Who is Jesus

WHO IS JESUS???


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Hebrews 1:1-4 – “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”  NASU

 

In John 1:1-5 we read, “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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”  That was the apostle John’s description and definition of Jesus and here in Hebrews the writer echoes the same thing with a direct application to you and me in who we are, our hope, and our manner of life.

The Bible reveals from Genesis to Revelation that God is a speaking God!  He talks, He speaks, He uses words to convey His message, ministry, and purpose.  The writer of Hebrews addressed the truth that God had used the prophets of ages past to speak to man and reveal His plan and purposes.  He then reminds everyone that, in that present time the Last Days, God was speaking again through Jesus.  But, who was Jesus?  To many of that day, He was merely a carpenter’s son, a Jew, and some even recognized Him as a prophet but not all recognized Him as the Son of God and Messiah.  Yet, if His message is to resonate and have transforming power in our lives we must recognize and receive Him as Messiah, the only begotten Son of God, and Savior of the World.

The Book of  Hebrews declares that this Jesus was appointed by the Father as ‘heir of all things’ and ‘creator of the world.’  He is described as the Light or the Radiance of God’s Glory and the exact representation of the Father in His nature.  He is the giver and sustainer of life and ‘upholds all things by the Word of His Power’.  Notice it did not say the Power of His Words but the Word of His Power!  He is more than Words!  He came for the purpose to seek and save mankind, to provide Himself as a sinless sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and redeem mankind from the ownership of the devil.  Once He completed that task of purification He sat down at the right hand of the Father and was Lord of All.

Romans 14:11 quotes Isaiah 45 and declares of Jesus, “…every knee shall bow… and every tongue shall praise God.”  Philippians 2:10 refers to that same prophetic utterance and says of Jesus that He has a name exalted above all names and that one day at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW and EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS that He is Lord!  Isaiah 9:6 identifies Him as the coming one upon whom the government of God will rest and His name will declare God’s Glory.  He is Emmanuel.  Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  Who is Jesus?  He is the sinless Son of God who came and gave His life a ransom for you and me.  He is Messiah! 

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  He invites us to COME, CALL UPON HIM, and ENTER INTO THE NEW BIRTH through repentance, confession of sin, by grace through faith and become New Creations transformed from darkness into His marvelous light.  We are invited to depart from a life of sin and enter into a life of righteousness and enjoy the peace that the world cannot give and cannot take away.  We are invited to ABUNDANT LIFE and in that ETERNAL LIFE in and through Jesus.

Who is Jesus?  He is the Savior waiting for you to call.  Who is Jesus?  He is the healer waiting to restore you to health.  Who is Jesus?  He is your provider wanting to open heaven’s windows for you and pour out blessings beyond your ability to contain.  Who is Jesus?  He is the one who loves you enough to die for your sins.  Who is Jesus?  He is Savior.  Your savior and my savior.  He is the Light of the World.  He is JESUS!

God, bless you as you embark on today’s leg of life’s journey in Jesus!

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GOD? What Do You Want From Me? [Part 2]


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1 John 4:7-11 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”  NKJV

 

             Imagine a God who is Omniscient (all knowing) who does not like us.  That is a horrific thought, right?  Most of us have or have had a secret(s) that we were ashamed to confess even to our closest friends but God KNOWS everything about us and knows our thoughts even before we think them.  The terror that would accompany the thought that God who knows all about us and does not even like us would drive us suicidal.  He would be an infinite monster!

The Bible never says:  God HAS Power or Love it says HE IS!  Love is not something apart from Him it is WHO HE IS.  But what is Love?  What is Love as it is spoken of here in this passage?  Love, in the English language has become almost a worthless word for we apply it to so many things and give it some many shades of meaning.  What do we think of when we say or hear Love?

Let me suggest a possibility:  It means that we reach out to someone we can reasonably count on that is in our class.  Before you get self-righteous and pious, that is exactly what most of us do much of the time if not all the time.  In European history when a member of a royal family fell in love with a commoner they were fired.  If the king fell for a commoner and married them he would be required to give up his throne.  Likewise when we humans fall in love we tend to keep within our self-imposed boundaries.  Naturally we do not talk about it and possibly refuse to admit it but we do it.

When we say LOVE what do we mean?  If I love a person I am acknowledging that person calls forth my highest admiration and when I look at them I admire them.  We are so captivated by them that when we talk about them they are elevated to a level of worship in our eyes and minds.  We adore them!  Likewise when we LOVE someone it means they answer to what I feel is beauty (eye of the beholder).  Beauty is something that happens in our heads and that is what we usually understand to be love.

