Some of the very most often misunderstood questions concerning Jesus the Messiah are: How can He be God and man? Wasn’t He just a good man? Wasn’t He just a prophet, a messenger speaking for God like Moses, Isaiah, or Jeremiah and the rest? Or even: How could He be God if He is a man? Wasn’t He just an angel or an apparition? By the way, what do you think of Jesus, is He just a man or is He God? Well listen in today as Pastor Landis explores this vital topic that has been debated in Christendom and in the world alike through out the past two millenniums in his message called: The Enigma of the Humanity of Messiah”
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Psalm 2:1 – 12 (NASB)
Psa 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psa 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Psa 2:3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
Psa 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Psa 2:5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Psa 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psa 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Psa 2:10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Psa 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Psa 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Mark 4:34 – 5:1 (KJV)
Mark 4:34 But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. Mark 4:35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. Mark 4:36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. Mark 4:37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. Mark 4:38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Mark 4:39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? Mark 4:41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Mark 5:1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
#1) There is a Scriptural mandate that the Messiah be both God and Man in order to fulfill God’s promises in Scripture, and for there to be an actual atonement paid to furnish justice for guilty sinners at God’s just bar. #2) Sections of Scripture like this in Mark’s gospel display perfectly the delicate balance of deity and humanity that was modeled by Jesus during His earthly ministry to His disciples to be recorded for all time for the world to behold. #3) Only such a person who must be fully man and fully God would satisfy the requirements that are promised by God in both the Older and Newer Testaments; so Is Jesus God or man? YES!!!
