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Jesus’ Human Nature

Jesus’ Human Nature

For years I’ve had a hard time explaining why Christ had to die. Each of the various reasons given just didn’t seem to add up. Payment, substitution, and other reasons never sounded good enough.

As I’ve come to understand the “health-care model” of salvation and Jesus’ death as necessary to perfect love in the human race and win us back to trust in God, I find myself wishing I had come to know these beautiful truths earlier. I had Hindu classmates in Medical school in India who had asked me about Jesus death and told me how they never really understood why someone considered God had to die. My explanations, I’m certain, were never adequate.
But now I have an understanding of salvation in a manner that is consistent with God’s love. Reading your blogs and listening to the various examples you give helps immensely. But there are a few points that I would like you to address as it is something I struggle with.

You’ve stated that Jesus had neither the pre-fall nature of Adam nor the same nature as fallen man. It definitely seems logical to come to that conclusion when we consider Jesus’ parentage – a sinful mother & God the Father. But how do we reconcile that with Hebrews 2:17 “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” (NIV)  Also how can we understand Romans 1:3 that mentions that Jesus was “born of the seed of David according to the flesh.”(NKJV) and Romans 8:3 where its said that “God [sent] His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.”(NKJV)

I’d like to thank you for the wonderful insights you have given me, both through your blog and through the discussions of your class on the character of God. I find myself growing as I spend time comparing what you discuss with passages in Scripture. Please convey my thanks to your class as well for the lovely thoughts provided. Its wonderful to hear many of the truths I have come across in the Bible echoed in the class and just fall into place together. Thank you for taking the time to go through this message. Continue to serve our God through your ministry.

With love and prayers, Dr. P.J.


Thanks for your affirmation and sharing the truth about God in your circle of influence. And thanks for allowing me to clarify my thoughts on Jesus’ human nature.

The traditional argument on the nature of Christ has primarily been between two ideas: 1) Jesus had a nature exactly like Adam’s before his fall, and 2) Jesus had a nature exactly like ours after Adam’s fall.

I believe both these ideas are incorrect. Jesus’ physical body was made just like ours in every way. He was subject to fatigue, hunger, thirst. He experienced physical pain, required sleep and rest. Adam before the fall didn’t experience fatigue, hunger, physical suffering and pain as Christ did. Some have argued Adam didn’t even require sleep.

But more than this, fallen humanity experiences temptations from our own “evil desires” (James 1:14). Adam never experienced any such internal pull or temptation to sin. Christ took upon Himself a nature like ours, a nature which did experience the internal pull of temptation. “He was tempted in every way, just like we are, yet was without sin” (Heb 4:15).

We see this most clearly in Gethsemane when Christ was tempted by powerful human emotions to avoid the cross and “save self”. Yet with each temptation Christ overcame the desire to save self and instead gave Himself in love according to the Father’s will.

Therefore, Christ, through Mary assumed a humanity capable of experiencing the full force of selfish temptation – something Adam never faced. Yet, because His Father was God, the mind of Jesus was in perfect harmony with God’s character of love. In the human brain of Jesus Christ the ultimate battle of the universe was fought. In the human brain of Jesus Christ God’s love warred against the full force of warped and selfish, sinful human desires. In the mind of Jesus Christ love overcame and destroyed the desire to save-self and He gave Himself freely in love.

In summary, Adam, before his fall, could experience temptation only from an external source. Humans, since the fall, experience temptation from both external and internal source. Humans, since the fall, not only experience temptation from an internal source but are born with our mental faculties bent toward gratification of our fallen, selfish nature (Romans 8:5-7). Or, as Psalms says “we are born in sin, conceived in iniquity” (51:5). But, while Jesus was born with a nature that could experience temptation from within, a nature that could feel fear, anxiety and a desire to act selfishly, because His Father was God the faculties of His mind were fully in harmony with God’s character of love. Jesus’ mind was never defiled by indulging selfish temptations, even though he experienced the force of such temptation. His character was developed perfectly in harmony with God’s law of love, in the face of the most intense temptations from human fear and emotion ever experienced in the universe. Therefore, Jesus was not exactly like Adam before the fall nor was He exactly like us after the fall. He was unique, one of a kind – the God-man, our Savior!

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You have helped make sense of thirty two years of confusion. The material you freely provide reorganized so much of my life into such a beautiful pattern that has always been hinted at from within, but misguided with my training and what I was experiencing externally. My filipno parents, who were converted from Catholicism to SDA, were sincere and did their best to raise me the right way and I have deep respect for them. However, being immigrants and not understanding the language made for a difficult transition as I was growing up, which also applied to my spiritual growth as I learned the patterns of religion. I have been listening to as many bible study classes and reading blog posts as my time in a work truck will allow, searching for the practical applications of where spirituality and reality meet, and I thank you for helping me find that. You have helped me reach a point in which I can truly say that I love God, that I believe He loves me, and, like David, I delight in His law. God bless.

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After coming into contact with Come And Reason Ministries, I can finally say that many of my unanswered questions have fallen into place. I discovered that my view of God’s Law was “imposed laws and rules” with “imposed punishments” and that this was the major culprit of my many unanswered questions. Thanks be to God for using you and those around you to help us who have struggled with this “infection” of thought. I have now rejected the “imposed law” concept to fully embrace “Design Law”… to look thru “Design Law,” instead of “imposed law,” is a relief.

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Testimony 65

I have been tuning into your weekly study classes for a while now and wanted express my appreciation for the teachings that ha been a huge blessing in opening up the true message of the word. Viewing scripture under an imposed law theory always, without fail, raised more questions, concerns, and conflicting scripture interpretations that were discouraging at the very least. Looking at scripture through the design law lens has brought more truth to light for me personally and an understanding of our Heavenly Father that places Him “above all others,” where I am now more than thrilled to witness and serve Him.  I “stumbled” across this ministry a year or so ago and would only watch a few minutes at a time. But the more I listened and the longer I paid attention, the more my spiritual eyes were opened to the ever present truths of scripture. The comprehension of the great controversy and it’s origin by the lies perpetrated and perpetuated throughout the Bible on the attack of God’s character and government is truly priceless. Keep up the Good Work! Your servanthood is desperately needed in such a time as this!

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Testimony 29

Thank you for all of your work to correct misconceptions about God’s character. So many people that my husband and I have talked to seem to be against the natural law construct and view it as “errant” and “dangerous.” Having learned more about it through your blogs and lessons, I don’t really understand why they view it that way, except that it means they have to relearn theology they have known for their entire lives. But I’m so excited to relearn this. For the past few years I have been questioning how I could trust a God who punishes arbitrarily and is full of wrath for those who don’t obey His commands. That view made me afraid to “mess up” or “not be good enough,” even within my relationship with God. I really appreciated the point you bring out about God not wanting us to serve Him because we are afraid, but because we love Him.

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