Who is Jesus?

Who Jesus Is and Why His Claims Matter

Jesus is the central figure of Christianity. He said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes of the Father but through me. John 14, 6. Also, Jesus claimed to be God in flesh. If you compare what God said to Moses in Exodus 3, 14, where he said, I am who I am, with what Jesus said in John 8, 58,.

Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am, then you can quickly see that Jesus was claiming to be God. In fact, others testified that he was divine as well. In John 20, 28, Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God.

In Colossians 2, 9, it says,. For in him, speaking of Jesus,. For in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. Now, deity is the word for God. In Hebrews 1, 8, it says,. But of the Son, he says, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The Incarnation and the Two Natures of Christ

Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. He is the word that became flesh and dwelt among us. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God, 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. That's John 1, verses 1 and 2 and verse 14. Because the word was with God and was God and became flesh, we can then state that Jesus has two natures.

He is divine and human. Therefore, Christianity teaches that Jesus is both God and man at the same time. The reason that he is God in flesh is because only God can atone for our sins. We can't do it on our own because we are finite and we are sinful beings and we simply cannot please an infinitely holy God.

Jesus, therefore, had to be man also to be able to die for humanity. This means that Jesus took our place on the cross. That is, he took our place and suffered the wrath of God the Father. If you trust in what Christ has done, then you will be saved from the righteous judgment of God.

The Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension

More on that in a bit. God is infinitely holy, sinless, and just. When we sin, when we do something contrary to God's will, then we have offended God. Since he is infinite, our offense against him takes on an infinite quality.

Since no person can please an infinite God because we are finite and sinners, then the only one left to remove our sins is God himself. Therefore, Jesus is God in flesh, the one who died on the cross, bore our sins in his body, 1 Peter 2 .24, and physically rose from the dead.

Right now in heaven, Jesus is still in the form of a man. 1 Timothy 2 .5 says,. For there is one God and one mediator also between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead in the same body he died in.

Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews therefore said, It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?

But he was speaking of the temple of his body. When, therefore, he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

John 2 .19 -21. Also, Jesus retained the wounds of his crucifixion after he rose from the dead. In John 20 .25, Jesus said,. Reach here your finger and see my hands, and reach here your hand and put it into my side, and be not unbelieving, but believing.

Forty days after his resurrection, he ascended into heaven bodily. Acts 1 .9 says,. And after he had said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Jesus will return again from the heavens, and he will judge the world and all people. Acts 1 .11 says,. This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven.

Jesus’ Divine Authority in Prayer, Worship, and Forgiveness

Yet at the same time, Jesus is still divine. Colossians 2 .9 says,. In him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. Jesus never did anything wrong. He performed many miracles, such as healing, casting out demons, walking on water, calming a storm with a command, raising people from the dead, and rising from the dead himself.

Though there have been many great teachers throughout history, none of them have performed such miracles and claimed to be divine as Jesus did. This is why we can believe him when he says,. I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through me.

John 14 .6. We trust what Jesus said. Therefore, we can see that Jesus is prayed to. Acts 7 .55 -60. 1 Corinthians 1 .2. Compare that with Psalm 116 .4 and don't forget to go to John 14 .14. Jesus is also worshipped.

Matthew 2 .2, 2 .11, 14 .33. John 9 .35 -38. Hebrews 1 .6. Jesus cleanses from sin. 1 John 1 .9. Jesus forgives sins. Matthew 9 .1 -7. Luke 5 .20 -7 .48.