The Genuine 100% Humanity of Jesus
The teaching that a literally pre-existing person called ‘the Word’ was implanted in Mary’s womb, rather than human male genetics created miraculously by God, would mean that Jesus could not be fully human. The Scriptures make it clear that holy spirit “overshadowed” Mary to produce this second human “Son of God.” Luke says, “The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35 NASB). To be “holy, God’s Son” meant that Jesus would be the equal of the pre-sinning Adam. They were in perfect balance to show that they were equals. However, this cannot be the case if Jesus had previously existed as a being who was ‘God the Son’ or a spirit being instead of the fully human “Son of God.”
The Problem of Two Natures in Trinitarianism
To deal with the problem of two natures Trinitarians teach that God the Son assumed impersonal human nature so that Jesus is called “man” in the generic sense i.e., only a human body, but not “a man.” A further way they have dealt with this problem is to appeal to the Doctrine of Kenosis concerning the supposed emptying out of the essence and nature of a spirit person. This doctrine is unsupportable for a number of reasons which will be explained later. Technically: A spirit person genetically combined with Mary’s egg = a hybrid. This is similar to a Nephilim hybrid of Genesis 6:2-4 which was the product of angelic/human sexual union (Gen. 6:1-4) and therefore was not a genuine human. Jesus, therefore, would be neither human nor spirit and could not be the equal of the pristine Adam. Furthermore, if just the life, i.e., the personality of a spirit being could have been transferred to the embryo in Mary’s womb then Jesus would still have been a hybrid—a God/man or angel/man. So, if Jesus had really been a previously existing spirit being it would seem utterly pointless for him to have divested himself of all the wisdom and knowledge inherently associated with his ability as a so-called agent of the original creation and then have to re-acquire it as he grew up. The Scriptures clearly show Jesus as acquiring (not re-acquiring) wisdom from his youth onward. Luke tells us that, “Jesus kept on growing wiser and more mature, and in favor with God and his fellow man” (Luke 2:52 ISV). Indeed, a being that looks like a man, but has pre-conception memories and character attributes, is fundamentally different to all other men. Of course, no embryo or baby could cope with such a full knowledge and wisdom that any spirit being has. So, it seems pointless to transfer “the Son’s” life into a human womb. In such an imagined transfer “the Son” evidently would have brought nothing of himself into Mary’s womb, so there was no retaining of “the Son’s” personal identity. In reality Jesus built his entire character as the man Jesus from birth so as to establish himself in God’s favour! Such character development could not in any way connect to that of a so-called ‘God the Son’ kind of being because Jesus was developing within the human framework. Furthermore, there is no Scripture which states that Yahweh/Jehovah revealed to Jesus that he had previously existed before becoming human. So, Catholic writer Thomas Hart states:
Christ both divine and human makes genuine humanity impossible... if there are two natures in him, it is clear which will dominate and Jesus becomes immediately very different from us…what kind of temptation is this?
Professor of theology John Knox comments:
the assertion of Christ’s pre-existence, placed a strain, so to speak, upon the humanity of Jesus which it was unable to bear...it is simply incredible that a divine person should have become a fully and normal human person—that is, if he was also to continue to be, in his essential identity, the same person.
NO PART OF JESUS WAS A SPIRIT BEING
Jesus was like other humans, he was mortal (Rom. 6:9)—he was not a hybrid in any sense as the writer to the Hebrews shows:
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil…17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect...” (Heb. 2:14, 17 ESV).
Also, in promoting the humanity of Jesus, John’s statement was to counter the false teaching of Gnostic docetism which taught that Jesus only seemed to be human and that as a spirit he came into a human body rather than coming as a human. So, John says: “Many deceivers have gone into the world who do not confess that Jesus Christ came as a human being (Gk en sarki). This kind of person is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7).
Jesus Was Not Transferred – He Was Begotten
In the case of a so-called pre-existent ‘God the Son’ or other pre-existent being the human nature must have come from the human Davidic line through Mary’s chromosomes, and the second nature must have come supposedly by the transfer of something of an existing spirit being implanted in Mary’s womb by God. So clearly the teaching that Jesus was 100% human and yet had pre-existed is contradictory. More importantly, such a supposed transferring of an already existing person goes beyond the description of the origin of Jesus in Luke 1:35, Matthew 1:1, 20 or any Scripture. Nowhere do the Scriptures speak of any transfer of a life form into Mary’s womb. Rather Matthew 1:20 speaks of, “that which was begotten (generated) in her.” To generate something means to bring it into existence.
The Descendant from David
or the Person from Heaven – But Not Both
The two natures teaching and the incarnation teaching are totally at odds with the Scriptures because Jesus is shown to be a lineal descendant of Abraham and David (Matt. 1:1) and so having genetics transmitted from them to Mary. Otherwise, Jesus would not have been a descendant of David because of not being completely from the human gene pool. Furthermore, the scriptural fact remains that Jesus has a single nature—human, partly from the female genetics of Mary and partly from male genetics provided by the “power of the Most High”—God. Only a combination of female and male human genetics can produce a human. However, this does not mean that Jesus was a mere man. Indeed, he was very special as is the case with other men who became geniuses.
Although we do not have detailed information to explain how the begetting of Jesus took place, we do know that “power of the Most High will overshadow you [Mary]” (Luke 1:35). In this statement there is no mention of the transfer of another entity into Mary’s womb. However, if we imagine that it had actually been possible for the real disembodied personality or life-force of a so-called ‘God the Son’ to be transferred to Mary’s womb and to have been combined with the Davidic genetics in one of Mary’s eggs, Jesus would then have been a hybrid who was half human and half god/spirit. Such a concept is never stated in the Scriptures and does not fit with the biblical data. In fact, Jesus was the equivalent “of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come [Jesus]” (Rom. 5:14 ESV). As a mortal it is impossible that Jesus had previously existed as an immortal i.e., as a spirit being (Luke 20:36).
Jesus’ Temptations
The Scriptures show that, when being tested, Jesus had no supernatural advantage over any other normal human; yet this is exactly what he would have had if he had previously been a spirit person. However, Jesus was: “one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15 ESV). So, if Jesus had any recollection of a previous life it would have rendered his temptation virtually futile. To put Jesus in such a position would dramatically detract from his superb achievement in having been tested and yet having never sinned.
The Disciples Pose No Excited Questions about
Prior Life in Heaven
Prior Life in Heaven
If, in fact, Jesus was telling his disciples that his previous residence was heaven with God and all the angels, why do the Scriptures not record a vast array of questions from the disciples as to what it was like in heaven and what angels are really like and indeed what God is really like visually. Instead, the writers made much of the fact that, after resurrection, Jesus went to heaven to sit at God’s right hand.
NOTE: In reality the phrase ‘pre-existence of Jesus’ makes no sense because one is either human or not. This false concept is better expressed as: ‘the non-human origin of Jesus’ even though this concept also does not fit with the biblical data.
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