Did Jesus Leave His Humanity Behind When He Ascended to Heaven?

Did Jesus leave His humanity behind when He ascended to heaven? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Hey, it's Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. If you've got our voicemail system, feel free to leave your voicemail there, 833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites, and you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

First up today, let's go to Kay, who's listening in Minnesota. Kay, what's your question for Adriel? Hi, yes, my question is, if God could create the world in any way and He chose to create it and create in His image, why did He choose to set it up so that His Son would have to die for our sins? He could have chosen to do that in a different way so that His Son would not have to die. Okay, excellent question, and one which has actually been the topic of theological discussion and debate throughout the history of the Church.

I didn't just say that. There have been whole theological treatises written on that very question. Why the God-man? Why did God have to send His Son into the world?

Was there another way of redeeming humanity? And my view, and the view of so many others, is that no, this was necessary, and it was necessary for a couple of reasons. So God created the world not out of any necessity on His part.

It wasn't that He was missing something. It wasn't that God had a man-shaped hole in His heart and He just wanted some companionship or something like that. No, God created out of the abundance of His glory and love and goodness, and He created man with free will, the freedom to follow Him, to obey Him, and God gave man a choice. There in the garden, you have this this test, if you will, that God gives to Adam and Eve, this call to love Him freely and to worship Him, and man rejects God's word. Adam and Eve eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin against the Lord, shortly after they were created, and as a result, mankind's humanity falls into sin.

Now, God is just and good. God told Adam and Eve, the day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you'll die. I mean, that's what sin brings. Sin brings death. Paul says this in Romans chapter 5. And so man is justly condemned by sin, so how is God going to redeem us?

If He's just, if He's good, how is He going to redeem us? And the reason I bring up justice is because justice doesn't just let evil or wrongdoing go unpunished or not dealt with. You think of a judge who allows a murderer or someone who's committed, you know, heinous acts of abuse to just go and says, well, I'm merciful, and so you don't have to, there's no penalty for this. I mean, that's not justice. That would be tyranny.

That would be horrible. And God is just. God is good.

But we can't save ourselves. And so God sent His Son into the world, the second person of the Holy Trinity, to assume humanity so that Jesus might come as the second Adam. We often say, based on what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 5 and in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, as the second Adam to come and fulfill all righteousness, to pay the penalty for our sins, but also to live that perfect life of obedience that we were called to live, that love and justice demand. And so it was necessary for God the Son to come into the world, to assume humanity, to redeem us, to come in our place. Since we human beings had sinned against God, God has made a way to perfectly redeem us in His justice, in His goodness, in His glory. And that's the hope of the Gospel. And this is the beautiful thing about the Christian faith. It's not just that God says, oh, you're off the hook. I'm just going to pretend like that didn't happen.

No. Our sins are paid for. They're paid for by God Himself and His great love for us.

He sent His Son into the world to redeem us so that we might have eternal life. And so we cling to that hope and to that grace. Thanks for reaching out to us, Kay. God bless you. Kay, thanks so much for listening there in Minnesota. We really do appreciate you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Let's go to David in Oklahoma. David, what's your question for Adriel? Yes, I just had a question. I've struggled a long time with understanding, and I'll use the word God's grace. I know the grace and mercy and forgiveness sort of enter, you know, they co-mingle, but I'll use the word grace. Do you think if we understand God's grace, truly understand it, and it can be a learning thing, not something that necessarily happens overnight, but do you think grace is also a physical thing and that because when we're forgiven, when we're cleansed, when our slate is clean, it can affect us physically in good ways, not just to have knowledge. And I'm just wondering what you think about that.

