Search
I. Christ being a genuine man
II. Christ being the perfect and finest man
А. Obedient
B. Serving
C. Having no appearance of evil
D. Having the finest personality
III. Divinity expressed through humanity
IV. Living by the Father and by the Holy Spirit
V. The proper humanity for the church
We saw that through incarnation the mighty God became a man. Jesus was the Triune God manifested in the flesh. From His birth to His death the Lord lived on the earth for about thirty-three and a half years. The Lord's life described in the four Gospels shows us that He lived as a genuine man. Furthermore, His human living was perfect, without flaw. His living was according to the finest and highest standard. In this lesson we will see how Christ's humanity is the pattern for our own human living.
We saw previously how Christ's incarnation shows that He was a genuine man. His childhood and older years also prove that He was indeed a man. As a baby, Jesus was circumcised, named, and offered to God on His eighth day. Jewish law required this for all Jewish boys. Philip saw Him as "the son of Joseph, from Nazareth," a real man (John 1:45). His own countrymen called Him "this man." They knew Him as "the carpenter's son," with a "mother," "brothers," and "sisters" (Matt. 13:54-56). These facts strongly prove that He is a man, not a bit different from an ordinary man. He ate with men (Matt. 9:10-11; Luke 7:36; John 12:2). He, "being wearied from the journey" and being thirsty, asked a woman for a drink (John 4:6-7). He "wept" as did those who were present at that time (John 11:33, 35). All these actions prove that He is a man.
On one hand He was ordinary, but on the other hand He was unique. Every area of Jesus' human living was absolutely proper and perfect.
Luke tells us that when Jesus was twelve years old, He knew how to care for His Father's will and yet at the same time be subject to His natural parents. He explained to His parents why He stayed in the temple but was still subject to them. He asked, "Did you not know that I must be in the things of My Father?" (Luke 2:49). Yet verse 51 says that He went with them and was subject to them. Some young people may say, "I am for God!"; but at home they are disobedient to their parents. This is not the fine, balanced humanity of Jesus.
In Mark 10:45 the Lord said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve." Many people, especially some of the young people living at home, want to be served, but they never serve. They do not clean the house; they do not wash the dishes; they do not take care of their clothing; they do not even make their beds; they do not do anything. They just like to eat, sleep, and have a good time. This is not the humanity of Jesus. The humanity of Jesus is one to serve, not to be served. We do need such a spirit to serve others diligently.
In His ministry, the Lord contacted many kinds of people. Although He cared very much for their salvation, He always contacted them in a way which gave no appearance of evil. In John 3, Jesus was willing to meet with an elderly religious man in the middle of the night. But in chapter 4, when He spoke to a woman, He did it in broad daylight, in a very open and public place. He was very careful not only to avoid evil, but also to avoid the mere appearance of evil. He was more than proper when He dealt with members of the opposite sex. This kind of proper humanity is very much disregarded and even ridiculed in today's society. As a result, many young people have fallen into the damaging trap of immorality.
The Lord's personality was the finest. He was meek and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29). He did not say that He was meek and lowly in appearance, but in heart. He was so meek that even little children could come to Him (Matt. 19:14). He was so lowly that even a despised, sinful woman could come and weep at His feet (Luke 7:38-39). He was so gentle that John, the disciple, could recline on His bosom during a meal together (John 13:23). Yet He overturned the tables of the evil money-changers in the temple (Matt. 21:12-13). He also knew when to rejoice and when to weep. He rejoiced in the Father's will (Luke 10:21), but He wept over the condition of God's people (Luke 19:41). In all things this man Jesus was so fine and balanced.
We would need many lessons to consider every aspect of Jesus' life. The more we read about Him the more attracted to Him we should be. How could anyone have such a perfect human living? Only by being a God-man. The Lord Jesus was not just a good man; He was a man filled with God. His divinity was expressed through His humanity. This is why we are so struck by the fineness, loveliness, and balance of His humanity. His life cannot be imitated. In order to live the way Jesus did, you must be filled with God. God's purpose is that man would express God. So He made Adam in His own image and intended that he should eat of the tree of life. If Adam had done so, he would have been a man mingled with God and would have expressed God.
