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That Age-Old Problem of MetaPhysics
Who exactly is Jesus? What kind of a person is He?
-- Jesus, the image and personal representation of the eternal God.
-- Jesus, an eternal person, the agent of all creation
-- Jesus, the sustainer of all that exists. The one who keeps/holds all things “in being”.
-- Jesus, the person who lived a life of righteousness and exchanged his reward for your penalty.
-- Jesus, the person who, having permanently joined humanity to His deity, will rule over the world of men in the future.
That Age-Old Problem...
Since at least the days of ancient Greek philosophy, the problem of metaphysics has been speculated upon:
Q. Is there anything that transcends the physical world?
Q. If so, is there any point where the two worlds intersect, or a way that the knowledge of the real/metaphysical can be touched by the physical?
Q. Is the SOURCE of our “being” a vague force, or something more personal?
Throughout history people have imagined various versions of the “invisible” realm, and its relationship to the things we see. They have called it the “metaphysical” (above the physical), the realm of pure Ideas, the “noumenal” world (as opposed to the world of observable phenomenon), and MANY other names.
Philosophers struggle with the question of whether we can ever see or reach the realm of the metaphysical. Many say that we would never be able to understand it if we could. They ponder whether humans are born with some innate knowledge of the “other” world, such as knowing the difference between right and wrong, or the ability to see that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, versus whether we just reason those things out using some power of our mind. Are the things we see here “shadows” of the “Real” things over on the other side? Is the knowledge that we have, based on some ultimate truth that exists outside of this decaying world? Many say it is impossible for anything here in the so called “phenomenal” realm to reach, or even reason its way across to the noumenal/metaphysical realm. But here’s the even more important question…can it reach across to us?
Christianity contains the clear answers to all these philosophical questions, in the person and life of Jesus Christ.
Q. Can the physical world reason/reach across into the eternal realm?
A. God, the creator of the physical realm (and who still occupies and sustains it, though He also transcends it) has seen fit to reach across from the eternal to the physical world, in order to make Himself known to us.
This was initially done through delivering messages to men, but finally, God actually joined Himself to humanity by taking on a human body, being born on earth. This God-man, still retained his God-ness (characteristics of deity), and yet took up human-ness as well. As a human, he set us a perfect example for living. However, being God, He also recognized that we had a bigger need than knowledge. We needed more than an example. We had guilt, having harmed our fellow people, and offended the eternal standard of good and evil. So, besides setting the perfect example, while He was here in a human body, He also provided the solution for our deepest need—Redemption. Having taken this extreme step, God now requires that it be acknowledged. To ignore or deny it is an extreme offense against Him.
This was initially done through delivering messages to men, but finally, God actually joined Himself to humanity by taking on a human body, being born on earth. This God-man, still retained his God-ness (characteristics of deity), and yet took up human-ness as well. As a human, he set us a perfect example for living. However, being God, He also recognized that we had a bigger need than knowledge. We needed more than an example. We had guilt, having harmed our fellow people, and offended the eternal standard of good and evil. So, besides setting the perfect example, while He was here in a human body, He also provided the solution for our deepest need—Redemption. Having taken this extreme step, God now requires that it be acknowledged. To ignore or deny it is an extreme offense against Him.
This funny question is sometimes asked in philosophy classes:
Q: What would happen to the universe if God died?
A: The universe would perish with Him. This is actually quite obvious.
In the most basic sense, God is the source of our “being”, and it must be derived from Him. If He stopped existing, so would everything else. This is actually not really specific to Christianity, its just basic theism. We are dependent creatures. We are subject to our circumstances, and we don’t even have control over whether we live or die. We don’t have the power of “being” within ourselves. We can cease to “be” without our permission, and if we’re killed, we cannot bring ourselves back to life. God, on the other hand, cannot die. He is self existent and eternal. Again, this particular idea is not specifically Christian, its theism. If anything exists, that is, for anything to “be”, then there must be a self-existent eternal source of “being”, which theologians call “God”. This is simple logic, and merely part of believing that THERE IS ANYTHING at all. That is, you can reason backward from the visible world, saying this thing must have had a creator, and its creator must have had a creator, and that creator must have been created by something, and that also must have had a creator, and so on, until you reach the point where you say, “the first thing I can think of must have been created by God, but then WHO created God?” Of course, no one could have created God, because if there’s someone else farther up the chain, it means you just haven’t gone back far enough yet. God is what we call the first one in the chain of creation, and that means He has to be eternal—having always existed. He can’t be dependent on anyone or anything. If He was, we’d have to go back one more step and call THAT thing God….right?
In the most basic sense, God is the source of our “being”, and it must be derived from Him. If He stopped existing, so would everything else. This is actually not really specific to Christianity, its just basic theism. We are dependent creatures. We are subject to our circumstances, and we don’t even have control over whether we live or die. We don’t have the power of “being” within ourselves. We can cease to “be” without our permission, and if we’re killed, we cannot bring ourselves back to life. God, on the other hand, cannot die. He is self existent and eternal. Again, this particular idea is not specifically Christian, its theism. If anything exists, that is, for anything to “be”, then there must be a self-existent eternal source of “being”, which theologians call “God”. This is simple logic, and merely part of believing that THERE IS ANYTHING at all. That is, you can reason backward from the visible world, saying this thing must have had a creator, and its creator must have had a creator, and that creator must have been created by something, and that also must have had a creator, and so on, until you reach the point where you say, “the first thing I can think of must have been created by God, but then WHO created God?” Of course, no one could have created God, because if there’s someone else farther up the chain, it means you just haven’t gone back far enough yet. God is what we call the first one in the chain of creation, and that means He has to be eternal—having always existed. He can’t be dependent on anyone or anything. If He was, we’d have to go back one more step and call THAT thing God….right?
Some people would argue that, you can’t use the rule about “everything needing a creator” if you’re gonna go and say that God doesn’t need one. But that is a foolish argument, because as humans, we only have two things to go on when we contemplate the origin of creation…our experience of cause and effect, and the revelation that God has given of Himself, and both of them support that explanation as the most logical.
Who is Jesus? What kind of a person is he? The God kind. God reaching across from the eternal world to our physical world.
Jesus, the image and personal representation of the eternal God.
“God…has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…” Hebrews 1
“For it pleased the Father that in Him (Christ) all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself…Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead in bodily form;” Colossians 1:19,2:8-9
Jesus, an eternal person, the agent of all creation.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that has been made…and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…” John 1
“That which was from the beginning…which we have heard, seen with our eyes, handled…the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us..”1John 1
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, …through whom also He made the worlds;” Hebrews 1:1-2
“He is the image of the invisible God…for by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth…All things were created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1
Jesus, the sustainer of all that exists. The one who keeps/holds all things “in being”.
“He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1
“Upholding all things by the word of His power.” Hebrews 1
Jesus, the person who lived a life of righteousness and exchanged his reward for your penalty.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!” Philippians 2
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."" 2 Corinthians 8:9
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!” Philippians 2
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."" 2 Corinthians 8:9
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus, the person who, having permanently joined humanity to His deity, will rule over the world of men in the future.
“God…has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things.” Hebrews 1
Deep subject. More later on Who Jesus is...
Deep subject. More later on Who Jesus is...
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