Jesus Christ

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of Christianity (“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” [NKJ: I Corinthians 3:11]) and the only source of salvation (“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” [NKJ: Acts 4:12]). To call one’s self a Christian, with which comes the awesome gift of salvation and eternity in heaven, one must believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him as Lord and Savior of their life. So who is Jesus Christ of the Bible? Since our eternal destiny depends on Him, it is crucial that we know Him. Understanding who He is becomes crucial due to the fact that the Bible warns us that there will be false christs who will try to imitate the one true Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (NKJ: Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22) “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” (NKJ: II Corinthians 11:4) For over the past centuries, and especially in these current times, Christian cults and psuedo-Christian doctrines have crept into the body of Christ to try and deceive those who are seeking the one true Lord who is Jesus Christ of the Holy Bible (cf. II Peter 2:1-3, Acts 20:30). Just because a person, or group of people, point to their god and call him Jesus, does not mean that he is the Lord Jesus Christ. To be able to properly identify the false portrayals of Jesus Christ in this world, one must know and understand the one and only true Jesus Christ. This same concept, that is, knowing the true to ferret out the false, was explained to me by a dear friend of mine when I first became a Christian (actually, he was the one who the Lord used to bring me to a saving belief in Him). He explained this concept to me by way of an excellent analogy. He used the example of how Federal agents are trained to be able to identify counterfeit currency. Instead of spending all their time studying all the different types and methods of producing counterfeit currency, they instead spend a significant amount of their time studying the real thing. They will actually spend hours just holding and feeling legitimate currency, becoming familiar with every nuance. Color, texture, fine details are all committed to memory. Once becoming intimate with the real thing, false currency just jumps out when encountered. They might not know at first what is wrong with the currency, but they just know that it is not the real thing. As so with studying the Bible, and, in particular for this study: Jesus Christ. One must seek to know Him intimately to protect against those who would try to foist off on the unsuspecting a counterfeit jesus. In this study, we will establish some of the basic attributes of Jesus Christ according to the Holy Scriptures. Along the way, we will at times review some of the opposing false views existing in the world today; however, as previously discussed, our main focus will be on learning the Truth and not the counterfeits. 1. Jesus Christ is our Savior and the ONLY Way to Salvation We all, everyone one of us without exception, are born into this world as sinners, “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (NKJ: Romans 3:22-23). Due to this sin nature of mankind, we are in need of a Savior, that is, someone to reconcile us to God (See Bible Study on “Salvation” for further discussion on salvation). This Savior is the Lord, Jesus Christ: “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (NKJ: Romans 3:24) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NKJ: Romans 6:23) “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NKJ: II Thessalonians 5:9) “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (NKJ: Galatians 3:26) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (NKJ: John 3:16) And not only is Jesus Christ a way to salvation, He is the only way. True salvation, that is deliverance from the penalty of sin and the right to spend eternity in heaven, can only be obtained through a saving belief in Jesus Christ (I use the term “saving belief” due to the fact that mere belief that Jesus Christ is real will not save us (cf. James 2:19), but what is required is a saving belief in that we believe on Him as Lord and Savior of our lives—see Bible Study on “Salvation” for further discussion). Any doctrine or religious group that does not present Jesus Christ as the one and only way through which we may obtain salvation is false: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (NKJ: Acts 4:12 “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (NKJ: I John 5:11-12) “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (NKJ: John 14:6) The work of Jesus Christ on the Cross provided the way, the only way, to salvation. Any doctrine or belief structure that provides for another way to salvation is presenting a false doctrine and a false Jesus Christ. Salvation is only obtained through a saving belief in Jesus Christ. In addition to being the only way to salvation, Jesus Christ also has already done all the work required for salvation. That is, there is nothing more that we have to do than to believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him as Lord and Savior of our lives. Nothing more needs to be done. In fact, saying that additional work is required, is saying that the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross was not sufficient or was lacking. Yes, you heard me right. A doctrine that says that there is additional work required of us to receive salvation is saying that the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross is lacking and inadequate. Obviously, such a doctrine would be an abomination. For we read: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (NKJ: Ephesians 2:8-9) “…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” (NKJ: Galatians 2:16) “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (NKJ: Romans 3:20) “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (NKJ: Romans 2:21) Through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, and only through His work, we have the path to salvation. There is no other way, and there is nothing more to be done. