness? He'd been 40 days and 40 nights without food. "Take these stones and make some bread." I'm sure he made some Auntie Anne's pretzels or made some really good assembly rolls and buns or whatever, because He was a man. And as a man, He had real needs, what we call physical limitations. You can go without food long enough, you die, right? Our body needs that. He was a man who had a thirst. Remember on the cross? What did He say? "I thirst." Exactly right. He was a man who experienced weariness, needed to take a break from the crowds after He had been with them healing and blessing and ministering. He needed that time, both physical and spiritual rest. That's why He often sought time to pray in private. We see sleep. Remember when Jesus was asleep in the boat and the boat was being tossed to and fro? He was asleep because He was exhausted from ministering. Just as we get tired in our daily life, or we get tired ministering to others, Jesus would get tired, right? He was a man of sorrow. John 11:33 and 35. We also know that from Isaiah 53, right? He was a man that knew sorrow. Sorrow is not a sinful emotion, right? When you see the ravages of sin and what it does to families, when you see what it does to individuals, it should breed sorrow in our hearts. It did in our Savior's heart.

He was a man who knew distress. He knew anger and grief. Remember when He cleansed the temple twice? He was showing righteous anger when He braided a whip, overturned the money changers' tables, and chased them out of the temple grounds. He knew displeasure. He knew disappointment. He was disappointed in His disciples sometimes. In at least one case we know He had a lack of knowledge, where He says, "I don't even know when My return is, but only the Father does."

We know that He knew temptation. He was tempted. And we're going to talk about the temptation of Christ when we get to what we call the humiliation of Christ. We'll talk about that in detail. Jesus cried. I know some of you guys are like, "I've never cried."

Yeah, we don't show it, but we do. Jesus wept. He wept over Jerusalem, right? Jesus suffered and He died. We haven't died yet, but we're destined for that, right? Is not our body dying right now? "It is appointed for a man to die once, and after this, the judgment," right? So Jesus shared our human experiences and our human development because He was truly man. He was like us in every aspect except without sin, right? A lot of times because we're sinners, when we experience, say, aggravation or disappointment, we may say something that we shouldn't say, right? When we're tired, we may get a little bit cranky, right?

Jesus never did. When we get hungry, we may get hangry, so to speak. Jesus never did. He was perfect without sin. So in that aspect, He was different from our humanity. Hebrews 4:15 tells us this: "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." Is it not a wonderful thing to know that at the right hand of God, we have an advocate. We have a high priest who is interceding for us, who knows our weakness. You say, "Well, I'm not weak, I'm strong." Give it a minute, right? It doesn't take long and weakness will show itself eventually, right? And we have an advocate in Christ Jesus who knows what it means to suffer. He knows what it means to feel agony and pain and distress and disappointment and sorrow. He knows what it is to be human because He is human. His human nature exists even in heaven now. He wasn't just incarnate in His earthly ministry, but He forever took upon a human nature.

The application is this. Does Jesus's life encourage you to pray? That's the blank. To pray. Knowing that Christ suffered in all points as we are, He was tempted in every way that we could be tempted, yet without sin, that should drive us to our knees, right? Because we have a Helper. We have someone who can understand, someone who has walked this earth, who has experienced persecution, who has experienced everything in life from weariness to even the joys of life. He experienced it all. Remember, He was at the wedding of Cana. That was a joyful time. When the disciples came back — I believe it was the seventy that He had sent out — He rejoiced in their ministry success, right? He was fully, truly man in the sense that He lacked nothing in man that you and I have, except He was without sin. So that drives us to our knees to know that we have a high priest who's faithful to help us in time of need.

Bible point number five: the virgin — that's the first blank for number five — virgin, the virgin birth made it clear that a new thing was taking place on the earth. Christ was not simply man coming into the world. Christ's human nature is humanity perfected. Christ was born free from sin and depravity. That's the second blank. Now, when we studied our hamartiology a few weeks back, we talked about depravity. Depravity is the pollution that results from sin, right? Sin leaves a bent in our will, a bent away from God. It literally makes us dull, right? It affects our mind. It affects our heart. It affects our affections. When we let ourselves become infected by sin in the fall, what happened? We desired things that we shouldn't desire. We began to love things that we should hate, right? We began to hate our brothers and hate our sisters and hate our God. Christ was free from depravity. He had no depravity whatsoever. He was free from sin and depravity.

