It says in Hebrews 2:14-15,18:
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery… 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
This section of Scripture conveys an extremely personal Jesus. A Jesus that is incredibly human. When it comes to the humanity of Jesus, we often buy the hype of a superman-like Jesus flying above the radar when it comes to real struggle. However, the Bible doesn’t give us this option of thinking. Jesus was a person like any other person. In this teaching we consider that:
Jesus had to grow in the understanding of who He was
Jesus had to give up the independent use of His attributes
Jesus had to qualify to be our Savior
In each of these dynamics of life, Jesus rooted His life as a human in a trust for the Father. In each of these categories, the overarching passion of Jesus was to do what the Father wanted, to trust Him. In this way, Jesus demonstrates that He is the Savior and can extend to us His righteousness precisely because He was fully human and never sinned. My hope to be accepted by God is found in the obedience of Jesus a He lived his life. To minimize or neglect the humanness of Jesus is to minimize my hope and standing before God the Father.
I want to thank you, Dan, and the other members of leadership at GF church for this series of teachings and, in particular, this sermon, “Personal Jesus, Part III: Jesus, Just Hype or Incredibly Human?”. This has encouraged me like nothing I’ve experienced since my first year of following Christ.
This teaching helped me to understand the humanity of Jesus exponentially better and thus, has drastically changed how I relate to Jesus now. (Which appears to be be the goal of the series, so, yay! Job well done!).
The Sunday this was preached I was at first dumbstruck with the humanity of Jesus and really imagined, for the first time, him as ACTUALLY human. Sinless of course, but truly truly human. This made it feel like he was standing next to me in church and when we sang worship songs, I imagined holding his hand while I worshipped him and was completely overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for his sacrifice, my redemption, and, as I was newly aware of, his companionship, strength and support in this human existence.
The following morning I listened to a Mars Hill sermon titled “Jesus, Without Sin” (http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/jesus-without-sin). I was convinced of my need to repent of my idolatry of food (junk food in particular) and, again, overwhelmed with the humanity of Jesus and the support he provides to conquer sin and death. Since that morning I have been on a junk food fast, turning to Jesus and to scripture when I am tempted to seek comfort in unhealthy food. I am following an eating plan I know to be healthy and nutritious, doing what I’ve known I should for a long time.
I have been AMAZED at the results. My hunger for junk food has been replaced with a voracious hunger for Jesus and the Bible. Because I depend on him EVERY hour of EVERY day for my comfort, strength and support I HAVE to have the things that will support this wonderful wonderful addiction. My life seems alive again. My heart is joyful. My faith and spirit renewed and growing.
I can’t say thank you enough. Thank you for listening to the Holy Spirit, for preaching what God has intended for you to preach. This is one sister who has been tremendously blessed by it.
Sarah, we are very thankful to God that this teaching is helpful. Thank you so much for you kind words of encouragement.