Who is Jesus?
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven's glory. He is alive and well today and wants to be intimately involved in our lives. He is returning soon for His church. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Throughout history there have been many opinions about who Jesus Christ was and is. We know that through the reading of Old Testament Scripture that there was a promised Messiah, and Peter, one of Jesus’ followers, made the declaration that Jesus was this promised Messiah. “Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God'" (Matthew 16:16).
Jesus was a man, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John1:14), and He was also God, “Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM’” (John 8:58).
C.S. Lewis, a well-known Christian author, wrote of Jesus, “Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
The Bible is clear about is who Jesus is.
"'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.'"
– Matthew 1:23 NIV
“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.”
– 1 John 4:15 NIV
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
– Isaiah 53:5 NIV
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
– Acts 4:12 NIV
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.
John 3:16 NIV
Jesus Cares!
Does Jesus care about you? Yes, He does! How do we know this?
Often we disqualify ourselves from God’s love because of our history, our failures and our shortcomings. Sin has separated us from God and we can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. So how can we accept what we have not earned? The Bible says that nothing in all of creation can separate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And to accept God’s love is to trust His patient, forgiving and gracious stance towards us. Only He has the power to free us from guilt, shame and condemnation, to give us a life of wholeness. All we have to do is turn to Him.
A new beginning...
To be made whole, or to be saved, is to submit to God and His plan and purpose for our lives. It is a turning from our old ways and turning to Jesus, to ask Him for forgiveness from our sins and to give us new life in Him.
Romans 10:9 says: “If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Salvation is God’s free gift to us and we become His children.
It is an irrevocable acceptance into the family of God and it is an empowerment to live life wholly and fully with the purpose of reflecting God to the rest of His creation.
If you are not sure whether you are right with God or you know in fact that you need Jesus in your life, you can choose to follow Him right now by praying a prayer of surrender to Jesus.
Dear Jesus, I’m praying this prayer because I know that I have done wrong by living without You. I am sorry and I trust that You will forgive me. I accept Your love and grace for me and ask that You would be my Lord. Help me believe in You and love You every day, and help me to show the world what You are like and how great Your love is.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Congratulations! To pray these words with a surrendered heart to Jesus is the beginning of the most important voyage you will ever embark on: the journey to follow Jesus. Please let us know if you’ve just made a commitment to Jesus and prayed this prayer by clicking the button below.
Resources
Here’s a few things to help you get started on your new life of following Jesus.