Christ took human nature in such a way that His sinless — that's the third blank — sinless nature bore the penalty of sin. Penalty is the fourth blank. When Christ took on a human nature, He was free from depravity, but He wasn't free from guilt because He took on humanity who was guilty, right? That may sound strange at first, but think about it this way. In Christ, are we not free from guilt? Has He not taken away all of our guilt? "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus," but we're not free from depravity, are we? From the pollution resulting from sin. That's why we're in the process of being sanctified, being made more and more like Christ hopefully every day. Until the day that we're called home, we're going to be struggling with sin. Well, Christ was free from depravity, but He voluntarily took on guilt in such a way to be able to pay the penalty for our sin. He united Himself to humanity, to redeem humanity, to be the guilt bearer of humanity.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says this: "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Christ became sin for us. That's the good news — that we might have His righteousness. He took our guilt and gave us His righteousness. That's a great deal for us, but it cost Christ everything, right? Flip over on the back.

You can see this exchange being planned from all eternity here, being announced to Mary in Luke 1:31 through 35. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call His name Jesus." Remember last week when we looked at the names of Christ — Jesus means what? Savior, right? Joshua, Savior. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be since I don't know a man?" And the angel answered and said to her,

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Highest will overshadow you. Therefore, also the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God." In a mysterious way that we can't fully understand, what we call the virgin birth, Christ was born of a woman and He was born to be our Savior, to take our guilt and to give us His righteousness.

The application is this for number five: was Christ's humanity different from ours?

We know He had a human body and He had a human soul, so in that way it was the same as ours, right?

He was like us in every way except without what? Without sin. We are fallen humanity, right? In Adam and Eve we all fell, and as a result we all have depravity, right? But Christ was born of a virgin — something different in the sense of humanity. He was the head of a new humanity who was not under the head of Adam. He was the head of a new race. Humanity perfected as God created mankind originally in the garden, without sin, without depravity, right? So if you put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ, you're united to Him by His Spirit.

And as a result you're united to the Savior of this world, the one who has all perfection, the one who has no depravity, the one who has no guilt anymore, no shame, because He bore that for us on the cross, right? So He's slightly different in the sense that He is not fallen humanity but He's the head of the new redeemed humanity, perfect humanity.

Bible point number six: the Son of God became flesh to become the God-man. When we say the God-man we are stressing that He was forever eternally deity, but He took on humanity in the incarnation. He took on a human nature in order to — the first blank is defeat death, the second blank is destroy the devil, and the third blank is atone for the sins of His people. Christ has been asked before: why the incarnation? I believe it was Athanasius, the early church father, who wrote a little book called On the Incarnation. Why the incarnation? Why did Christ come into this world? Well, for these three things: to defeat death, to destroy the devil, and to atone for the sins of His people. Now you're probably seeing chapter and verse right now — we always like to verify — so let's look in Hebrews. You can see them right here, all in Hebrews chapter two. Just by the way, this would make a great three-point sermon.

Hebrews 2:9: "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God might taste death for everyone." Christ took on flesh so we would not have to face eternal death. He defeated death, right? When He was laid in the grave, He was laid as a perfect man in the grave, righteous before God. It would have been a travesty for Christ to stay in the grave. It would be an injustice for Christ to stay in the grave. On the third day He arose from the grave, and in doing so He was said to be justified in God's sight, to be declared righteous, to be declared the victor over death, and His victory is our victory, right? He defeated death for us. Jesus says in John chapter 11 that mankind is going to die, but He says, however, "If you believe in Me, though you may die, yet you will live." Our body is going to die but our spirit doesn't have to die, right? When we die and when this body goes into the grave, we're going to be facing judgment one day. We can either go to eternal life or eternal death. That's the second death, right?

Christ defeated death for all who believe in Him. That's why He came and took on flesh. Defeat death. Also He did it to destroy the devil. Look in Hebrews 2:14: "Inasmuch as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same." What did He share in the same?

Flesh and blood, right? "Just as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might" what? "Destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." When Christ died on the cross He robbed Satan of all his power. Who was Satan but the accuser, right? He loves to come before you and say, "You are a sinner. God doesn't want anything to do with you. Why try? Why seek His face?" And he loves to slander us before God, saying, "He's a no-good sinner. You don't want anything to do with that guy, God." But what Christ did on the cross was rob the devil of his power to accuse. He destroyed his one tool in his arsenal, which is that of being the accuser, right? If you are in Christ, Christ is your advocate now. And He says, "This one's Mine. This one has My righteousness. I have given it to him. His sins are made white. His garments are washed in My blood. Get away, Satan." He destroyed Satan, and ultimately we'll see that in fruition. The Bible tells us in the lake of fire, right? That not only is death going to be cast into the lake of fire, but the devil himself, right? So both death and the devil will one day be thrown into the lake of fire.

