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Who is Jesus Christ?
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Short Answer Version Billions of people recognize that Jesus Christ has been the most influential human who has ever lived, fulfilling His hugely important mission on this planet. Jesus came to earth, humbling Himself from His exalted position in heaven to be a human, relate with people, help them, teach them, motivate them, and save them by His sacrifice on the cross and resurrection. He died in our place, and rose so we too can experience new-miracle-eternal life. He lives on and His importance has never dimished. Neither has His divinity. He is completely deserving of all the glory, love, praise, worship, and friendship we can give Him. Of course you also know by now that He is the one we believe in if we want to be saved and go to heaven. |
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Long Answer Version Imagine God becoming a man, so He could walk among people as a humble and kind person. He could experience what they experience and teach them truthful wisdom. As the respected leaders of His time pointed out, He displayed wisdom and authority that could not be rivaled by anyone else. Jesus spoke often of love, and demonstrated it every day. That describes Jesus as He lived physically on earth. Then He died sacrificially for us and rose again on the third day afterward. Forty days later, He ascended into the air, while being witnessed by a crowd of over 500 people, to whom He had just been preaching. As the respected leaders of His time pointed out, He displayed wisdom and authority that could not be rivaled by anyone else. In the Bible's depictions of Jesus we see much of His human side. We get a glimpse of what His personality was like during the early first century. We also see His divine side in many ways. Today, we can pray and spend time with Him. We can get to know what He is like in person when we develop a spiritual and emotional connection with Him. Often we hear that people like this will see their lives and beings change for the better. Jesus on earth literally called His Father God, “Daddy” (''Abba'' in His common language). He told us that He and the Father are one. He wanted us to know His Father in the same intimate way. Many who get to know Him find Jesus beautiful on the inside. Millions of people consider Him more beautiful than any other person. There is nobody more deserving of our respect, love, praise, glory, and worship than He. Jesus is majestic and powerful, yet friendly, loving, fun, and enjoyable. He is knowable. People can meet Him, greet Him, and even be sweet to Him. He can do the same with us. I have found Him to be the most loving, caring, strong, and wise person of all. It is not only for His sake that we recognize and admit so much glory about Him, but for ours. It changes our hearts. One of the things that drew me to Jesus is that He died on the cross to remove the separation between God and me. I was told that when I received Him as my Savior, I could have DIRECT CONTACT WITH GOD! Wow. That cinched the deal. It turned out the person who said this to me was right. I have experienced this direct contact with God thousands of times, and you can too. People call Him “Christ”. That has become a title, like the word “President”. The word “President” means the person who “presides” over a group of people. I am convinced that “Christ” means the one person who most profoundly delivers, saves, and leads God’s followers. For my country there is only one President. But a presidency is temporary. For all time and all people, there is only one person who deserves the title ''Christ'' today, and that is Jesus. Christ is a translation for the word ''Messiah''. The word literally translated ''Anointed One'', was originally a reference to Aaron the first high priest of Israel. God commanded that Aaron be anointed with oil mixed with spices, for a seet fragrance denoting the Spirit of the Lord on him. The word "Messiah" is packed full of meaning. One woman to whom Jesus spoke, the ''woman at the well'', let us know what it meant in her time. She said to Him, '' “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.'' Jesus replied, ''I who speak to you am He.'' God revealed this to the apostle Peter who told Jesus, '' You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.'' Read His story in the New Testament, how he was born, grew up, taught people, and died, resurrected, and ascended into Heaven. Read all His wise sayings and see all the good things He did. That is the best way to begin understanding who Jesus Christ is. The apostle Paul said about Jesus: ''He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'' Think about it: Sooner or later, my knee and your knee will bow at the name of Jesus, and we will each confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God our Father. To find out more about who Jesus is in relation to God the Father and the Holy Spirit, click: More About Jesus
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Who is Jesus Christ? (Continued The Trinity) |
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Short Answer Version If we are to examine who Jesus is, it is a good idea to talk about how He fits into relationship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit a little bit. Jesus said "I and My Father are one". He also said, "He that has seen me has seen the Father". He taught both unity with God the Father, and identification with Him. The people to whom Jesus spoke, already had a concept of God and the Holy Spirit because of the Old Testament verses. John the Baptist also taught about the Holy Spirit, predicting that Jesus would baptize people with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Jesus taught more about the Holy Spirit, saying He is "the Comforter" or "Helper", "the Spirit of Truth", and the one who would glorify Jesus and the Father. When the time came to reveal it, Jesus had no hesitation calling Himself the Son of God. He admitted it plainly even though He knew it would be considered a statement that would probably get Him killed. It would be taken as a statement that He was God Himself. The word "Trinity" was conceived by early New Testament scholars to describe the way the Bible portrays God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one. The word "Trinity" never appears in the Bible. Long Answer Version Here is a rather lengthy examination of the subject of the Trinity for the more curious readers. In mathematics, the value of one rarely equals three, but not so with God. If you tend to think in mathematical absolutes keep in mind that the laws of mathematics were designed by this same God. They do not govern Him. He governs them. The same applies to the laws of physics and nature. Here are some insights to help give you a comfort level with the thought of a three-in-one God. You can think of Him as only one God. He is a Father, a Savior, and a Comforter in our lives. He is not bound by time or space. He is not limited to the boundaries of human comprehension. He is omnipotent, which means all-powerful. Since God is omnipotent, it is possible for us to think