WE, AS TRUE CHRISTIANS, accept and believe in the verses of the Bible that you quote stating that Christ is man. However, it is very significant that the context and background of those verses be considered. In John 8:40, when Christ introduced Himself as man. He was still on earth. There is no question about that. What we are saying is that Christ became God or attained His divinity when He reached heaven.
Answer:
Answer:
Nowhere in the Bibie is it taught that Christ became God or attained divinity upon His ascension to heaven. On the contrary, the apostles testify that Jesus remained to be man in nature even when He reached heaven. In verses such as I Timothy 2:5 and Acts 2:22, among others for instance, the apostles directly declared that Christ is man.
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (1 Tim. 2:5, NKJV)
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— (Acts 2:22, NKJV)
Considering the background and context of these verses, we've learned that these were taught by the apostles when our Lord Jesus was already in heaven. If it were true that Christ attained divinity when He ascended to heaven, then the Apostles should have taught Him as God when they preached about Him. But the apostles were consistent in their teaching. that Christ is indeed man, before and even after His ascension to heaven.
Apostle Paul, in fact, teaches that in heaven, Christ sits at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1). And the Bible ascertains that the one who sits at the right hand of God, who is Christ, is a man, and therefore not another God:
"But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12, New King James Version, emphasis ours)
The teaching that Christ became God when He reached heaven contradicts what the Holy Scriptures teaches concerning the true Cod. Christ Himself makes it clear that there is only one true God who is the Father (Jn. 17:1, 3). Before His ascension to heaven, Christ even said:
..... I am ascending to My Father and your Father and to My God and your God." (John 20:17, NKJV) If Christ became God upon His ascension to heaven, then there would be two Gods—the Father to whom Christ ascended (and whom Christ recognizes as His God) and Christ who ascended to His Father. This is definitely against what Christ Himself teaches regarding the true God.
While it is true that the Savior's body, which was once perishable and mortal on earth, became imperishable or immortal in heaven (1 Cor. 15:50-54), this does not mean that He became God. Because if He did, then those to be saved would also become gods, for the Holy Scriptures confirm that their bodies will be like the glorious body of Christ:
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Phil. 3:20-21, New International Version)
The belief or teaching that Christ became God upon ascension to heaven is therefore unbiblical
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (1 Tim. 2:5, NKJV)
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— (Acts 2:22, NKJV)
Considering the background and context of these verses, we've learned that these were taught by the apostles when our Lord Jesus was already in heaven. If it were true that Christ attained divinity when He ascended to heaven, then the Apostles should have taught Him as God when they preached about Him. But the apostles were consistent in their teaching. that Christ is indeed man, before and even after His ascension to heaven.
Apostle Paul, in fact, teaches that in heaven, Christ sits at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1). And the Bible ascertains that the one who sits at the right hand of God, who is Christ, is a man, and therefore not another God:
"But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God" (Heb. 10:12, New King James Version, emphasis ours)
The teaching that Christ became God when He reached heaven contradicts what the Holy Scriptures teaches concerning the true Cod. Christ Himself makes it clear that there is only one true God who is the Father (Jn. 17:1, 3). Before His ascension to heaven, Christ even said:
..... I am ascending to My Father and your Father and to My God and your God." (John 20:17, NKJV) If Christ became God upon His ascension to heaven, then there would be two Gods—the Father to whom Christ ascended (and whom Christ recognizes as His God) and Christ who ascended to His Father. This is definitely against what Christ Himself teaches regarding the true God.
While it is true that the Savior's body, which was once perishable and mortal on earth, became imperishable or immortal in heaven (1 Cor. 15:50-54), this does not mean that He became God. Because if He did, then those to be saved would also become gods, for the Holy Scriptures confirm that their bodies will be like the glorious body of Christ:
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Phil. 3:20-21, New International Version)
The belief or teaching that Christ became God upon ascension to heaven is therefore unbiblical
source: GOD'S MESSAGE, June 2004, p.4
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