Who Is Jesus? He Is The Savior We Need
Writing in the 11th century, Anselm of Canterbury famously wrote Cur Deus Homo?, Latin for “Why a God-Man?” In answering this question, Anselm details why it is necessary that the Savior be both fully God and fully man in order to fulfill his mission in saving his people. In this article, I intend to briefly encapsulate who Jesus is, as a man, as God, and as the Savior.
First, the Scripture makes it clear that the Son of God existed in eternity past and is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. John 1:1-3 states of the Word (the Son / Jesus), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” This article is not intended to be an apologetic on the full deity of the Son of God, but a good article which details the New Testament teaching on the deity of Christ is here: The deity of Christ: Did every New Testament author believe it? | carm.org
Second, Jesus was a real historical man with a true human soul, born a little over 2,000 years ago in the city of Bethlehem. The Son of God, though existing from eternity past, added to his divine person a second nature, human nature, thus being fully God and fully man. He was born miraculously by the virgin Mary, as prophesied in the Old Testament. The book of Hebrews makes it clear that “he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). As a man, he is able to sympathize with our own weaknesses: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). This aspect of being “without sin” is critical, because it leads to the final answer of “Who Is Jesus?,” namely that he is a perfect Savior.
Jesus had to be fully God in order to live a life free of sin, free from the guilt and fallen nature all others inherit from Adam. He also had to be born truly man in order to be able to live a temporal life and die. But why did he have to live a life and die? Because that is the work of the Savior: First, to live the life of complete obedience that we have not lived, that his righteousness would be accounted to us, by simple faith (trust) in him. Second, to die the death that we deserve for our sins, though he did not deserve it himself. Suffering in the believer’s place, he endured the wrath that was due to us, satisfying God’s demand for justice. “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:21-25). Finally, this work of the Savior was complete in his rising from the dead, as the forerunner of all those who have faith in him. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:20-22).
So who is Jesus? He is the Savior we need. He is fully God and fully man. As such, he was able to live in the place of his disobedient people and die on their behalf. God provides these benefits to all who repent of their sin and trust in Christ, apart from their own works: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).