Just Who is this Jesus Guy I keep Hearing About??
Have you ever wondered about whether the Jesus you have heard about is the true Jesus of the Bible? Maybe you’ve spent time wondering about just who is this Jesus guy you keep hearing about. You may have heard about a Jesus of everlasting punishment and damnation, sentencing us to eternal fire forever because we have sinned. Many Christians end up walking a tightrope fearing if they step off just once, they are condemned, losing their salvation and being sent to eternal torment and suffering. Well, the Bible does refer to sins and sinners and Jesus talked about those that will be denied salvation because of their sin. But does this actually mean that He declares us “toast” because we are not perfect?
Is this what Jesus actually came to tell mankind? Did He threaten, intimidate and try to force people to listen and believe in Him, as some have tried to do? Did Jesus truly preach a gospel of fear and terror? If we are to answer such questions, it is essential to know exactly who Jesus is. The obvious answer you might think would be, Jesus is the Son of God. True enough, but there is so much more to this than meets the eye with such a quick, simple statement.
As we read in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 2, “He was with God in the beginning.”
These two verses are packed full of knowledge about Jesus! In the beginning, means literally at the start. Not a little while after things began, not a thousand years after God started things, it was “In the beginning.” Jesus was there right from the start. He is NOT some Johnny come lately. “…was the Word...” Word here is capitalized. It comes from the Greek, ‘Logos’. It is being used as a proper noun. This is the title of Jesus before he was born into the world. “…and the Word was with God…” Not only was Jesus there right from the start, he was with God in the beginning. “…and the Word was God.” Now we see that Jesus was not simply the Son of God and, as some people maintain a created being, He actually IS God. When He was on Earth, Jesus was the physical, personal presence of God Himself! Verse 2, “He was with God in the beginning.” Confirmation of our conclusions from verse 1 that Jesus was with Almighty God from the very start. Note that this verse does not say that God created the Word in the beginning. He already existed. There can be no doubt on this point!
Now this is all well and good, but how do we know that the Word was and is actually Jesus? Let us drop down to verse 14; “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. Full of grace and truth.” There can be no misunderstanding here as to who was made flesh. It was Jesus Christ that was born to a young, virgin Jewish girl. “…and made his dwelling among us.” He CHOSE to live with us! “We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father.” This is not just some fable that is being handed down from father to son or generation to generation. “We have seen…”, demonstrates that this is an EYEWITNESS account! And not by just one man or a lone woman. We dramatically states that the glory, HIS glory, was experienced by many individuals as we see throughout the Gospels. “…the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father.” Here we see that Jesus is unique. He is not just the latest in a long line of prophets. He is the ‘One and Only!’ It was HE that was sent and “came from the Father.” And he came “Full of grace and truth.” He was perfect at the beginning, when He came among us, when he sacrificed Himself on a cross for our sins and when he ascended to Heaven. And He REMAINS perfect to the present day and will do so throughout eternity!
“The Word became flesh…”
In Hebrews 1:3, we see how Jesus reveals to us what God is like. Verse 3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” We aren’t talking about an approximation here, Jesus “…is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” not just a shadow that points toward God. We don’t have to guess about God and what He is like. We know EXACTLY what He is like because of Jesus! “…sustaining all things by his powerful word.” By His power and divinity, Jesus maintains ALL things. The very Cosmos itself owes its existence and continuance to Jesus Christ! “After he had provided purification for sins…” HE was the one perfect sacrifice that could pay the price for our sins and provide for our reclamation. It is because of Him and His sacrifice alone that we are considered righteous before God the Father! “…he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Here is where He resides. Having risen from the dead and ascended into Heaven, it is Jesus that sits at the right hand of God, interceding for us with our Father!
We also know that it was Jesus that created all things. How do we know this? John 1:3 “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” Through Jesus Himself, “…all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” Plainly stated. And just what does “…all things…” mean? Genesis 1:1 gives us the answer. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In other words, Jesus created all there is, all that ever was and all that ever will be, TOTALITY!
Can you comprehend the glory, majesty and power of the one called Christ?! Even though we have barely scratched the surface of who Jesus is and as humans, we can never fully understand, we begin to grasp our Lord, our Savior as he really exists.
Now at this point you may be thinking that Jesus must be beyond your reach. After all, how can someone as insignificant as I am even approach , let alone speak to somebody that is omnipotent, exalted and supreme? How can I possibly bridge such a gap that must exist between us? The answer lies in the purpose Jesus fulfilled when he came to Earth and one quality of Jesus we have not yet mentioned.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Verse 17 - For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Love is the missing quality. God loved and continues to love us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His only Son to bridge the gap between us so that we all might be saved. Jesus willingly set aside part of His divinity and glory in order to save us from ourselves! We are very good at digging canyons between ourselves and God. How can we cross the gap, swim the rivers and climb the mountains we place between God and ourselves? We can’t, but God can and has done so through the sacrifice of His perfect Son. Jesus loves us so much that He chose to die on a cross so we wouldn’t have to!
