Jesus – The Mystery, Majesty and Miracle – Greg Albrecht

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…the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8).

In the 1960s and 1970s two attractive young ladies (virtually identical in appearance) who came to be known as the “Certs twins” were featured in an advertising campaign on American television. In the commercial, as they faced each other, one claimed that “Certs is a candy mint.” The other, a mirror image in appearance, insisted “Certs is a breath mint.”

An unseen announcer solved the either-or debate/dilemma in what came to be a memorable slogan by explaining the issue was really both-and.

  • “You’re both right. Certs is two, two, two mints in one.”   

Forgive me for introducing a critically important, core truth of the beautiful, incredible and amazing gospel of Jesus Christ, with an old television commercial from some 60-plus years ago, but that phrase “two mints in one” is stuck in my brain!

Who WAS and Who IS Jesus? Human or Divine? One or the other, or both/and?  Two, two, two in one? Let’s take a brief dive into theological terms and definitions:

  • The Greeks had and have a term to describe the nature of Jesus, the Incarnation of God in the flesh. Theoanthropos means the God-man. Theo=God. Anthropos=Human.  
  • Another Greek term, the hypostatic union, describes and defines the act of God “coming down” – stooping – willingly humbling himself in order to serve us. God, in the person of Jesus, became fully human while remaining fully divine.

Hilary of Poitiers (310-367) was an early Christian bishop who briefly explained the mystery (to the human mind) of the Incarnation of God, specifically the birth of Jesus, when God became human, like this:

He did not lose what he was, but began to be what he was not. He did not cease to possess His own nature, but received what was ours.

  • Another Greek word (homoousios) is used in theology to describe how Jesus was of the same substance, the same being of the Father and the Holy Spirit, becoming human while remaining fully divine. The two natures, divine and human, united in the person of Jesus, without confusion, change or adulteration, without either division or separation as we humans experience division and separation.

When Jesus was born, he became human yet he did not stop being God. Jesus was not a created being, like an angel, but God from the beginning (see John 1:1-14). Who WAS and Who IS Jesus? He was God, and he still is.

He had a body, and was mortal, but of course, he (that is his mortal body) died on the Cross. But, he still has that same body, though it is now glorified and immortal (for more, read the magnificent 15th – “resurrection chapter” – of 1 Corinthians).       

As we focus our faith on Jesus Christ, it is often good to pause in wonderment and awe, reflecting on the mystery, majesty and miracle that is Jesus.

As God, he is not now, nor was he ever, subject to death in the way we are. After all, if he’s exactly like us in every way, then he’s not our Lord and Savior! As human, he was subject to death in the way we are, and he did die – but the gospel victoriously proclaims, “he is risen.”  

The God-man (God-human) was uniquely the One and only (John 1:14) who would ever be both human and divine.  It’s staggering for us to realize the enormity of the willingness of the Eternal Word, the Eternal Son of God, to humble himself – especially when we realize that the Creator of the universe voluntarily became a helpless baby who needed to nurse at Mary’s breast, and whose diapers needed to be changed.

The Incarnation of God in the flesh was an incredible miracle – and an incredible act of love on the part of God, who would stoop and willingly become what we are – so that God, in Jesus, willingly went through all that it takes to be and become a human being. Because of his love for you and me, God in Christ Jesus didn’t exempt himself from any part of the process of being and becoming a human!

The original disciples did not, of course, fully comprehend who Jesus was. Though they saw and came to know that Jesus was not just another person, it wasn’t until after Jesus was resurrected that they, and the next generations of early Christ-followers, came to grapple with the fullness of who Jesus really was – the very Creator of all that can be seen as well as the unseen. 

Even though Jesus told the original disciples over and over again that he would willingly die for them – even though Jesus told them that the greatest love that anyone can ever experience is for someone to die for them – they were still disappointed and downcast when he was crucified. To some degree the disciples couldn’t help but think that the Cross of Christ meant that Jesus was a failure – after all, if he was as powerful as they thought he was, then why did he let himself be crucified? And then – another miracle – the resurrection from the dead! Just as human beings are not born to virgins, just as God does not become flesh, so too are humans not normally resurrected from the dead. 

This same Jesus, who came to be one of us – who out of his love for us died on his Cross – who rose victoriously from his tomb – and who is, in his glory, all powerful and omnipotent, sovereign and supreme over the universe – reaches down, comforts us and assures us. He is with us and in us, he is the same yesterday, today and forever – and he will always be with us. He will always stoop and willingly humble himself to serve us – he will forever wash our feet!

May you be filled with thanksgiving and worship, filled with joy and adoration, inspired and encouraged by the mystery, majesty and miracle of our Lord and Savior, who came to be with us and in us, to serve us rather than demand our service (see Matthew 20:28, John 13:1-17).

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