We also see that Christ's death — or His incarnation — was to atone for the sins of His people. We see that in Hebrews 2:17. "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren" — like His brethren meaning taking on humanity.

"That He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." We talked about that on Sunday. Propitiation means a place, a shielding from the wrath of God, to turn God favorable to you. In fact, one way that you can remember propitiation is that propitiation makes God pro-you. You're acceptable in God's sight now. His favor is poured out upon you. Before you met Christ you were a child of wrath. But now you're a child of His love because in Christ you have the divine favor of the Father poured out on you, because Christ took the wrath of God. He was the place for it. He was the shield, so to speak, to shield you from God's wrath because He bore your guilt. He bore your shame on the cross. So He came in the flesh to atone for you. To defeat death, to destroy the devil, and to atone for your sins.

The application is this. This is an important one here. Do you fear death, the devil, and judgment?

I have known many Christians over the years that in candid conversations they admit to fearing one or all three of these: fearing death. If Christ came in the flesh, and the reason why He took on flesh was to destroy death, do we have anything to fear? We don't. We trust Christ. We know that to be absent from the body is to be what? Present with the Lord, right? Whether we die in our sleep in old age peacefully or whether we get hit by a lightning bolt, that very moment we're in the presence of God. Just as Christ told the thief on the cross, "Today you'll be with me in paradise."

So because Christ came in the flesh, you don't have to fear death. I know Christians who, often because of bad theology and bad teaching, they fear the devil. The devil's behind every sneeze. The devil's behind every shadow. "I've got to go around rebuking the devil. I've got to go around binding the devil. I've got to do this. I've got to do that." Christ has destroyed the devil. What we just read in Hebrews 2:14: "that He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." Do you believe the testimony of Scripture? Do you believe that Christ is what we see in Revelation chapter one, the Almighty? That means the Pantokrator in Greek, the one whose finger is on everything, sovereignly controlling everything. The devil has to ask God permission to do anything, right? So we do not need to fear the devil because that's why Christ came into flesh. You don't need to fear death. We don't need to fear the devil. And we don't need to fear judgment either.

There are some Christians who labor all the time — even though they know that Christ died for their sins, they still think that God is a cosmic bug stomper and that they're going to get squashed underneath the foot of God, you know, for every sin that they do. Every time they sin, they're afraid that they're rejected by God and that their sins are not atoned for anymore. God is disappointed by sin. Don't get me wrong. But God is gracious. That's why He came to die. He knows your faults. He knows your frailty. You have a high priest who has been tempted in every way like you, except without sin. So He knows human frailty. He knows human weakness. And He says, "Come to Me." He's merciful. It's no different from parents of small children. You know, when your young children goof up, they do something wrong, you lovingly correct them, right? You don't try to end their life. You don't try to go overboard and lock them up until they're 21 and bring them out again, right? You are there — I know we want to sometimes — but we are there to nurture, to love, and to show grace. That's the same grace that our heavenly Father shows us.

Bible point number seven: Christ, the greatest man, shows what true man is. That's the first blank, true man is. The heavenly perfection of Jesus discloses to us the greatness — that's the second blank, the greatness — of our own potential, while also revealing our great shortcomings and the source from which all restoration — third blank is restoration — must come. Let me reread that. Christ, the greatest man, shows what true man is. The heavenly perfection of Jesus discloses to us the greatness of our own potential while also revealing our great shortcomings and the source from which all restoration must come.

