Who is Jesus Christ?

WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?

by Muriel Larson

How can we know, love, and worship the Lord Jesus Christ unless we really know and understand Who He was--as the Magi from the east did!

Was He a good man? He is more than that. The Bible says He "did no sin" (1 Peter 2:22). Was he a great teacher? He is more than that. Officers sent to arrest Him returned to the chief priests and Pharisees and said, "No one ever spoke the way this man does" (John 7:46).

Today, just as the religious leaders of Jesus' day did, many cults and even ministers and professors in religious schools deny the deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, the reconciliation of God and man through Christ's death on the cross for our sins, and His physical resurrection from the grave.

Therefore, it is important that we know who Jesus Christ is and what He came to earth to do. This can help us not only to be sound in faith, but also to be witnesses to those who have gone astray. The Bible tells us this truth-CHRIST ALWAYS EXISTED

John 1:1 says, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Verse 14 says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among men.

In Revelation 1:8 John quoted the Lord Himself: "I am the Alpha and Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." In Isaiah, written some 700 years before Christ's coming, we find essentially the same statement: "This is what the Lord says--Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God" (Isaiah. 44:6).

The Prophet Micah foretold the birthplace of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to be Bethlehem, and then added that He was the One whose goings forth is from old, from everlasting (5:2).

The Apostle Paul wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17).

John also testified, "Through him all things were made and without him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:3).

JESUS CHRIST IS BOTH MAN AND GOD

Christ's birth by a woman was first predicted in Genesis 3:15. Matthew 1 gives His genealogy from Abraham and quotes Isaiah 7:14: "'Behold, the virgin will be with child, and will give birth to a Son, and they will call him 'Immanuel' which means 'God with us'."

Isaiah later wrote again of this miraculous birth: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (9:6). Look at the titles that belong to that Holy Child born to the Virgin Mary!

When the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary about this child she would give birth to, she exclaimed, "How will this be since I am a virgin?" (Luke 1:34) Gabriel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most high will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God" (v. 35)

So Jesus Christ is the only child ever born of God and of a woman (John 3:18)--without the help of a man. Thus, He is both God and man.

Later, when Joseph learned Mary was pregnant, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream to explain to him the miraculous conception of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Matthew says these things fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy concerning a virgin giving birth to a son, and that this child would be called "Immanuel," which means "God with us" (Matthew 1:18-23).

JESUS CHRIST CAME TO DIE FOR OUR SINS

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believed in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Isaiah predicted that Christ would be pierced for our transgressions...afflicted...led as a lamb to the slaughter (53:5).

Revelation 13:8 calls Jesus "the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world." His coming to earth to die for our sins was God's plan before He made man.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE FUTURE KING

A thousand years before Christ, the psalmist prophesied His second coming in judgment, power, and glory to take His throne as King: "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom" (Psalm 45:6).

Hebrews 1:8 quotes this prophecy, saying that God the Father said it to God the Son.
God said through Isaiah, "I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior" (43:11); and "Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock" (44:8).

The only way we can understand these truths is to accept by faith the teaching of the Godhead made up of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)--one God in essence, yet three Persons.

Here is a simple formula to remember where the key scripture verses are to back up these teachings concerning Christ: Isaiah 7, 9, and 53; the first chapters of John, Ephesians, Colossians, Hebrews, and Revelation; and the 3:16s in John, 1 Timothy, and 1 John.
Most people will admit that Jesus Christ was a truly good man. If He is that, then He certainly is no liar! He Himself claimed to be God and the Son of God. Based on that claim, He was crucified (John 8:58; 19:7).

Imagine what great love the Son of God has for us, to come to die such a painful ignominious death on the cross to save us! Have you yet realized that He did that for you? Have you believed that He died to pay the penalty for your sins?

He says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). If you will believe that he died for your sins, then He will come and fellowship with you, as He promised.

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Note: As "Dr. Muriel," I give advice by E-Mail for troubled people all over the world, for Campus Crusade for Christ E-zines. My website: http://advicedrmuriel.blogspot.com