In part 1 and part 2 of this topic we’ve delved into the various parts of what John states is the antichrist and have been laying a foundation for this third part that will reveal a startling truth. Wonderful good news about Jesus that the vast majority of the Christian world denies. Errors that had begun to creep into the church during the apostle John’s lifetime and persist to this day. A false doctrine that robs Jesus of his power to save us totally and completely from sin. The impact of which is being felt to this day in robbing the gospel of its full power to truly transform and redeem human beings from the power of sin. If you haven’t read the first two parts of this article I encourage you to do so if you want to fully appreciate what we’re about the dive into in this article.
The Greeks flooding into the early church had a problem with the gospel
The apostles and the disciples in the first century taught that Jesus was fully God and yet fully man. They taught that while Jesus was on earth he became a flesh and blood human being and yet did not sin even once. To the Greek mind this seemed absurd. Greek mythology clearly taught that flesh was evil and spirit was good. The idea that a holy God could come in the flesh and save us dirty, sinful, evil human beings was too much for them to grasp. To them it was an impossibility. There had to be another explanation. To them, Jesus must have possessed a different kind of flesh than sinful human beings. He must have had a nature that was somehow untainted by sin and therefore holy. To the Greeks, this was the only way that Jesus could have been able to come as a human being and yet not be a sinner by virtue of his birth.
This teaching is the teaching of the antichrist. It is to deny the gospel. It subtly attacks the miracle of what Jesus truly did and what he wants to do inside of each Christian. If Jesus needed a super human flesh to conquer sin what chance would you or I have? If Jesus had to have the nature of Adam before his fall into sin in order to win the battle over sin what hope would we have of gaining the victory over sin? It makes God out to be some kind of weak, impotent being who needed to play dirty in order to win the battle over Satan.
Jesus our Super Hero!
On the other hand consider this possibility. What if Jesus did come in the very same weak, fallen nature that you and I have from birth. What if Jesus faced all of the same natural pull towards evil that we do. What if he felt all of these impulses and temptations at the very core of who he was and yet never yielded to a single one of these urges even once because from birth he was full of the Holy Spirit and more than that, he had a connection with his Father from birth that was special due to the nature of how he was conceived. While Mary, a human being, was his mother the Bible clearly tells us that his father was God. No other human being was born this way. Jesus was very much unique in this aspect. Clearly God knew that this was necessary in order to free mankind from sin. I would submit that this is one of the biggest reasons why it had to be God who came down to save mankind and not an angel. This was a God sized problem. A God sized challenge.
Now some people try to say that if Jesus was born with a sinful human nature that would make him a sinner. The Bible tells us the following:
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
He wasn’t a sinner but he put on sin like we might get into a vehicle. We are surrounded by the vehicle but it doesn’t mean that we are the vehicle. This might admittedly be an imperfect example but bear with me. The vehicle’s destination is determined by the driver. Jesus stated over and over again that he wasn’t doing his will but his fathers will.
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” – John 5:30
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” – John 6:38
“And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” – Luke 22:41-42
“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