Would the story of Jesus hold more significance if he were a man like us? I feel that whatever Jesus did, if it is because He is special (the son of God in a way that I am not - because aren't we all God's children?) then it holds little relevance to my life - because it is something I can not strive for or live by because I am not special.

However, if He was a man not unlike me, and He knew the way to live, and led by example, so that I can emulate Him, and strive for His loving approach to everything He faced, uncompromisingly, and with the moral strength and conviction to carry out the orders of the heart, then His story holds the utmost relevance to my life, as it can give me inspiration, and direction, to know that if He was like me, I can also be like Him.
The beautiful thing about Jesus is that he was a man, not unlike ourselves. Christians believe that Jesus was fully, 100%, human just like you or I. He walked, talked, had friends, slept, ate fish, wept, bled, hungered, was tempted, and basically lived through all the kinds of things you and I do.

In fact this belief is one of the basic tests of orthodox belief among Christians. Do you believe that Jesus was a real flesh and blood man?


  1 John 4:2 (ESV)
  By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,


He even had to grow up physically and mentally.


  Luke 2:52 (ESV)
  Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”


It is just these attributes of his being fully man that make him able to be OUR high priest.


  Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)
  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.


Where Jesus was different is that he had a dual nature. He was also fully God, and although he laid aside many of his rights he still did not sin. This does not negate the fact that he was a real man, but he had to not sin in order to be able to make a propitiation for us.


  Hebrews 2:17 (ESV)
  Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.


If he had NOT also been God and able to keep himself perfect, he couldn't have have won our salvation for his because he wouldn't have been a perfect sacrifice.

He is still the example we follow. He is model of a life lived to the glory of the Father. Just because we will always fall short of the mark (sin) doesn't invalidate the example. In fact his success as a perfect man gives us all all the more reason to rejoice that he did not fail.

If Jesus were just a really good moral teacher who lived a pretty good life, he would be nothing of note to us. Faith in him would have no power to save.

The thing is Christianity is not about living a good life and making your best effort to emulate some good role model. Christianity is the story of man that ALWAYS fail and needed something more. We needed a savior who could do it for us because we NEVER could.