A New Kind Of Humanity

The baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.   Luke 1:35

Jesus Christ is like us in every respect except one—he is holy. He did not commit a single sin, but being holy means more than that. It means his thoughts, his intentions, and his character are holy too. He was not drawn to sin; he had no inner propensity to sin. This could not be said about anyone else in all of human history.

When Adam sinned, it changed his nature. He became a different kind of man, and he passed that on to his children. Parents pass on many good things to their children, but holiness is not one of them. We do not have that in us.

The apostle Paul was a good man who desperately wanted to live a holy life. He was born into a privileged family and educated in the finest schools. His parents may have given him everything he ever wanted—except for one thing: they could not give him holiness. When Paul tried to pursue a holy life, he found that there was a battle going on inside of him that he didn’t know how to get free from.

When Jesus Christ came into the world, he broke the chain of sinful human nature, and for the first time since Adam, there was a holy human being in the world. It’s difficult for us to imagine a human being who isn’t subject to sin, but Jesus is the pioneer of a new kind of humanity.

Christ blazes the trail of a new humanity that will be holy, free from sin, and therefore no longer subject to death. This has always been the purpose of God. Christ began where his people will end. He entered at birth what his people will enter at death, and this is the life that he offers to you.

When Paul confessed his struggle with sin, he asked, “Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (Romans 7:24). Thank God there’s an answer to that question: Jesus Christ our Lord! When you come to Jesus, he’ll begin making you holy by the power of his Spirit. And when you’re in his presence, what he has begun in you will be complete.

For further reading, see Romans 7