Introduction: A friend sent me a video clip from an Oprah television
show in which Oprah argued vigorously that there are many different
paths to truth and heaven. She is not alone. This is the philosophy
of the day – everyone has an equally valid opinion. The one exception
would be if you did not agree. In that case your opinion would not be
a valid “path.” The Bible does not accept the “diverse opinions are
equally right” theory. Rather, it teaches that you are either right
or wrong. There is no neutral ground. One subject on which you are
either right or wrong is the subject of this week’s lesson: the
humanity of Jesus. The Bible claims that Jesus is fully human and
(as we studied last week) fully God. Let’s dive into our study this
week of the human “side” of Jesus!
- The Importance of Acknowledging His Humanity
- Read 1 John 4:1. What does this text say about the Oprah
theory that all beliefs are equally valid? (It says we
need to “test” theories to see if any are from God. A lot
of falsehood is out there from people who claim to speak
for God.) - Read 1 John 4:2-3. What is the basis for deciding whose
opinion is Godly and whose opinion represents that of the
antichrist? (Whether the person acknowledges that Jesus
“came in the flesh.”) - Read 1 John 4:4-6. Would you expect the world to listen to
you? Would you expect them to think your path is “valid?” - How many people watch Oprah and listen to her
opinion? Does this text explain why? (The world
listens to the viewpoint of the world.) - How can the world and the church have such different
views? Do they not use the same logic? (Notice that
verse 4 states that the “One” in you is greater than
the one in the world. For you Oprah fans, I do not
know her views about Jesus. I’m just looking at what
I heard her say about the “many paths” approach to
truth.) - How have we “overcome” the world through Jesus?
(Jesus triumphed over sin and the grave! Part of this
victory is that Jesus came in the flesh.) - Why is Jesus’ humanity so important? Why is it
important to His victory over sin? Let’s turn
to that next. - The Importance of Jesus’ Humanity
- Read Hebrews 2:10. How can Hebrews talk about making Jesus
“perfect?” He is God. What imperfection could He have? - Read Romans 5:12-14. How did sin enter the world? (By the
sin of Adam and Eve.) - Notice that Adam is a pattern “of the one to come.”
Who is that? - Read Romans 5:15-17. How is Jesus a counter-point to Adam?
(Adam brought us sin and death. Jesus brought us salvation
and eternal life.) - Read Romans 5:18-19. Why does Romans concentrate on the
disobedience of Adam and the obedience of Jesus? (Adam and
Eve had a test: would they obey God? Would they believe
and trust God, or would they distrust God and want to
depend on themselves by trying to become like God? Adam
and Eve failed the test. The logical result of this text
is that Jesus took up where Adam left off. It is that
reason Adam is called the “pattern” for Jesus. Jesus came
to earth as a human, He believed and trusted His Father.
He did not sin by disobedience and distrust. He did not
sin even though He suffered.) - What would be the point of all of this? (If God
created a law that could not be obeyed then how can
we be blamed for our sins? Sin would be a natural,
inherent part of life. We would always live in a
world plagued by sin and the suffering that results
from sin. Jesus proved that sin is not necessary.) - Considering the task before Jesus, can you now answer the
question how a perfect God became ( Hebrews 2:10) “perfect”
through suffering? (He became the perfect substitute. He
became the perfect “Second Adam.” He became the perfect
“Lamb of God.” His perfect life, His suffering for our
sins, His death on our behalf gives us the opportunity for
life eternal!) - Read Hebrews 2:14-15. How does Jesus’ death destroy the
devil? (It takes away from Satan the power of death. When
Adam sinned, we were all consigned to die for our sins.
When Jesus showed that humans could live in obedience to
God, when Jesus took our sins on His shoulders, when He
died on our place for our sins, He took away Satan’s power
over us. He took away Satan’s authority to insist on our
death.) - Read Hebrews 2:17. Why did Jesus have to be made like us
“in every way?” (This is the key to the importance of
understanding the reality of Jesus’ humanity. He could not
have stood in the place of Adam and defeated sin (won
where Adam lost) if He did not become human.) - Why is Jesus compared to a “merciful” High Priest?
(The High Priest in the Old Testament sanctuary
service offered the blood of the sacrifice in
atonement for the sins of the people.) - Read Hebrews 9:11-14. How is Jesus our High Priest?
(Jesus offers His blood on our behalf for our sins in
the sanctuary in heaven. Since He understands the
pull of sin first-hand, He is merciful to us.) - Read Hebrews 4:15-16. How could Jesus be tempted in every
way that we are if He was not fully human? - Was Jesus tested like we are or like Adam and Eve
were? (It appears from the Genesis account that Adam
and Eve had only one temptation. (Or at least one
testing time before they sinned.) I have tests all
the time. So did Jesus.) - Let’s look at a practical application of this.
If Jesus was tested like me, but did not sin, do
I have an excuse for sinning? (Adam and Eve were
created perfect. The sense I have from Romans 5
is that Jesus came as Adam – in that Jesus was
not predisposed to sin.) - What would be my goal in trying to live a
perfect life? Why would I want to do that? (All
the texts in Hebrews that we have been reading
which reveal Jesus’ work in heaven as our High
Priest, covering our sins with His blood, make
it clear that we are not entering heaven by our
own works. We should not aim to live a “perfect”
life to enter heaven. On the other hand, Jesus
went through all His suffering and pain to
defeat sin. Why would I want to be involved in
the very thing which Jesus defeated at a very
great cost to Himself?) - The Hope
- My daughter’s mini-van just had a flat tire. It ruined the
tire, so I ordered a new tire shipped to the gas station
which had her wheel and ruined tire. Because we were going
on a trip, it would be a few days before she could get
back to the station and have the new tire mounted. This
caused me some concern that the gas station might think
she had lost interest and throw away her special(but not
expensive)aluminum wheel. Once the gas station received
the new tire I had less concern about the station thinking
we were not coming back. What parallel do you see between
my “tire thinking” and what we have been discussing about
Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf? - Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. What does this text suggest
is the connection between our hope in Jesus’ Second Coming
and His death on our behalf? (After going through all of
this – becoming a human, living a perfect life, suffering
a terrible death, conquering death, do you think He is
going to walk away from what He did?) - Who does Jesus seem to worry about losing interest –
Him or us? (Jesus considers His sacrifice on our
behalf to be the key event to give us assurance He is
coming again.) - Friend, do you believe that Jesus was fully human as well
as fully God? If, in His humanity, He made it possible for
you to live eternally free from sin, death and suffering,
would you be willing to share that fantastic news with
someone else? - Next week: The Wisdom of His Teachings.
