How far down did Jesus come to this earth?
One might ask how far down did Jesus come to this earth? What nature did He take? Did Jesus come to this earth like Adam, before Adam sinned? Or, did Jesus come to this earth like you and I are? Who did He come to redeem…just Adam or the whole human race?
Romans 8:1-4, the Apostle Paul is very clear that Jesus came to this earth to be our next of kin in all ways, except of course, in that He did not sin. In other words, Jesus took my flesh, your flesh, bone of our bones, and came to redeem the lost possession. He came to redeem us from the slavery of sin. He came to redeem us from the sentence of death.
There are some that say that Mary birthed the Son of God. Mary was described as “highly favored” in Luke 1:28. ‘Highly favored’ comes from one Greek word which essentially means: to make graceful, endow with grace. Charitoo is used twice in the New Testament, once in Luke and then in Ephesians 1:6. No doubt it was an honor for Mary, but we must understand that she was to give the already existent God the Son (aka: the Word) flesh and bones. This is a mystery to use how God performed this miracle through the Holy Ghost. See posts on Mary for more information on the subject.
Remember the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23-38? There Adam was called the son of God at the beginning. What was Jesus was to be called when he was born? The Son of God (Luke 1:35). This means that Jesus came to this world to be the second Adam. Jesus came to recover what the first Adam lost. He came to take Adam’s place. He came to recover the crown. He came to recover the territory. He came to recover life for the human race. Every thing that Adam lost, Jesus came as the Son of God to recover and to restore.
The Apostle Paul picks up on this idea of two Adam’s in 1 Corinthians 15:45. The first Adam was given life by God, the second Adam became a life Living Spirit. In Romans 5, Paul develops this idea of the two Adams. The first Adam lost life, lost his throne, lost his territory, lost freedom; whereas the second Adam came and recovered all of these things the first Adam lost. Jesus came to occupy our place and to redeem that which was lost; rightly fulfilling the Hebrew laws of redemption. He became flesh of our flesh and bones of our bones in order to do it. He became as much as human being as Adam was originally.
Root and Offspring?
There are a couple of interesting, or some may say strange, texts in the Bible that refer to Jesus. Revelation 22:16, is speaking of Jesus being both the root (father) and offspring (son) of David. Can I be my son’s father and my son’s son at the same time. For us, either you are one or the other. But this verse says that Jesus was the father (root) and the son (offspring). How do we understand this? Jesus is the father of David as God; because when He created Adam, from Adam came David and therefore He created David. But Jesus as a man, he is the son of David because he became our close relative or next of kin. This shows that Jesus is God and also man.
Another example of this is with Abraham. Matthew 1:1, “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Question? Was Jesus the son of Abraham? He most certainly was. John 8:58, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Here, Jesus was having a conversation with several people that belonged to the Jewish Nation. In Matthew we just read that Jesus was the son of Abraham, then in John it says that before Abraham he was. Jesus is the father of Abraham and is also the son of Abraham, just like as is with David.
Jacob’s Ladder
In Genesis we have the story of Jacob’s ladder. It was really the Lord’s ladder. This ladder is placed on earth and the top of the ladder reaches up to the highest heaven. God is standing at the top of the ladder. What does that ladder represent? John 1:51 says the ladder represents Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said so. In what sense does the ladder represent Jesus? The bottom of the ladder represents the fact that Jesus is rooted on earth because he is a human being along with us, and the top of the ladder represents the fact that Jesus is One with God. So Jesus, as man, connects God to us. And as God, he connects us to God. He is the connecting link between heaven and earth, he is the great bridge. So much for human priests connecting us to God, first of all they are all sinners so they cannot represent us before God. They cannot go before the throne on their own anymore than we can. And secondly, a priest is only human. The real Priest that can only represent us before God, must be not only man but also God. Jesus is the only one that fits these requirements.
Relationship with Jesus
Let’s talk about our relationship with Jesus. Galatians 4:4-7, here we find a description of relationship between the Father, Jesus, and us. We already noted, that we cannot come before the Father and say ‘accept me’ because we are sinners so we have to come through our representative. Jesus came to this earth to redeem (buy back) us from death and slavery, so that we might receive the adoption as sons. Something very interesting is in this passage. This passage says that Jesus is the Son of God, God has pour out his spirit of his Son in us, and when we receive Jesus we also become the sons of God. So, since Jesus is the Son of God and we are sons of God, is it the same? The answer is absolutely not. There is only one who deserves to be called the Son of God. In the book of John, whenever Jesus is spoken of as the Son of God he uses the Greek word ‘huios’, but when John talks about us being the sons of God he uses the Greek word ‘teknon’. In this way a differentiation is made, it is not the same. ‘Huios’ is only used when referring to Jesus.
