What Child is this, What Man was He?

Most people enjoy puzzles and brain-teasers. They’re captivating and often evoke a range of emotions as people try to solve them. One popular puzzle you may be familiar with is "one of these is not like the others." In this puzzle, a set of items is presented, and the contestant is asked to identify the one that differs from the rest. Typically, there is one key aspect that makes one item stand out.

When we consider every human being who has ever lived, Jesus is the One who is different from all of us. He stands out because He was without sin.

But if He was different from all humans, then was He really human? And if He was human but different from us, what kind of human was He? To answer these questions, we must first understand the true nature of humans. And to understand that, we have to go way back… all the way back to when God created humans.

Back to Creation

When God created humans, He made them in His own image and likeness (Gen 1:27), and He said that it was very good (Gen 1:31). In their original state, humans – Adam and Eve – were able to live in God's presence. They were not created flawed or sinful. They did not require a sacrifice to approach God’s presence, as we see from Leviticus onwards. They enjoyed fellowship with God and, in fact, were His representatives to all of creation. Adam and Eve ate, slept, moved, worked (yes, work existed before the Fall), had relationships, and enjoyed all of God’s creation according to God’s design.

This was God’s design for humanity and this is what being human meant according to God’s purposes. There was no fault in them. To err was not human. There was no fear, guilt, sickness, or death that characterized humanity. Sin was not part of human nature.

Humanity Corrupted

However, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin entered the world. Humanity was now stained with sin. Everyone born of Adam and Eve inherited a sinful nature. Through sin, death, sickness, sorrow, and fear entered the world, spreading to all humanity (Rom 5:12). Sin multiplied greatly, and humanity, which was very good in God's eyes, became filled with evil, grieving the Lord (Gen 6:5-6).

Humans were no longer as God had originally created them. In this fallen state, they were not fully human according to God’s design. And this is true even today. Everyone who is conceived naturally and is born as a human, is, in fact, born in sin (Ps 51:5). Sin, like hunger or thirst, has become a default aspect of human nature.

But God did not give up on humans. Right after the Fall, He promised Adam and Eve in Gen 3:15 that He would send a new human, a true human, a complete human, a sinless human who would defeat Satan and sin. And who will fulfill that which Adam was supposed to fulfill, namely, to fill the earth with God’s image-bearers (Gen 1:28). That man was Jesus.

Jesus' Humanity

Jesus, the Son of God, entered humanity through the incarnation. However, He did not inherit the sinful nature that had now become part of human nature. He was conceived supernaturally by the power of the Holy Spirit and was born of a virgin. Jesus was fully human in every way that God originally designed humans to be. But, unlike Adam, He was born into a fallen world. He experienced hunger, thirst, sorrow, rejection, mockery, and even temptation, just as everyone born in a fallen world does. Yet, unlike us, He was without sin and did not yield to temptation (Matt 4:1-11, Heb 4:15).

Jesus took on human nature and was made in the likeness of men (Phil 2:7). Because He was truly human and a better Adam, He resisted temptation and lived without sin. Because He was truly human, He lived in perfect communion with God. Because He was truly human, He became the true representative of all humans, who could not approach God by themselves. He took upon Himself the sins of humans, experiencing death on our behalf. He died on behalf of His people to save them (Matt 1:21) and bore the judgment we deserved (Is 53:5-6). But because He was sinless, death could not hold Him, and God raised Him from the dead, ending the agony of death (Acts 2:24).

Humanity Restored

Humans who are in Jesus through faith, already experience humanity according to God’s original design. In Jesus, we can boldly approach God’s throne (Heb 4:16). We enjoy deeper fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us (1 Cor 6:19). And, through the Spirit, we are set free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). And, one day, when Jesus returns as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), He will restore all of creation, and we will be transformed to what God intended humans to be – like Jesus (1 John 3:2).

Conclusion

As we celebrate Christmas this year, let us remember that the Son of God became human – a true human – to restore humanity – and more – to everyone who is united to Him through faith. He became like us in every way, except sin. In Jesus, we have a true representative before God because He became like us. And because of the similarity He shares with us, we will one day be like He is – sinless and perfected.

Turn to Him and be restored!

Merry Christmas!!