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Who is Jesus Christ?
I just typed out the above question and I realized that I cannot, under my own ability answer that question. The subject is too vast, and as John says at the end of his book John 21:25 "... there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written". God, in His wisdom, gave us 66 books, written by 40 different authors over a 1,500+ year period, that gives an accurate introduction to this Man Jesus Christ whom the world wants to reject.
Our Bible starts off describing creation, how God created us in His image, sinless, for the express purpose of eternal fellowship with Him in a perfect environment. It goes on to describe how man choose a path of disobedience which caused sin to enter into the nature of man, and how that choice brought death to man and corruption to all of creation. Then, at length, the Bible describes the persistent, unending love that God has for us, by providing a perfect, unblemished sacrifice, His only Begotten Son, to redeem us back into fellowship with Himself. And finally, the Word describes how Jesus is going to conquer and chain sin in Hell for eternity, and for those who have "believed in Him", we will spend eternity unfolding the greatest love story ever told by learning who Jesus is.
The Bible started talking about Jesus in Genesis 1.1, and we know that because in John chapter 1 verse 1 it says that "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [Jesus Christ] was in the beginning with God. All things came into being [or, was made] through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." The Bible did not stop it's focus on Jesus until Revelation 22.21. All of the Bible is about revealing the second person of the Trinity, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Only The Holy Spirit Can Reveal Jesus Christ
The answer of who Jesus Christ is, can only come to each one of us individually as we get into a serious study of the Word and as we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us who Jesus Christ is. Outside of God's Word, our knowledge of who Christ is will be only superficial, and mostly pre-determined by what others [pastors, Sunday school teachers, etc.] say about Him. We are instructed to know Christ, but our natural flesh cannot know Him [1 Cor 2:14] unless the Holy Spirit reveals Him to us. Jesus said in John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." Please note that we can know who Jesus is, but we have to walk with Him and allow His Holy Spirit to work in our life.
With that introduction, I want to pause and pray because this subject of who Christ is should not be taken lightly by anyone. There is a prophetic promise that one day we will all stand before Christ, either in judgment, or in reward and glory. For me, I want to know Him, and I want Him to know me, and my prayer is that He will know you also.
Father, as we embark on the incredible journey in our desire to know You, I ask that you will allow Your Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and reveal your Son Jesus Christ to each one in a very real and personal way. This article is only a introduction to a vast subject, but I pray that it will start us on a life long journey of knowing You and Your Son, because I know that each time we come to You for more understanding, You will reveal more to us. Thank you in advance and in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Why do we need to Know Him in the first place?
When we try to answer the question of who Jesus is, we realize very quickly that we cannot present Jesus as just another historical figure such as Plato, Columbus, or even any of the famous Biblical characters. What is it about this Man that makes Him unique? What gives Him the right to demand that we accept Him for who He is? He said, “I AM”. There is certainly something about Him that the natural man cannot grasp without intervention from outside of our own intellect. As we gain understanding as to why we need to know Him, then we will begin to understand who He is.
Early in His ministry, in His Sermon of the Mount, Jesus made a startling statement when He said "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me you who commit lawlessness.” (Mat 7:21-23). I have been a Christian for 50+ years and every time I read that verse I have to stop and quickly examine myself to make sure that I am still walking with the Lord. That is a frightening statement that Jesus made, and it is a statement that leaves no room for argument.
'On that day' (mentioned in the above verse) is the day that we will stand before the Lord in judgment. That will be the first day of eternity. There will be no lawyers plea bargaining our case. There will be no excuses allowed. It will be a day when He either knows us and we receive His gift of eternal life, or He doesn't know us and judgment is given. The people Jesus was talking about in that verse were claiming to know Christ, and that they did miracles in His name, but Jesus said that He didn’t know them. How can that be? People going about in life doing the works of a Christian, thinking everything is OK, only to find out that they were deceived. And that is why I wanted to write this article.
John MacArthur recently wrote a book titled "Hard to Believe" which is about false salvation and a call to make our "Calling and election sure". Dr. MacArthur says that "There is no user-friendly, seeker-sensitive gospel. Ministers and teachers who water down the gospel of Christ in order to make it more popular and appealing may be leading their fun-loving audiences down the road to eternal punishment."
