As Evangelicals we are committed to the deity of Jesus
Christ. It is one of the fundamentals of
the faith, and for the first 20 years of my Christian life I was happy
affirming the full deity and humanity of the God-man, but actually thought
little about what His humanity actually meant.
Then about fifteen years ago a friend of mine challenged me to think
more seriously about the humanity of Christ, and in particular how Jesus lived
out His humanity as the perfect man walking in dependence upon the Spirit. He contended that all too often we
Evangelicals think about Jesus as having, as a consequence of His deity,
resources that allowed Him to sort of float through hardships, “hitting the God
button” and leaping over obstacles rather than having to slug it out like you
and me. Often this kind of thinking
revealed itself in discussions regarding His peccability vs. impeccability.
When I began to give this idea of Jesus living in
complete dependence upon the Spirit more serious attention I found that my
understanding of the Gospels grew immensely, and exhortations like the one in 1
Peter 2:21-23 took on fresh significance.
For to this you have been called, because
Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow
in his steps. He committed no sin,
neither was deceit found in his mouth.
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he
did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 1
Peter 2:21-23 ESV
Captivated by this
new understanding I looked around for books that explored the issue and found
that there were not very many good ones available. Well, that void has been partially filled. Bruce Ware, professor of Christian Theology
at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has produced a theologically rich, yet
eminently readable little book entitled “The Man Christ Jesus” (ISBN
978-1-43351305-3). At 156 pages
including Scripture indices and priced under $13 this book is a bargain.
Throughout the book the author makes a number of
statements which caused me to pause, put the book down and meditate upon the
glories of our great Savior. For example,
he writes in reflecting upon Jesus being the Spirit anointed Messiah:
“…the Spirit
will remain on him and empower the work that he has yet to accomplish in his
second coming. Indeed, the incarnate
Jesus, since he is forever human from the moment of his conception in the womb
of Mary, forever has the Spirit upon him working through him to accomplish the
work the Father has given him to do.” (pg. 41).
And in regard to the necessity of His bodily resurrection:
“If Christ
died for our sin, and sin is to us both a penalty we cannot pay and a power we
cannot overcome, then Christ’s death for our sin must both pay sin’s penalty
and conquer sin’s power. But since sin’s
penalty is death, if it is true that Christ has “died for our sin,” [1 Cor.
15:3] what is the necessary expression that Christ has paid the penalty for sin
fully? He must rise from the dead. If
he remains in a grave dead, then the penalty of sin is still being paid, and
thus its payment has not been made fully.” (pg. 131-2).
In terms of layout, the book has eight chapters, each of
which covers a different aspect of Jesus humanity, beginning with the
incarnation (includes a helpful discussion of Phil. 2) and ending with His
present reign and future return. At the
end of every chapter the author has an application section as well as a series
of discussion questions. This format makes
this book perfect for a home study group.
In fact I am using it this summer in our Young Professionals book
club. Summer is upon us. Pick up this book. Read it.
And sense a renewed passion for worship.
It is that good!