of Him as beyond our ability to fathom. Because of that, it is possible for Him to be Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit. He revealed Himself clearly in the Old Testament as both Father God and the Holy Spirit, also known as the Spirit of the Lord. The first two verses of the Bible say, ''In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.'' Even though this could be interpreted to support the idea that God and the Spirit of God were two names for one God. But that interpretation is problematic. The word "And" points to a difference between ''God'' and ''the Spirit of God''. Fifteen other times in the Old Testament, the moniker ''Spirit of God'' was used pointedly. Ordinarily it was associated with the Spirit coming in power on an Old Testament believer, such as a king or prophet. It was a mystery until Jesus came and explained to us that God was not simply one or two but all three. Yet God is also One. He made it clear that we are not to confuse Him with the idea of multiple gods, an idea that was common outside Israel. He is not a polytheistic God, but a monotheistic God. God once told a man named Moses that His name is YHWH (in the Hebrew language), which translated means “I Am” or “I Am that I Am”. The name “Jesus” also means “I Am”, but with a little more description. The name “Jesus” means “I Am is Salvation”. The Comforter I mentioned is a real person too. He
is often called, “The Spirit of I Am” in the Bible, which
gets translated “The Spirit of the Lord”. Jesus told His followers to go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus used the name "I Am" in talking about Himself at least nine times in the first four books of the New Testament. It is evident in the original language that He presented Himself as the great I Am. For example he said,"Before Abraham was born I Am", "I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me". He also said many other statements indicating His divinity, such as "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father". By the way, you don’t have to grasp this information about the Trinity fully, to be saved. I didn't. In fact, I had never even heard that Jesus was God when I asked Him to be my Savior. I thought He was only the Son of God. I had just previously found out I could receive Him as my personal Lord and Savior. But my early knowledge gap did not stop God from saving me and straightening me out later. What about the Holy Spirit? Who is He? By observation, I can tell you one aspect of Him is that He is a go-between. The Holy Spirit can reveal the attributes of Jesus and the Father directly to our hearts, and He also reveals His own personhood and ways of thinking. The Bible says He leads us into all truth. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of Jesus Christ" in Philippians 1:19. That designation further shows His connectedness of identity to Jesus in the Trinity. Paul the apostle also wrote, "when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Who is the Spirit? "the Lord is the Spirit". The Holy Spirit reveals truth and frees people from bondage to misguided ways of living. After believing in Jesus and starting relationship with Him, many of the things not originally understand will start to make better sense. You start to become a spiritual person. Therefore, spiritual things begin to become clear. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. Even before you are saved, the Holy Spirit can start making Jesus real to you. The night I first heard about receiving Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, I went home and I could feel Jesus on the doorstep to my heart, on the verge of coming in. Out of fear and selfishness, I didn’t let Him come in until three days later. The Bible mentions a phenomenon of coming to Jesus because the Father is drawing you. I was a person who actually felt that take place three days before I got saved. I didn’t know yet that the Bible had a name for it. The Holy Spirit is no less powerful than the Father or Son. The earth's creation is partially attributed to Him in the Bible (Such as in the first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1). In fact, all three persons of the Trinity were said to be involved when you compare the first chapter in Genesis with the first chapter of the gospel of John. The Holy Spirit is mighty to do many wonderful things on the earth. He also reveals Himself in a sweet presence that shows God's gentle love for us. In one of the opening statements to this website, I suggested some words to say in prayer to be saved by believing in Jesus. They included, “Please come into my life and make yourself real to me.” If you really want to know who God is, that prayer will start the ball rolling. You will be born again by the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. You will also be spiritually adopted by God the Father, and rescued by the atonement of Jesus (found in His death and resurrection). The intimate fatherly wisdom and undying love comfort us. All three are called comforters in the Bible. We see the Trinity portrayed in many Bible verses, such as Luke 1:35, when the Angel mentioned all three persons to Mary as taking part in the birth of Jesus. In that verse the Angel Gabriel differentiated the persons of the Trinity calling the Father "The Most High", also sometimes translated "the Majesty on High". It was His power and the Holy Spirit who came on Mary when Jesus, the Son of God was conceived as a human. But Jesus existed previously in the "form of God" (Phillipians 2:6). The Trinity existed for all eternity past, and will always exist. What we have covered here is just the tip of the iceberg about who Jesus is, and how the Father and Spirit interrelate. The Bible has much more to say on the subject, as does the Holy Spirit who glorifies Jesus and the Father to us as He leads us into spiritual truth. A few years ago, even though I thoroughly believed in the fact that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one and the same, I was having a difficult time when I prayed, trying to sort out to whom I should address my prayers. I usually prayed to the Father, in Jesus' name. Sometimes I prayed to Jesus, and sometimes I spoke with the Holy Spirit. But it became a little confusing and frustrating to me, knowing whether I was doing it correctly. I expressed this to God one time when I was feeling especially close to Him. He gave me an answer, a way around my concern. I heard Him say, "Just call me Trinity." I was totally aware that He was providing me with a wise solution, but that it was found nowhere in the Bible. I did what He said and it removed my blockage whenever I started to feel the frustration I had experienced before. Now, I feel free to picture Him as Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. I address Him in any of these ways, as well as "Trinity", "Lord", "God", and other fond names, knowing He understands my heart is inclined toward Him.
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If, as a result of viewing this website, you decided to believe in Jesus as your Savior, please click here for next steps.
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