I’m a firm believer in the idea that Jesus didn’t cheat the human experience. While fully God in identity, he set aside his Godness to live within the bounds of that which was fully human. Sin was a human problem brought about by a human decision, and only a human could fix it by living the fully human life without partnering with Sin. The supernatural elements of Jesus’s life did not come about because of his Godness, but because he was empowered by the Holy Spirit without measure to the maximum capacity.
People have long struggled with the idea that Jesus was like us, and many have used his Godness to cheapen his story. For example, some have been so disturbed by the cross that they’ve suggested that Jesus supernaturally felt no pain. This proposal is strange for several reasons. For example, there are countless other crucifixion victims throughout history who surely felt the pain of their crosses. Do we really think Jesus looked at the two guys on the crosses next to him and made pretend noises of pain so they didn’t feel alone?
Jesus’s fight against temptation is another space that gets cheapened. While we are all prone to partner with Sin, we aren’t born sinners. If we were, then that would make the fully human Jesus a sinner, for he, too, was born. The problem is that every human in history has at some point partnered with Sin before they died. Indeed, God’s critique of humanity during the time of Noah was not that they were sinners from the day they were born, but that their hearts were corrupted by the time they reached youth.
It’s not fair that Jesus would work so hard to overcome temptation, just to have his followers downplay his work by referring only to his Godness. Have we ever been tempted as badly as he was? Have we ever fasted for 40 days and nights while Satan visibly tempts us in our weakest state? If we were given the Holy Spirit without measure, would we pass the same test that Jesus did when his disciples invited him to misuse his power to supernaturally burn people up? Would we not love to show up religious leaders with a miraculous sign when they test us by asking for one? Did Jesus not also have a scientific human body full of hormones and chemicals that he had to keep in check every day, lest he give in to lust, hatred, or other partnerships with Sin? Did it not take everything within him to embrace the cross? Does it mean nothing that Jesus was so emotionally distraught at the idea of crucifixion that his capillary blood vessels ruptured?
Sin wanted Jesus’s partnership just like it wants all our partnerships. Indeed, I think it’s fair to say that Sin wanted Jesus’ partnership more than anyone else’s partnership. If humans partnering with Sin gave it power over the earth, then what new heights would Sin reach if God himself partnered with Sin?
And yet, despite all of the temptation, Jesus did what no other human in history has ever been capable of doing: he was tempted in every way, and yet he didn’t sin. And he has now given us the same Holy Spirit he carried so that we might grow toward Christ-likeness. Sure, the boat toward a sinless life has already sailed for us, but it’s not too late to start cultivating the sinless resurrection life that is to come as the Holy Spirit works in us right now. As Christians, we are undergoing holy metamorphosis.
Yes, the gospel includes the good news that God loves sinners. But that is not what makes the gospel unique or new, for that has always been true. What is new in the Gospel is that God has found a way to defeat Sin through the sacrificial love of Christ.
How different would Christianity look today if we let the Holy Spirit get this good news deep into our bones? How different would we be if we truly believed the good news that Jesus is also capable of assisting us in overcoming the temptations and sins that plague us? For if he is capable of defeating Sin in the world, he can surely defeat Sin in us. Indeed, there is no one else in the history of the earth who knows how to defeat Sin better than Jesus, and he loves to help us do it.
Are we willing to ask him for help? And for those of us who are especially worn down by our partnership with Sin, are we willing not only to ask, but to do something even harder and believe?
Jamin Bradley 
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