“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.” – Mark 6:3
The scripture tells us that Christ was “made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” That Christ is the redeeming instrument for all mankind. He is the Son of man, and the Son of God, and this we must believe to be saved.
Jesus was a man on earth. It’s a seemingly simple and painfully obvious point to make, but there was a man Jesus of Nazareth. He walked on this earth. He had a home, a mother, a family. He had a job, likes, dislikes; he was a man. His existence is recorded history, and he walked on Earth like you and me. There is no question about this. Yet many people, thousands of years later, still look on Jesus as “the carpenter”, and are offended at him. They take the same stance as those recorded in the above text: “Is not this the carpenter?” As if to say: “we know this man, we know his family, his works, his background, and he is just another man.” What does it mean to believe in Jesus as you would believe in another man? We believe men can heal our hurts, we believe men can help our marriages, we believe men can help our happiness, our finances, our safety, our children. We trust in man for practically everything in our life, but not to cleanse our sin. Can believing in George Washington cleanse you from sin? Can the inventions of Thomas Edison, or Elon Musk cleanse the wickedness within? We cannot look to Christ as we would a doctor or psychiatrist; with this mentality of “you fix me, I pay you, then we both go on our way.” Jesus Christ is not just another man; he doesn’t want money or tokens. There is no amount of tribute that can be paid to call down his power. It is not a barter relationship; it is a belief relationship. When you see Jesus as just another man, your unbelief shackles him. It keeps him from doing the miraculous in your life. We must believe that he is the Son of God and put our faith and trust in Him. Specifically in His death, burial, and resurrection. Confess and forsake your sin, your all, yourself, and yield to the Son of God. It is God’s grace that allows us to approach the throne. It is Christ’s blood that redeems us from our sinful state. It is the gift of the Holy Ghost that empowers us to live without sin and guide us to a home eternal in heaven. Yet to obtain all this, you must first believe that God is God, and that Christ is Christ.
The scripture says that when you believe that he is the Son of God, the bread of life, the living water, the resurrection, the truth, the King of Kings; when you truly believe this, all things are possible. There is no hurt that Jesus cannot heal and no sin that Jesus cannot cleanse. The power of Jesus Christ in our lives is only limited by our belief and trust in Him. When you view Jesus as the man, he can do nothing for you. However, Jesus the Christ can do all things. The question is who do you say the Son of Man is? Do you believe he is Jesus the man or Jesus the Christ?
