PART 3 of a 7 PART SERIES
By Bob Hugeri
As with the question “Who is God?”, we will take the presuppositional viewpoint that Jesus actually existed. There is little debate about that. The question then becomes, was He merely a man or God?
To make the claims Jesus Christ made in the Bible and not be God He would be a lunatic or a liar. The ONLY other option is that the claims He made are true which means He is God. Some say He was a prophet or a good moral teacher and a godly man. Based on the previous two options, the third is not an option.
Author Chuck Colson said the following:
“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”
It is very clear from Scripture that Jesus was fully man. The Bible tells us He was tempted, He was thirsty, He was tired, He slept, He wept, He ate, and He even became angry. All fully human characteristics.
It is also very clear from Scripture that He is fully God. His miracles (feeding thousands with almost nothing, raising the dead, healing the sick, changing the weather, turning water into wine and many more), His statements claiming to be God (“Before Abraham was born, I am!”, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”), as well as many examples of others calling Him God and either He does not correct them or agrees with them.
Let’s look at who the Bible says Jesus is: 1) The Second Adam. 2) Advocate. 3) Author and Finisher of the Faith. 4) Beginning and End. 5) Bread of Life. 6) Bright Morning Star. 7) Christ. 8) Corner Stone. 9) Day Star. 10) Deliverer. 11) Door of the Sheep. 12) Emmanuel. 13) Eternal Life. 14) Heir of All Things. 15) Holy One of God. 16) Judge. 17) King. 18) Light of the World. 19) Life. 20) Lion of the Tribe of Judah. 21) Master. 22) Mediator. 23) Messiah. 24) Price of Peace. 25) Salvation. 26) Son of God. 27) Son of Man. 28) Truth. 28) Way. 29) Word of God.
Jesus clearly knew He was all of these things including the Lamb of God, the Messiah that the Old Testament mentions over and over. Which means He knew He had to live a sinless life. Jesus led the ONLY sinless life ever lived. Because of this God was able to accept His sacrifice for us.
The main theme throughout the entire Bible is the Person and work of Jesus Christ. He is God. He became a human being, died on the cross by crucifixion, was buried, and rose from the dead – defeating sin and the death that comes with it (in the Old Testament all the way back to Adam and Eve, anytime someone sinned, it required a blood sacrifice – usually a spotless animal, until Jesus came and became the final sacrifice).
Here is a brief list of what the Bible teaches us about Jesus Christ:
Jesus is God. See John 1:1 and John 1:3 among many others 2. Jesus is the Son of God. According to Scripture “Son of God” means He is fully God and He is one of the three who make up the Trinity. More on that later. (Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5, John 1:14, John 14:13, 1John 4:10, Mark 5:7). 3. Jesus Became Human Through the Virgin Birth. To show that Jesus Christ was not just a man, God had a virgin give birth to Him. (Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:27, Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:34). 4. Jesus Performed Miracles. Many have already been mentioned: Feeding thousands with almost nothing, raising the dead, healing the sick, changing the weather, turning water into wine and many more. (John 2:5-11, John 4:46-53, Luke 4:4-6, Matthew 8:14-15, Matthew 8:3, John 5:5-9, John 11:11-44, Matthew 14:15-21, Matthew 15:32-38) 5. Jesus Christ is the Only Savior of the Entire World. The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus came to save the entire world, not just the Jewish people. We all disobey God and are sinners as our previous Core Principle pointed out. The penalty for sin is death, but God does not want that for us. As we have pointed out, Jesus lived the ONLY sinless life ever and took our sins (as the perfect, final sacrifice) upon Himself on the cross. ONLY through Jesus Christ can our sins be forgiven and can we have a personal relationship with God. (Luke 2:11, Luke 19:10, Acts 13:23, Titus 2:13, Acts 4:12, John 4:42, 1John 4:14, John 3:16-17, John 14:6) 6. Jesus Changes Lives. The Bible gives us many examples of this. Just a couple were Mary Magdalene, who Jesus cast seven demons out of and Zacchaeus who changed from a tax collecting cheat to repaying all of those he cheated. For the last 2,000 years Jesus has been changing lives. He changed this writer’s life and He can change yours also, as well as giving you an eternity in a paradise called Heaven. All you have to do is ask Him. It does not matter what you have done. We ALL are sinners. 7. Jesus Will Return to Judge All of Humanity. Those who have accepted Jesus’ FREE gift of forgiveness of all of their sins, past, present and future, will have a free pass. Their sins are wiped out, forgotten. Those who have not received Jesus’ FREE gift will be spending their eternities in a very bad place called hell. (Acts 10:42, 2Corinthians 5:10, John 5:22, John 9:39, Romans 2:16).
We all will have to stand before God one day. Our eternity depends on what we did with Jesus Christ.
For more information and to find out for yourself please stop by God 411 for your free copy of the Gospel of John with Commentary. We also have a wide selection of free Bible tracts to pass out around town and a good selection of free Christian books available.
Next we will discover who we become after our salvation through Jesus Christ.
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