“I was watching
in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the
clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near
before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all
peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which
shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)
Apparently, this vision was quite surprising to Daniel,
but why? When we read this, we know that the “Son of Man” refers to Jesus and
the “Ancient of Days” refers to God. Nothing too alarming. Here’s what’s
strange about Daniel’s observation. Up until this point in the Bible the phrase
“Son of Man” always refers to just that – the son of man, a human. Daniel
doesn’t know he’s seeing Jesus. He’s one that looks like the son of man, a
human, coming in the clouds and receiving a kingdom from God. This was
unexpected. From this point forward through the Bible, that phrase, “Son of Man”
is used as a distinction for Christ. We are all a son of man, but Jesus is the
Son of Man.
Like the name Son of God indicates his divinity, Son of
Man indicates his humanity. The fact that Jesus is called the Son of Man is not
an arbitrary fact. He’s called the Son of God 45 times in the New Testament but
called the Son of Man 84 times. Why does it matter that Jesus was the Son of
Man? What does his humanity mean to the human race?
The Divinity of Christ
Understanding the importance of Jesus’s humanity begins
with proving his divinity. Before Jesus became Jesus, Jesus was God. John 1:1: “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
He was more than a heavenly creature. He was more than just like God. Philippians
2:6 explains: “who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery
to be equal with God.” Or like other translations read, Jesus did not
consider equality with God something to be grasped. His status as God was a
matter of fact.
The Humanity of Christ
When Jesus arrives on Earth in the New Testament,
something changed. What was Jesus while he was on the earth? Completely God?
Completely Man? Was he both? This has been a point of contention from the very
beginning. 1 John 4:3: “every spirit that does not confess that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the
Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.”
There’s something a little unbelievable about God becoming a man.
Fortunately, the Bible answers the question for us –
Jesus was both the Son of God and the Son of Man. Jesus was a human being born
in the flesh. God was given a human body built by flesh and blood just like the
rest of us. For us, this is old news, but for people hearing the gospel for the
first time this was an earth-shaking truth that turned their world upside down.
This is a basic piece of the gospel. God became a man. John 1:14: “And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Paul says the same in 1
Timothy 3:16: “And without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.” God, who had for so long
reached out to his people from a distance, delivered himself in the form of a
man to live and die among men.
Theological Implications
What did Jesus give up just to be human? Everything. He
was the perfect sacrifice. Not just because he was morally and lawfully
perfect, but because he gave everything to be the savior. He was the complete
sacrifice.
The Perfect Sacrifice
Consider what Jesus sacrificed just to become human. He
left heaven, he left his father, and he gave up his divine nature. Jesus
sacrificed complete power for this mortal, fragile body. He sacrificed absolute
knowledge and all wisdom for the meager mind of a man. He left all his glory
behind and humbled himself as a human. Jesus went from being creator and master
of the universe to live like the simple son of a carpenter. And then while he
was here, we killed him. The Son of God died as a criminal suspended on a cross
among thieves.
We could give the whole universe back to God, and it
wouldn’t amount to a fraction of what God gave to us. There is no greater sacrifice
than when God repressed his divine nature, lived like man, lived under his own
law, and died at the hands of his own people. He was the perfect sacrifice
which makes him the perfect savior.
The Perfect Savior
Jesus lived the complete human experience: 1) he was made
like us, 2) he suffered like us, and 3) he was tempted like us. This is the
message of Hebrews 2:17-18:
“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His
brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining
to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself
has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”
Hebrews 4:15-16 is even more specific about
Jesus’s experience as a human:
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot
sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Everything we experience, Jesus experienced. Jesus was in
all points tempted as we are. He was prone to pride. He was tempted by material
abundance. Because he was a man, I believe he was also prone to desires of the flesh. Jesus had
to suppress his desires just like all men are called to do. He knew what it was like to feel emotions beginning to boil up inside his human body. Most
importantly, he knew how to restrain himself, even to the point of death.
There could be no sacrifice more perfect for us, no savior
more sufficient than the Man, our God, Jesus Christ.