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and the only way to salvation. 2. Jesus Christ is God One of the hardest biblical truths to understand is the concept that Jesus Christ is God, that is, that God came down to earth in the form of a man to provide us a way to salvation, and also so that we could know Him (I would strongly recommend that the reader also read the Bible Study on the “Trinity” in conjunction with reading this section to gain a better understanding of this concept of Jesus Christ being God incarnate). Apart from the doctrinal belief that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, the biblical doctrine of Jesus Christ being God is probably the most important biblical truth regarding Jesus Christ. Entire books have been written on just this one topic. The following discussion on this topic will attempt to lay out a foundational base from which the reader can gain a general understanding of this biblical truth, and hopefully will yield to the reader a base of knowledge that they may build upon. One traditional biblical approach to proving that Jesus Christ is God is to compare those attributes assigned uniquely to God to those of Jesus Christ. We will see that Scripture is very clear regarding the unique attributes of God, and how Scripture also ascribes those same attributes to Jesus Christ. The only way to reconcile this apparent dichotomy is if Jesus Christ is God. The following are five examples (and there are more than just these five) of unique attributes of God which are also ascribed specifically to Jesus Christ: A. There is only one God, but Jesus Christ is referred to as God There is only one God “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God…” (NKJ: John 17:3) “For You are great, and do wondrous things; you alone are God.” (NKJ: Psalm 86:10) “Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.” (NKJ: II Samuel 7:22) “To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 4:35) “Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 4:39) “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!…” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 6:4) “For there is one God” (NKJ: I Timothy 2:5) “And there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me.” (NKJ: Isaiah 45:21) Jesus Referred to as God “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (NKJ: Titus 2:13) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (NKJ: John 1:1-2) Thomas’ address to Jesus (note: Jesus does not correct him when he refers to Him as “God”): “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (NKJ: John 20:28) “of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.” (NKJ: Romans 9:5) “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;’” (NKJ: Hebrews 1:8) B. God is the only Savior, but Jesus Christ is our Savior God is the only Savior “And there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me.” (NKJ: Isaiah 45:21) “I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior.” 9NKJ: Isaiah 43:11) “Yet I am the LORD your God Ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me; for there is no savior besides Me.” (NKJ: Hosea 13:4) “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,…)” (NKJ: I Timothy 2:3) Jesus Christ is our Savior “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (NKJ: Titus 2:13) “To Titus, a true son in our common faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.” (NKJ: Titus 1:4) “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (NKJ: II Peter 1:1) C. We are to only worship God, but Jesus receives worship We are to Worship only God “(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)…” (NKJ: Exodus 34:14) “And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” (Revelation 19:10) “Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.’”(NKJ: Revelation 22:8-9) “Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’’” (NKJ: Matthew 4:10) Jesus Receives and Accepts Worship Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’” (NKJ: Matthew 14:33) “So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.’” (NKJ: Matthew 28:9-10) “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.” (NKJ: Phillipians 2:10-11) “But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’” (NKJ: Hebrews 1:6) D. God Created all Things, but Jesus Christ is Credited with Creating all Things God Created all Things “For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.” (NKJ: Hebrews 3:4) “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth,…” (NKJ: Isaiah 40:28) “He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.” (NKJ: Jeremiah 10:12) Jesus Created all Things “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (NKJ: John 1:3) “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (NKJ: Colossians 1:15-17) E. Both God and Jesus Christ referred to as the “Alpha and Omega” and “the first and the last” Verses referring to God: ‘I, the LORD, am the first; and with the last I am He.’” (NKJ: Isaiah 41:4) “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.” (NKJ: Isaiah 44:6) “Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.” (NKJ: Isaiah 48:12) “And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” (NKJ: Revelation 21:67) Verses Referring to Jesus Christ: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (NKJ: Revelation 1:8) “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” (NKJ: Revelation 1:11) “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” (NKJ: Revelation 1:17-18) “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: …” (NKJ: Revelation 2:8) ”I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (NKJ: Revelation 22:13) As can be seen in the previous comparisons, Jesus Christ is attributed with attributes that are also uniquely and exclusively attributed to God. Such can only be the case if Jesus Christ is God incarnate, for by no other means could Jesus Christ possess these exclusive attributes of God. One final biblical proof of the deity of Jesus Christ is the fact that He Himself said that he was God. One example of His personal profession of deity can be found in the eighth chapter of the book of John. In talking to the Pharisees regarding who He was, Jesus makes the statement, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’ (NKJ: John 8:58) which was employing the divine Old Testament title used by God of Himself, “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’” (NKJ: Exodus 3:14) Now some may say that Jesus was not referring to Himself as God with His statement, but, luckily, the Pharisees come to the rescue in clarifying the meaning of His statement. For in the next verse, John 8:59, we read that because of this statement the Pharisees picked up rocks and were ready to stone Him. Such an act by a Pharisee would only be appropriate in situations of blasphemy against God for which this statement of Jesus concerning His deity would be applicable. The importance of believing that Jesus is God may not be clear; however, it is a key biblical truth. First, it is important because it is true. Second, by not believing this fact will open the door to many heresies concerning Jesus Christ such as multi-God doctrines and doctrines where one can even become a god. 3. Jesus Christ was a “flesh and blood” Man and Experienced All the Normal Pains and Temptations that We do. Now, after reading section 2 above where we found that Jesus Christ was God incarnate, the statement that Jesus Christ was an actual “flesh and blood” man that felt all the pains of life and all the earthly temptations that we do, may at first appear to be contradictory. How can Jesus Christ be both God and man at the same time? Complete comprehension and understanding of this Biblical fact is most probably beyond our mental capabilities due to the spiritual aspects of this question; however, our inability to completely comprehend this duality of Jesus Christ, that is, being both 100% God and 100% man at the same time, should not detract from this Biblical truth. Since we ourselves have not experienced anything in the heavenly realms, we must trust in the Bible to give us these heavenly perspectives of which this duality of Jesus Christ is one. Let us first look out the Biblical proofs for the humanity of Jesus Christ, then we will discuss why His humanity is so important to us. The humanity of Jesus Christ, that is, that Jesus Christ was 100% human just like all of us, can be seen in several different ways in the Bible. First, there are Scriptures that directly speak to His humanity: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NKJ: John 1:14) “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.” (NKJ: I John 4:2-3) “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (NKJ: II John 1:7) “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (NKJ: Hebrews 4:15) “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” (NKJ: Hebrews 2:17-18) In the foregoing verses, we can see that Jesus was made of flesh and blood, suffered, and was tempted as are we. It should also be noted, referring to I John 4:2-3 and II John 1:7, that we are told any person or religious entity that states that Jesus did not come in the flesh is not of God, but of Satan. This is a harsh statement, but true nonetheless. The denial of the humanity of Jesus Christ has serious ramifications to His work here on earth and their eternal significance. The ramifications and significance will be discussed later on in this section. We can also see His humanity based on what he felt and experienced while He was here on earth. Some examples are: He was hungry – Matthew 4:2 He was thirsty – John 19:28 He wept – John 11:35 He grew weary – John 4:6 He experience love and compassion – Matthew 9:36 He was tempted – Hebrews 4:15 He felt anger – John 2:14 While here on earth, Jesus experienced all of the physical and emotional aspects of mankind. He became fully aware of all the physical and emotional trials that we experience. When we are hurting either emotionally or physically, He not only sympathizes with our pain, but he empathizes with our pain. We have a Lord can relate to everything we are feeling. What a wonderful thing it is to know that when we are reaching out to our Lord during times of trial, we have a Lord who can come up next to us, put His arm around us and say, “I know what you are feeling, I have been there, trust me and I will get you through this.” In relation to the trials and temptations that Jesus Christ experienced, it should be noted (a good friend reminded me of