SOME years ago I had the privilege of flying over the Canadian Rockies. The plane took off from Calgary in cloud. Soon, however, the sky cleared. The weather was beautiful and our journey westwards was breathtaking.

I still look at the slides of that memorable flight. The mountains were a picture of beauty. There were long ridges and folds capped with snow. They looked like so many pointed cakes with icing sugar spilling down the sides. Lower peaks were dark and barren, knife edges of rock looking uninviting and dangerous. Between them were inky black pools. Ribbons of dark turquoise joined them together.

No sign of life could be seen from the height we were. The whole area might well have been the domain of the brown bear alone. It was beautiful, but stark, bare and unwelcoming.

A few days later we were making the journey from West to East. This time, however, we travelled by train through the mountains. The picture was quite different. True, the snow-capped peaks still peeped out at the top, but everywhere was so green. Mile after mile of thick forests lined the track. There were thousands upon thousands of trees. The sun lit up the rivers and made the water sparkle as it splashed over rocks. Sometimes it was clear as crystal. At other times it was milky white as it came from the melting glaciers.

The landscape was punctuated with life. There were stations, villages, timber houses, road construction vehicles. The lakes were no longer black, but blue. Often they were littered with debris from floating logs. It was the same place, but it looked so different. It was pleasant, warm and inviting. We were seeing it from a different perspective. Neither view of the area would have been quite true on its own. Each was incomplete. Our two journeys together gave us an accurate picture.

A Question of Perspective
People hold different views about Jesus Christ. Some believe that he was just a man. They would agree that he was a very good man, but nothing more. They would attribute his miracles to exaggeration by people who loved him.

Others in an attempt to honour Christ claim that he was God. No doubt their motives are good, but they go beyond what the Bible itself says. Neither of these views gives us a true picture. The Bible view of Jesus lies somewhere between them.

First, it shows that Jesus is born of God. God is his Father. He was not born in any ordinary way. We have already seen that no man was involved in his conception. Mary was a pure virgin when Jesus was conceived. The seed was placed in her womb by the power of God.
The Bible is most careful to describe Mary as the mother of Jesus. It is equally careful not to describe Joseph as his father. It uses phrases like, "his mother and Joseph", or "as was supposed, the son of". Joseph was merely a foster father.

Jesus was uniquely the son of God. He was not the son of God in the way that Adam was. He was not the son of God because God made him. He was the "only begotten of the Father".

Tempted Just Like Us
This does not make Jesus and God the same person. Jesus was not God. Jesus had one human parent, Mary. Because of that he inherited certain human traits. He had tendencies that were inherited from men going back to Adam. He had inclinations that God could not experience. God cannot be associated with sin in any way. Jesus was tested by sin. Human nature urged him to do the wrong things. Jesus resisted. He did not sin. He was sinless.

"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
(Hebrews 4:15)

These temptations were real. They would have had no point if Jesus had been unable to sin. The Bible shows he had to fight to overcome them. It was a struggle, but Jesus was victorious.

Some have suggested that Jesus simply took on a human form. Inside he was God. He merely looked like us in order to be able to die and help us. This idea is foreign to the Bible.

The Bible says that Jesus was born. It was the birth of a new child, just like each of us once experienced. Then Jesus grew up, just as we do. He "increased in wisdom and stature". It does not say that Jesus changed his form. It does not speak of a different sort of existence. That would have been a metamorphosis as when a chrysalis becomes a butterfly.

Jesus did not exist before his birth as a real person. There are some Bible verses which some think suggest he did. They can be read in two ways. This is because Jesus existed in the mind of God. He was always part of God's plan. He was the centre of God's purpose, the most important part of it. God always intended to create and send Jesus. This is what those hard verses mean. If we understand them in this way, they become consistent with the other things the Bible tells us.

This is not just an academic issue. It is a very important question. If Jesus was God, or an angel, he is unable to help us. He can only be of help in our temptations if he has gone through the same himself and overcome them. Yet the Bible is clear that angels cannot sin. It is equally clear that God cannot experience temptation:-

"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone."
(James 1:13)

The Bible teaches consistently that there is one God. It does not use the term "God the Son". It is important, therefore, to see Jesus from both aspects. He is son of God. Yet he is a son of man by his birth of Mary. Both titles belong to him. This balance in his nature was vital for the work he came to do.

Jesus is son of God not only because he was born by God's power, however. Sons are often like their fathers. Jesus showed the virtues and character of God. His life showed us what his Father is like. The Bible says he "manifested" God. That is why he could say, "He who has seen me has seen the Father".

A Constant Battle
Jesus was never presumptuous, however. He was always aware that he could sin. He would not allow anyone to call him perfect, or even "good". His goodness could be wrecked by one false move. Only after he had died would his battle be over. Only when his work was completed would he be really perfect.

Of himself, Jesus often used the title "son of man". This would remind him of his tremendous responsibilities. Jesus was also the first man to keep all God's laws. He was the only one to fulfil what God had intended when He first created man. He knew God's purpose in creation and he lived it. In this way he became the son of man. The Bible calls him "the last Adam".

Psalm 8 tells of the way in which the first Adam was given domination over everything that God had made. He forfeited that rulership. Man today is not in charge of God's creation. He can only rule it with fear and the gun. Through sin, the authority which God gave Adam was lost. His destiny was unfulfilled.

Through his sinless life Jesus obtained that authority and rulership. The Bible tells us so. Notice how these verses speak of Jesus being "made perfect" through the things he suffered. He was already perfect in that he had not sinned. He was not finally perfect or complete until he had died.
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings."
(Hebrews 2:9-10)

We shall look again at Jesus' suffering and death in a later chapter. We must also look at the fact that Jesus is "crowned with glory and honour". Jesus has received great honour. He shares God's throne. He bears God's name and titles. This is because he loved God and did His will throughout his life. He was not God, but he worked as one with God. Consequently God has exalted him to His side.

He has not exalted him because he was God anyway. He was not. He has exalted him because of his obedience as a son of man. Jesus has not received a glory that he formerly enjoyed. He has received glory and immortality as a gift from God.

"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow..."
(Philippians 2:8-10)

All men must now honour Jesus as they honour God. This still does not make Jesus equal with God. This is how Jesus spoke of the relationship between God and himself during his life:-

"Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do..."
(John 5:19)

"I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me."
(John 5:30)

"If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for my Father is greater than I."
(John 14:28)

Even when Jesus has finally removed all sin from the earth, he will still be subject to God. God is supreme, even when His purpose is complete. This is frequently misunderstood. So many people confuse Jesus with God. Though they are one in purpose like people getting married, they are not one person.

"There is... one God and Father of all, who is above all."
(Ephesians 4:6)

"Now when all things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all."
(1 Corinthians 15:28)

Getting the nature of Jesus clear from the start will help us greatly to honour him as we should. It will also help us to appreciate the enormous task he has performed. It will help us be more grateful for his precious love and sacrifice. 