Re: [TruthTalk] The Humanity of Jesus

[Terry Clifton]

David Miller wrote: Judy wrote concerning the word "likeness": That word is used in other places besides Romans 8:3 and it always means the same thing ie "likeness" It never means "exactly the same as" There are not that many passages that use the word, so it is difficult to argue about the range of meaning it cannot have based upon a negative consideration such as "it never means..." We should be focusing on what it does mean, not what it never means based upon only a few examples. I have always agreed that Jesus is unique and so I am not trying to make him not unique. The question remains, however, whether his uniqueness was primarily his spirit or his physical body. I argue that his uniqueness stems from his spirit, his identity as the Son of God. The word "likeness" in Romans 8:3 is used, not to convey that Jesus had an imitation body or a counterfeit human flesh, but rather to point to the similarity or likeness of his body to sinful flesh. It was the sameness of his physical body to sinful flesh that makes Paul's point about how he condemned sin in the flesh. For some reason, you do not want to hear what the Bible is teaching in Romans 8:3. You dismiss the passage without considering its message. =================================================================== There is flesh and there is sinful flesh, David.  "The Word was with God and the Word WAS God." There is no sin in God because God does not sin.  It would be against His nature.  The sin nailed to the cross was yours and mine.  Every time the devil tempted Him, He dismissed the attempt with a few words.  The only time He broke a sweat was when it was time to pay for my sins, and yours.  This is hardly the average guy on the street or even the most dedicated Christian.  This is a special person who looked like a man and ate like a man and felt pain like a man, but He had no sinful flesh.  He never had a desire to sin.  His desire was to do the will of the Father.  For a poor comparison, consider this: I hate cucumbers.  I hate the taste, I even hate the smell of a cucumber.  My wife loves cucumbers.  Offer her one and she will gladly take it, while I have no desire to even come close.   Humans look at sin the way my wife looks at cucumbers.  Something to enjoy.  Jesus looked at sin the way I look at cucumbers.  Nasty, evil smelling, to be avoided. Not like us at all; a likeness, about as close as you can get without rolling in the mud with us pigs. Terry