THE GOD-MAN, HIS ORIGIN

I enjoy writing series because, like painting a picture, little by little, a series builds a mental image of our topic and we gain knowledge and understanding as we go along.

I have entitled this series, “Jesus, the God-man” because nowhere in human history is there any other record of God coming to earth as a man except Jesus. There may be fanciful stories of such an event but no evidence that these stories are true. However, we have a book, an authentic book, rooted in history and brimful of the records of God interacting with humans, that tells us that such an event happened!

This story covers millennia of time. It is the story of, first, one nation, Israel, that spreads into all nations. It’s a complete story, yet open-ended, continuing on, mostly unwritten, in the lives of millions of people down the generations.

Despite the time it took to write this book, more that 2000 years, the number of contributors, more than 40, originating in more countries and continents than one, as well as a collection of different genres, this story ultimately has one central figure and one subject, the God-man, Jesus.

The Bible presents this Jesus from eternity to eternity. From before the first record of human history when the story of people begins and when the original pair decided to ditch their allegiance to their Creator for self-made rules, He was already present.

John 1:1-3 NIV
[1] “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

“The Word”, said John, “who is the God-man, that spoke the universe into being, became part of the creation He made”. He came from eternity to be part of His own creation, to share in its life, to suffer with and for those He had made. He was the bridge between heaven and earth, to reveal the true God to the world.

John 1:14 NIV
[14] “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

However, long before the historical event of Jesus’ birth, our book gives us detailed hints about Him in the writings of His ancient people. This fact alone should alert us to the authenticity of this book. No one else can tell a story so accurately and in such detail before it happens as tgecstory of Jesus. Prophecy is God’s prerogative and ability alone, not ours.

God alerted His prophets to the promise of this God-human person in the types and shadows of His religious system as well as in the visions and impressions they received through the Holy Spirit.

These “hints” added up to the promise so accurate that, when the God-man came, His disciples were able to match picture and person, and conclude, as Peter, their spokesman, declared, when Jesus asked outright about His identity…

Matthew 16:15-16 NIV
[15] “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
[16] “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came in power on the fledgling church, Peter was able, finally, to match prophecy and fulfilment.

Acts 2:14-17 NIV
[14] “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. [15] These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! [16] No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: [17] “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams… “

In his masterful sermon, Peter put the story together. Finally, it was Jesus, the God-man, the one God had promised, described, and spoken about in His ancient writings who had come…and gone, leaving behind His Holy Spirit to continue the work He had come to do.

After thousands of years, our story ends where it began. Isn’t that amazing! It ends with the restoration of everything the first pair messed up when they decided to go it alone.

Revelation 21:1-4 NIV
[1] Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. [2] I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Let’s look at the process…

In the beginning, the earth was good and everything worked perfectly.

Genesis 1:31 NIV
[31] “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”

Genesis 2:25 NIV
[25] “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”

Isn’t this what God wanted the earth to be when He made it… God and man, living together on a perfect earth, in harmony and without shame?

So, He planned, prepared and sent His man to reset the earth and mankind to His plan.

So, what went wrong?

One wrong choice, one act of disobedience, and the unthinkable happened.

Romans 5:12 NIV
[12] “Therefore,… sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…”

Poof! Gone in a moment! All the amazing things God planned and prepared for His children…gone!

But…take heart. God had it all prepared before it happened.

His plan? It starts with the whisper of a God-man, standing in the wings to fix the mess the first pair made. No names, no pack drill, just a hint of things to come.

To the initiator of the mess God said…

Genesis 3:15 NLT
[15] And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

The rest of the story unpacks, in detail, the careful preparation for this momentous event, when the God-man would come to set the earth and its destiny back in order.

To be continued…