Did Jesus definitely say he was a man? From recall, He is said to be both God and man. Was it definitely not an invention of Christianity?
I'm asking because I'm not sure I believe He was omni-benevolent if He was a man. That is just because I am a man, and do not think I would want very many bad things that have happened in the world to happen, if I were omni-benevolent. I cannot, obviously, speak for God, or Him.
Jesus, as recorded by John, became flesh (John 1:14). There could not be a plainer statement. But John continues to regularly demonstrate Jesus’ humanity:
In fact, the doctrine of Jesus’ humanity is so important that anyone who denies it is called antichrist! 1 John 4:3, 2 John 7.
Yes, Jesus said he was a man (John 8:40). Jesus is referred to as the “Son of Man” 88 times in the New Testament. God called the prophet Ezekiel “son of man” 93 times. God was simply calling Ezekiel a human being. A son of a man is a man. Jesus was fully human, having been born of a woman.
Jesus is also fully God:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1)
Jesus was also a human being:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14)
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God (First John 4:2)
As for the question of God being omnibenevolent, Christians mean that God is absolutely good and that no action or motive or thought or feeling or anything else about Him is not purely good. He is “all-good.” Jesus himself testified that no one is truly good except God Himself:
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone (Mark 10:18)
That goodness of God appeared in human form when Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth:
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us (Titus 3:4)
Jesus was God incarnate, God with us in human form. As for what it means that God is omnibenevolent, this article explains: https://www.gotquestions.org/God-omnibenevolent.html
As Dr McGowan points out Jesus is frequently referred to as a man, and it is an important part of most Christian doctrine. During His time on Earth it is unlikely that anyone ever doubted that He was a man; and so there would be no occasion to directly state it.
Jesus does, however, clearly refer to Himself as a man (Greek anthropon) in John 8 40
But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth.
That the Saviour, when he comes, would be "the seed of the woman" was promised from the beginning (Genesis 3:15), meaning he would be human.
There is also only "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5)
That Jesus is benevolent need not be questioned because "Jesus wept" (John 11:35) and he took upon himself the punishment for the sins of all who will put their trust in him.
And we know God is benevolent because he offers forgiveness upon the very best terms and he "takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked" but would rather that "the wicked turn from his way and live" (Ezekiel 33:11). "He desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4).
It is not possible to understand everything about God. "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God" (Deuteronomy 29:29). We should not "exercise ourselves in great matters or in things too high" for us (Psalm 131).
I expect you have stopped reading the Scriptures, probably for a long time now. Get back to reading, especially start with the Gospels, and notice the deep compassion of the Lord Jesus. And start praying again as if your life depends upon it, because it does.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was born as a man [flesh] (Galatians 4:4), not only he was born as a man, he was the Promised Messiah which had been talked about that is, the light of Abraham's Day, the Promised Seed, which was also brought up by Apostle Paul. God's Word became flesh, in this sense, God's Spoken Word, the one he said he will put in a coming prophet according to Deuteronomy 18:18, that is in regards to Jesus Christ, who proclaims the Word of God his Father; the one who explains him (John 1:18, 6:46) and onward, those who take in and learn of who God is, and who his Son is, they too make that same declaration as the Christ have.
Jesus, like the man that he is, was not incorruptible, he had to eat, to rest, nor was he knowing of all things, an example would be the fig tree (Mark 11:12-14), or him being troubled to which God comforted him as read in John 12:27-36. Jesus was was not able to do a single thing on his own, let alone act upon his own Will (Matthew 26:39, John 4:34, 6:38, 14:10, 5:30, 36), but instead, God his Father (Luke 18:19, Mark 10:18, John 14:28, 20:17, Revelation 3:2).
Jesus was also born into the Law, which all Jews at the time had to learn and obverse who the True God of Israel is, and well into his adulthood, Jesus affirmed this Law found in the Torah in Mark 12:28-34, as is with Paul who also affirms it in ! Corinthians 8:6.
In short, Jesus was, and is the Christ, of whom God made both Lord and Christ as read in Acts 2, we are to believe Jesus, who is God's Son, is Lord, and we must also believe in God who raised Jesus from the dead, Romans 10:9-13 and for this we thank God for the Christ (Colossians 1:3)
God himself, the Father of our Lord Jesus, he is not a man, in fact, he is incorruptible (Habakkuk 1:12, 1 Timothy 1:17) and we already know a man is not incorruptible because we are subjected to death and sickness. However, although a Spirit, God is a person, and like a Father to his Son, the two of them have a strong bond with each other, as with you, in this example, and your Father, as with me and my Father.