Yeah, so I think that you're right. I don't know that that means that we would refer to grace as a physical thing like this physical substance, but the grace of God which we receive does impact us holistically, our lives, even our physical lives, and so in that sense I would be, you know, right there with you, and I just want to affirm the fact that we do struggle so much to understand the grace of God. It's sort of our bent, our nature to focus on works and trying to earn God's love or earn God's favor through our obedience. That's just our default position, and so this idea of free gift and mercy and grace and resting in that is so difficult for many of us, but I think that the more that we grasp that, and God help us every single day, you think about how many times the apostles, you know, talk about growing and the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, it really is an ocean, an ocean of riches, and the Christian life should be one where we're daily growing in that understanding of God's graciousness, God's goodness, God's mercy, and marveling at it. And as we marvel at it, that should impact, like you were saying, and as I agree, that should impact the whole of our lives, our physical lives even, the peace that we have.

Paul says in Romans chapter 5 verse 1, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It influences the way we view our relationships with other people. We live out of the grace of God, out of the mercy that we've received, and so it's a wonderful thing, it's a beautiful thing, and that's why we focus on growing in the grace of the Lord through our understanding of scripture.

Thanks for reaching out to us, David. So well said, and I was just thinking of some of the psychological components. You know, we know, for example, that guilt and shame can lead to depression and hopelessness, and then, you know, somebody who's tied up with bitterness and resentment, that can actually cause heart disease. So when we really, truly experience God's grace, it can free us from those things once we really take hold of it.

Yeah, I love that, Bill, and I appreciate David's question because we don't often think about that tie. Sometimes we pit the spiritual against the physical as though they were unrelated, but the fact of the matter is, is we're, you know, body and soul. You know, this is what it means to be made in the image of God, this whole person, and you can't separate those two. There is a relationship between those two that we oftentimes minimize, and the Bible does not minimize that relationship, and those examples that you gave, I think, are real clear examples and helpful ones to think about as we consider the significance, the importance of growing in the grace of God.

Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, you can leave us a voicemail 24 hours a day at 833-THE-CORE. You can also email us your question at questions at corechristianity.com.

Let's go to Al in Fresno, California. Al, what's your question for Adriel? Hello, pastors. Thank you so much for taking my call.

Hey, Al, good to hear from you. What's your question, brother? Yeah, my question is pertaining to 1 Peter 3, 18 through 20. A couple of weeks ago, our men's group, our Sunday school, we studied, we happened to come across this verse, and there were different opinions, different beliefs, so I just want to get your opinion, Pastor Adriel. According to 1 Peter 3, 18, 20, it says Jesus went to, I guess, he went to preach to the spirits in prison. My first question is, did Jesus go during, between his death and his resurrection, or before or after that? And secondly, who are actually the spirits in prison? I know, I know a few, I have learned a few different teachings, and people say different things, but can you, can you touch on that, please?

Al, God bless you. God bless that Bible study group that you're a part of coming up on this, on this sticky passage in 1 Peter 3, one that has raised a lot of questions. Let me just read the verses that you mentioned, and then I'll give you my answer, at least some of the ways in which this text has been understood. 1 Peter 3, verse 18, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared in which few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through water. Now the context here is suffering for righteousness' sake. In other words, the people that Peter is writing to, they were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus, and so he's setting Christ up as this example of one who suffered, and suffered for the sake of righteousness, but then was also vindicated, and it's that vindication, I think, that's the focus in verses 18 and following Christ being vindicated against the forces of evil and darkness, and the hope that he's setting up for for the people that are reading his letter is that they have the hope of vindication too.

Even though we suffer and maybe are rejected by the world, we will be vindicated as the people of God. Now there are a few ways in which this passage has been taken. One is that the preaching that's being referred to here is preaching that happened in the days of Noah, the spirit of Christ preaching through Noah, and the evidence that's marshaled for that is if you go earlier in 1 Peter, in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 11, it talks about the person or time of the spirit of Christ in the prophets in the Old Testament, men like Noah, indicating when those things were going to take place. So the spirit of Christ was in Noah, and so some people say, well, was it Noah preaching and Jesus preaching through Noah?

That's, I feel like, not as compelling as a view, but that is one view that people have taken. The other idea is that it's preaching between the death and resurrection of Jesus, as you brought up, in the spirit. Some say delivering, you know, Old Testament saints, releasing them into heaven. Others make the case that it's, you know, providing or preaching another opportunity for salvation for those who had died. That contradicts that, especially that last part there, you know, another opportunity for salvation after those individuals had died, that contradicts other clear statements in the New Testament. It is appointed for a man to die once, then comes the judgment, and so once we die, there's no new opportunity to, you know, hear the gospel and receive it. The third way of looking at this text is the idea that Jesus is preaching his victory over the grave and hell.