The Gospel of Luke shows us many instances in which the Lord's divinity was expressed in His human qualities. In 7:11-17 we see the Lord showing pity to a weeping mother by raising up her dead son. Verse 12 says, "Now as He came near the gate of the city, behold, one who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a considerable crowd from the city was with her." This situation was very sad, and no one could do anything to comfort the grieving widow. First she had lost her husband, and now she had lost her only son.
Luke 7:13-15 says, "And seeing her, the Lord had compassion on her, and said to her, Do not weep. And approaching, He touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. And He said, Young man, I say to you, arise! And the dead man sat up and began to speak; and He gave him to his mother." Here we see the Lord's compassion in His speaking to the widow and touching the coffin. Would you like to touch a coffin with a dead person in it? The Lord was moved to do this by His human compassion. Then His divinity was expressed through that human compassion by raising the young man from the dead. Here we see that Jesus, the God-man, was full of the highest humanity with divinity.
The Lord Jesus lived His human life fully by the Father (John 6:57). Although He was God in the flesh, He never took the position of God. He lived as a man for God and with God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, "I can do nothing from Myself..I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me" (5:30); "My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me" (7:16); "I do not seek My glory" (8:50); "I always do the things that are pleasing to Him" (8:29b); and "I and the Father are one" (10:30).
The Lord Jesus worked not by His own strength but by the Holy Spirit. He said in Matthew 12:28, "I by the Spirit of God cast out demons." In Luke, He was full of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and came in the power of the Spirit (4:1; 4:14). From these points, we see that the Lord's human living was fully in God, by God, with God, and for God.
God wants a group of people who are filled with Him and express Him — just like the Lord Jesus. For this we must have the proper humanity, which is the basic structure and strength of the church. Satan tries to frustrate God's purpose by attacking man's humanity. He especially attacks the young people with immorality, drugs, and mental illness. These things can damage young people to the point that they become useless for God's expression. We should not be ignorant of the enemy's tactics. Too many young people have been ruined and even killed by drugs and alcohol.
The Lord Jesus is living in us. You should sense the Lord objecting in your conscience when you begin to go too far in the things you do, the things you look at, and even the clothes you wear. Too many things in the world are designed to stir up people's lust — lust which Satan uses to damage humanity. In such matters you should not be too "spiritual," thinking that you can resist any temptation. Flee first! Then, seek the Lord with all them who call on Him out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22).
The things we mentioned above must be more than clear to us. We must also realize that even our sloppiness and laziness can frustrate the Lord. You should sense the Lord objecting inside you when you throw your socks on the floor. It is easier to leave them there, but that is not the humanity of the God-man; that is your lazy self. What will your friends see when they visit your room? You may preach to them often about the Lord but they will only remember your messy room. How we need to enjoy the Lord's fine humanity! We, as the church, must be very different from today's constantly degrading society so that God can be expressed through the highest humanity.
Do not say, "I am not Jesus, I cannot be like Him. When I get older I will be better." No! Today, when you see that you are short of the standard of Jesus' humanity, you can open to Him, call on Him, and receive the Spirit. We cannot imitate the Lord's human living, but it can become ours by our taking Him in. We have said repeatedly that all that Christ is and has done is now in the life-giving Spirit. The Spirit today is the Spirit of the man Jesus. Not only is there divinity in the Spirit but even more there is the humanity of Jesus. This is the way to grow up into Christ in all things. You cannot be like Christ by imitation, but neither should you wait for the future to be like Him. Today is the day we can take Him in, live Him, and be "Jesusly" human. His highest, finest, and perfect humanity is our need today for the church life. Then God will be expressed through man for the testimony of Jesus. When we have such a living, others will be touched and will be attracted to the church.
