Biblical Theology: Christology - Essay Example

The Bible declares that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and found favor with man and God. In the course of His ministry, He traversed many nations preaching the gospel and healing the sick. He ate with His disciples and went through temptations just like any other human did. The Bible records that He “learned obedience through what He suffered” (Elwell, 240). He was betrayed by Judas, crucified, and buried in human form.

Jesus was also a deity thereby prompting Him to assert that He and the Father are one. Elwell researched and found that most Christians pray in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (244). On His last day, He prayed that the Father’s will be done. Elwell confirms that this was after confirming to the disciples that He would not leave them alone when He was gone, but would send them a helper, the Holy Spirit who would tell them all the will of God. This confirms that Christ is a deity (583).

Jesus was a man and God at the same time. The word of God which was God Himself became flesh and dwelt amongst men. It is “Christ who dwelt among men in the human form” (Elwell, 583). Therefore, he understood the plight of men because He dwelt among them as humans. As any human being would feel, Christ got angry, hungry, and tired among other human reactions. Realizing the frailty of being human, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him. He was heard because of his reverent submission to God (Hebrews 5: 7). He was also God because He advanced the purposes of God while on earth as a human.

Being God and man at the same time meant that Christ represented God on earth by telling humans of the divine ways and purposes of God. Elwell argues that being human enabled Him to rightfully represent men before the throne of God (277). The scripture widely records that He is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding for saints. Having stayed with men in human form, He knows their areas of frailty and the will of the Father and can therefore represent both rightfully.

Jesus needed to become incarnate to save humanity. He was born a virgin birth, signifying purity. At eight years He moved to be in his Father’s house. It would have been hard to convince anyone of a divine God if this did not happen. A virgin birth had never been experienced before Christ and has not been experienced after him. However, this showed the divinity of the existence and purpose of Christ. He was of divine conception, divine birth (in a manger), divine ministry, divine death, and divine resurrection. Therefore His divinity served as proof of what God could do through “Christ to bring salvation which in itself is divine” (Elwell, 584).

It is dangerous to overemphasize or deny humanity or the deity of Christ. Overemphasis on the human nature of God denies the fact that Christ was God and vice versa. Overemphasis on his Godly duties may override the lesson of human living that Christians ought to learn. Therefore, it is important to find a balance in addressing the person and nature of Christ.

In making assumptions from Elwell’s studies, major Christological heresies include groups like Monothelitism, Eutychianism, and Monophysitism which denies that Christ is both God and human. In addition, there are heresies that deny Christ’s humanity and have given rise to groups like Marcionism, Docetism, Apollinariasm, and Adoptionism among others. There have also been heresies on the divinity of Christ that have resulted in Socialism, Liberalism, Unitarism, and Humanism among other groups.

Christ in His humanity is an example to believers as far as overcoming sin is concerned. He went through temptation like any human being but was found without blemish. In his parting shot on prayer, he advised his disciples so that they did not fall into sin. His preaching is a true example of what Christianity is all about.