The spirits that are referred to there, the spirits in prison, referring to the angels who sinned, probably way back in Genesis chapter 6, and it seems like there's some corroborating evidence for that in places like 2 Peter chapter 2, verses 4 through 5, and in Jude 6. So it seems like that that latter view, especially with this idea of vindication, post-suffering, proclaiming victory, I think that that latter view carries the most weight. I think that the view that we want to avoid is any view that says that Jesus was going to preach to the dead and offer them another way or another opportunity at salvation.

That contradicts other passages in scripture, but that latter view seems like the most the most clear for me. So Al, just giving you a few examples of, I think, ways to go and appreciate you reaching out, and may God bless you and God bless that Bible study group that you're a part of. So cool to hear our listeners involved in Bible studies, whether it's a men's study, women's study, couple study, that they're really digging into God's word. I want to mention we have some great Bible studies available on our website, corechristianity.com forward slash radio, to discover what type of studies we have available, and they're on both the Old Testament and New Testament books.

If you're the leader of a small group or teach a Sunday school class, check those out at corechristianity.com. Well, here's a question that came in from one of our listeners named Kathy. She says, what is your perspective on Seventh-day Adventists? Any concerns with their doctrine and how it coincides with Christianity?

Kathy, thank you for that question. So for Adventists, I know, I mean, it's just in the name, one of the big focuses is continuing to worship on the Sabbath day, on Saturday, and even an association with worshiping on Sunday with apostasy. And I'm sure, I mean, I've never been to a Seventh-day Adventist church, but I'm sure that there's a spectrum in terms of Seventh-day Adventist churches, but the focus on Sabbath, Saturday, also sometimes focus on some of those dietary regulations that you see in the Old Testament, those things actually do concern me, in part because I think there can be this slow drift back to the Old Covenant. And one of the things I oftentimes say, especially when we're talking about worshiping and worshiping the Lord on Sunday, is this is what the apostles of our Lord Jesus were doing themselves. Sometimes people will say, well, that was a later thing, that was introduced by the Catholic church or something like that, but throughout the New Testament, in places like 1 Corinthians and the book of Acts, it's very clear that the disciples were gathering together on the first day of the week on Sunday to worship the Lord.

And why were they doing that? It wasn't a great apostasy, it was in commemoration of the fact that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead and that in Christ we experience the reality, the true Sabbath rest of God's people. And so that's the reason why from the earliest days, I mean already in the time of the Bible, the New Testament, they were worshiping on Sunday and the churches continue to do that since then. And so anything that minimizes that or says, well, that was wrong or that was apostasy, I got serious issues with that. And so let me just say more broadly, not just Seventh-day Adventists, but there is this drift towards two things, two great dangers that we face as Christians. One is legalism, that is looking to the law and the things that we do to justify us before God, to give us acceptance before the Lord, and the other one is antinomianism, that is a rejection of God's law, just living in sin and thinking it's okay and even justifying our sins.

And so both of those are really serious issues and we have to watch out for both of them, both going back to the law as a source of our salvation or just rejecting God's word. And I think what Seventh-day Adventists would say is, well, isn't that what you're doing with the Sabbath? And I would say, no, we have to understand the Sabbath in the context of redemptive history and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, our true Sabbath rest. He's the one that said at the end of Matthew chapter 11, come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you Sabbath rest. I will give you rest.

It's in Jesus that we experience that rest and that's why we gather together on the first day of the week as the apostles did on Sunday. God bless. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. I want to mention that we are a listener-supported ministry.