There is a dearth, a drought, in this world of godly men, of good role models for young men to look up to. And I would say the same thing for young women, for young women to look up to. The people that are often put in front as role models are Hollywood starlets and pop stars. You don't want to follow that. That's straight to hell, is where you will wind up, right? If you want to see what true man is, what true humanity is meant to be,

look to the Lord Jesus Christ. You will find no fault there. You'll find no blemish there. You'll find only grace and truth, as we read earlier. The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. Jesus shows the greatness of our own potential because Christ was truly man, right? Are we not truly man, made in the image of God? And now as Christians, we have been redeemed and God's image is being renewed in us. We're being conformed to Christ. Doesn't that tell us the vast potential that we have? You may say, "Well, I know I could be that and I'm far from it." Well, go after it. We are to pursue Christ. We are to be conformed to His image, right? He shows us how good we can become, which never settles for saying, "Well, you know, I've got clay feet and always will, and I'm going to get into heaven by the skin of my teeth, and I'll just take it as it is. I'll be a slacker making my way to heaven," right? Not at all. The love of Christ should compel us, right, to present every man perfect in Christ, to make disciples of all men. That starts with being a disciple ourselves, right? We can't disciple or fulfill the great commission if we're not devoted to Christ, not every day saying, "Christ, make me like You." Where can you see this greatest man? In the Gospels.

That should be your meat. That should be your bread. That should be what you feast on, right? I'm not trying to degrade any part of Scripture, but I am going to give you an example. I know of a ladies' Bible study that my wife went to one time, not at this church, but they spent seven years in the book of Revelation — and there's a lot of good Christology in the book of Revelation. Don't get me wrong. We're going to spend time in there when we get to the exaltation of Christ, right? But we have more than just that in the Bible, right? In the Gospels, we have the life, the ministry, the teaching of Christ. We have the Sermon on the Mount, right? And it's not just in the Gospels. You can go into Isaiah, which is the Old Testament Gospel, and you can see the promised Messiah, right? And we can see in the Old Testament, as we've talked this past Sunday, types and shadows — the temple, right? Christ is the temple. The lamb that was slaughtered — Christ is the Lamb of God. We have all of Scripture to be able to point to, but if you don't know where to start and you're just starting off, go to the Gospels. Read Mark, read Matthew, read Luke, read John. They're each a little bit different. They each have a different emphasis, but they show who our Savior is, okay?

It not only shows us our potential, but also reveals to us our great shortcomings and the source from which all restoration must come. When we look at the person of Christ, we realize that we are not on that level, right? Not anywhere close. But we also know the source of that restoration, right? Christ lovingly gives Himself to us by His Spirit. So we can go to Christ and say, "Christ, I believe, help my unbelief. Make me like You, conform me to Your image." Flip over on the back. Look what Peter writes.

This is reference number seven on the back, 1 Peter chapter two. "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps." That's what it means to be a disciple, is to follow in the steps of your master. "Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth, who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously." Even Christ said, "Vengeance — I'm not going to take it out on these." He could have come off that cross and smitten everybody who was smiting Him, right? But He committed that to God. "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness. By whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, and have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." Christ is our example. Look at His life and know that He is your Shepherd who will carry you. He is your episcopos, your overseer who will check in on you and will guide you and lead you and bring you into all truth.

Look also on the front here, Colossians 1:28. Paul writes, "We proclaim Him, Christ, admonishing every person and teaching every person with all wisdom, that we might present every person complete in Christ." That's the goal of discipleship. Parents, listen. I know

that we all have dreams for our children. Many times those dreams may be, "I want my child to be a dentist or a doctor or a lawyer. I want my child to be a great success in their career."

You will be a successful parent if you raise your child to be Christlike.

We need Christlike gardeners. We need Christlike food servers. We need Christlike bus drivers. We need Christlike street sweepers. We need Christlike lawyers, Christlike doctors. Whatever vocation they're in, if they are Christlike, they will be a success. If they grow up to be the kind of man who will lay down his life for his wife and wash her with the water of the Word, if they will be like Christ, you've done well. You've done your job. So focus on Christian character. Focus on the Gospel with your children, teaching them the precepts of God, because that is what matters in life. That is true success — to present every man complete, perfected in the Lord Jesus.

The application is this. What man should we follow and mirror? That's the blank. What man should we follow and mirror? Amen. Jesus Christ. That's who we should follow. That is who we should mirror. I read an article the other day. It was in the Wall Street Journal and it was talking about the number of men who go now into cosmetic surgeons and they'll bring a picture of an actor and they'll say, "I want a chin like this guy's chin," or "I want my nose to look like this man's nose," and they're scheduling vacation time so work doesn't find out about it and they're having these cosmetic surgeries to look like their favorite actor or to look like their favorite athlete. There's only one man worth imitating and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bible point number eight. Jesus Christ is the fountainhead and beginning — that's the first blank, beginning — of a new humanity. The new source of life — that's the second blank — for all men.