this point) that He never once called upon His divine powers to enable Him to overcome those trials and temptations. Instead, He experienced these things in the same way we would. From the time He came down from heaven to be born a man until He died on Cross, Jesus Christ had one and only one motivation, that is, His love for us. And His divine love for us made Him want to experience everything that we ourselves experience in our lives here in this world. And to experience trials and temptations as a man, He could not look in any way to His divine powers as an escape. For if He had used His powers in any way to assist Himself through His trials or temptations, then the writer of Hebrews could not have made the statement, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (NKJ: Hebrews 4:15) Yes, Jesus Christ was fully man in all respects. There is nothing that we experience in our lives that He also has not experienced. To say otherwise is to contradict God’s Word, and to place oneself outside of Christianity. Now let’s take a look at the importance of the humanity of Jesus Christ. The foundational importance regarding the humanity of Jesus Christ is two-fold. First, for the death of Jesus Christ to be able to atone for all our sins, He must be human just like all of us. Second, being human just like us, he is able to empathize with all our trials and suffering. Let’s take a look at each one of these points in more detail. The first point for the foundational importance of the humanity of Jesus Christ relates to the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. When Jesus Christ was placed on the Cross, He took on Himself all the sins of mankind, past, present, and future. The Biblical phrasing of this act is that He was the propitiation for our sins (cf. , that is, he atoned (paid) for our sins and reconciled us (“us” being those who accept the gift of salvation that resulted from His work on the Cross) to God, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (NKJ: I John 4:10) (cf. Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; I John 2:2) From the moment that Adam ate of the apple in the Garden of Eden, humankind took on a sin nature (Genesis 3; Romans 5:18; Corinthians 15:22). That is, we are all born with a sin nature. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. It is a biblical fact that each and every one of us is a sinner, and, on our own, cannot fellowship or be in the presence of God due to our sin nature, “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (NKJ: Romans 3:22-23) (cf. Romans 8:6-8) However, God loves us so much that he sent His Son, God incarnate, to the earth to pay for our sins on the Cross, thus, providing a way for our salvation, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (NKJ John 3:16-17) Now the importance of Jesus being an actual human, just as the rest of us, is that if he was not one of us, then he could not be our representative and make the payment for our sins. Since it is the sins of mankind for which the atonement is being made, then it must be a “member” of mankind to make the atonement. This principle is referred to as the “kinsman redeemer.” Without going into a lot of detail, this principle has its roots in the books of Leviticus and Ruth. In the book of Ruth we have a man named Boaz who redeems land for one of his relatives, that is, someone of his own tribe of Judah. Levitical law, i.e. Old Testament laws, which are specified in the book of Leviticus, stated that land which had been previously sold could be redeemed on behalf of the person who originally sold the land by a relative of that person. The qualifying factor is that it had to be a relative, that is, someone from the same tribe (cf. Leviticus 25:25, Ruth 4:3-10). Thus, for Jesus Christ to redeem for us our salvation, He must be related to us, that is, He must be human, in all respects, like us. Otherwise, He would not meet the biblical requirements for redemption. In addition, for Jesus Christ to be a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins, he must be sinless. This is another Levitical law set forth in the book of Leviticus, that is, that a sacrificial offering to God must be without blemish (Leviticus 1:3-5 & 10, 3:1, 4:3, 5:15, 23:12). As with all of the Old Testament sacrificial system, it was a foreshadowing, or looking forward, to Jesus Christ, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (NKJ Colossians 2:16-17) That is, all of the sacrificial ceremonies were symbolic of the future Messiah to come who is Jesus Christ. This requirement in the Old Testament of having the sacrifice be without blemish or defect, was looking forward to our Savior and the requirement of our Savior to be without blemish, or more applicably put, without sin. If this was not the case, then any one of us could have been placed on that Cross, and have been sacrificed for the sins of the world. Unfortunately, none of us could ever met the requirement of being sinless. It was only Jesus Christ, our Lord, who could be placed on that Cross to pay for all our sins. Jesus Christ, because of His humanity and sinless nature, was able to be our “kinsman redeemer”, and pay for our sins by His substitutionary death on the Cross. He suffered and died so that we may live. The ultimate sacrifice bringing the ultimate gift. How precious the Cross, how precious our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The redemption process for humankind can be summarized as follows: - We all, all of humankind, are sinners without exception (Romans 3:22-23.) - Because of our sin, we deserve death, that is, a spiritual death of not being in heaven and being eternally separated from God (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:14-15). - Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins on the Cross (II Corinthians 5:17; Hebrews 9:28). - Anyone can be redeemed and receive the free gift of salvation by believing in Jesus Christ and receiving Him as their Lord and Savior (John 3:16 & 36; Romans 10:13; I John 5:11-12) The redemption process is easy to understand, and even easier to receive. Have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? If not, there is no time like the present. All it takes is a simple sincere prayer, in your own words, to the Lord asking Him for foregiveness of your sins and asking Him to become the Lord and Savior of your life. That’s it. It is so simple to receive this precious eternal gift. The second point for the foundational importance for the humanity of Jesus Christ relates to His ability to empathize with all our trials and suffering in life. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, willingly came down from heaven and became a man. In doing so, he subjected Himself to all the trials, suffering and temptations that are common to mankind: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (NKJ: Hebrews 4:15) “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:17-18) As a man, Jesus Christ has felt and experienced all the trials and temptations that are common to man. As we discussed previously: He was hungry (Matthew 4:2), He was thirsty (John 19:28), He wept (John 11:35), He grew weary (John 4:6), He experienced love and compassion (Matthew 9:36), He was tempted (Hebrews 4:15), He felt anger (John 2:14). In addition, He felt the pain of being falsely accused (His trial before Pilate-Matthew 26:1-4), He suffered extreme humiliation (The mocking by the soldiers-Matthew 26:27-31 and the mocking of the crowd while He was on the Cross-Matthew 27:38-44), He experienced extreme physical pain (His six-hour crucifixion), He was undeservedly rejected by those He loved (Israel’s rejection of Jesus-Matthew 23:37), He felt the pain of losing a loved one (the death of His father-inferred from the text), and He was betrayed by a trusted friend (The betrayal by Judas Iscariot-Matthew 26:14-16). He experienced all of this and much more while He was a man here on earth. What does all this mean to us? This means that we have a Lord that we can pray to in times of trouble who can completely relate to what we are going through. He can come up beside us, put His arms around us, and say, “I know what you are going through because I have been there myself.” How awesome is that. Our Lord and Savior can completely relate to our trials and sufferings. When we come to Him in prayer for comfort, we are coming to a God who not only loves us, but who can empathize with everything we are feeling. Though He will allow some pain in our lives for our benefit (see Bible Study on “Trials” for further discussion regarding the purpose of trials in the life of a Christian), He knows the pain we are feeling, and He will carry us through all our suffering and trials, not allowing them to destroy or totally consume us. 4. Jesus Christ is our Only Communication Link to God Through a saving belief in Jesus Christ we have salvation. In addition, we have communication, through prayer, to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our mediator and communication link with God: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (NKJ: I Timothy 2:5) “It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” (NKJ: Romans 8:34) “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJ: John 14:6) It should also be noted in the previous verses that not only is Jesus Christ a means through which to communicate with God the Father, but He is the only means. When we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, we instantly obtain direct access to God the Father through Jesus Christ. We do not need, and cannot even use, another means to communicate to God, such as through other people either alive or dead. Some doctrines would have you believe that to properly speak to God in prayer, one must go through a human mediary and/or a dead righteous person. Such doctrines, as can be seen from the above verses, are contrary to Scripture and false. Jesus Christ died on the Cross to bring to us the free gift of salvation which also entitles us to direct access to God. As with salvation, to say that there is another or better way to speak directly with God would be to take away from the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. 5. Jesus Christ will never Change The person of Jesus Christ is universal and eternal, and He does not change with time or “the times.” He is eternally unchanging: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (NKJ: Hebrews 13:8) “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (NKJ: Galatians 1:8) Jesus Christ is the unchangeable foundation of Christianity (cf. I Corinthians 3:11). It should be noted that the same is true of the Holy Scriptures which are universal and eternal truths which are applicable and relevant in our lives even today. They also do not change with time or “the times” as some would like to have. Many people and religious cults have tried to redefine our Lord Jesus Christ throughout time to conform to how they would like things to be. This has never been more true than in recent years. These redefinitions of Jesus Christ are generally veiled attempts to justify sinful actions and lifestyles which are contrary to the Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Any doctrine that teaches another Jesus Christ in contrast to the Holy Bible is a false doctrine (cf. Galatians 1:8 and II Corinthians 11:4). The significance to us, as Christians, in the immutable nature of Christ, and that of the Holy Scriptures, is that we can always turn to Him and His words for direction on how we should live our lives. We never have to wonder about His relevance for today, as opposed to 2000 years ago. He is our eternal Rock, He is our eternal Foundation, and He is our eternal Truth. 