WAS JESUS INTRINSICALLY PERFECT OR MADE PERFECT?
‘Although he was a son, he learnt obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him’. Hebrews 5:8,9
This is an incredible statement from Hebrews that indicates the Jesus was made perfect as opposed to being perfect. The immediate question that arises then is, “If Jesus needed to be made perfect, how then can we call him God? Because is not God intrinsically perfect?”
We understand from the Bible that Jesus was perfect in being sinless; the only human being who ever made that claim and lived a life that was corroborated by all who saw him. The author of Hebrews, and John in his gospel make it clear that Jesus was fully God, and God is incompatible with sin, just as light and darkness cannot co-exist. He is indistinguishable from God and has always existed as the eternal God. It was Jesus who as part of the triune God created all that we see and he also sustains all things.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:2) In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1-3)
The same authors also point out that while Jesus was fully God, he was also fully human when he lived on this earth two millennia ago.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:12). Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death………….For this reason, he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:14-17)
This act of perfect incarnation was essential because Jesus identifying with what it meant to be human and going through suffering and death was required for him to become the Savior of mankind. God becoming man is not a contradiction, because man was created by God and in the image of God. Man is a subset of God and there exists an interface where the perfect incarnation meets with a perfect human being, and in that interface is found Jesus.
But there is one aspect of being human that was outside the contained experience of God- the effect of sin on a human being, namely temptations, suffering and ultimately death. Because sin is incompatible with God, the consequences of sin on a person were outside the experience of God. And so, it became necessary for God to become human and identify with everything that meant to be human, and we see that being manifested in the life of Christ here on earth. And while he remained sinless during his life, he did suffer the consequences of sin through the fallen world he was part of. This included anguish and other human emotions, being tempted (without sinning), suffering through mockery, betrayal, rejection, and ultimately a painful death.
While being human was contained within the experience of God and already present in Christ, suffering the shared consequences of sin in this world was an experience that wasn’t intrinsic to God. This missing experience was what made Jesus perfect and ultimately the perfect Savior for mankind.