All who have been born in this world, are the children (sons) of the fallen Adam. We are children of wrath. We might not like it, but we are called a child of the devil. Jesus said to the Jews ‘you are of your father the devil’ because they had not been converted. So, we are not born into this world as sons of God, but rather are born as a child of wrath. The only one who deserves to be called the Son of God is Jesus, and yet this passage says that Jesus is the Son of God and we are sons of God. So the question is how do we become the sons of God? The answer is very simple. We become sons and daughters of God by becoming the brothers and sisters of Jesus. Another words, we can’t claim to be sons and daughters of God directly, I must link my life with Jesus then he is my next of kin then Jesus can go before the father and say I have a new brother or sister. This is the way it works.
In Hebrews 2:10-18, this great truth of sons and daughters of God is brought to light. The Apostle Paul, who we believe is the author of Hebrews, references ‘bringing many sons unto glory’ which is talking about the Father. Both the Father and the Son are being spoken of in this verse. The Father saw it necessary to make the Captain of our salvation perfect, that means being qualified for His work through sufferings. And, Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren. Jesus says that he will declare His name to his brethren, His name being the Father’s name. The Father gave us to Jesus. In verse 17 we are told, ‘in all things’ Jesus had to be made like us. He had to be made like his brethren. He was tempted in all things such as we are, and though tempted Jesus never sinned.
Jesus comes to this world taking the place of the original son of God (Adam) and then paid the price to redeem after living a whole and perfect life. In this way, Jesus recovers the throne, crown, earth, and Jesus makes it possible for sinners to not despair but cling to the promise of eternal life. All we have to do is chose to become His brethren, and then we become the sons and daughters of God. That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. “No man comes to the Father, but by Me.” The only way we can approach the Father as sons and daughters is through Jesus our brother.
By the way, when the devil comes and tries to intimidate us, we can rebuke him. Though we have no power against him, and he is much more powerful than we are; we have a brother that has already crushed his head at the cross. We can call upon Jesus if he does not leave us alone. We can say, “In the name of Jesus, I command you to leave me alone” and he has to leave.
Conforming to the Image of Jesus
Romans 8:29,32, the Father wanted those that came to Jesus to be conformed to Jesus’ image, that He may be the firstborn among many brethren (us). Here we find the same idea of Jesus being the Son, Jesus having his Father, and us being sons, brothers (forenew), and sisters of Jesus. The Father did not spare his own Son. Galatians 3:26-29, here we find how we become the brothers and sisters of Jesus, and sons and daughters of God…by faith in Jesus and receiving Jesus.
What ceremony had God given to indicate we have received Christ as our Savior? It is baptism. When I am buried in the waters of baptism and come out of the waters of baptism – God looks at me as being included in Jesus. And the same as in when Jesus came up from the water of his baptism, the Fathers says, ‘this is my son or daughter with who I am well pleased’. So, when we are baptized with Christ we become his brother/sister, then we become sons and daughters of God. The beautiful thing is through Jesus everything that was lost has been will be recovered.
Matthew 5:5 tells us the earth is recovered and the meek (that’s believers) will inherit it (after it is made new). Galatians 4:7 informs us we are no longer a slave but a son, no longer a bondman but a freeman, and then an heir. In the Old Testament when a man died without any male seed, it was lawful for the next of kin to marry the wife in order for the name of the dead person to continue. Likewise, as a result of sin, death came, we had no next of kin to perpetuate our name. God sent his Son, and Jesus came not only to perpetuate our name but when we die he will perpetuate us also in life. He will raise us from the dead and perpetuate us our name, and it will not be removed from the book of life. We will live forever in his presence. This is true deliverance from the slavery and bondage to sin. Praise God, Amen and Amen.
Keep the Faith
Luke 16:10 says, “Faithful in little, will be faithful in much. He who is unjust (unfaithful) in little will be unjust (unfaithful) in much. Take courage from all the Bible stories were God’s people had a difficult situation before them and through honoring and obedience to God their faith grew. An example, when Daniel and his three friends were taken captive in Babylon, the situation before them was over food. They were expected to eat foods that were pronounced as unclean. They remained faithful. The when the time came when they were confronted with bigger issues (bowing down to worship idols) they remained faithful. Their faith and decision to remain loyal to God did not waiver in the face of the flaming furnace or the lion’s den. There are many, many more stories to be encourage by. Keep the faith.