We don't play commercials on this program. We don't get money from a church or denomination. We count on people just like you to make gifts to keep us on the air. And if you believe in what we do and you believe what we do is helpful and helps to strengthen your faith and help you dig deeper into God's word, we would ask you to prayerfully consider joining what we call our inner core. Yeah, the inner core is a group of supporters who support us with a monthly gift of $25 or more as a thank you for joining the inner core. We'll send you a copy of the book Core Christianity, a wonderful introduction to the core tenets of the Christian faith, things that we really all of us as Christians need to be grounded in. And so to you listening right now, if you've been blessed by the work that we're doing here at Core Christianity and you want to partner with us to help others grow in their understanding of God's word, would you prayerfully consider joining the inner core? You can learn more by going to corechristianity.com forward slash inner core corechristianity.com forward slash inner core. Well, we do receive voicemails here at Core Christianity. You can call us 24 hours a day and leave your voicemail question.

Here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Connie. My question is, did Jesus leave his humanity behind when he ascended to heaven? Is he still human?

Excellent question, sister, and the answer is no. Jesus did not leave his humanity behind when he ascended into heaven. The eternal word of the Father, the second person of the Holy Trinity, assumed humanity for us, for our salvation, came down from heaven, assumed humanity from the womb of the Virgin Mary, suffered and died in that humanity for our sake so that our sins might be forgiven to pay for our sins once and for all. That perfect sacrifice rose again from the dead, bodily in that humanity, and then in that humanity ascended into heaven where he sits at the right hand of the Father in all power and glory. And so, I mean, it's also the hope that we have that at the last day when we rise again from the dead, the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, the hope of Christians by faith in Jesus's name, that our humanity is going to be restored.

The whole world is going to be restored, glorified. The apostle Paul talks about this in the book of Romans, also in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, so much there on the resurrection, but Jesus didn't leave behind his humanity when he ascended into heaven. He always exists now since the incarnation as that one divine person having assumed humanity, and he always has that humanity for us. And so, wonderful again, wonderful question, so important that we understand the nature of the incarnation because it relates to our very salvation, and it exhibits so clearly to us the great love of God that he would come and clothe himself in humanity for our sins.

The Son would come and do that for our sins and for our glorification and the restoration of the human race. God bless. Amen, so well said. Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Let's go to Don who's calling in from Kansas. Don, what's your question for Adriel? My question is, in Genesis at the creation, when God said, let there be light, is that referencing Jesus Christ? My thought goes to Christ himself saying, I am the light of the world. I just want your thoughts on that. Is that what that's saying? Great question.

So I would say the answer is no. It's not a reference to Christ. Now, Jesus is the light. In the Nicene Creed, we say light of light, very God of very God. God is light, right? In him is no darkness at all.

Jesus is the brilliance of the Father's glory, Hebrews chapter one. So God, the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we might describe or say God is light, but God is uncreated. God is the uncreated light.

Here in Genesis chapter one, when God says, let there be light, he's talking about that created light, if you will, the creative acts of God. And Jesus is there. John chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. And even there in John one, he's referred to as the light. John uses that imagery a lot in his writings, in his Gospel, and in his first epistle in particular. But we need to make sure that we recognize and stress the fact that Jesus, the eternal word of the Father, the Son of God, is uncreated. He's not a created being. That was the heresy of Arianism in the ancient church. The Aryans taught that Jesus was the first created being or the first creature. They gave him an elevated status, but they didn't teach that he was equal with the Father in power and glory.

And that's false. And so, you know, we do have the creation of light there in Genesis chapter one, but that's not a reference to the uncreated light of God and Jesus as the light of the world and the brilliance of the Father's glory. God bless.

Great explanation. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. You can call us 24 hours a day and leave your voicemail on our voicemail system.

We do our best to review those each day. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. And just a reminder again, Adriel, we'd love to have our listeners consider joining our inner CORE. Yeah, and I can't express my gratitude enough. For one, all of you who listen to the broadcast, we pray every day that this would be edifying for you, encouraging for you. Would you please remember us in your prayers? And as Bill said, if you want to support us, go to corechristianity.com and check out joining the inner CORE. Thanks and God bless. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, go to corechristianity.com forward slash radio, or you can call us at 1-833-843-2673.

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