Article III – Christology – The Study of Jesus Christ
Section 1 His Incarnation
We believe that, to redeem fallen mankind, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was born as a man through the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18-23; John 1:1-2, 14), becoming a man in the most real sense of the word (1st John 4:2-3), but in his incarnation, never ceased to be God (John 8:58; 10:30; 1st Timothy 3:16; Colossians 2:2; Hebrews 1:8).
Section 2 His Life
We believe that Jesus was tempted in all things as we are, and yet, lived a perfect and holy life, without sin or moral failure (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2; John 18:38, 19:4-6; Hebrews 2:18, 4:15).
Section 3 His Substitutionary Death
We believe that, in infinite love for the lost, Jesus Christ voluntarily accepted His Father’s will and became the divinely provided sacrificial Lamb who took away the sin of the world, bearing the holy judgments against sin which the righteousness of God must impose. His death was therefore substitutionary in the most absolute sense – the just for the unjust – and by His death He became the Savior of the lost (Isaiah 53:1-13; John 1:29; Romans 3:25-26; 2nd Corinthians 5:21; Heb. 10:5-14; 1st Peter 2:24, 3:18). Through His death, we believe that He paid in full for the sins of all men for all ages, past, present, and future, and that there remains not one sacrifice that can add to His perfect and completed work.
Section 4 His Resurrection
We believe that Jesus literally arose from the dead in a glorified physical body, and that this literal bodily resurrection from the dead prefigures the literal future resurrection of those who die in Christ (Luke 24:39-40; John 21:12-14; 1st Corinthians 15:12-19; Philippians 3:20-21; 1st Peter 1:3-4). We believe that the resurrection of Jesus substantiates that He was indeed the Son of God (Romans 1:3) and therefore, that His death provided an infinite sacrifice sufficient to pay for the sins of the world.
Section 5 His Ascension into Heaven
We believe that, on departing from the earth, Jesus ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-51), and that His resurrection and ascension into heaven was a demonstration by God that Jesus was accepted of His Father and that His acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was perfectly accomplished (Hebrews 1:3).
Section 6 His Present Session
The Lord Jesus Christ in His glorified body is now in heaven, exalted at the right hand of God the Father, where He presently fulfills the high priestly ministries of Representative, Intercessor and Advocate for His people (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1st John 2:1).
Section 7 His Return in Glory
We believe that Jesus will literally return, at some future date, to the earth to establish a thousand year kingdom known as the millennium (Psalm 2:1-9; Acts 1:3-6; Hebrews 2:8; Rev. 20:4).