You might say that I am being very negative on a subject that should be positive and uplifting, and I would agree if it was me that was being negative. But if you re-read the above verse you will notice that it was Jesus who was talking. One thing we have to be aware of is our human nature. We normally do not want to deal with problems and the 'downside' of our actions. We want life to 'just work' naturally, without effort. But serving Christ and making Him Lord of our life is not natural, and it goes against our fleshly desires. It goes against this worlds system of common sense. The world tells us that ‘we have to be in control’. Serving Christ is a daily choice. But Jesus is using a negative statement to spur our thought process into positive action.
In the Old Testament God spoke through Moses as to how the Israelites should continually set their minds on God's instructions for living this life. While it was addressed to Israel, it is for us today also and I would encourage you to read the complete dialog of what God has to say in chapters 29 and 30 of Deuteronomy. In verse 30:19 He said, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live:" Throughout the Bible there are always rewards for obedience and consequences for disobedience. And also throughout the Bible, God is long suffering with us while we learn to overcome the desires of the flesh and become obedient to His Word.
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Joshua again repeated the request of God about continually choosing to serve God. Joshua 24:15 "And if it seems evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
John said in 1John 1:6 "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;"
Paul said in 2 Cor. 13:5; "Test yourselves [continually] to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?" [My comment added]
- All Sin is Disastrous -
it separates us from God
No matter who you are!
it separates us from God
No matter who you are!
To fully understand why this is important to our topic, we need to go back in time to the very beginning of creation. If you will re-read the first two chapters of Genesis, the creation account, you will see that God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, including man, who He made in His image. At the end of the six days God declared that what He had created was 'good', and then He rested. God created everything we needed for life, and we were created to live forever in fellowship with Him. Adam and Eve were in perfect communion with Him and He walked with Adam in the garden. It was a perfect setting until that first act of disobedience. Adam and Eve sinned against God's single commandment of not eating the fruit of one tree.
When Eve was deceived by satan and committed that first sin, sin entered into the nature of man. There was no turning back. What happened in the garden did not stay in the garden. Sin had at that moment separated all men from God and Romans 6.23 took full effect; "For the wages of sin is death..." Death came upon man and sin corrupted everything on earth. There is no sickness or problem that does not have it's roots in sin. Everything in nature has been corrupted by sin. God takes sin [disobedience] very serious, from that very first sin of man, to the very last sin that will be chained in Hell. The Bible declares over and over that when we sin, we sin against Him, and we cannot trivialize the sins we commit. But God in His grace and love made a way of escape for us when we miss the mark, the holiness that God has called us to.
The Nature of Sin Continues Today.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 11.3 says "But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." [NASB] Jesus and the writers of the Bible took this problem very seriously, and warned against apathy and deception throughout the Bible.
Jesus said that "...men loved the darkness [of this world] rather than the light [of the Gospel], for their deeds were evil." [John 3.19] Today, the secular world is turning against Jesus Christ as never before, while at the same time embracing any other false religion that comes along. Every year the media comes out with another 'fact', as they say, that proves that Jesus wasn't who He said He was. That He was just another man with big claims, or that He was just another self proclaimed prophet. Recent claims try to prove that was married, that He had children and was buried and did not come back to life. There are many other claims that are so perverted and satanic that I won't mention them. The objective of the secular world is to discredit Jesus and to raise doubts in the minds of believers.
But what is worse is how the church, in general, has 'bit into' the world's propaganda and is becoming very apathetic towards Christ. And Jesus Himself prophesied that this would happen 2,000 years ago in His letter to the Laodicean Church. Christians just do not get excited about Christ any more. John MacArthur said that the average Christian has become lazy and indifferent towards the study of scripture. Christians today, prefer short sermons and very little commitment. They would rather that someone else tell them what the scripture says rather than become a Berean and prove the scriptures.
