These are two of the strongest statements in the entire Bible about the divine nature of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is not only equal to God - He is God! Jesus Christ not only reflects God - He reveals God. He was not a mere statue - like the moon reflecting the glory of something else. He was a channel for it, completely and totally. Completely holy, He has the authority to judge the world. There is no clearer view anywhere of what God is like!
Now what did He do when He became a man? The full revelation of God, the complete expression of God in a human body - He is unique. He imposed upon Himself all the time and space limitations that are imposed upon all other human beings. He had every opportunity to waste time, to get drunk, to be a glutton, to get angry, embittered, depressed, upset, frustrated, to have headaches, to strike out at others.
He had the opportunity to live through the deaths of loved ones, and to face His own death as well. And so, in Jesus Christ, we see God coping with life on the same terms as other men. And we are able to see the kind of character that God possesses. We can have firsthand information about how we ought to react in our situations in our life. We see God teaching. We see God healing. We see God laying down His life. We see God correcting in love. We see God patiently counseling.
