The incarnation of Christ is the turning point of human history. God himself enters the arena of humanity and earns the title “Emmanuel” – God with us. Although most evangelical Christians would agree with the statement that Jesus was both fully man and fully God, there is disagreement over exactly how the two natures were able to coexist in one person. In one camp there are those who believe that Jesus had the full range of both human and divine attributes at the same time. In other words, Jesus as a human was spatially located, limited in knowledge, and limited in power, while Jesus as God was omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Most people would agree that this is a profound mystery and a paradox, if not an outright contradiction.

In another camp, there are those who do believe that an outright contradiction exists in this view of the incarnation. These people believe that in order for the second person of the Trinity to become fully human as the Bible teaches he did, he had to relinquish the use of certain divine attributes that would had prohibited him from becoming fully human. In other words, a being who is fully human cannot be omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, since these are attributes which cannot accurately be used to describe a finite being. Christ did not have to relinquish all of his divine attributes (his divine holiness and love, for example) because these attributes can be granted to humans. Nothing about being fully human precludes us from perfect holiness and love (at least in theory) but it does preclude us from being all-knowing or all-powerful.

A question that I have been pondering lately is this: when Jesus performed miracles, was he performing them as a human or was he tapping into his divine nature to bend and break the laws of the universe that he himself created? The answer that seems most natural is that Jesus, being fully God, made use of his divine power or knowledge to work miracles, heal the sick, control the weather, raise the dead, and read people’s thoughts. However, I do not believe this to be the case. I believe that Jesus performed miracles as a finite, limited, dependant human being, who relied totally and completely on his Father as his source of power and knowledge. Jesus’ miracles are not proof of his divinity. On the contrary Jesus’ life and miracles give us the best example of what it means to be truly human.

Scripture is clear that Jesus depended on the Father and the Holy Spirit on a regular basis. (Luke 4:1 – Jesus was led around the wilderness by the Spirit; Matt. 12:28 – Jesus claims to cast out demons by the Spirit of God; John 5:19-30 – Jesus says that he can do nothing on his own initiative, but can only do what he sees the Father doing. ) Jesus’ supernatural abilities are almost always attributed to the Holy Spirit or the Father working through him.

Scripture is also clear that we are to follow the example of Christ (Phil. 2:5, 1Cor. 11:1) who was “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). But if Christ had the advantage of omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence while here on earth, how can we possibly follow his example? If Christ possessed those attributes, it renders the exhortation to follow his example incoherent. Jesus also told his disciples, “He who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:12). I can imagine the disciples looking around at each other in disbelief, wondering how in the world they themselves would be able to perform greater works that Jesus. Just a few verses later, Jesus explains that He will ask the Father to send them another Helper, whose functions presumably include aiding them and all believers in accomplishing these “greater works”.

What I have been saying is that Jesus’ life was one of total and complete dependence on the Father and the Holy Spirit. This is the kind of life that all humans are called to. In fact, living a life of total surrender and dependence on God is the way that God designed humans to live. Living a life of selfishness and self-reliance is actually like living a less-than-human life. We are defined by our potential. To live a truly human life is to live in true submission to God. That is the way we were created to live. Jesus gives us the only perfect example of how to do this. His life was lived in total and utter surrender to the direction of the Father. He relied on the Spirit in everything. His life is a model of what it looks like to live up to our creaturely potential. And this is what excites me: the kind of surrendered life that Jesus lived (one of reliance on the Spirit and the Father, one of dependence on the Spirit for power, wisdom, and direction) is exactly the kind of life that we too are called to live. The sensitivity to the Spirit that Jesus demonstrated is not reserved for him alone – it is available to us! Jesus’ ability to surrender to God, to allow the Father to work miracles and healings through him – this is available to us! The intimacy and communion with the Father that Jesus enjoyed – this too is available to us!  To the extent that we follow his example of total dependence and submission to God, we will fulfill Jesus’ promise to us that we will do “even greater works” than even he himself did.