The nature of Jesus Christ stands as one of Christianity’s most profound mysteries. Scripture declares that Jesus is fully God and fully man—two natures united in one person. For Pentecostals who embrace the biblical teaching of God’s absolute oneness, this truth takes on special significance. Understanding how Jesus embodies both divinity and humanity requires careful attention to what Scripture reveals about the nature of God and the incarnation.
The Foundation: God Is One
The cornerstone of biblical faith is the declaration found in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” This wasn’t merely a statement about God’s unity; it was a proclamation of His absolute singularity. God is not divided into separate persons or beings. He is one indivisible Spirit, as Jesus Himself affirmed in John 4:24: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Throughout the Old Testament, God consistently revealed Himself as the only God. Isaiah 44:6 records God’s words: “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” This wasn’t metaphorical language or theological abstraction. God was establishing that He alone exists as deity—there is no second or third God beside Him.
The Mystery of the Incarnation
When we come to the New Testament, we encounter something unprecedented in human history: God Himself entering into His creation as a man. John 1:14 declares, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” This wasn’t God sending someone else or creating a separate divine person. This was God Himself taking on human nature.
The apostle Paul explained this profound truth in 1 Timothy 3:16: “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” Notice the clarity here—it was God who was manifested in flesh. The incarnation was God’s direct entrance into humanity.
This is where we must understand the dual nature of Christ. Jesus possessed a complete human nature—body, soul, and spirit. He experienced hunger, thirst, weariness, and temptation. He wept, rejoiced, and felt compassion. His humanity was authentic and complete. Yet dwelling within that human temple was the fullness of deity. Colossians 2:9 states, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”
Jesus: The Perfect Union
How can one person be both God and man? The key lies in understanding that Jesus is the visible manifestation of the invisible God. God, who is Spirit, took on an additional nature—human nature—through the virgin birth. The divine Spirit that had always existed now also possessed a human body and human consciousness.
When Jesus walked the earth, He operated within the limitations of His humanity while simultaneously being the unlimited God. This explains why Jesus could say in John 14:9, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father,” while also praying to the Father. The man Christ Jesus prayed; the eternal Spirit dwelling within Him was God receiving that prayer. Jesus was God’s human experience, God’s way of relating to His creation in a form we could comprehend.
This understanding preserves both the deity and humanity of Christ without dividing God into separate persons. Jesus wasn’t part of God or a separate God—He was, and is, the Almighty God living in human flesh. When Thomas touched the risen Christ and exclaimed, “My Lord and my God,” he wasn’t identifying a second divine person; he was recognizing that the man standing before him was God Himself incarnate.
Biblical Evidence of Jesus as God
Scripture overwhelmingly identifies Jesus as God manifest in flesh. Isaiah prophesied that the coming child would be called “Mighty God” and “everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6). The birth narrative in Matthew reveals that Jesus is “Emmanuel…God with us” (Matthew 1:23). The apostle John opened his gospel by declaring that “the Word was God” before explaining that this Word became flesh.
Jesus exercised divine prerogatives that belong to God alone. He forgave sins, accepted worship, claimed eternal existence, and declared Himself the judge of all humanity. When the Jews questioned His identity, Jesus responded, “Before Abraham was, I am”—using the divine name revealed to Moses at the burning bush. His audience understood the claim perfectly, which is why they attempted to stone Him for blasphemy.
The Practical Implications
Understanding Jesus as God manifested in human flesh has profound theological and practical implications. It means that when Jesus died on the cross, it was God Himself making the ultimate sacrifice for human sin. No created being or lesser deity could have redeemed humanity. The value of Christ’s sacrifice derives from the infinite worth of His divine nature.
This understanding also affects how we approach baptism and salvation. When Peter commanded believers to be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38), he wasn’t offering an alternative to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was identifying the name—the revealed identity—of God as Jesus. Throughout the book of Acts, believers were consistently baptized in Jesus’ name because they recognized that Jesus is the name of the one God who manifested Himself as Father in creation, in the Son for redemption, and as Holy Spirit for regeneration and empowerment.
The Mystery That Transforms
Jesus is both God and man because God chose to add human nature to His divine nature through the miraculous conception in Mary’s womb. The man Jesus Christ is the temple in which the fullness of God dwells. He is not partially God or a separate God—He is the Almighty, the everlasting Father, the Creator of heaven and earth, who humbled Himself to take on human form for our salvation.
This mystery of godliness—God manifest in the flesh—calls us to worship, amazement, and gratitude. The infinite God made Himself finite without ceasing to be infinite. The eternal entered time. The invisible became visible. All this was done so that humanity might be reconciled to God through the sacrifice of that perfect human body in which deity dwelt.
When we understand Jesus as the complete revelation of God in human form, we see the beautiful unity of Scripture. We worship one God who came near to us in the person of Jesus Christ, and who remains present with us through His Spirit. This is the glorious truth that transforms lives and brings salvation to all who believe.
