Friday, February 25, 2011

Is Jesus someone with "Man-Skin?"

I was listening recently to a radio program in which the person of Christ was under discussion. The dialogue concluded that Christ was a person with "man-skin." I was greatly disturbed by that description of Christ because it diminishes the reality of Christ's true personality as taught in Scripture. Though I hope the people in dialogue did not mean to cloud the issue of who Christ really is, the expression of Christ as being a person with "man-skin" does not describe Christ at all in his humanness. Christ is not a man in disguise...a being with "man skin" on him. He truly became man [with no sin] without ceasing to become God. He was not masquerading as a man, as if you put on human flesh like a suit. He truly became man [Phil. 2:5-9]. The significance of Christ's coming as truly man has incredible redemptive implications. To represent me as my Savior, he must be fully man. To stand in the gap as man's sinful substitute before God, He must also be able to represent a Holy God [which he does because He is fully God as well]. The God-Man is the only way to describe Jesus. I think the terminology that depicts Jesus as a person with "man-skin" [though it may sound cute, clever, and catchy] does a great disservice to the person of Christ and all that the Scripture teaches about Him. We must be very careful how we describe the Son of God, our Savior. Think it through!!