Who Is Jesus? Part 2Sample

A Bit of a Fixer-Upper

“But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Matthew 9:6 NIV

Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, and not only that, He claims the authority to forgive sins, something the listening religious community believed only God had the power to do. You may be thinking, hold up, I thought Jesus was the Son of God, what’s this Son of Man business about? Is Jesus confused about His origin story? No, there’s so much beauty wrapped up in this title’s meaning.  

One way to think of the Son of Man is through the definition “the human one.” And something we talked about throughout the Sermon on the Mount is that Jesus taught us what it really means to be human; He showed us the kind of relationship God longs to have with each of us. He introduced this new way of living, thinking, loving, and seeing. The true way to be human. And in a world that’s obsessed with finding “our true selves” and “living our truth,” Jesus teaches us that the only way to really find an authentic, meaningful life is to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.

Additionally, the title connects Jesus to Adam, the first man, whose name literally meant human! Paul describes this connection saying: 

… Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:14-15 NLT

See, the first Adam brought sin and on the heels of sin, death. But Jesus, the second Adam, brought the gift of life. 

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NIV

Jesus came to undo the damage of the sin that entered creation through Adam’s rebellion. Like a contractor at a fixer-upper, He started the restoration process. And now, Jesus has invited us to partner with Him in restoring creation. When we do that, we learn what it truly means to be human. It’s through this partnership that we find the authentic, meaningful life we’re all searching for.