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JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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35<br />

● "They crucified the Lord of Glory" (1 Co 2:9).<br />

● "The virgin shall bring forth a son . . . He shall be called the Son of<br />

the Most High" (Lk 1:31-32).<br />

● "Even as the Son of Man, who is in heaven" (Jn 3:13).<br />

With regard to Christ having two wills there were times when Jesus expressed the will of<br />

unfallen humanity; and other times when He expressed the will of deity (e.g., Jesus said,<br />

"Nevertheless not My will but Yours be done"—Lk 22:42). This obviously expresses human<br />

will. Again He said, "Your sins be forgiven" (Mt 9:2,5)—a statement that could never be<br />

attributed to man as only God can forgive sins. It seems that every single decision stemmed from<br />

either the "will" of His human nature or the "will" of His divine nature or a blending of both.<br />

Therefore it is correct to think of Jesus having two wills.<br />

With regard to Christ having two consciousnesses, it is clear that there were times when<br />

Jesus was conscious humanly speaking (e.g., Jesus said, "I thirst"—Jn 19:28). On the other hand,<br />

Jesus said, "I and the Father are one" (10:30). Inasmuch as the Father was not human, He could<br />

have been referring to His deity.<br />

With regard to the exact nature of the union of the two natures, human nature found its<br />

personality only in union with the divine nature. The human nature did not have a personality of<br />

its own before Christ took it for Himself. In other words, the logos did not take on an already<br />

developed personality. The two natures thus joined, constitutes one personal subsistence.<br />

Furthermore it was God in the person of Christ who took upon Himself the nature of a<br />

man; the union of the natures is thus theanthropic, God-Man. He had divine intelligence and<br />

human intelligence. He had a divine will and a human will. He had a divine consciousness and<br />

human consciousness.<br />

Modern Cults<br />

Mormonism views Jesus as a man who achieved great things. While they teach that<br />

Jesus was a pre-existing spirit—an unembodied spirit—they believe that about everyone.<br />

According to them Jesus' distinctiveness is not that He was God, but that He was God's firstborn<br />

spirit-child, He was the first of many since all human beings are spirit children prior to<br />

their birth. "His humanity is to be recognized as real and ordinary—whatever happened to Him<br />

may happen to any of us." Thus he is often referred to as our "elder brother." According to<br />

Mormonism, "Even though we can become a god just like Jesus," Jesus has shown to have<br />

preeminence because of what He has accomplished.

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