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God cannot die. Jesus died. Therefore, Jesus cannot be God.

by Matt Slick

 

One of the doctrines that many people fail to understand concerning Jesus is the doctrine of the hypostatic union.  This is in the teaching that Jesus has two natures: God and man.  In other words, Jesus is both God and man at the same time.  This is why we see some scriptures that point to Him being divine and others pointing to Him being a man.  Below is a chart illustrating the two natures of Jesus as derived from scripture.

Jesus is one person

GOD

MAN

He is worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9)
He is prayed to (Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 1:1-2)
He was called God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8)
He was called Son of God (Mark 1:1)
He is sinless (1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15)
He knew all things (John 21:17)
He gives eternal life (John 20:28)
The fullness of deity dwells in Him (Col. 2:9)

He worshiped the Father (John 17)
He prayed to the Father (John 17:1)
He was called man (Mark 15:39; John 19:5).
He was called Son of Man (John 9:35-37)
He was tempted (Matt. 4:1)
He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52)
He died (Rom. 5:8)
He has a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39)

This is not a made-up doctrine.   Rather, it is a doctrine derived from observing God's word.  It is true that God cannot die.  It is also true that man can die.  But we see that Jesus has two natures, not one.  It was the human part of Jesus that died on the cross, not the divine  But, because He is both God and man in one person, and because He was sinless, His sacrifice is sufficient to cover the sins of the world.

 

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