I do not claim any special authority or insight for my perspectives regarding the questions and answers set-forth below. The answers are based on my study of the bible, contemplation of the issues and general reliance on known science to support my position, all of which are an attempt to offer a reasonable proposition from which your own conclusions may be drawn.
How can Jesus be both God and Man?
The fleshy body of Jesus was man, a vehicle that contained and housed His life-spirit, which was the spirit of God. This is not a radical thought—our mind, spirit, soul—our inner person is independent of our own body. Our body may be injured and crippled and this does not necessarily change the inner person. The exception to this would be brain damage. In this case, our mind would not have the same cognitive process but our spirit and soul would be undamaged. Simply, the body of Jesus was man and the spirit, soul and mind of Jesus is God in the flesh.
How could Jesus be born of virgin birth?
This question was more profound in earlier days before man had the science to artificially inseminate a woman with the sperm of a man. Even further, our science and understanding of DNA allows us to clone cells and animals and, one can presume, even a human. Given that information doesn’t it seem rational to think that the God of all creation could easily artificially inseminate Mary? The New Testament says:
Luke 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God
Mary, Jesus’ mother was a descendant of King David and was simply an incubator to serve the mechanical function required to give birth to Jesus in this world.
Why did Jesus have to be born of virgin birth?
Jesus had to be born a virgin birth to be free of the "original sin" of Adam and Eve when they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that sin all mankind inherited a sin nature and a natural inclination toward sin. Through that one sin, that single act of unrighteousness of Adam, death came to all men. In order for Jesus to be free of this natural inclination toward sin inherited by human flesh, He needed to be born of the same flesh God created for the original Adam, which was originally free from the corruption of sin. The very act of procreation is initiated by some degree of lust (which is technically a sin of the flesh) and would have only provided a cursed and corrupt body for Jesus to inhabit and that is unacceptable. God needed to create Jesus as the "second Adam" who would be free from the curse of human flesh to give Jesus a fighting chance against Satan. There was no guarantee that Jesus would not fall into temptation by Satan when He came to earth—there was risk involved. In order to give Jesus a fighting chance at defeating Satan, He needed a body that was not predisposed to sin. This is why a virgin birth was required.
How could Jesus come back from the dead?
This is tough for most people and it is easier to understand than what you may think. First, the premise is that God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, raised Him to life. Theoretically, this would be a snap for the creator God, right? Secondly, when Jesus was killed on the cross, it was early spring and his body was put in a tomb. The tomb was built into the side of a hill where the room temperature was very cool due to the time of year and the construction of the tomb. The tomb was cool enough to prevent and slow the molecular process of the body, preserving the cell structure from decay during the three days Jesus was dead. This is line with the Old Testament prophecy of David in Psalms:
Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption.
Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by dying, not decaying and being resurrected by God.
Why was Jesus necessary for God to redeem man and forgive us our sins?
Adam sinned and God told him he was going to die for this single act of unrighteousness. Not only was Adam going to die but all humans would die as a result of his sin. As a result, we have all inherited a sin nature, a bent toward sin. Everybody has broken one of the Ten Commandments at some point in their life and is guilty under the law and the penalty is death. We cannot defeat this law of sin ourselves. There was only one acceptable sacrifice that God could accept to remedy the problem of sin in the human race. The only sacrificial payment that would cover the price of sin was the death of God’s only son. By sending Jesus to earth in the form of man, Jesus was in fact a new Adam, a second chance for a man to live righteously before God and resist the devil to the point of death. Jesus was successful in His mission. Just as death came to all people through the single act of unrighteousness of Adam, so life came to all men through the single act of righteousness of Jesus Christ. By his sacrificial death Jesus paid the price of the penalty of sin. The price of sin was the terrible death of God, the son, on the cross.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.
There is no other way for you, your friends or your family to be saved from eternal death other than by believing that Jesus came to earth, died for your personal sin, was resurrected by God and is alive in heaven.
If you do not accept this message or if you reject this message your future is certain. Many people reject the message and do not believe Jesus is who He claimed to be. God loves you so much that He gave you the right to choose…
But there is no cost to accept the gift of life through Jesus—it’s free. All you have to do is ask Jesus to come into your life. If you have a hard time believing, tell God you don’t believe and ask Him to help you with your unbelief. He will help you…he will lead you to understanding and belief. Ask Jesus now…
10 Reasons To Believe In God And Jesus
Whether you are an atheist, agnostic or a person who is struggling to believe, have little faith or great faith there is a set of logistical thinking that can be applied to understand the probability of God as indicated in the Old and New testaments. The following logic applies:
- The existence of God is a 50/50 probability. He either exists or he does not. God is either true or false. If true, then ALL true. If false, all false.
- Our decision to reject or accept the existence of God is also a 50/50 probability. Either right or wrong.
- Our decision has a potential twofold outcome: If God is FALSE, then whether we accept or reject God, the consequences is irrelevant. If God is TRUE, then our decision to accept or reject God will have eternal consequences.
- The same logic applies to Jesus Christ. The proposition of his divinity is 50/50 probability. He was either the unique, divine Son of God or He was not. It is either true or false. If true, all true. If false, all false.
- What if Jesus was a mad man who believed his own delusion? Or a liar? This is possible. But is it probable? While Jesus may have died on the cross as a mad man who believed his own delusion, what is the probability that his disciples, (who may have followed him knowing he was a lying mad man for some perceived potential power or political gain), would follow him to death?
- While one disciple, or even two could have been manipulated by Jesus’ charisma to die for him, what is the probability that 11 disciples (Judas killed himself) would willingly die for a mad liar?
- Re-framing the question: What is the probability they wouldn’t have died for a mad liar? All they had to do to avoid death was to deny Jesus as the risen Son of God after his execution. They did not deny the resurrection. All eleven apostles stuck to their testimonies until their death when executed by Jewish and Roman officials.
- The apostles must have seen something that compelled them to stick to their testimony to the point of death. That single something could only be the resurrected Jesus.
- While this does not factually prove the existence or truth of God or Jesus, it does slightly tip the scales of probability in favor of God and Jesus to 51/49 in favor of God.
- Given this analysis, if you are not a believer, perhaps you should rethink your decision to accept Jesus into your life. The decision you make will be either right or wrong. And there are only three possible outcomes: No consequence, eternal life or eternal death in hell without God, for eternity.
