JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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Since in some cases historical facts also yield logical deductions, the historian must be
open to such evidence. Thus the historian, whose task is to pass on to succeeding generations
what has taken place in history, must follow the facts to their logical conclusions. In dealing with
salvation-history (the biblical record) he must, therefore, not only be open to the factual evidence
of the biblical record, but he must also be open to the significance of Jesus which is suggested to
him by the evidence. As I. Howard Marshall puts it:
"And that significance may be expressed in terms of the supernatural without the
historian feeling that he has to sacrifice his intellect to faith."25
There is no necessary dichotomy between faith and reason, religion and intellect, Jesus of
history and the Christ of faith. Such a dichotomy is the creation of those who are predisposed to
a Western worldview which does not leave room for transcendence, for the supernatural.
I. Howard Marshall in his book, I Believe in the Historical Jesus, affirms:
"So the reader of the Gospels is brought face to face with the biblical Jesus as the
Son of the living God. The accounts, seen in the light of the resurrection, call out
for his decision and invite him to faith. And the object of his faith is then the Jesus
whose existence and ministry have been confirmed and illuminated by historical
research, but whose significance is only fully seen in the light of that experience
of the risen Lord which has colored the interpretation of Jesus offered in the
Gospels and the rest of the New Testament and which continues to illuminate
The mind of the believer. For as we have seen, ultimately the earthly Jesus is
inadequate. Christian faith joyfully embraces the Jesus of the Bible, assured that
the biblical accounts have a firm basis in history, but knowing that 'the Jesus of
the historians' is not enough; only the biblical Jesus Christ, the earthly and the
heavenly Lord, is adequate as the object of faith."26
The Jesus of history is the Christ of faith!
The Bible, therefore, is the carrier or vehicle—the instrument—prepared by God to reveal
to us His message through the ministry of His Spirit—the Holy Spirit.
The message is the gospel—the GOOD NEWS:
"Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you
received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved,
if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain.