Christian Doctrine of Christ: Person and Work of Jesus

1) Jesus’ Identity and Why It Matters for Salvation

Who Jesus is: fully divine and fully human

Christian teaching says Jesus is one person with two natures: truly God and truly human. This is not “half-and-half,” and not two separate persons. The point is that the same Jesus who gets tired, eats, and suffers is also the one who forgives sins, receives worship, and speaks with God’s authority.

• Fully divine: Jesus shares God’s identity and power. If Jesus is not truly God, then he cannot finally reveal God or bring God’s saving action to completion.
• Fully human: Jesus shares our real human life. If Jesus is not truly human, then he cannot truly represent humanity, heal human nature from within, or obey in our place.

Key terms for Jesus’ identity

Why Jesus’ identity matters for salvation (a practical map)

Christians connect Jesus’ identity to salvation in a “both-and” way:

• Because Jesus is God, he can truly reveal God (not just talk about God), and his saving work has divine power and finality.
• Because Jesus is human, he can stand in for humanity, live faithful human obedience, suffer real human death, and raise human life into newness.

Step-by-step: how this shapes personal faith

1. Ask “Who is Jesus?” before “What should I do?” Christianity begins with Jesus’ person, not self-improvement.
2. Trust his competence. If he is truly divine, he is able to save; if truly human, he understands human weakness from the inside.
3. Bring your whole life to him. Lordship means he is not only a helper for crises but the rightful ruler of everyday choices.

2) Key Events in Jesus’ Life and Their Doctrinal Meaning

Christian doctrine ties salvation to real events in Jesus’ story. These events are not only inspiring moments; they are understood as God acting in history to reconcile and renew.

Jesus’ life: revealing God and living faithful humanity

Jesus’ teachings, compassion, miracles, and holiness are understood as revelation: God making himself known in a human life. Jesus does not merely deliver information about God; he embodies God’s character—mercy, truth, justice, and self-giving love.

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• Reveals God: what God is like and what God desires for human life.
• Represents humanity: lives the faithful human life people were made for, showing what trust and obedience look like in practice.

Practical step-by-step: learning from Jesus’ life without reducing him to “just an example”

1. Read a Gospel scene (a healing, a parable, a conflict).
2. Identify what it reveals about God (God’s compassion, authority, holiness, patience).
3. Identify what it reveals about true humanity (courage, prayer, integrity, dependence on God).
4. Respond in two directions: worship (because he reveals God) and imitation (because he models faithful human life).

Jesus’ death: reconciliation through atonement

Christians say Jesus’ death is not an accident or only a tragedy; it is central to reconciliation between God and humanity. The doctrinal word often used is atonement.

Different traditions explain the “how” in different ways (see the atonement models below), but they agree that the cross is a decisive saving act.

Resurrection: God’s vindication and the beginning of new creation

Resurrection means Jesus truly rose from the dead, not merely “living on” as an idea. Doctrinally, the resurrection is understood as:

• Vindication: God publicly confirms Jesus’ identity and mission.
• Victory: death does not have the final word.
• New creation: the future renewal of humanity begins in Jesus.

Practical step-by-step: living resurrection faith

1. Name what feels “dead” (hopelessness, addiction patterns, broken relationships).
2. Connect it to Jesus’ victory: the resurrection means God can bring life where humans cannot.
3. Take one “new creation” step today (confession, seeking help, making amends, practicing prayer).
4. Practice patient hope: resurrection life often grows like a seed—real, but not instant.

Ascension: Jesus’ exaltation and ongoing ministry

Ascension means Jesus is exalted to God’s right hand—language for authority and honor. It does not mean Jesus “left the world behind” as if he became irrelevant; it means his saving work continues in a new mode: reigning, interceding, and sending his Spirit.

Lordship and reign: Jesus rules for the sake of restoration

Lordship means Jesus has rightful authority over every sphere: personal life, ethics, community, and the future of the world. Christians often summarize Jesus’ work as: he reveals God, reconciles, and reigns.

