About Jesus in the Earliest Christianity

This post is a detailed index of what the earliest Christian churches appear to have understood, this time about the Person of Jesus. Most of these ideas were later distorted, leading to divisions in the Church and historical consequences in the world. Further links to this outline will be added as new articles are written.

Jesus is the Son of God:
- Begotten, miraculously, within time, by the work of the Holy Spirit in the life and body of Mary, a virgin
- As God’s Son, he is eternally God’s heir, though the Father can never die and Jesus has already died once for all
- He makes those who believe in him children of God and joint heirs with him of his inheritance and God’s promises—presently, not in some vague future time only
Jesus is fully human:
- Jesus was born as a human at a fixed time, as we see time. But God perceives time differently than we do. Jesus was incarnated visibly into a humanity he has always possessed. He did not become human at that time, any more than he became God at that time.
- The New Testament Jesus was fully God, but also fully human—like us.
- Jesus revealed his eternal humanity to us when he was conceived in Mary and born into our time. Matthew 1:18-23; Luke 1:26-38; 1 Peter 1:17-25.
- Jesus lived his life as a human on earth by listening to, depending upon and obeying his Father and by living in the power of the Holy Spirit, exactly as we are invited to do.
- Jesus temptations were real and were fully like ours, though he did not yield to them.
- Jesus, as a man, temporarily—again as we see time—took upon himself the temporal and spatial limitations of his human brothers and sisters, died for us—and was raised. Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 2:9-18.
- So he knows our limitations from his own experience, and understands them. Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 2:14-18.
- And he has overcome the fear of death that keeps us in bondage. Hebrews 2:14-15.
Jesus is also God:
- Jesus, being one with his Father, is entirely like his Father. John 14:6-9; John 10:27-38.
- God is eternal, above time. Jesus is, therefore, eternally what he now is—both fully divine and fully human. Both his divinity and his humanity are eternal and have never been and can never be separated.
Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords:
- The Father has given all judgment to the Son
- Jesus is now supreme over all rulers
  - But this does not mean all, or even any, worldly rulers consciously follow Jesus
  - It also does not mean that earthly rulers have a “divine right” to rule
  - It also does not mean that the present social and political order (which will always be opposed to God and his people in many ways) must be preserved at all costs; change is allowed
  - It means only that Jesus remains in control of the ultimate outcome, and can intervene in the hearts of rulers to direct history toward it
- Jesus directs the course of history
- Jesus’ Kingdom is already operative, invisibly except to those who believe
- Jesus makes all things work for the good—the ultimate perfection—of those who are his
  - This is true first of all on the collective level, the whole Body of Christ
  - It reached each believer individually as they are called according to Jesus’ purpose
  - Because Jesus is sovereign over time, to appreciate everything working together requires taking his perspective over time
Jesus is the Word of God
- The same Word through which God created and now maintains the world
- The same Word that had been spoken to people in the past
- God’s immediate and active Word to we who believe
- The Word through which all things will be made new
In this world, things will often be rough, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”