But when it comes to God and the Bible declares:  “God is Love” many assume that God is Love in the same way we love.  Virtually every religion in existence has a concept of God based on human love.  However, if God loves like we love how would that work out?  Think with me through some problems with that concept:

  • He cannot find anyone in His Class so immediately we are eliminated. If he were to get friendly with us he would be fired as being God so we are out in the cold.
  • He cannot find anyone in harmony with Him (before salvation) so our disharmony disqualifies us. He is love and holiness and we are selfish and have no plans to change (before salvation).
  • He cannot find any human that would elicit in Him a sense that says about us, ‘That is the best person I know’ for our righteousness are as filthy rags and there is none good (before salvation).

         The dilemma for us is that if God loves like we love we are TOAST!  It is over! We are without hope and hopeless lost forever!   I heard a most appropriate illustration that explains this beautifully:

A missionary went to a witch-doctor and said:  “You preach to me. I come to you with a problem. How would you tell me to reach the Most High God?  I know you have many gods, but I want to reach the Big One, the Most High God.”  The witch-doctor said: “First, you have a big problem, because the Most High God is not interested in you for you are not good enough for him.”  That’s where their religion begins!  Sadly, we have heard the same thing in much more sophisticated terms in church.  We have been told, in so many ways, that we are not good enough for God and He is not interested.

When the Bible says:  God is Love it means that He does not reach out to someone in His class but reaches out to Whosoever Will or reaches down to mankind.  Human love reaches up but God’s love reaches down.  God loves the lost, hopeless, messed up, twisted, distorted, bent, wicked, evil and sinful man and offers LIFE, LOVE and LIBERTY through Jesus!  That is the Gospel message.  What does God want from us?  He wants to dwell in us and with us and manifest Himself through us!

God bless you as you go through this day!

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TWO VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS….


Spiritual Blog - Who Do You Say

Luke 9:18-21 – “And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?”  19 They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” 20 And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”  NASU

 

I have found that some people base their entire lives on what others say.  Their beliefs, self-evaluation and actions are contingent upon what others say.  Some belong to a particular political party based on what those they want to impress say.  Some pursue vocations based on what others say.  Some date and marry particular individuals because of what others say.  Rather than thinking for themselves they allow the ‘opinions of others’ to shape their destiny.

Jesus asked the disciples two questions in this passage.  One had to do with what ‘others say’ or ‘think’ and the second was in direct contrast to the opinions of others and made personal.  He asked, “Who do the people say that I am?”  The answers were varied and then He made it personal asking, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simply, “Men, I really am not concerned with what the masses say I want to know what you think.  You have been with me observing me and hearing me so WHO do you believe that I am?”  That is the critical question in our spiritual walk.  WHO IS GOD to us?

One can go to seminary and hear what men of the ages have declared about God, learn what the professors think about God but the bottom line will always be WHO IS HE TO YOU!  When Jesus asked that question impetuous Peter got it right.  Peter blurted out, ‘The Christ of God!’  You are Messiah the Coming one!  You are the one with the words of life.  You are He whom we have been looking for.

Once you move beyond what the preacher, parents, friends, politicians, or the public thinks, believes or says to what is in your heart you are in a position to develop a personal relationship with Him.  I heard someone say once, “If everyone or no one believes in God I do and will.”  Jesus is a personal savior to me.  He met me at the kitchen table on a Saturday night or Sunday morning just after midnight in Palestine, Texas and lifted the load of guilt from my life.  It was not what my parents said about Him, the preacher preached about Him, my friends thought about Him – I EXPERIENCED HIM.  I could not answer all the questions that people, my mind or the devil hurled at me but I KNEW that my sins were gone and I was a new creation.  It was not what others said but what I experienced that transformed me.

So, the question is not how I can prove God to the world but God has proved Himself in my heart.  I prove Him by manifesting Him in my transformed life.  I can use all the persuasive argument, rational reason, logical deduction, biblical, scientific and historic proof that I can muster and it will not compare with the fact that, in my heart, I KNOW He is THE CHRIST OF GOD!  I may have doubts and fears, my eyes may fill with tears but Jesus is a friend that is with me day and night.  He never leaves.  He never forsakes.  He never fails.  I am not concerned with the answer to the first question but my life is anchored to the second.  “Who do you say that I am?”  You are Messiah!

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

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