Who/What is Jesus?

5.  Who and What is Jesus?

Just as people leave behind a “last will and testament” document commonly referred to today as a “will” defining their intent (will) for the disposition of their worldly goods and possessions when their body dies, God gave us His last will and testament for eternal life through His Word as the statement of His will wand sealed the surety of it by the death of the body of Jesus and raising Jesus from the dead as the father promised.  We must learn to know what His will (the Word) is, and what it means for our own self to find rest for our souls.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  Matthew 11:29. 

Thus, our first need is to thoroughly understand who and what Jesus was and is.  From there, we find out who and WHAT we are in Him.  To appreciate who & what Jesus is as the first born child of God the Father, recall the Jews were the children of God as a nation in Old Testament times, we begin with the understanding the physical “nature” of parents always determines the nature of their offspring.  For example, Zebras (animals) are born from zebras as animals, sparrows (birds) from sparrows as birds, perch (fish) from perch as fish,…, and people from people as humans. 

At conception, by the true love of God the Father in power and without physical contact of any kind, a man-child named Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of a virtuous, virgin woman named “Mary”. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 1:20 (Emphasis added). 

Knowing the Holy Ghost is of the Spirit as part of God in the trinity of the Spirit, and Mary was human, we may embrace this fact:  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6.  Just as man’s flesh cannot cease or take a break from being human, no aspect of God as a Spirit ever ceases to be of the Spirit of God.  While we do not always rely on the use of capitalization for proper meaning of terms and phrases within the Bible, punctuation is sometimes helpful to reinforce the proper context. The “Spirit” in John 3:6 is in reference to God in any or all of the three aspects man knows of Him–the Father by which we know Him according to His will as the will of God, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.  Accordingly, one parent of Jesus is of the Spirit of God–without flesh and bones, and the other was of the flesh–with flesh and bones.  ...for a spirit hath not flesh and bones... Luke 24:39.  

For clarity, the flesh and bones part of Jesus (i.e., His body) is human.  As a human he had a human soul as we do. But what about His father?  God the Father is of the Spirit and the father of the man Jesus, so what did Jesus get from God as a parent?  Because His father is God and all Spirit, Jesus must also be born of the Spirit of God just as His Father is of the Spirit.  Stated another way, some aspect of Jesus must be the “spiritual” offspring (progeny) of the Spirit as sired (conceived) by God, but more specifically the Holy Ghost.  If any person is “born of the Spirit” of God they would be a child of God in the Spirit.  

By way of reproof and introduction of what Jesus is as part of the Spirit of God?  Recall, the first man Adam was made from the elements of the earth, but Jesus was made from mankind.  As to mankind, Jesus was no exception in that way.  He was a man having a body, a soul, and a spirit/will of man like every other living person (see, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, and Hebrews 4:12), but ONLY Jesus was actually sired (conceived in human procreation) by God and yet without the human contact associated with the coital act.  From this inquiry we learn the answer to the question: what kind of man was Jesus so WE can become a child too?  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.   Romans 8:14. 

Again, we return our consideration to His parents.  As different parents having different “lives”, each parent gave Jesus their own respective natural life.  Jesus received human life as a human soul of man from Mary as a human parent because Jesus was a man.  In addition to His human soul, Jesus also received a spiritual component  (the Spirit) unto life as a begotten son of God. Because God’s own stated intent was to create man in His “image and likeness” as discussed above (see also Genesis 1:26), we may, and should, compare the trinity of God being the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, to the trinity of body, soul and spirit of the man Jesus.   When we make this comparison of Spirit and flesh we learn more about God the Father and Jesus His begotten son.

To facilitate the explanation fully set forth below, and by way of reproof, the Bible says Jesus was born “Emmanuel” meaning “God with us”. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew 1:22-23.  For Jesus to be “God with us” we known God is the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost.  Hence, we need to consider God’s own reference to Himself under both the Old and New Covenants: Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. Isaiah 42:1 AND Matthew 12:18 (Emphasis added).   

From the perspective of man we discover: 1.) The body of Jesus is the servant as the body of the Father. Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (John 14:9). 2.) The soul of Jesus is that of a man, because Jesus is the offspring and progeny of man having a human soul.  (3.) The spirit/will of Jesus is the spirit/will of the man Jesus.

From the perspective of the Spirit of God we discover: 1.) The Father is the “soul” of God in the trinity because of His reference is to Himself that way,  and the soul is life. …“in whom my soul is well pleased:…” (see, Matthew 12:18 above).  2.) The Father’s spirit, as the reference to “my spirit” (see, Matthew 12:18 above), is the Holy Ghost as His spirit.  The Word is “spoken” by the Father as His “issue” (offspring or progeny) in the Spirit.  (Recall, we know the Word is God (John 1:1) as part of the trinity (1 John 5:7), conceived by the Holy Ghost–the “Spirit of truth”.)

Therefore, the only remaining element of the trinity of the man Jesus as Emmanuel that remains unaccounted for is the spirit/will of the man Jesus, and the only remaining element of the trinity of God unaccounted for is the Word. Because that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6), the Word is the spirit/will of the man Jesus and the Spirit/will of God for all mankind!  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  John 1:1 and 1:14.  (The “flesh” that “dwelt among us” in the preceding verse is the flesh of Jesus the Christ, and of course, the phrase “the Word was made flesh” (John 1:14) does not mean the body (flesh) of Jesus is the Word.  It means the body of Jesus was the “flesh suit” for the Word!  This combination of flesh and Spirit in one makes Him Emmanuel–“God with us”, and the very reason we may refer to the trinity of God as the Father, the Son (the Word), and the Holy Ghost as alluded to earlier in this work. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Matthew 28:19.

Jesus referred to Himself as the “Son of man” more than eighty (80) times in the New Testament.  For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.  Matthew 12:8. Hence, Jesus is a “son” in both contexts–God and man, and His “Son of man” reference had a two-fold meaning!  Jesus was: 1.) Born a man as a son in the flesh as a “first” type of man as a living soul in a body when he was born a human, AND 2.) As a “second” type of man of the Spirit of God.   As such, not only was Jesus a man of the “first” type like Adam, Jesus is also the origin of a “second” man type of the Spirit.  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 1 Corinthians 15:46-48.  Not until Jesus did anyone ever exhibit this “second” man type as being born of the Spirit.  In fact, Jesus was the first living combination of flesh and Spirit (of God) in a human!  No other religion, no other alleged prophet, no other deity in any polytheistic or monotheistic culture or society anywhere or at any time makes this claim, or could make this claim, EVER! 

Lastly, the Word is and always as been the servant of God the Father.  In fact, everything was created by the Father according to the will of His Word with the Holy Ghost–the “spirit of truth” being the power in the truth of it! For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:  Colossians 1:16.  (“Him”  in the preceding verse is the Word aspect of God and Jesus the Christ!)