APATHY
INDIFFERENCE
UNRESPONSIVE ATTITUDE
INDIFFERENCE
UNRESPONSIVE ATTITUDE
Apathy, indifference and unresponsiveness to God's commands is sin, and Paul addressed this problem twice in the 6th chapter of Romans, when he said "God forbid". When we are truly converted into Christianity, we become new creatures. We have a new direction and we begin a process (sanctification) of becoming separate from the world. The object of salvation is to make Jesus Christ the Lord of our life, not to continue the same life style we had before. The Bible is very clear that we cannot serve two masters. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." [Mat 6:24 NASB] God gave us all the tools required to overcome this world and our natural fleshly desires. He gave us a redeemer to save us from destruction. He gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us to guide us and enlighten us in His Word. He gave us the Bible for instruction in righteousness. And when we mess up, God gave us a promise through John that "if we [Christians continually] confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." [1John1:9] Through Jesus Christ we have access to the throne of God 24/7/365.
So Who is Jesus? - He is our Savior and Redeemer
God is not willing that any man should perish, but that the world might be saved and restored back into fellowship with Him. His purpose for becoming a man was to provide the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and that "...whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." [John 3:16] For the student of God's Word, the third chapter of John has some very meaningful insights on how serious God is about our relationship with Him and the un-measurable vastness of His love, that He would provide the means of that restoration.
In chapter one, John made some declarations that must be in our consideration before continuing. He declared that;
1. Jesus was in the beginning;
2. Jesus is the Word;
3. Jesus is God;
4. Jesus created all things;
5. Jesus is the Light of men;
6. Jesus became man and dwelt among us;
7. Truth and grace are only realized through Jesus and not separate from Him.
2. Jesus is the Word;
3. Jesus is God;
4. Jesus created all things;
5. Jesus is the Light of men;
6. Jesus became man and dwelt among us;
7. Truth and grace are only realized through Jesus and not separate from Him.
In chapter three, John declared;
8. That Jesus is the Savior of men, and
9. How men might be saved.
9. How men might be saved.
In the opening verses of this third chapter, Jesus made a bold statement that upset the whole Jewish community and religious orthodoxy. Up to that point in time, the Jewish tradition was to sacrifice animals as a means of restoration into right standing with God. But Jesus said "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again [of water and Spirit] he cannot see the kingdom of God." Jesus goes on to say that the method of being born again is through belief in the Only Begotten Son of God.
In verse 14, Jesus predicts His death on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (as a side note, that sacrifice would bring an end to animal sacrifices in the temple which would be destroyed in 70 A.D.), "so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life." [vs. 15] Our eternal life was accomplished when Jesus was resurrected back to life three days after His death.
Our word study is centered around the phrase 'whosoever believes in Him'. This phrase is repeated three times [vs. 15, 16 and 18] by our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is emphatic that we understand this if our relationship with Almighty God is to be restored. The world, and all other religions want you to believe that there are many ways to God, which is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
•Whosoever - meaning anyone, all of mankind has the opportunity of believing in Christ. God is not willing that anyone perish, and more importantly, God says that on the day of judgment, when mankind stands before the throne of God, that no man will have an excuse for not accepting the salvation that came at such a high cost, and that was paid for at Calvary [see John 15.22; Romans chapters 1 & 2].
•Belief, Believe - From the Greek word pistis [Strong's G4102]; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), put in trust with. Our Greek word here pistis, is used interchangeably between believe, belief, and faith throughout the New Testament. The Christian belief system is not meant to be passive. Before exploring what a passive belief system is, we need to first understand that God’s word is filled with active adjectives that describe what a Christian is, and requires action on the part of the ‘believer’ to take on the attributes of a person following Christ. God’s Word is filled with instructions on spiritual growth, growing in faith, putting on the full armor of God, and increasing in the fruits of the spirit. A passive belief system is one that ‘claims the Name of Christianity’, but neglects the Bible study required for spiritual growth. Belief that is acceptable to God is a belief that is accompanied by the action and obedience of faith. Faith is the evidence of what you believe. [For further insight into our Belief and Faith systems please see our article entitled 'Belief/Faith' CLICK HERE
•in - the Greek word for 'in' here is [eis] [Strong's G1519] - this word, in combination with the previous word 'believe', has a much stronger meaning than just a mere belief that Jesus existed: the meaning here is that you not only believe that He existed, but that He is God [who He claimed to be], and that He has the power and ability [and willingness] to forgive your sins and more importantly [here in this verse] that you are in fact a sinner and that if you don't run to Him with confession and repentance, that indeed the fire of hell is lapping at your feet [see vs 19]. It implies that you have recognized that the Holy Spirit has convicted you of your sin and that you pro-actively, by faith, run to Christ to [cause salvation] (through obedience to God's word and the call of the Holy Spirit) to take place in your life.
