Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man contained in one person, and he will be so forever. Jesus was born of a virgin, Mary and He was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20). Because of this “immaculate conception”, it allowed Christ to be fully man and fully God. Also, Christ was able to be born without a sinful nature because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and because He did not have an earthly biological father (Luke 1:35). Jesus lived a perfect life without sin (1 Pet. 2:22). Jesus resisted temptation so that he would be worthy to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.

 “The atonement is the work Christ did in his life and death to earn our salvation” (Grudem). Because a penalty was required for our sins, Jesus lived a perfect life in order to be able to take that penalty for us. Christ was the substitutionary atonement for sinners. Jesus endured a brutal death on the cross. He humbled himself and accepted this willingly (Phil. 2:6-8). The cross is the means by which God provided salvation. The cross is now a symbol of God’s intense love for mankind.

 After Jesus’ death, he remained in the grave for three days. On the third day, he rose from the dead. When Jesus rose from the dead, he conquered death. He did not simply come back to life in human terms; 1 Corinthians 15:20 and 23 tells us that he was the “first fruits” of a new kind of life (Grudem). When he raised from the dead, he received his resurrection body that someday we will have also. The resurrection of Christ makes our regeneration possible (1 Peter 1:3). Romans 4:25 tells us that Christ was raised for our justification. When Christ was raised, God approved of Christ’s work and through him we are justified.

 Jesus was on earth for forty days after his resurrection. After those forty days, he ascended into heaven. It is important to understand that heaven is an actual, physical, and tangible place. It is not some mystical dimension. Jesus ascended to heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus said that he would prepare a place for us and that he would return to take us there.

 Christ as Prophet

As prophet, Christ reveals God to us and speaks God’s words to us. In Deuteronomy 18:15-18, Moses predicts that God will raise up another prophet after himself from Israel and he will prophesy on behalf of the Father. Jesus is indeed this prophet as various other Scriptures attest (John 6:14; Acts 3:22-24).

 However, although Christ is indeed the prophet whom Moses predicted, he is also much greater than any of the Old Testament prophets. He is greater in two ways.

 First, Jesus is the one about whom the prophecies in the Old Testament were made. We see in Luke 24:27, Jesus walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

 Second, Jesus was not merely a messenger of revelation from God, but was himself the source of revelation from God. Jesus spoke authoritatively the words of God. He didn’t need to say, “Thus says the Lord.” He spoke divinely, “But I say unto you” (Matt 5:22)(Grudem).

 Christ as Priest

In the Old Testament priests were appointed by God to offer sacrifices. They also offered prayers and praise to God on behalf of the people (Grudem). This was their role in the sanctification of the people. In the New Testament Jesus becomes our great High Priest. He functions as our High Priest in a few ways.

 First, Jesus offered a perfect sacrifice for sin. Jesus did not offer a bull or a lamb (Heb. 10:4). Instead Jesus offered himself (Heb. 9:26). Jesus was the final sacrifice. No more sacrifices were required after this one. Jesus was both the priest who offered the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself.

Second, Jesus continually brings us near to God. The Old Testament priests were in the business of coming into the presence of God to pray for their people. As our High Priest, Jesus continuously leads us into the presence of God so that we no longer have a need of a temple, or a special priesthood to stand between us and God (Heb. 6:19-20).  Jesus has opened for us the way of access to God so that we can continually “draw near” into God’s very presence without fear but with “confidence” and in “full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:19-22).

 Third, Jesus continually prays for us. Hebrews 7:25 says, “He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

 Christ as King

Jesus refused any attempt by people to try to make him an earthly king with military and political power (John 6:15). Jesus made it clear that his kingship was not of this world, much to the disappointment of Israel (John 18:36). Christ’s kingship will be fully recognized at his second coming when he will reign over all the earth and he will be acknowledged as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16) and every knee shall bow to him (Phil. 2:10).