6. Jesus Christ and God are Inseparable, You Can’t Have one without the Other One cannot truly believe in God unless they also believe in and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. For, according to scripture, to reject Jesus Christ is to also reject God: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (NKJ: John 3:36) “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (NKJ: I John 2:23) “that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” (NKJ: John 5:23) “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (NKJ: Matthew 10:32-33) To use an earthly analogy, let’s take a father and his son whom he dearly loves. How receptive do you believe that father would be to befriend someone who, for no valid reason, hated his son? Not very likely. Now add to this situation that the son had willingly experienced a horrificly painful death to save the life of that person. How would that father feel toward that person who hated his son after what his son had, out of love, done for that person? God’s son, Jesus Christ, who lived a sinless life allowed Himself to be crucified on a wooden cross all for His love for us. How do you think God feels about those people who reject His Son? God has made it clear that if a person rejects His Son and His Son’s work on the Cross, he is also rejecting Him, and He will have nothing to do with that person. 7. Jesus Christ is Eternal and was not Created Jesus Christ, as with God, is eternal and existed from the beginning before time even began. The was no point of creation for Jesus Christ, He is Creator and not created (see section 2.D.): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (NKJ: John 1:1-3) (Note: The passage “In the beginning was the Word” refers to eternity, that is, before time began. Before the creation, Jesus existed. He was not created by God, but existed with Him.) “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (NKJ: Colossians 1:15-17) This finds particular relevance when refuting certain false doctrines that portray Jesus Christ as being created and having a beginning. One usually finds associated with such doctrines the claim that we too can become gods which is completely contrary to biblical scriptures. 8. Jesus Christ is our Prophet, Priest and King In reading the New Testament, one will come across three distinct descriptions of Jesus Christ, that of Prophet, Priest and King. These descriptions of Christ contain much insight into the person of Jesus Christ, and have their roots reaching back into the Old Testament. Let’s take each of these one at a time: Jesus Christ as Prophet In the Old Testament, in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses predicted that God would raise up a Prophet like himself, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 18:15) Jesus Christ is then identified as that Prophet in the book of Acts, “For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” (NKJ: Acts 3:22-26) (cf. Luke 4:24; 13:33) Jesus Christ is the Prophet that was predicted to come in the Old Testament. The purpose of a prophet was to deliver God’s message to mankind, and one of the purposes of Jesus Christ coming to earth was to deliver God’s message to us (cf. John 8:26; 12:49-50; 15:15). Thus, the references to Jesus Christ as a prophet refers to one of His purposes in coming to earth as a man, that is, to proclaim God’s Word to us. Jesus Christ was always in direct contact with God the Father while He was here on earth which enabled Him to represent God to us. Jesus, being a man, is able to communicate to us who God is, and what His plans are for our lives. He was willing to leave His heavenly abode, and come down to earth as a mortal man, taking on all the trials and temptations common to man, in order to bring God’s Word and love directly to us. To us in a way that He knew we would understand. What love He has for us. Jesus Christ as High Priest The role of the High Priest in the Old Testament times was to represent the people before God. This was necessary since the sinful nature of mankind created a giant chasm between them and God. God is a righteous God, and, therefore, could not fellowship with sinful mankind. However, God provided a means by which mankind could communicate with Him by setting up a mediator, that is, the position of the High Priest. Through ceremonial cleansing and sacrificial offerings, the High Priest was allowed to come before God in behalf of the people. These sacrificial offerings made by the High Priest were symbolic of the future offering that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would make on the Cross by His death. However, the offerings by the High Priest represented only a temporary covering of our sins; whereas, the offering that Jesus Christ made for us on the Cross is once and for all, and eternally lasting. When Jesus Christ died on the Cross, He took on all the sins of mankind, past, present, and future. Through the shedding of His blood, mankind was given the opportunity to receive the free gift of salvation. With this gift, we would have direct fellowship with God through our High Priest, Jesus Christ. His death not only gave us the eternal gift of salvation, but also gave us a direct communication link with the God of the universe. Jesus Christ as King It was prophesied in the Old Testament, and confirmed by Jesus Christ Himself in the New Testament that He would one day rule on the throne of David: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (NKJ: Isaiah 9:6-7) “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (NKJ: Luke 1:31-33) “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! The King of Israel!’ Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.’” (NKJ: John 12:13) Jesus Christ will rule on earth when He returns again to this world to once and for all take possession of His creation (cf. Revelation 20:4). However, even now, for Christians, Jesus Christ is our King. The position of a King is to rule over his people. His word is law, and the people are to follow his every command. They are to ultimately look to their king for all their needs. Whatever he commands is to be followed without question. A good king was to rule righteously, and to care for those within his kingdom. And so it is with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is our King. We are to submit our lives to Him in obedience, we are to look to Him to meet all our needs, and we are to look to Him for guidance in our lives. And how blessed we are to have such a King. One who loves us (cf. Romans 5:8, 8:35-39; Ephesians 5:2,25), who is fair and righteous (cf. 1 John 2:1,3:7), who knows and will meet all our needs (cf. Matthew 6:8; Acts 15:8; Romans 8:27), and who will never leave us or forsake us (cf. Hebrews 13:5). To summarize, Jesus Christ is our Prophet proclaiming God’s Word to us, Jesus Christ is our High Priest representing us before God, and Jesus Christ is our King to rule in our lives. 9. Jesus Christ: Son of Man and Son of God Much in the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we have reference to Jesus Christ as both “Son of Man” and “Son of God.” Entire books have been written on just these two references to Jesus Christ. But for our purposes in this study, we can summarize and simplify their meanings. Reference to Jesus Christ as “Son of Man” refers to His humanity in that He came down from Heaven and was born as flesh and blood, identical to us. He possessed all the attributes of a human including all the physical and emotional frailties. He was 100% a human being. He experienced all the pains, frustrations, and temptations that we do, with one difference, He did not sin by yielding to trials and temptations (cf. Hebrews 2:17-18, 4:15). He was a flesh and blood person just as we are, and, as such, can empathize with all our troubles and trials. Reference to Jesus Christ as “Son of God” refers to His divinity, that is, He was God. Jesus Christ retained His divine nature as exemplified with His performing of miracles and supernatural knowledge. He was 100% God. Now here is the quandary, how can Jesus Christ be 100% man and at the same time be 100% God? This we will never be able to fully comprehend until we are up in Heaven with Him. But we can take comfort in its truth for the Bible tells us so. 10. The Purpose for Jesus Christ Coming Into This World Jesus Christ, as discussed in section I, came into this world to provide us a way for salvation, that is, to sacrifice Himself on the Cross for all our sins that whoever would believe on Him would inherit eternal life in Heaven. This was His primary purpose. However, there are some additional purposes for His coming that relate to His primary purpose. To close this study, let’s take a look at some of these: A. Jesus Came To confirm God’s Promises In the Old Testament, we read of many promises that God made to Israel regarding the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one who would be their Savior, which we now know as Jesus Christ, “Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers…” (NKJ Romans 15:8). Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises of a Savior for Israel and the world. (Note: Israel rejected Christ during His first coming, by which He then turned His attention to the Gentiles, but will accept Him as their true Messiah when He returns to earth a second time). Following are several of those promises: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel”(NKJ Isaiah 7:14) “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And is name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (NKJ Isaiah 9:6) “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” (NKJ Micah 5:2) God’s Word is Truth, and we can always rely on it. His promises and future revelations will always be fulfilled without exception. God’s Word will never let us down. B. To reveal the Father God, in his heavenly state, is unknowable to us since our only frame of reference is based on our earthly experiences. But God wants us to know Him, and by sending His Son Jesus Christ to earth, He is able to present Himself to us in a way that we can comprehend, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (NKJ John 14:9). I remember a story I once heard regarding a little bird and a farmer. The story goes that there was a family that lived on a farm consisting of a farmer, his wife, and two children. Now the wife and the children were saved, but the farmer