Our active belief in Him is what produces eternal life [vs 15].
Commandment #1 – To make Jesus Christ #1
"And Jesus said, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.'" [Luke 10:27]
"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments." [1 John 5:2]
"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments." [1 John 5:2]
With just those two scripture verses ask yourself "How do I measure up?" But we can't stop there. We must also ask one more very important question, Does God really mean for us to judge our love for Him by those standards, or can we relax and not worry about it because we are ‘sealed’ by the Holy Spirit? This very important topic of being ‘sealed by the Spirit’ is one in which every born again Christian should know and understand, but I will leave that for another article and your personal study. However, I do need to clarify this, that it is God Who seals us, and the seal is the Holy Spirit that He has placed within the heart of each Christian. The Holy Spirit always represents power in the Word. God gave us His Power [dunamis] so that we have the ability to do His will here on earth and to stand against the forces of evil. Imagine for a moment that a huge freight train represents the Holy Spirit. This freight train has five of those thunderous locomotives vibrating the ground all around from the power of those running engines. Behind the locomotives are attached two hundred and fifty box cars for carrying tons and tons freight. Now imagine that at the point of salvation, you were given one of these trains to do the job of Christianity. Every once in a while you break out the operators manual and read up on how to start the engine and how to make it go. After a few episodes of starting the engines and feeling the vibration and power you decide it’s time for some work. So you get in, start the engines, put it in gear and down the track you go. You drive the train a few miles from home to the local supermarket, go in and buy a bag of groceries, neatly tie-down you goods in one of the box cars, and then take the train home and park it in your garage until the next time you need to go to the store.
Everyone would say that that was a waste of resources. But that is how the majority of Christians use the resource of the Holy Spirit in their personal lives. God gave each one of us access to a vast resource when we became Christians, and He gave us His Holy Spirit so that we can be overcomers and light to a dark world. The Bible does say that we are sealed with this great power at our disposal [2 Cor. 1.22; Eph. 4.30;]. However, our being 'sealed' in Christ is NEVER associated with relaxing, or taking our salvation for granted. In fact God said in Eph 4:30, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.", but to "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." [Eph 4.31-32]
It is in the human nature to test the boundaries that God has set for us. Our nature and the god of this world, satan, will constantly question God's command to 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.' Satan's goal is to wear you down so that you focus on the things of this world, rather than the things of God. So the questions start innocently by asking "If I am 99% obedient am I still in God's graces? If 95% obedient? What about 60% of the time?" But God said "All of our heart, mind, soul, and strength." Can you put a percentage to the word ALL? And for the skeptic, God did NOT give us any command that cannot be fulfilled. We cannot meet God's requirements under our own power, however. That is why He gave us all the tools required to follow Him. As mentioned earlier, He gave us Jesus as our Redeemer, the Holy Spirit as our guide, and the written Word as our standard with which to judge all things concerning our salvation. Our part is to submit to His Holy Spirit, to study to show ourselves approved unto God, and to focus on things above and not on things in this world. God said that when we submit to Him, He will supply all that we need in this life through Christ Jesus or Lord. [Philippians 4.19]
The sanctification process is a growing process. As Paul said, it is ”for the equipping of those who have been converted, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
"As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak Truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." [Eph 4:12-29 NASB]
We are to become more and more like Christ, to learn more and more each day as we walk in the Spirit and to put away the desires of the flesh.