The God-man ascended to the throne of God and sent His Spirit to make men the children of God — that's the third blank, children of God. When Christ ascended into heaven, He ascended as man, and mankind sits on the throne with deity because God, in the person of Jesus Christ — He's one person, Jesus, but He has a divine nature and a human nature even in heaven. And in doing so, He is able to communicate to us perfected humanity because this humanity is so perfectly joined with deity, and He does that through sending the Holy Spirit. That is part of why He sits at the right hand of God — He sends the Holy Spirit to give us life when a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. They repent of their sins, they believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. It's not just a mental change of mind that happens. Christ sends His Holy Spirit into your heart. You're forever sealed by His Holy Spirit at that point, and His Holy Spirit gives you a new heart, begins to give you a Christlike character, right? It gives you a heart that's patterned after the head of the new humanity, Jesus Christ Himself, right?

Look in Isaiah 9:6. We normally read this around Christmas time. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder" — this is speaking of Christ — "and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." You ever wonder why Christ would be called Everlasting Father?

It sounds as if it's almost confusing the first person of the Trinity, the Father, with the Son.

But He's calling Christ the Everlasting Father because He is the head of a new humanity. Everyone who believes in Christ Jesus is no longer in Adam. You are now in Christ Jesus. It's been said before, there are only two races. People talk about red and yellow, black and white, like we used to sing when we were little, you know, but there are only two races. There are those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ. There are those who are dead in their trespasses and sin, and those who are alive in Christ Jesus. And if you're in Christ Jesus,

He's the head, or the progenitor, of a new race, and in that sense He is the Everlasting Father. Flip over on the back. Let me show you a couple of verses that go with this.

Isaiah 53:10: "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him and He has put Him to grief. When you make His soul an offering for sin, He," speaking of Christ, "shall see His seed." Seed means progeny, means offspring. Was Christ ever married? No. But who are His offspring? All those who believe in Him, right? "He shall prolong His days" — He's talking about the resurrection. Christ would be bruised. He would suffer for us, but His days would be prolonged, and He will see His seed, which is us. That's why He rose again, to give us new life. "And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand."

Look in John 13:33 through 35. This is basically at the Lord's Supper, somewhere between that and Gethsemane. "Little children" — He's talking to His disciples. He calls them little children, not only because they're childlike in faith, but because they've already believed into Him, right? The Bible says in John, at the very first miracle, at the wedding in Cana where Jesus turns the water into wine, it says, "The disciples believed into Him." That's what it says in the Greek. Already, they're His children, so to speak, His progeny, because they are in Christ.

Look at John 14. He says, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you will know Him. For He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you." Again, He's the head of a new race, and He's not going to leave us alone. That's why He leaves the Holy Spirit, whom He would send, so we would not be left as orphans.

Then lastly, look at Hebrews 2:11 through 13. "For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one. For which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren." Christ calls us His brethren. But then look what He says in verse 12. Here He's quoting from the Old Testament, first from Psalm 22. He says, "Saying, 'I will declare Your name to My brethren, and in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.'" And then verse 13, He quotes from Isaiah 8: "And again, 'I will put My trust in Him,' and again, 'Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.'" He's quoting Isaiah, and if you read that passage in Isaiah, Isaiah is talking about the children that God has given him, and gave them specific names — "I and my children may be signs and wonders to Israel" — that they would be prophetic to Israel, that they would declare that Yahweh is salvation. In the same way, this is quoted of Christ here, saying, "Here am I and the children whom God has given Me," quoting Isaiah. What Jesus is saying is this: all of those of whom I am the head, they share My mission. Just as Isaiah's children were to be signs and wonders to proclaim that Yahweh is salvation to Israel,

we carry the message of our Redeemer. We carry the work of our Redeemer, because we're in Him. His work is our work, right? His message is our message, and our goal should be to declare grace and peace with God through Jesus Christ to all men, and our work should be to present every man faultless, perfect in Christ Jesus, because He is the progenitor of a new race. His work is our work, and we are in Him.

Flip back over on the front. The application is this — this is where we're going to close. Why is Christ called the last Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:45? Why is He called the last Adam?

Because He became a life-giving spirit, it says. Amen. He became a life-giving spirit. He's the one who gives us life, right? True life, eternal life. Adam brings us death, but Christ sets before us life, and praise God that that's why He came in the flesh — to defeat death, to destroy the devil, and to atone for our sins.