Recently I asked my bible study group if Jesus is still a man. The looks I saw on their faces were very interesting—no one wanted to answer, because they weren’t quite sure. Is He still a man, sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty in the heavenlies as the Bible says, or is He part man/part spirit like some kind of ethereal ghost that one can see through or wave one’s hand across? Good question.
Before I ever opened the Bible, I would have told you emphatically that He was spirit-like and invisible like God and that his days of being a man were limited to 33 years on earth. And I would have argued that He isn’t really alive like we are alive—He only exists, kind of like a floating fog that drifts around in heaven. I certainly didn’t believe He had thoughts or spoke or was involved in my life at all. He was really limited to the lifeless paintings of a thin, frail, blue-eyed Caucasian man in need of a good haircut who died years ago but was somehow resurrected from the dead. Is this what you believe? That Jesus is a historical figure of a man whose existence is limited to the past? If so, then you are a victim of religious teaching just as I was.
If you read my testimony, you’ll remember the first revelation I received from the Holy Spirit is that God is real and Jesus is still alive. But it wasn’t until I opened the Bible and began to study Scripture that I came to know He is still a man—a God-man, but still a man. And guess what? He’s coming back—as a man! And all of us need to get ready.
For some reason this truth about Jesus being alive as a man in the Godhead makes people furious. Just look at the Gospel accounts of the reaction of the Jewish leaders and you will see this same reaction exists today, even among Gentiles and some professing Christians! “This can’t be right,” they say. “The Messiah/Son of God is more than a man.” True, in that He is the Word made flesh, He was with God in the beginning, and He is God, according to John 1:1-14. They reason that “men are sinners and ungodly and that the Messiah/Son of God wasn’t a sinner.” True again. “Therefore,” they continue, “He must be some special hybrid of God and man.” Yes, he was special in that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God as Luke 1:35 reveals—but He was still born a man, lived as a man, and died as a man.
When He was resurrected and appeared to the disciples, they were fearful, thinking He was a spirit or ghost—just like I thought all those years. “A spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have,” he said in Luke 24:39. (His blood had been poured out onto the mercy seat in the heavenly temple—more on that later). Thomas was instructed to stick his fingers into the holes in his hands and side, to stop doubting and believe. Then He sat down with them and ate some fish and honeycomb. Does a ghost or spirit eat fish and honeycomb? Oh, and He also prepared grilled fish for the disciples along the shores of Galilee and presumably ate with them there.
He ascended into heaven as a man as well. In Acts 1:11, as the disciples marveled at his departure, angels instructed them that this same Jesus would return in like manner. Revelation 19:11 tells us He will be riding a white horse with a sword coming out of his mouth which He will use to smite the nations. Talk about a prince riding on a white horse!
The truth is that He came to earth as a man (born without sin) so that He can have a relationship with you, a man (born in sin, but with the opportunity to be born again as a child of God). Imagine – having a personal relationship with the God-man in the heavenlies! It’s available to you if you just ask and believe. Ask God to reveal Himself to you as He has revealed Himself to me and so many others. Believe Jesus is still alive as a man in the heavenlies and wants you to know Him personally as you are fully known by Him. He’s in love with you! Isn’t that cool?
It isn’t complicated like religion says. Praise God He has made it so simple!