I think Max Lucado put it best when he said, “God would rather die than live without you!” How do we know this? Because he HAS literally died to bridge those canyons, swim those rivers and climb those mountains that separate us so that we can believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life. Can you imagine the enormity of God’s love for us that he would go to such great lengths to keep from losing even one of us? Put another way, if the only one that was lost was you, God would still choose the same path to keep from losing you!
His compassion for us is without peer. Could you send your only son to your enemies to be killed? Could you then tell these enemies they are now your friends? That they are forgiven if they only turn from their crimes against you and ask forgiveness? I doubt I could. Of course, I’m not God either.
Jesus demonstrates His compassion for us throughout the Gospels. Take some time and read about the love and concern He expresses when He heals the Roman centurion’s servant, recorded in Mat. 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10. In Mat 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48 He heals a woman that has suffered from severe bleeding for years. John 9:1-41 tells us the story of His healing a man that was blind from birth. In Mat 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56 we see Jairus’ daughter raised from the dead. And Lazarus is raised from the dead in John 11:1-44.
This is not an exhaustive list of the miracles that Jesus performed, but you will find the same theme in each miracle that He performs. He CARES! Yes He CARES ABOUT YOU!! He CARES about your pain! He CARES about your suffering! He CARES when you cry out to Him! He is CONCERED about you! YOU MATTER TO HIM!!
If He did not care, He would not have come. If He was not concerned with us, He would not have come. If He did not love us, He would not have come. If we did not matter to him, He would not have come. The truth is we do matter! YOU matter! He does care, He is concerned and He does love you more than His own life. We know this because He DID come and He did die for you and me because He doesn’t want you or me to die! As all powerful as He is, as much glory as He has, as pure as He is, He is still willing to lay down his life for ours. As great as He is and as insignificant as I am, He still wants me to be with him and He wants you too!
This is the image I have of God the Son. Someone that is willing to and does give His ALL to hang onto this poor sinner. If God is willing to go to such great lengths to offer me a path to forgiveness and life, He’s got my attention! Does He have yours?
In His name…
© 2003 Church of Hope, Inc.
Have you ever wondered about whether the Jesus you have heard about is the true Jesus of the Bible? Maybe you’ve spent time wondering about just who is this Jesus guy you keep hearing about. You may have heard about a Jesus of everlasting punishment and damnation, sentencing us to eternal fire forever because we have sinned. Many Christians end up walking a tightrope fearing if they step off just once, they are condemned, losing their salvation and being sent to eternal torment and suffering. Well, the Bible does refer to sins and sinners and Jesus talked about those that will be denied salvation because of their sin. But does this actually mean that He declares us “toast” because we are not perfect?
Is this what Jesus actually came to tell mankind? Did He threaten, intimidate and try to force people to listen and believe in Him, as some have tried to do? Did Jesus truly preach a gospel of fear and terror? If we are to answer such questions, it is essential to know exactly who Jesus is. The obvious answer you might think would be, Jesus is the Son of God. True enough, but there is so much more to this than meets the eye with such a quick, simple statement.
As we read in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 2, “He was with God in the beginning.”
These two verses are packed full of knowledge about Jesus! In the beginning, means literally at the start. Not a little while after things began, not a thousand years after God started things, it was “In the beginning.” Jesus was there right from the start. He is NOT some Johnny come lately. “…was the Word...” Word here is capitalized. It comes from the Greek, ‘Logos’. It is being used as a proper noun. This is the title of Jesus before he was born into the world. “…and the Word was with God…” Not only was Jesus there right from the start, he was with God in the beginning. “…and the Word was God.” Now we see that Jesus was not simply the Son of God and, as some people maintain a created being, He actually IS God. When He was on Earth, Jesus was the physical, personal presence of God Himself! Verse 2, “He was with God in the beginning.” Confirmation of our conclusions from verse 1 that Jesus was with Almighty God from the very start. Note that this verse does not say that God created the Word in the beginning. He already existed. There can be no doubt on this point!
