Who Is This Jesus?
    Some say that he was a good man.  Some say that he was prophet.  Others say that he was a con artist.  Still others say that he was a fool.  Everyone must decide!  Even "a no decision" is a decision to reject him.

    Although there are many ways to see the person of Jesus, this article presents him as God.

1.  Deuteronomy 4:35  "Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him."   This scripture points to the fact there is but one God. There is no other God. Note: Although the word "trinity" is not in Scripture, the reality of the mystery of it is found there. We find God in the plural form in "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...." In Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Note God is the creator. Yet, in John 1:3 in referring to Jesus as the word, John says, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." This would indicate Jesus is God. How can this be? How can Jesus be both God and the Son of God? For a deeper study see "The Person And Nature Of God"

2. Deuteronomy 6:4  "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD."   The word translated "LORD" is the Hebrew is the word for Jehovah or the more ancient rendering "YEHWEH" or more correctly "YAHWEH".  Again, the emphasis is on "one Jehovah".

3. Deuteronomy 32:39 "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand."  There is only one God.

4. Psalm 83:18 "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth."   There is only one Jehovah which rules.

5.  Psalm 86:10  "For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone."  Again, there is only one God and none else.

6.  Exodus 20:3  "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."  We are to worship only one God.

7.  Isaiah 7:14  "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."   Immanuel means "God is with us".

8.  Matthew 1:23  "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."    Matthew 1:25  "And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS."  The God with us is Jesus.  The name Jesus means "I AM Saviour".  It comes from a Hebrew name "Joshua" which is a compound word of "I AM + Saviour".  Jesus is the "I AM" which became Saviour

9.  Isaiah 9:6  "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."  Note that he (Jesus) is the Son, but he is also called "The mighty God."

10.  John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.   The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."   The Word was God (deity).  He is attributed as being the creator.  The Greek construction is that of a predicate adjective used as a noun.

11.  Exodus 3:14  "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."  God told Moses to say that He was the "I AM."  We get the name "Jehovah" from this.

12. John 8:58 "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."  Jesus declares himself to be the "I AM" of the Old Testament, even the one who spoke to Moses.

One main purpose of the gospel of John is to prove that Jesus is God.  John does this by pointing to the reality that Jesus is the "I AM".  Here are a few references of the "I AM" passages: (1) Messiah, called the Christ = John 4:25-26 (note "he" should not be in the text), (2) Bread of Life = John 6:48, (3) Living Bread = John 6:51, (4) Light of the world = John 8:12, 9:5, 12: 46, (5) From above = John 8:23-24 (note "he" should not be in the text), (6) The door = John 10:7, 9, (7) The Good Shepherd = John 10:14 (compare to Psalm 23:1 "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." Jesus is declaring that he is the LORD of David), (8) The Son of God = John 10:36, (9) The Resurrection and The Life = John 11:25, (10) Master and Lord = John 13:13, (10) "I AM" = John 13:19,  (11) The Way, The Truth, and The Life = John 14:6, (12) The True Vine = John 15:1, (13) "I AM" = John 18:5-8 (Again "he" is not in the original text), (14) A King = John 18:37).
13. I Timothy 3:16 "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."   One may note that some edited texts substitute "God" with the word pronoun "he" to water down the truth. Such texts should be discarded.  It is obvious the God is the subject, but the description is of Jesus.  Therefore, Jesus is God.

14. Philippians 2:6-7 "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:    But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men."  Note that Jesus was in the form of God and was God.  His nature did not change. Only his form changed.  You should also note that Jesus did not consider himself robbing from God declaring himself to be God.

15.  Colossians 2:9  "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Jesus was, is, and shall be completely God.

16.  Hebrews 1:3  "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."  Jesus was the exact image of God.  Anything less that God, himself, would produce a marred image.

17.  John 10:30 "I and my Father are one."  This is more than being in agreement.   The word "one" here does not mean agreement, but "the same".

