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Chapter 5Jesus ChristSon of God |
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Who is Jesus?The single most important question you and I face in life is: Who is Jesus Christ? As a matter of fact, Jesus spent most of His ministry teaching His disciples the answer to that question. He did not begin by saying to them, "Follow Me, I'm the Son of God." He approached them and said, "Follow Me, I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). During the following three and a half years or so, Jesus taught them, performed miracles, healed the sick, and cast out demons in their presence. Slowly but surely the apostles realized just who He really was. We find Jesus and His disciples in Caesarea Philippi. The Scripture reads, "He began asking His disciples, saying, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?'" (Matt. 16:13). It should be noted that the term "Son of Man" is a Jewish term referring to the Messiah. So He was asking, "Who do the Jews say Messiah is?" "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" The conversation continued:
Jesus is Savior Peter's confession was that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. In those days, as it is in some places today, the name given to a person had a particular meaning. An angel said to Joseph in a dream, "you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). The very name "Jesus" means "Savior" and the word "Christ" means "Anointed." The word "anointed" means "to be set apart for a sacred service in a special ceremony." Therefore, Jesus Christ has been anointed by God the Father for the sacred service of being the Savior of men. Jesus Is God According to the Apostle JohnJesus Is God in the Flesh The first chapter of the Gospel of John says something very important about Jesus Christ. It cannot be said about any other man. John calls Him "the Word" that was with God in the beginning:
Verse one says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). The word "with" in this sentence means "toward" or "facing" in the original language. The Word of God was facing God or was "face to face" with God. It expresses a very close, intimate, personal relationship between the Word, who became flesh in verse 14, and God the Father. Verse two emphasizes that the Word was with God in the beginning! Not only was He in close relationship with the Father, He was, in fact, God. The original sentence order is "and God was the Word." In the sentence, "Word" has a definite article showing that it is the subject of the sentence. The word "God" is without the article and means God in His nature or being. Jesus, therefore, is God in the very nature of His being. In the original text, the word for God appears first in the phrase, even though it is not the subject, emphasizing that the Word is God. The main point is this: Jesus, who is the Word, is truly God in the flesh God with us. Jesus is the Creator John's Gospel goes on to say, "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:3). The Word, which later became flesh, was the Creator of all things, whether visible or invisible, whether they be thrones, principalities, powers, or dominions, or any other thing that can be named. They came into being through Him and for Him:
The Father and the Son, along with the Holy Spirit, are one God, who is the Creator. The entire Trinity was instrumental in the creation of everything that exists. Jesus Existed before His Human Birth Look again at John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." This verse teaches that Jesus existed before His birth in Bethlehem. The Word was from the beginning with God and became the man, Jesus. Even Jesus Himself recognized this as He prayed to the Father in John 17. In that prayer, He said, "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was" (John 17:5). Jesus clearly acknowledged that He was with the Father before the world was created. Jesus Is God According to PaulPaul taught that Jesus is God in such passages as Titus 2:13 in which he said we are to be "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus." In this verse Jesus is called both great God and Savior. Paul expanded on this truth in his other letters, such as Colossians where he wrote about Jesus Christ:
As the image of God, Jesus is an accurate representation of God. If you want to know and understand God, study Jesus! It is clearly stated that "He is before all things" and "all things have been created by Him." The term "first-born of all creation" (Colossians 1:18) refers to Jesus as the first man to be resurrected from the dead never to die again. It does not mean that He was the first thing created by God as some teach. Therefore, not only is Jesus Christ the Anointed Savior sent from God to save His people from their sins, but He is in every sense God Himself, not a created being. Jesus Is God According to God the FatherOther writers in the New Testament also make the same point. One of them is the writer of Hebrews. He quotes God the Father who calls Jesus "God":
In the same verses His humanity is also recognized when God says, "Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy companions." Here Jesus is said to have human companions that have been anointed with the oil of gladness; but the anointing of Jesus was greater than that of His companions. Make It PersonalBecause Jesus is God in the flesh, we must pay closer attention to what He says than to what anyone else says. Indeed, if we disregard His words, we shall not escape being condemned on the day of our judgment. God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world by the man Christ Jesus. Are you ready for that day? If you are not, then you must open your heart to Jesus Christ and trust Him to save you. We began this chapter by saying, "The single most important question that you and I face in life is: 'Who is Jesus?'" Jesus Christ is Emmanuel God with us. You must answer the question for yourself. Then you must open your heart to receive Him. He will cleanse you of sin and grant you eternal life. May you find peace and forgiveness in Him today.
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