Here is a brief catechism on what we believe about who Jesus Christ is. It explains what we believe and the basis of believing that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God in two distinct natures, God and man. Note: there is more to the catechism. I’m beginning this with Question #7.
7. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the eternal Son of God.
8. Why do we believe that Jesus is the one, true God? Because the Bible teaches that and calls Him that. “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Ps. 45:6). “This is the name by which He shall be called, Yahweh (the proper name for God) our righteousness” (Jer. 23:6). “My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:28)! “Christ, who is over all, the eternally blessed God” (Rom. 9:5). “Our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13). “He is the true God and eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:20).
9. Why do we not then believe that there are two Gods? Because the Bible teaches us that there is one God.
10. Why don’t we believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not simply manifestations of God? Because they are spoken of as being distinct persons interacting with one another. “I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me” (Jn. 8:18). “The Father will give you another comforter” (Jn. 14:16).
11. What did Jesus do in order to save us? He became man. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14). “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14).
12. Why do we say that Jesus is one person with two natures? Gal. 4:4 says that “when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law . . .” The person who was born was none other than the eternal Son of God.
12. Why did He need to be man? “Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sinned should make satisfaction for sin, and because one whom himself is a sinner cannot satisfy for others.” As God, Jesus was also incapable of dying and suffering in our place, which is what God’s justice required.
13. Why did He need to be God? “That by the power of His divinity He might bear in His human nature the burden of God’s wrath.” Any mere man, even a sinless one, would have to suffer forever to pay for the sin of even one other human. Christ as God was capable of overcoming the infinite duration of the punishment of sin (hell) in the infinite value of His person.
14. What does this mystery teach us about salvation? First, it teaches us how great our sin is. If our salvation required that the God-man, Jesus, pay for our sin, then our problem is truly a God-sized problem. Second, it teaches us how much God hates sin. He would rather the punishment of sin fall on His own Son than to say that sin does not matter. Third, it teaches us what a great salvation we have. If God Himself has obtained salvation by His death and suffering than there is absolutely nothing that I can or could do to add to it and make it better. Thus, salvation is found in Christ alone.
Now, let me add here a couple of my favorite quotes extolling the wonder of who Jesus is.
Gregory Nazianzen: Nazianzen: “He was born — but He had been begotten: He was born of a woman — but she was a Virgin. The first is human, the second Divine. In His Human nature He had no Father, but also in His Divine Nature no Mother. . . . He had no form nor comeliness in the eyes of the Jews—but to David He is fairer than the children of men. And on the Mountain of Transfiguration He was bright as the lightning, and became more luminous than the sun . . . He hungered — but He fed thousands. . . He thirsted — but He cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. . . He was heavy with sleep, but He walked lightly over the sea. . . . He is stoned, but is not taken. He prays, but He hears prayer. He weeps, but He causes tears to cease. He asks where Lazarus was laid, for He was Man; but He raises Lazarus, for He was God. . . . He is sold, and very cheap, for it is only for thirty pieces of silver; but He redeems the world, and that at a great price, for the Price was His own blood. . . He lays down His life, but He has power to take it again; and the curtain is torn, for the mysterious doors of Heaven are opened; the rocks are cleft, the dead arise. He dies, but He gives life, and by His death destroys death. He is buried, but He rises again; He goes down into Hell, but He brings up the souls; He ascends to Heaven, and shall come again to judge the living and the dead. . .”
Martin Luther: “We Christians must know that if God is not also in the balance and gives the weight, we sink to the bottom with our scale. By this I mean: If it were not to be said, God has died for us, but only a man, we should be lost. But if ‘God’s death’ and ‘God died’ lie in the scale of the balance, then He sinks down, and we rise up as a light, empty scale. But, indeed, He can also rise again or leap out of the scale; yet He could not sit in the scale unless He became a man like us.”