18.  Matthew 19:17  "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."  Note: Jesus raised the issue but did not deny being the good God.

19.  Matthew 8:2  "And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean."    Matthew 15:25  "Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me."    Matthew 28:9  "And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him."  Jesus permitted people to worship him when we are to worship God alone.

20. I John 5:7  "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."  Jesus is the Word.  He is God.

21. John 5:18  "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God."  Jesus was not killed because of his miracles or for his authoritative teaching, but because he declared himself to be equal with God.

22. John 20:27-28  "Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God." Here we see that Thomas declared that Jesus was God and Jesus did not correct him.



APPLICATION:    So what difference does it make whether or not Jesus is God?

I. If he is not God:

1. If he is not God, he is a liar or insane.
2. If he is not God, he can not be seen as a true prophet.
3. If he is not God, he is not even a good man.
4. If he is not God, he could not have been a perfect sinless sacrifice for sin.
5. If he is not God, there is no salvation under heaven for sinful men.
II. If he is God, then we must accept him as Lord and Saviour.
1.  When Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus, the little man in the sycamore tree, he said, "Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house" (Luke 19:5b).  Zacchaeus could have said, "Who do you think that you are telling me what to do?"  However, he obeyed Jesus as Lord and did what Jesus said. "And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham" (Luke 19:9).  When Zacchaeus made Jesus Lord, Jesus gave him salvation.

2.  John 13:13  "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.   Here is another "I AM" passage.  We must recognize Jesus as LORD.

3.  Romans 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."  We must accept Jesus as Lord (ruler, king, boss).

4.  Romans 10:13  "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  That name is Jesus.

5. Acts 4:12  "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."   The names of Buddha,  Confucius, Mohammad, Gandhi, Einstein, Darwin, or Freud will save no one.  One can only be saved through faith in Jesus!

6.  John 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."   Jesus is EXCLUSIVELY the only way to the Father.

7. Philippians 2:11  "And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  This is a command of God.  One will either do it now or he will do it standing before God when it is too late to enter into eternal life.

III. The Gospel is simple.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;    By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.    For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;    And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:1-4).
1. You can be saved if you receive (believe and apply it) the gospel.
2. Jesus is the Christ (the anointed one of God).
3. He died for our sins according to the scriptures.
4. He was buried.
5. He arose again the third day according to the scriptures.


WARNING!!!

    JUST KNOWING WHO JESUS IS, IS NOT ENOUGH.  The evil spirits knew who Jesus was.   Look at the response of the chief demon. "When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not." (Luke 8:28).   James also wrote, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19).  The problem was that the allegiance of the evil spirits was to the devil even through they knew who Jesus was.

    REPENTANCE ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH.  The disciples of John the Baptist knew about repentance but didn't know about Jesus.   "Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus" (Acts 19:4).  It was only after they heard Paul preach about Jesus, did they believed and were baptized.



COMMITMENT:

    There must be a decision made!  That decision may cost you friendship and / or family relations.    Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.    For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.    And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.    He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.    And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.    He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it"  (Matthew 10:34-39).  It may even cost you your life.

    The decision is a faith commitment to Jesus as Lord.  Paul wrote, "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (II Timothy 1:12).  It doesn't mean that you will live a perfectly righteous life from this day forward.  However, it mean that you recognize that you can't save yourself from your sin ... that you can't change yourself and that you are giving your life to Jesus so that he can give you spiritual life and make you a new person in the spirit-man.

Please sincerely pray the following prayer:

Dear God,

     (1) I confess (agree with you) that I have sinned (disobeyed God).
     (2) I realize that the penalty for sin is spiritual death.
     (3) However, I believe that Jesus died for all my sins and arose from the dead.
     (4) Therefore, I give my life to you, Jesus, as my Lord and Savior. Amen.



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IF WE REJECT JESUS AS LORD ONCE WE HAVE HEARD THE GOSPEL ... "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him"(Hebrews 2:3).   "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26-27).  Don't wait, today is the day of salvation!
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