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Jesus—Fully God and Fully Human 

Jesus is fully God: “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus is fully human: “Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5–8).

Getting our essential beliefs right is not so much about “being right” as it is about “being made right” with God. In the same way, a power plug must align with the power outlet in order to function properly, you and I must actually line ourselves up with the realities of the universe, as God describes them. 

The next time someone says “Who’s to say who Jesus is?” we might respond with this simple truth: “How about Jesus? How about we let the words He spoke answer that question for us?” Jesus actually made a point of answering this question in many ways and with many words and actions. One time, Jesus asked His twelve closest friends who they believed He was. 

This whole conversation is recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16. In it, Jesus asks them, “But what about you? Who do you say that I am?” (Vv. 13–15). These disciples knew Jesus had claimed to be the only way to heaven and eternal life (John 14:6). They also knew Jesus had the power to do miracles. And they knew thousands of people in their time were beginning to believe that Jesus was God.

It’s interesting in this particular conversation that Jesus uses the phrase “Son of Man” to refer to Himself. Jesus’s use of the title “Son of Man” emphasized that He is fully human. That might seem like a weird thing for a normal person to emphasize—Look at me, I’m human. But if you’ve been almighty God in heaven for eternity, and now you are on Planet Earth as a human, maybe you would be more likely to say, “Look at me, I’m human!” This was Jesus’s favorite way of referring to Himself.

Back to the question. His disciple Peter answers directly. He looked Jesus in the eyes and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Why must our belief about Jesus form to the example that Jesus described? Why do we need to get this belief about Jesus right?