I consider it a wondrous past-time to contemplate the humanity of Jesus Christ. It is fascinating enough to contemplate the dual nature of our Lord, of His divinity and His humanness. But there's a certain element of His humanity which I find extremely intriguing. Maybe it's because I am human and find the life of Jesus fascinating, for in it He modeled the ideal human lifestyle. He was man and yet He was the most foreign man ever. He looked like men and functioned like men but did not act like a man. He was dismissed by Peter, who begged the "Lord" to leave a "sinful man" like him (Lk. 5). It must have been strange to have seen the "New Adam" walking amongst men who looked and appeared to be just like Him but were really by nature slaves to the old Adam.
In fact, I am tempted to say that one of my greatest desires would be to watch Jesus' earthly activity for a day. What Scripture contains of our Lord is very illuminating and is surely all that God has obliged to tell us of Him, but I stop to wonder at times what the perfection in Jesus Christ looks like. How does perfection manifest itself in the details of life? What would perfection sound like - what words would perfection use? Heb. 5:14 says that the sign of true godly maturity is the power of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. But none has ever attained true, perfect maturity. So no man who has not seen perfection can never know what perfection would look like in any given circumstance. Moral capabilities allow us to know what is basically good and basically evil, but not even the wisest man can see the deepest inclinations of the heart, which are - as is human nature - only wicked all the time (cf. Gen. 6:5). Thus, even in those moments which we perceive to be most perfect and holy, our wisdom is not sufficient enough (this side of heaven) to know how we are constantly sinning, in heart if not in word, thought, or deed. So no man can properly imagine what perfection looks like in human form.
Imagine, then, the glorious wonder first-century Jews had in watching holy perfection take that human form. It is a deep and wondrous thought. It must have seemed foreign, for sure - indeed, His holiness must have been enough to strike anyone with awe and terror (cf. Mk. 5). But the great paradox of Christ's humanity is that He was wholly alien to us and yet wholly akin to us also. He was wholly alien because He was incarnate perfection, an idea that sinful man cannot even comprehend. But He was wholly akin to us because He, like us, had to learn His perfect obedience and righteousness and develop it in His life. He, like us, was born as a babe and had to mature like a mortal man. He was born righteous in nature, but without the righteousness of conduct. He was born as the Son of God, but He had to grow into that title through development and maturity.
Heb. 5:8 speaks of Him this way, "Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered." Thus, Christ, by nature, was the Son of God. He was born with the moral capability of righteousness, as was Adam pre-fall. Moreover, because He was divinity and God, by nature, always seeks after His will (cf. Phil. 2:13), Jesus was born with a naturally righteous will, a will inclined towards righteousness. Thus, Jesus at birth was righteous and innocent by nature - but He had not yet lived up to that righteousness. He had not yet done anything good or bad. He was born righteous by nature, but had not yet lived by righteousness.
It is an interesting paradox that love and pleasure are not the same thing. It is commonplace for us to realize that a parent can love a child and yet not be pleased with him at the same time. So is it with God. God loved Christ perfectly upon His birth, but His pleasure towards the Son was neutral until Christ had learned obedience.
And the wonder is, the same is true for the other sons of God. As is commonly the case, Christ sets the example for his fellow brothers and sisters. We who are also sons of God - those sons brought out of the world by Christ and to the Father by His blood - are "reborn" into the love of God. Those who are born again in Christ enjoy a restored nature of righteousness, Christ's righteousness imputed for them (Rom. 5:19). However, while we now have a renewed nature, having died and risen spiritually with Christ (Rom. 6:5), we do not yet have any righteousness to befit our righteous nature. Those who are justified in Christ are still obligated to live according to their new selves if they wish to please God. Those who are made righteous must learn righteousness and obedience according to their righteous natures.
This means that, while God's love towards believers is unconditional (they have received justification and a new nature in Christ), His pleasure most certainly is not. Believers do not have to earn God's love or acceptance, for this is given by grace - however, they do have to earn His favor and pleasure, for these are won by works. Indeed, God is very concerned for the works of His children - He will reward them in differing degrees according to their works on the last day (Matt. 25:13-30, 2 Cor. 5:10, Rev. 20:13). And so, while a believer's salvation does not depend upon works, the degree of their heavenly reward will be based on their works, on how well they have pleased God. Even as a child is more greatly rewarded for pleasing rather than displeasing the father, so God will judge His children according to how they act favorably towards Him. And yet, wondrously, those believers who truly strive to live to please God will find themselves less concerned about the heavenly rewards themselves than they will be about merely pleasing the Father, giving back to Him for His grace, however meager the return will be.
And so, the believer's life is not to be much different than Christ's life - after all, the Son has set the example for the rest of the children to follow. And thus, what may be said of Christ may be said of us: that we must learn to grow in favor with God and man; that, though we are sons, we must learn obedience through suffering. This is the true motivation for holy obedience: that we grow to please our Father more, growing in the pathways of the Son. We are rooted in the unchanging love of God, seeking to grow in the pleasure of God. And yet, it is even more glorious to remember that there comes a day when we - who do not even yet comprehend true perfection or know what it looks like - will be made true perfection, will please our Father perfectly. On the day of glorification, we shall know true perfection for we shall be true perfection - and in that moment, we shall please our Lord and God entirely. No longer will our Father look down on us in displeasure for our constant state of sinfulness; no, rather, He shall look on us with constant favor, seeing that we have grown to maturity - even to perfection - because of the grace shown us in Christ Jesus, who is the root and firm foundation of our holiness. And that's true glory. Rather interesting to meditate on.
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