Now this is all well and good, but how do we know that the Word was and is actually Jesus? Let us drop down to verse 14; “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. Full of grace and truth.” There can be no misunderstanding here as to who was made flesh. It was Jesus Christ that was born to a young, virgin Jewish girl. “…and made his dwelling among us.” He CHOSE to live with us! “We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father.” This is not just some fable that is being handed down from father to son or generation to generation. “We have seen…”, demonstrates that this is an EYEWITNESS account! And not by just one man or a lone woman. We dramatically states that the glory, HIS glory, was experienced by many individuals as we see throughout the Gospels. “…the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father.” Here we see that Jesus is unique. He is not just the latest in a long line of prophets. He is the ‘One and Only!’ It was HE that was sent and “came from the Father.” And he came “Full of grace and truth.” He was perfect at the beginning, when He came among us, when he sacrificed Himself on a cross for our sins and when he ascended to Heaven. And He REMAINS perfect to the present day and will do so throughout eternity!
“The Word became flesh…”
In Hebrews 1:3, we see how Jesus reveals to us what God is like. Verse 3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” We aren’t talking about an approximation here, Jesus “…is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” not just a shadow that points toward God. We don’t have to guess about God and what He is like. We know EXACTLY what He is like because of Jesus! “…sustaining all things by his powerful word.” By His power and divinity, Jesus maintains ALL things. The very Cosmos itself owes its existence and continuance to Jesus Christ! “After he had provided purification for sins…” HE was the one perfect sacrifice that could pay the price for our sins and provide for our reclamation. It is because of Him and His sacrifice alone that we are considered righteous before God the Father! “…he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Here is where He resides. Having risen from the dead and ascended into Heaven, it is Jesus that sits at the right hand of God, interceding for us with our Father!
We also know that it was Jesus that created all things. How do we know this? John 1:3 “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” Through Jesus Himself, “…all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” Plainly stated. And just what does “…all things…” mean? Genesis 1:1 gives us the answer. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In other words, Jesus created all there is, all that ever was and all that ever will be, TOTALITY!
Can you comprehend the glory, majesty and power of the one called Christ?! Even though we have barely scratched the surface of who Jesus is and as humans, we can never fully understand, we begin to grasp our Lord, our Savior as he really exists.
Now at this point you may be thinking that Jesus must be beyond your reach. After all, how can someone as insignificant as I am even approach , let alone speak to somebody that is omnipotent, exalted and supreme? How can I possibly bridge such a gap that must exist between us? The answer lies in the purpose Jesus fulfilled when he came to Earth and one quality of Jesus we have not yet mentioned.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Verse 17 - For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Love is the missing quality. God loved and continues to love us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His only Son to bridge the gap between us so that we all might be saved. Jesus willingly set aside part of His divinity and glory in order to save us from ourselves! We are very good at digging canyons between ourselves and God. How can we cross the gap, swim the rivers and climb the mountains we place between God and ourselves? We can’t, but God can and has done so through the sacrifice of His perfect Son. Jesus loves us so much that He chose to die on a cross so we wouldn’t have to!
I think Max Lucado put it best when he said, “God would rather die than live without you!” How do we know this? Because he HAS literally died to bridge those canyons, swim those rivers and climb those mountains that separate us so that we can believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life. Can you imagine the enormity of God’s love for us that he would go to such great lengths to keep from losing even one of us? Put another way, if the only one that was lost was you, God would still choose the same path to keep from losing you!
His compassion for us is without peer. Could you send your only son to your enemies to be killed? Could you then tell these enemies they are now your friends? That they are forgiven if they only turn from their crimes against you and ask forgiveness? I doubt I could. Of course, I’m not God either.
Jesus demonstrates His compassion for us throughout the Gospels. Take some time and read about the love and concern He expresses when He heals the Roman centurion’s servant, recorded in Mat. 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10. In Mat 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48 He heals a woman that has suffered from severe bleeding for years. John 9:1-41 tells us the story of His healing a man that was blind from birth. In Mat 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56 we see Jairus’ daughter raised from the dead. And Lazarus is raised from the dead in John 11:1-44.
This is not an exhaustive list of the miracles that Jesus performed, but you will find the same theme in each miracle that He performs. He CARES! Yes He CARES ABOUT YOU!! He CARES about your pain! He CARES about your suffering! He CARES when you cry out to Him! He is CONCERED about you! YOU MATTER TO HIM!!
If He did not care, He would not have come. If He was not concerned with us, He would not have come. If He did not love us, He would not have come. If we did not matter to him, He would not have come. The truth is we do matter! YOU matter! He does care, He is concerned and He does love you more than His own life. We know this because He DID come and He did die for you and me because He doesn’t want you or me to die! As all powerful as He is, as much glory as He has, as pure as He is, He is still willing to lay down his life for ours. As great as He is and as insignificant as I am, He still wants me to be with him and He wants you too!
This is the image I have of God the Son. Someone that is willing to and does give His ALL to hang onto this poor sinner. If God is willing to go to such great lengths to offer me a path to forgiveness and life, He’s got my attention! Does He have yours?
In His name…
© 2003 Church of Hope, Inc.