was not. The farmer’s battle cry, every time his wife would try to speak with him regarding the Bible and Jesus Christ was, “Why would a supposed all powerful God come down from heaven and be a man. You can’t make any sense of such a silly notion.” Now, each Wednesday night the local church would have a midweek service in which the wife and children would always attend. One Wednesday night, when his wife and children had left for church, the farmer was sitting in his favorite chair by a roaring fire, for it was Winter and very cold outside. All of a sudden, a little bird appeared at the window, attracted by the light of the fire, and was trying to come into the house through the closed window. The farmer, from inside the house, tried to shoo the bird off, but it was so cold outside, and the light from the fire was so inviting, that the bird just continued to try and enter through the pane of glass. Finally, the farmer, being sensitive to the birds predicament, went outside to the barn, opened the barn door and lit a lantern to try and attract the bird into the warm barn. But the bird did not even notice, and kept on his quest to enter the house. The farmer even tried to scare the bird away from the window and towards the barn, but the bird, now being both cold and frightened, tried even harder to get to the fire inside to the point where it was now beginning to injure itself against the glass. The farmer, out of frustration, began to yell at the bird, “Can’t you understand that I care about you and I am just trying to help you be warm and safe. If I was a bird like you, you would understand what I am trying to do for you.” As his words came out of his mouth, it hit him. This is why Jesus Christ came down to earth. God could not directly communicate with us in a way we could understand while in His heavenly state. But by becoming a man He would be able to communicate to us in a way that we would understand. The farmer, after finally coaxing the bird into the barn, grabbed his hat and coat, and set out to join his family. God’s desire is for us to intimately know Him. By coming down to earth in the form of a man, He was able to present Himself to us in a way we could understand. That is how much He loves us and desires to fellowship with us. C. Jesus Christ Came To become a Faithful High Priest A High Priest represents the people before God, “For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.” (NKJ Hebrews 5:1-2) Jesus Christ came to earth to be our ultimate High Priest before God, “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” (NKJ Hebrews 2:17-18) He is not only able to present us before God as sinless, based on His work on the Cross, but He is also able to empathize with the frustration, pain and suffering that we go through due to the fact that He Himself took on a body of flesh (cf. John 1:14), just like ours, which enabled Him to experience everything that we go through in life, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (NKJ Hebrews 4:15) D. Jesus Christ Came To Put Away Sins From the first bite of the apple in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), sin entered the world and mankind was destined to be under its curse. Mankind was in bondage to sin, and could not throw off its yoke by itself. But through Jesus Christ, and His work on the Cross, a way was provided to man to throw off the yoke of sin, “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (NKJ: Romans 6:6) Through His work on the Cross, the power of sin was done away with for those who trust in Him: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (NKJ II Corinthians 5:21) “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” (NKJ Hebrews 2:9) Now this does not mean that sin has disappeared. Unfortunately, we will continually have to be on our guard against sin while we are here on earth residing in our earthly bodies. But Jesus has provided us a way to combat sin, and to overcome it when we trust in Him, and come to Him for strength. As Christians, we will never be without sin (cf. I John 1:8,10), but we will also never be completely controlled by it. E. To Destroy the Works of the Devil All sin has Satan at its root. He is the temptor of man (cf. Matthew 4:3, I Thessalonians 3:5), and the source of all evil things. His works are for evil and with the purpose of destroying mankind for eternity. But Jesus Christ has come to defeat our common enemy, and release us from his hold: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (NKJ Hebrews 2:14) “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (NKJ I John 3:8) Through Jesus Christ we, as Christians, have ultimate victory over Satan, and our eternity is secure. F. To Give Us an Example of a Holy Life We live in a world that is drifting farther and farther away God and Jesus Christ. Good and evil, right and wrong, are quickly becoming only relative terms based on each individuals own value system. However, the Bible teaches that right and wrong are not relative terms, but are absolute terms. Through God’s Word and the example that Jesus Christ set for us, we have a clear and perfect pattern for how we are to live our lives: “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:” (NKJ I Peter 2:21) “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (NKJ: I John 2:6) Society and cultural norms may change, but the example that Jesus Christ left us on how we should live our lives and His words of instruction to us will never change and will always be a light for us to follow in this otherwise dark world.