esus Christ is fully God, and He became a man to die for our sins. Last month in our study of Hebrews, we saw this doctrine in a few verses about Jesus Christ, such as: Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same (Hebrews 2:14). But many Christians have the idea that Jesus was a man only while He was on the earth. They think that when He ascended into heaven He left His humanity behind, and that for Jesus to remain a man while regaining the glory He had with the Father before the foundation of the world would somehow be unbecoming or unnecessary.
This misunderstanding of the humanity of Christ is unfortunately all too pervasive in the church. Many Christians, if asked, "Is Jesus now a man in heaven?" would not know how to answer, or would answer in the negative. But Jesus Christ is a man, and the perpetual humanity of Jesus is a foundation for many important biblical doctrines.
One doctrine that has this teaching as a basis is the resurrection of the dead. The hope of the New Testament writers, and thus the hope that all believers should have, is a sure confidence of being raised from the dead and obtaining a glorious resurrection body. The bodies to be given us are described in this way: So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15: 42-44). There is much here, and we will examine it in detail in a future issue, but the point I am now making is that in heaven we will have bodies; we will be men forever.
Many Christians, if asked, "Is Jesus now a man in heaven?" would not know how to answer.
So we see that heaven will not be a place of formless spirits, but of resurrected bodies. And as Jesus received a resurrected body as a man, even so as a man will He bring about our resurrection, as it says: For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterwards those who are Christ's at His coming (1 Cor. 15:20-23). Jesus is the firstfruits of the harvest of the resurrection to come. When He returns He will raise us from the dead as He was raised, as a man, and make us to be like Himself. The message of our transformation into the likeness of the resurrected body of Jesus at His return is found in many places in the New Testament. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body (Phil. 3:20-21; cf. Rom. 8:13-23; 1 John 3:2). Jesus is a glorious man, and will make us into glorious men. Do you await the Savior eagerly? If not, perhaps the reason is that you have not yet fully considered the glories of the body to be given to you when He returns to raise His people.
The enduring humanity of Christ is also fundamental to our understanding of Him as our High Priest, specifically in His capacity as Mediator. A mediator is one who stands in the middle of two parties. In this position, Jesus stands between men and God, representing us to God, even as He represents God to us. Now the representative of men must Himself be a Man. And so Paul wrote: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). Notice the present tense; Jesus is a Man and our Mediator.
This brings us back to the book of Hebrews, which carries through most of it this theme of Jesus as High Priest. The first mention of His Priesthood is in the midst of the argument that, for Jesus to save men, He had to be made like men: Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself suffered, being tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted (Heb. 2:17-18). It is because He is so identified with the nature of men that He can represent men to God, now that He has gone through what men go through. He is understanding and merciful toward us when we are tempted, because He was tempted.
The priesthood of Christ, and consequently the humanity of Christ, did not end with His propitiatory death. Later in Hebrews we read this concerning Jesus: But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them (Heb. 7:24-25; cf. Rom. 8:34). Jesus rose from the dead into an everlasting body, and so remains a priest and a man forever. His priesthood is to be eternal, and so His manhood must be eternal. Because of this, Jesus is at all times interceding for His people. The priests of the Old Covenant would die, but our priest always lives. When you are tempted as a man, there is a Man in heaven who was also tempted to sin, who prays for you. When you do sin, at God's right hand is a Man, your sinless Advocate, ever interceding for you.
In this way Jesus saves us from our sin completely. As a Man, Jesus died to remove the
penalty of our sin. As a Man, Jesus our High Priest frees us from the
power of sin. And as a Man Jesus will raise us from the
dead, saving us forever from the very
presence of sin. To deny that He remains a Man is, in effect, to deny the
ground of salvation.
