“But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law.”

• Galatians 4:4 (MSG)

The story of Jesus is both simple and complex. At its simplest, it is the story of God on earth who sacrificed Himself to bring freedom and salvation to all mankind. At its more complex, it is the story of a human being who was yet totally divine; a human who had questions, doubts, fears, anxieties and then all the qualities of the perfect God.

Let’s talk about the humanity of Jesus Christ

The church often likes to talk about the divinity of Jesus, which is totally a great thing to do! However, part of what makes the story of Jesus so amazing is His human side as well.

Jesus had to be born as a human for several reasons, including:

• As is written in the passage from Galatians 4, Jesus was born as a man under the Law (God’s Law) so that He might redeem those under the Law. No animal or angelic being is under God’s Law. Only humans. Therefore, to fulfill the Law, a human was needed. However, since no human is capable of doing this through our own righteousness, we needed assistance from someone with a divine touch: Jesus.
• “Now that we know what we have — Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God — let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all — all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.”
  – Hebrews 4:14-16 (MSG)In this passage from Hebrews, the writer states that Jesus is a High Priest who has full access to God but is entirely relatable to us. Because Jesus lived as a human, He is intimately aware of human thoughts, struggles, fears, concerns, pain and desires. When we pray through Him, we know we are talking to someone who understands what it means to be human and is fully compassionate toward us despite any of our flaws.

  This is very important and is what makes Jesus stand out more than other religious figures. His humanity brings us closer to Him and to divinity through Him. All we have to do is put our hope in Him and trust that He will take care of the rest.

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