During the thirty-three and a half years that He lived on the earth, the Lord Jesus manifested both His divinity and His humanity. In His humanity He was the same as all men: He became hungry when He did not eat, He became thirsty when He did not drink, He slept when He was tired, and He shed tears when He was sad. He was exactly the same as man because He truly put on humanity. In the many different situations that He encountered, He manifested His divinity. He could calm the winds and the sea, command demons, and cause the blind to see, the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, and the deaf to hear. He could raise men from the dead, and He knew the intentions within men’s heart because He was the omnipotent and omniscient God. This wonderful One was truly God yet man and man yet God.
If we want to know God, we need to look at Jesus; if we want to know man, we also need to look at Jesus. In Him we see the true God; in Him we see a real man. If we want to know God, we must know the Lord Jesus; if we want to know man, we also must know the Lord Jesus. He is truly a man, and He is truly God. In Him God and man are mingled as one. This Jesus, whom we preach as our Savior, is the sovereign Lord in the universe, the God who created all things, who has become a man. On one hand, He is man, and on the other hand, He is God.
At the end of His thirty-three and a half years on earth, Jesus died on the cross. His death is related to His flesh, to His being a man. If He had not become flesh, there would have been no way for Him to be put to death on the cross, and He could not have sacrificed His body or shed His precious blood for us. He was able to give up His body and shed His blood because He became a man and put on humanity; He died on the cross for us with a body of flesh and blood. Then three days after His death, He resurrected. His resurrection involved more than just His spirit; He was resurrected bodily. When He died, His physical body was hung on the cross. When He was buried, His physical body was laid in a tomb, and when He rose on the third day, His physical body was resurrected. More than His spirit and soul came out from Hades because He was resurrected with a body.
When the Lord came to the disciples after His resurrection, they were frightened and thought that they had seen a spirit. He said to them, “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you behold Me having” (Luke 24:39). After saying this, He showed them His hands and His feet and said, “Do you have anything here to eat? And they handed Him a piece of broiled fish; and He took it and ate before them” (vv. 41-43). When the Lord Jesus resurrected, He still had a human body, but this body was transformed. Before His crucifixion His body was a body of humiliation, a body that was limited and restricted by time and space, but after His resurrection His body was a glorified body, a body that was unlimited and unrestricted by time and space.
Today it is difficult for us to understand much about His glorified body. However, the Gospel of John illustrates this matter when it speaks of a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying (12:24). When a grain of wheat is planted into the ground, its outer shell decomposes, and then a new sprout of wheat comes forth from the earth. This sprouting is the resurrection of the seed. In its sprouting, even the outward form of the grain of wheat changes. Initially it was yellow in color, but it comes forth as a green shoot. This process of transformation can be seen in a butterfly also. A butterfly is originally an ugly caterpillar, but after being transformed in the “tomb” of its cocoon, it becomes a beautiful butterfly. This is also an illustration of death and resurrection.
The human body that Jesus put on when He became flesh was a body of humiliation; it had no outward comeliness or beauty (Isa. 53:2). After His death and resurrection, however, His glorified body was without limitation. Even though His body was glorified, it still was a human body with the human nature. After His resurrection He was still God and still man, just as He was both God and man when He became flesh through incarnation before His resurrection. In His incarnation He was still God even though He became a man. After His death and resurrection He was still man even though He had been transformed, had entered into glory, and was manifested as the mighty God. When He became a man, He was still God with the divine nature, and after He manifested Himself as God in His resurrection, He was still a man with the human nature. This is our Savior. He is still the sovereign Lord who created and governs all things, and He is still a man who passed through death and resurrection to bring man into glory. As such a God-man, He is both God and man. He is God yet man, man yet God. This is our Savior.
We need to see these three stages. In the first stage God created all things, governed all things, and all things were out from Him. Nevertheless, as the sovereign Lord in the universe, He had no relationship with man. In the second stage God put on humanity and lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years. Even though He put on flesh through incarnation to become a lowly man, He did not cease to be God. In the third stage this incarnated God in humanity died and resurrected to bring His human body into glory and to manifest Himself as the God of glory. Although He is the God of glory, He still has humanity. In glory God and man now are mingled together, divinity has been fully mingled with humanity. This is the mingling of man with God as one in God’s glory. This is our Savior. This is the One in whom we believe today. He created the universe; He rules over all things. He also died on the cross to bear our sins. Then He resurrected from the dead with both His divinity and His humanity, having a glorified human body, to be man’s living Savior.
This is the One whom we preach, this is the One in whom we believe, this is the One whom we worship, and this is the One on whom we call upon day by day. He is a great and glorious Lord. He cannot be compared to animals that people often worship, nor can other idols or so-called gods be compared to Him. God, the sovereign Lord, has become our Savior. He is so glorious. He is the One who created the universe and the One who rules the universe. He is the One who created all humans and the One who redeems repentant sinners. He is God entering into man; He put on humanity to become a man and to bring man to God. He is God, and He is also man. He possesses humanity in order to be man’s Savior and the Lord of all. This is the Lord whom we preach, whom we believe in, whom we petition, and whom we worship.
I believe we all can understand that the Lord Jesus is the sovereign Lord, the God who created and rules the heavens and the earth, who became a man to mingle God with man, and who died on the cross and resurrected to bring man into God. He is God yet man, and He is our Savior. We believe in Him, and we worship Him. This is a glorious matter. We can believe in, worship, and call on such a Savior. He is the wonder of wonders. His name is truly Wonderful. He is the almighty God, but He is also God with man.