This controversy seems ridiculous to me. It has taken Christians descending from the Campbell-Stone movement less than a couple hundred years to start arguing about pretty much the same argument that the Catholic church reached around the 5th century when the Council of Chalcedon was held (if you'd like to get that deep into the topic, then do some research on 'Incarnation' and 'Hypostatic Union'). Was Christ deity? Or was He all man? Or was He both? Could He even possibly have sinned if He had wanted to? What was it about Him that gave Him the edge and kept Him from sinning? At what point are we just philosophizing over some question that is irrelevant to that of our salvation? I suppose I don't think this topic is completely irrelevant to our salvation, since I don't at all think we should be of the opinion that Christ was just an empty vessel. He was very much tempted just as you and I are and suffered both physical and emotional pain just as you and I do. To believe otherwise, a person might as well not even bother taking the Lord's Supper every first day of the week. Still, I think sometimes Christians tend to study so much on one topic that they begin to consider themselves experts on the matter and get completely full of themselves. At that point, you're only philosophizing.

People could sit there all day talking about "What if" scenarios, or pondering on what the thought process of Jesus Christ may possibly have been, but when it comes down to it, there's quite a bit that we don't know and we should be careful about making assumptions. Here's a few things that we do know:

1.) Deity dwells in Him

"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily..."

Colossians 2:8,9 (ESV)

**NOTE** Personally, I think we could just stop right here and say that Jesus was both God (deity) and man. End of story. Quit trying to philosophize about it people.

2.) "...and the Word was God"

If the "Word" in John 1:1 is referring to Jesus Christ, then wouldn't a rational person conclude that Jesus Christ was God? Pretty sure most 5 year old kids could answer this question.

3.) "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..."

Once again, if the "Word" is referring to Jesus Christ, then what knowledge could a 5 year old kid glean from John 1:14? Let me help since this is so difficult. Jesus became a man. Does that mean he emptied himself of all deity? To say so would be making a huge leap in logic (an assumption). It also ignores Colossians 2:9. It also ignores the meaning of the word Emmanuel, which is 'God with us'.

Conclusion:

Jesus was BOTH GOD AND MAN. He experienced all the same temptations, pain, and strife that you and I experience and then some. He wasn't just a robot or a stuffed lamb. But He wasn't just a man either. He was "Emmanuel" (literally 'God with us'). He could have called ten thousand angels. How could He have done that? For the same reason that He was so knowledgeable of spiritual things at the age of 12. Because He was God.

Next time you sing the following song, think about what you're saying:

Immanuel, God with Us
God incarnate, can it be?
Ponder now the mystery;
He, the Fount of Eternal Life,
Must drink the cup of mortality.
Immanuel, God with us.

Shepherds wonder at the scene:
Swaddling robes for Deity;
Heaven's throne now a bed of straw
Within these borrowed stable walls.
Immanuel, God with us.

God Creator, now created,
Lord of all in infancy.
Hands that lighted the evening stars
Reach out for comfort in Mary's arms.
Immanuel, God with us.
Our God with us.

©1993 by C.E. Couchman

I'm thankful that God has blessed me with several good friends over the last year or so. When I first moved to Temple nearly 3 years ago, I didn't really know any friends in the area to hang out with. After being surrounded by worldly friends in the military for several years and regretfully even being part of all the things that worldly military guys do, I decided it would be better just to tough it out alone with no friends if I had to, rather than making friends with people of the world. The first few verses of Psalm 1 helped me to make that decision. There's a progression (or digression rather) that takes place when you start making friends with worldly people. A person doesn't just go from one day walking righteously in the light to the next day saying, "Hey, wanna go have a few beers?" The way it happens is like this. First, you're only casually walking with these guys while still maintaining that feeling that you're still in control, still holy and set apart. Then you get a little more comfortable standing with them. Next thing you know, you're completely comfortable sitting right there with them and living the same lifestyle. And once you're to that point, it can be a very difficult thing getting back on the straight and narrow.

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

So, I am very thankful to have friends like Matt, Lushi, Jessica, Chris, Eddy, and Moses (and a few others in the Temple/Killeen area) to do things with. The past couple of weeks we've been playing disc golf and having a men's study. These small things have been a huge breath of fresh air to me.
In our study last night we discussed a passage from 2 Peter 1.

...make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities [then] you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This passage reminds me of what's called a conditional statement in logic and computer programming. These statements almost always come in the form of "if... then...". If we are meeting the condition, then we reach the consequent. If A happens, then B happens.