I know that this title is going to cause many to think that I ve lost my compass as a Christian; however, if you ll hang with me on the couple of commentaries (This is the first of five), I think you ll maybe have a second thought (worse?). There s simply no way that I could say what I feel and live in one post. May the Spirit guide my fingers as I type out a what I hope represents Him rightly.

Jesus was and is one of us (totus in nostris)! This early phrase that was attested to was totus in nostris meant that Jesus was wholly one of us. His origin as well as his nature. He was flesh and bones. He came into the world by procreation as you and I did. I love the virgin myth, but while it is myth, it s not fact.

The GOOD NEWS is that what this means is that I really do have someone I can follow- all the way to eternal bliss. Jesus, who became bigger than life- the Christ is my model, my raison d etre!

The Council Of Chalcedon affirmed that Jesus was a MAN in every sense of the word. This ecumenical council took place in 451, at Chalcedon (a city of Bithynia in Asia Minor), today part of the city of Istanbul. It was the fourth of the first seven Ecumenical Councils in Christianity, and is therefore recognized as infallible in its dogmatic definitions by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Peter s first speech on the day of Pentecost says in part, from Acts 2:22-24, Men of Israel, listen to me, I speak of Jesus of Nazareth, a MAN singled out by God

A MAN!

As Karl Rahner put it (March 5, 1904 March 30, 1984- a German theologian, and one of the most influential Roman Catholic theologians of the 20th century), Christ had to be not only like us in nature, so as to be our Redeemer, but with us had to spring from one, our brother according to the flesh. For He could ONLY possess this flesh, which was to be redeemed, if he was born of a woman, sharing our origin as well as our nature.

So much for the introduction, but let me say (as I ll elaborate in future commentaries) before leaving you out on a light limb, Jesus is the Son of God and became the incarnation, which is still in operation today for those who truly follow Him!

Are you? (http://www.lrchouston.com)