We now come to a contemplation of the person and work of Jesus in CHRISTOLOGY. Jesus of Nazareth is the Second person of the Trinity, He is God. In Christology we are interested in considering the person and work of Christ. This is often refered to as the nature of Jesus and His life and ministry.
It makes sense to think first about his eternality in Gen 1.1, John 1.1, and Col 1.16-20. His eternality is an aspect of His Deity. To forgive all sins, Jesus must be God. This aspect of His dual nature is what sets followers of Jesus apart from others ways of believing.
We must also consider his humanity and the fact that He promised to come in Gen 3.15. This text is very important as we consider the following statements: 'you will strike his heel' - crucifixion and 'he will crush your head' - resurrection - the enemy's defeat is assured, the sin. Further, we need to look at John 1.14, this is the incarnation. So Jesus has what we call a dual nature. The technical term for this is the hypostatic union, He is 100% man while at the same time being 100% God.
It is necessary that Jesus be both human so that He would be tempted as we are, and that He die and that he be able to, as a human be able to empathize with us as our great high priest. As our great high priest, (Heb 4.14-16) He has empathy for us and suffered for us (Heb 5.5-9).
Thanks be to God for the work he has done for humans... Jesus prayed to the Father and asked him to sent the Spirit, so we turn next to Pneumatology...
TEXTS WE EXAMINED IN CLASS ON THIS TOPIC:
Matt. 1:18, 22-23
Mark 6.30-7.23
Mark 15.21-16.8
John 1:19-34
Col. 1:15-20
Heb. 4:14-16
Heb. 10:11-14
Rev. 4:1 - 5:14