Scripture teaches that there were only two perfect men, Adam and Jesus. “The first man is from the earth, earthy” (1 Corinthians 15:47) The second perfect man – Jesus – was not of mixed natures, but was fully a human being. John 1:14, “And the Word (Jesus’s name as a heavenly being) was made flesh…” Beings dwelling in heaven have a spirit body or nature, like angels; while those dwelling on earth have an earthly body or nature. It is important to differentiate between natures. “…There is a natural body, and there is a spirit body.” 1 Corinthians 15:44.
At the time of Jesus’s resurrection and ascension, He was seated at the right hand of God. He was elevated over all beings. Did Jesus still bear the features of an earthly man? Did He bear signs of His martyrdom on the cross (Ephesians 20-21)? No. Hebrews 1:3, Jesus “being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person… sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”. Jesus received a spiritual nature, divine and immortal (1 Corinthians 15:54). Furthermore, Jesus sacrificed His human life and body as an atonement for sin. He could not retain that body once sacrificed.
Philip asked the Lord to show them the Father in John 14:8-9 (NASB): “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” Philip did not understand that everything that Jesus said and did were expressions of God. It is not by our natural eyesight that we see God. Our spiritual knowledge of God comes from knowing the Son, who also knows the Father.
The Apostle John (1 John.4:1-3 warns us not to believe every spirit. 1 John 4:1-3 (NASB), “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God”. A distinctive sign of the spirit of God is the belief that Jesus came into the world as a real man (not God in man in human body). Jesus Christ was not a pure spirit being, nor part deity, but a real man – a perfect man, “separate from sinners” – who could give His life for us.
