The statement that “Jesus was 100% God and 100% man” or “truly God and Truly man” is something you may have heard in Church. But what does this profound statement really mean?

To put it simply, Jesus existed as God before He existed as a human being.

Many have wrongly understood the nature of Christ by believing that He was created first as a man and then attained divinity.

But Jesus has always existed as part of the Godhead (second person of the Trinity). He took on flesh in the incarnation to fulfill his role as a sacrifice for our sins.

This belief in Jesus’ dual nature was solidified in early Christian theology and articulated in the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) and the Chalcedonian Creed (AD 451). These crucial gatherings of Christian leaders established that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human, two natures coexisting in one person without confusion, change, division, or separation.

Scripturally, this concept is supported by passages like John 1:1,14, which states that “the Word was God” and “the Word became flesh.” Additionally, Philippians 2:6-8 speaks of Jesus, who, being in the form of God, took on the nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Colossians 2:9 further affirms this, declaring, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”

It is also important to note that Jesus did not cease to be God in the embodiment; rather, He added the nature of humanity to His divinity.

In becoming man, Jesus did not become another ‘person’, but instead took on / added to Himself the human nature, which is how Jesus could be truly God and truly man.

This union of divine and human nature in Jesus is crucial for understanding His unique role in salvation history. His divine nature ensures the efficacy of His sacrificial death, while His human nature enables Him to empathize with our weaknesses and represent us before God (Hebrews 4:15-16).

In conclusion, the dual nature of Jesus as both God and man is not a mere theological abstraction but a central truth of the Christian faith. It underscores the depth of God’s love and the extent of His intervention in human history, revealing a Savior who is fully God and fully man, uniquely qualified to bridge the gap between humanity and the divine.