Fully Human, Fully God

One of my favorite aspects of my job is the studying and the preparation that goes into aligning my message each week... Over the past few weeks - that study has taken us through the book of 1 John... I thought it quite interesting that this letter was penned to combat the heresy (what a fun word - but another blog another time...) of the Gnostic's...

Here we are 50-60 years after Christ's ministry here on earth - and people are already jacking with the theology of the church... The Gnostic's had some different thoughts: 1) All created matter was evil which meant that The 'Creator God' was an inferior God, and that Jesus couldn't have been fully human and fully God because man = matter, therefore man = evil... Hard to follow? Tell me about it... 2) The body is evil, BUT the spirit (soul) is separate from the body - so you can do whatever you want physically because it doesn't effect your spirit... Which is partially why the concept that Jesus didn't really have a body, but was more of a hologram came into play... WHAT?! Jesus was nothing more then VG like Star Wars? Yikes!

John wrote the early church to assure them that Jesus was truly FULLY HUMAN, FULLY GOD... If Jesus isn't fully both - then He's a liar... That most certainly isn't true... He was born of both God and Mary... Lived some 33 years on this earth... Spent much of that time as a carpenter and provider for His family... And He spent about 3 years ministering to the children of Israel, Samaritans, Gentiles, Men, Women, and Children... He loved lepers, paralytics, the blind and the lame... He loved tax collectors, prostitutes, fishermen, rich people, and the poor... He even loved those that nailed HIS BODY to the T-Shaped contraption we call the 'cross'...

It's not surprising that those of this world would try to discredit Jesus... They still try to do that today... But I'm sure those that felt His touch, His love, and His healing had no doubts that He wasn't just a hologram... They knew who He was... FULLY HUMAN, FULLY GOD!