Jesus is one of the most controversial figures in history, but if you are seeking the truth, you must come to personally know who Jesus is. To clearly understand Him, we must recognize that He is fully God and totally man at the same time and in the same person. When Christ became man through the miracle of the virgin birth, His divine nature joined together with his human nature so that He possessed two distinct natures yet He was One Person, the Only begotten Son
of God! Jesus is therefore God manifest in the flesh. Romans 1:3,4 states: “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh: and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
In His humanity, Jesus is without sin and completely holy (1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5). He was born, He grew (Luke 2:52) and He experienced thirst, hunger, and tiredness (Matthew 4:2). He showed great human emotion: anger (Mark 3:5), sorrow (John 1:35), compassion (Matthew 9:36), and great anguish of soul (Luke 22:44). Finally, he died. All these show His perfect human nature.
Jesus is also fully God for these three reasons. First, Jesus is called God. In Hebrews 1:8, the Father calls His Son, God! “But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom.” Jesus is “the true God, and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). Jesus claimed equality with God when he said “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Secondly, Jesus performs the work of God. He is the Eternal Creator of all things (John 1:1). He controls nature (Matthew 8:26), raises the dead (John 11:25,26), and forgives sin (Mark 2:10). It is God who says, “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions” (Isaiah 43:25), and Jesus assumes this divine power.
Thirdly, Jesus possesses the attributes of God. He claimed eternal self-existence when he said, “Before Abraham was, I Am” (John 8:58).This is the same term that God used about Himself when he spoke to Moses from the burning bush. Jesus is immutable, or changeless, for He is “the same, yesterday, today, and
forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus declared His omnipotence when He said “all power is given unto me.” He asserted His omnipresence in Matthew 18:20 by saying, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Jesus received and approved of others worshipping Him (Matthew 14:33). All these attributes belong only to God which is why Jesus could say, “I and my Father are One” (John 10:30).
In Luke 18:31-33, Jesus made the most astounding prediction of all time. He prophesied that He would be put to death, but on the third day he would rise again. The entire New Testament verifies this over and over again. Jesus fulfilled His prophetic statement, something only God could do, and today, He is risen indeed!
C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity made this profound observation: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic … or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
Jesus is Lord so call on Him to save you today: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I believe You are God in the flesh and that You died on the cross for my sins and rose again the third day. I confess that I am a sinner. I repent of my unbelief and trust Your righteousness and shed blood to save me from death in hell. I trust only in You to save me, forgive me, and bring me to heaven. Help me now to live my life for You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