• Reveals God: in his person and life.
• Reconciles: through his death and resurrection, restoring relationship and healing what is broken.
• Reigns: through his ascension and ongoing authority, guiding history toward renewal.

Practical step-by-step: submitting to Jesus’ lordship

1. Identify one “authority conflict”: where your preferences clash with Jesus’ teaching (money, sexuality, forgiveness, truthfulness, power).
2. Ask what lordship means there: “If Jesus is Lord, what obedience looks like?”
3. Choose a concrete action (set a boundary, reconcile, give generously, tell the truth, seek accountability).
4. Repeat weekly: lordship is learned through steady practices, not one dramatic moment.

3) Atonement Models Explained Clearly

Christians have used several models to explain how Jesus’ death (and the whole Christ-event) saves. These models are not always mutually exclusive; many traditions combine them. Differences often come from what a tradition emphasizes most: guilt and forgiveness, bondage and liberation, or inner transformation.

Model A: Substitution (often emphasized in Western traditions)

Basic idea: Jesus stands “in our place.” He bears what is due to sinners so that forgiveness can be granted justly and mercifully.

• Problem emphasized: guilt and deserved judgment.
• How it saves: Jesus takes the consequences of sin so believers receive pardon and acceptance.
• Common variations: “penal substitution” (bearing penalty), “sacrificial substitution” (offering that cleanses), “representative obedience” (faithful human response offered on our behalf).

Practical example: A debt you cannot pay is paid by another, not because the debt was imaginary, but because mercy provides what justice requires.

Model B: Victory over evil (often called “Christus Victor,” emphasized in many early and Eastern approaches)

Basic idea: Jesus defeats the powers that enslave humanity—sin, death, and the devil. The cross and resurrection are a rescue mission and a triumph.

• Problem emphasized: bondage, oppression, and death’s dominion.
• How it saves: Jesus enters the conflict, absorbs the worst evil can do, and rises victorious, freeing those held captive.

Practical example: Salvation is like liberation from a tyrant: not only forgiveness of wrongdoing, but deliverance from a power you could not overthrow.

Model C: Moral transformation (often associated with “moral influence” and participatory approaches)

Basic idea: Jesus’ self-giving love changes us. The cross reveals God’s love so deeply that it awakens repentance, trust, and a new way of life; believers are reshaped into Christlike character.

• Problem emphasized: hardened hearts, distorted desires, and relational alienation.
• How it saves: by revealing love that draws people back to God and forms a new humanity.

Practical example: A costly act of forgiveness breaks a cycle of resentment and changes what a person believes is possible, leading to genuine repentance and renewal.

How the models relate: complement or compete?

These models can complement each other when they are treated as different angles on one saving reality:

• Jesus forgives (substitution), frees (victory), and transforms (moral renewal).
• The resurrection strengthens all three: it confirms forgiveness, displays victory, and empowers transformation.

They can compete when a tradition insists one model is the only legitimate explanation, or when one model is presented in a way that seems to cancel another. For example:

• If substitution is framed without resurrection and victory, salvation can sound only like a legal transaction.
• If victory is framed without dealing with guilt, forgiveness can sound vague or automatic.
• If moral transformation is framed without God’s decisive saving act, salvation can sound like self-improvement powered by inspiration alone.

Step-by-step: using the models to understand your own needs

1. Identify what you most feel: guilt (needing forgiveness), bondage (needing freedom), or inner brokenness (needing change).
2. Connect that need to Christ’s work: cross and resurrection address all three, even if one stands out to you.
3. Choose a fitting practice:
   • If guilt dominates: practice confession and receiving forgiveness.
   • If bondage dominates: seek deliverance patterns—accountability, prayer, wise boundaries.
   • If inner brokenness dominates: practice spiritual formation—Scripture meditation, forgiveness work, serving others.
4. Keep the whole Christ-event in view: incarnation (God with us), cross (reconciliation), resurrection (new life), ascension (reign), lordship (new allegiance).