Who is Jesus? - He is;
•Eternal - Rev 22.13;
•Everywhere - Mat 18.20; Mat 18.20;
•All Knowing - Mat 9.4;
•All Powerful - Mat 28.18;
•Unchangeable - Heb13.8;
•Sinless - 1 John 3.5;
•Better than men and angels - Eph 1.21; •Came from Heaven - John 6.38;
•God's Son - Mat 16.16;
•Our Example - 1 Peter 2.21;
•Our Justification - Acts 13.39;
•Our Propitiation - Rom 3.25;
•Our Life - 1 John 4.9;
•Our Healer – Luke 6:19;
•Our Peace – Luke 1.79; Rom 5.1; 1Thes 5.23;
•Our Mediator - Heb 7.25; Heb 9.15;
•Our Brother - Heb 2.11;
•The Bread of Life - John 6.35;
•The Water of Life - John 7.37;
•The Word of Life - 1 john 1.1;
John in his letter 1 John, said "what we have heard, what we have seen, what we have looked at and touched with our hands...". He was referring to all of the apostles who had a first hand, personal, encounter with God’s Son Jesus Christ. The authors of the New Testament, and I believe John is also including the writers of the Old Testament when he says in verse 4 of chapter 1, "These things we write to you, that your joy may be may be full. [NKJV]" “These things” represent all of the warnings and all of the promises that God has delivered to us through the 40 authors of God’s Word. The Bible represents the Word of Life, Jesus Christ, and He came specifically for our restoration back to the Father, that we might be made complete in Him, that we might have peace and security through Him, that we might be cleansed from all unrighteousness, that we might be filled with His love and that we might have life and life more abundantly. The list can go on for pages and not exhaust what Christ has done for us. And that is who Jesus is, what He has done for us. The pain and suffering He went through just for us. That's who Jesus is, giving His life for others.
When we consider Jesus Christ, we cannot trivialize Him, we cannot be indifferent toward Him and we cannot neglect Him [Heb. 2.3]. He is God, our creator. To my Christian brothers and sisters, when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, “we are children of God, and it has not yet appeared as yet what we shall be. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope [fixed] on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure”. [1 John 3.2-3].
It will take eternity to know Jesus Christ
The Holy Spirit instructed John to write that hope we have ‘when He appears, we shall be like Him…’ We won’t have His deity, but we will take on His immortality. I believe that in that future day when our sin nature is removed, we will once again have full capacity of brain functions and thinking capabilities, so that we will ‘see Him just as He is’, and that we will be so awe struck that it will take eternity to begin to comprehend the indescribable depth and breadth of His love and Sovereignty. John goes on to say in that verse the ‘everyone who has this hope [fixed] on Him will purify himself’ in preparation for this great event that will soon take place, and that is what we need to focus on until He returns. Only by the Grace of God do we have such an opportunity to be reunited back into fellowship with Him.
That's how I see Jesus.
Would you like to grow spiritually?
Are you interested in living a vibrant life in Jesus Christ? Living a mediocre Christian life is way below what Christ called us to. It’s mundane and not exciting. But Jesus has more for us. All we have to do is transfer our dependence on ‘things’ and governments, to dependence on Him. He wants us to ‘fix our eyes upon Jesus’, the author and finisher of our faith. He wants to be ambassadors and light to a dark world. He wants us to be overcomers of this worlds system. He wants us to effectively war against the forces of darkness and the powers and principalities that are ruling governments today. He has given us the authority and the power to be victors, but it only comes through submission to His Word and by walking in the Spirit. And it comes by growing as the body of Christ having one goal and that is the Gospel of Jesus. Too many today are islands unto themselves, and this stunts our personal growth and our corporate growth as the body Christ. Jesus said that where two or more are gathered together in His Name, He is in our midst, teaching us all things, and giving us power ‘collectively’ over those that are against us.
Please consider joining a small group today. Jesus wants you involved, and other people need your support. If you have questions about this article or small groups please email at the address below or call the church office to talk to somebody.
We invite you to visit our website for additional articles on preserving the Definitions of the Word of God. These articles are written for small group leaders as a foundation for Biblical Truth.
For further reading on this subject we recommend two books by John MacArthur:
For further reading on this subject we recommend two books by John MacArthur:
Hard to Believe – Thomas Nelson Pub – 2003
Truth War – Nelson Books – 2007
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√ Unbelief is when God has spoken and you do nothing.
√ Presumption is when you act when God has not spoken.
√ Faith is when you act upon God’s instructions.
√ Truth Demands a response.
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With the chaos that is prevalent in the world today, now is NOT the time to take the tranquilizer of indifference.
