Many Christians do not know Jesus according to the Spirit. They know Him according to the flesh. They know Him as a child who is born during Christmas, as a Saviour, deliverer, but not as Christ the Son of God. When Peter answered in Matt 16:16 “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, he demonstrated that he not only knew Jesus in the flesh but in the Spirit, as prophesied by prophets in the scriptures.
Knowing Jesus according to the flesh is knowing Him as a man and not as God. Rom 1:1-6, as a human He was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Jesus had to identify Himself with humans. He was from the family of Judah, the son of Abram, Seth, and Adam, according to the flesh. He identified Himself with those who are in sin as the Son of Man according to the flesh. The ‘Jehovah Witness’ believe in ‘Jehovah’ but they do not know that the one who came and died for us is ‘Jehovah. ‘
In Luke 22:66-71, the Sanhendrin asked Jesus “If you are the Christ, tell us”. Then Jesus confirmed that He is the Son of God. Jesus was known by the Jews by the flesh and not by the Spirit and that’s why they rejected Him.
Jesus is not inferior to God, He is God. Mary is the mother of God according to the flesh, but in the Spirit God came from heaven. A virgin conceived, not from the seed of Joseph but from the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not inherit the blood of His earthly parents, so He did not inherit the sin of Adam. Mary was from the seed of Adam, born in sin. She needed a Saviour and her Saviour had to come in the flesh as her son.
Isaiah 9:6 ,His names were Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace. The child who was to be born was God. The blood of Jesus could not have decayed since His blood was the blood of God, and that’s why He rose from the dead. Though He died as a man, the life that was in Him was of God.
Paul said in 2Cor 5:16 ” Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.” Our limitation in walking in the truth is found in how we see Him. When He says your sins are forgiven we doubt because we doubt His position as God. When we pray, we get confused on whether to pray to the Father or Jesus, as though Jesus is inferior to God. So we just use the name of Jesus as a rubber stamp to conclude our prayers.
Salvation comes to man when he believes that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. One has to believe that the one who came in the flesh is God, and He is the one who was prophesied in the scriptures. In Deut 32:39, God said “Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.” Then in Rev 1:18, Jesus appears to John and identifies Himself with the same name “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. The question is, have you believed in Jesus the man, or Jesus as the Christ? Christ is not the surname of Jesus, but means God.