New believers

I can't say who Jesus is to everyone because many people see things differently. However, the truth is the truth no matter how you try to slice it. I'll start by saying who He is to me, then I will also show what scripture says about who Jesus is. Jesus Christ is the very reason I'm alive today. I never knew how dead I was inside until He saved me. I went from one bad decision to another for a lot of my adult life, and several of those decisions I should have never come back from. In hindsight, it was the love of God that kept me safe because I could have died in my sins MANY times before I knew Him. Just thinking about that makes me start tearing up because my soul could have been eternally punished in the Hell fire. So I wake up EVERY DAY and thank the Lord He has blessed me with another day and continues to give me that unearned favor called grace. Once I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior, my life took a dramatic turn for the better. So many small little miracles would happen to me even to this very day! It's hard to explain, but you know what's happening even when you don't notice it at first. There have been questions I asked God, and the next thing you know, the question would get answered in a video I randomly clicked on or in a conversation at the grocery store that I overheard while passing by. I had miracles happen with people who I have shared the Gospel of Christ Jesus with, and they were even amazed to see what the Lord had done. I have countless stories and experiences. However, the question is "Who is Jesus?" and He is EVERYTHING and more, if that makes sense. To me He is the very reason I wake up in the morning without panic attacks anymore. He is my provider, my shield, my rock, my hope, my peace, my patience, my joy, my purpose, my confidence, my Hero, my Lord, my Master, my Teacher, my Rabbi, my King, my Brother, my Friend, and my GOD. Scripture says who Jesus is in many passages. And let's answer these questions one at a time with scripture: 1. What does "the Christ" mean? Is it His last name? Christ in Greek is the word Christos, which means the "anointed one," and the Jewish equivalent for Christ is "Messiah." Christ is a title rather than a last name, as pointed out in John 1:41 (KJV): "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ." 2. What does it mean that He is "the Son of the living God"? All through the Gospel, Jesus and His disciples state He is the Son of God. One of the most inspiring experiences of this was witnessed by John the Baptist in Galilee when he baptized Jesus Christ in the Jordan river. Matthew 3:16-17 reads: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." That statement came from God the Father saying and witnessing to everyone that Jesus Christ IS the Son of God. 3. Was Jesus just a good teacher and prophet, or is He God? This is a really good question and it hits on what people in that time thought about who Jesus was. God loved His people so much that when they transgressed against Him, He would always send a messenger to give His people a chance to turn from whatever wicked ways they were into at the time. Sometimes He sent prophets, and sometimes He would give dreams and visions to the people, but these were not the only ways God would warn His chosen people. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes at the time had foreknowledge of who Jesus was because of the fact they were the teachers of the (Torah), which had the prophecies of when the “Messiah” would come. Those prophecies were in the first five books of the Old Testament and were called the Law of Moses, which the religious teachers at that time taught from. These five books were Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. So here are a few scriptures looking at who Jesus was and how the leaders thought of Him at that time:

• Matthew 12:24 (KJV): “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.”
• John 10:33 (KJV): “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”
• Matthew 26:63 (KJV): “But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.”
• Matthew 27:18 (KJV): “For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.”
• John 11:47-48 (KJV): “Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away our place and nation.”
• John 12:37 (KJV): “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:”
• Luke 11:52 (KJV): “Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.”

Prophecies in the Torah about Jesus:

• Genesis 3:15 (KJV): "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
• Genesis 49:10 (KJV): "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."
• Deuteronomy 18:15 (KJV): "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;"

Who Jesus says He is:

• Matthew 26:63-64 (KJV): "But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."
• John 14:6 (KJV): "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
• John 8:12 (KJV): "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
• John 10:36 (KJV): "Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?"

Who others said Jesus was including the demons he cast out:

• Matthew 16:15-17 (KJV): "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."
• Mark 3:11 (KJV): "And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God."
• Mark 1:24 (KJV): "Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God."

The scriptures are clear on how the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Torah teachers thought about Jesus Christ, also called by the locals in that time Yeshua the Messiah. Jesus even made a case that if they believed Moses, which they did, then He was the proof with this scripture: John 5:46 (KJV): "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me." So to answer the question, "Was Jesus just a good teacher and prophet, or is He God?" Scripture tells us He was all of the above and more! Scripture points out these historical facts, chapter after chapter and verse after verse. 4. John 1:14 says "And the Word was made flesh." How can He be God and a man at the same time? This stumped me when I first started my walk with Jesus, and it took a while to sink in because I was thinking from a limited human understanding and always trying to put the all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipotent, omnipresent, and creator of all things into my tiny box called my mind. My feeble understanding and ignorance mirrored Job's story. In Job's ignorance, he ended up getting absolutely destroyed by God for almost 2 chapters (70+ verses) with a SERIOUS verbal lashing that made Job humble himself! Here are a few verses to check out to see why Job shut his mouth: Job 38:1-7. These are just a few questions and statements The Almighty had for Job. Quite frankly, I had never seen anything like it in all of scripture, and it was very humbling! However, I digress. John 1:1 starts the conversation on the very foundation on how Jesus Christ can be fully man and fully God at the same time, which says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Wrap your mind around that for a second. It actually sounds like God is saying the Word is alive. The reason I say that is because John says the Word was "with" God. That is an interesting way to say that, and why would John say it that way? It's almost like the "Word" is a friend hanging out with God while being God at the same time! The word "with" is the clue. Using it in a sentence may give more insight. Example: I am having Bible study "with" my wife. Keep the phrasing "and the Word was with God" in mind for the next few scriptures. John 1:9-14 starts to lay out the deity and the coming of Christ. After all, John was born about 6 months before Jesus to prepare the way, which is in John 1:23 (KJV): "He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias." Now, remember when I asked you to keep the next few scriptures in mind about the phrase "and the Word was with God"? John 1:14 says, "And the Word was made 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." Did you see it? The WORD was made FLESH, and dwelt among us. Now, to the crux of the question: How can Jesus be God and a man at the same time? Read these scriptures for yourself and meditate on them:

• Colossians 2:9 (KJV): "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
• Philippians 2:6-7 (KJV): "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:"

It's extremely humbling that the creator of ALL existence and EVERYTHING in it would lower Himself to our level. Not only did He lower Himself, but He lived AMONG us! You're not ready for this, so let's break it down. He started His life in the womb of Mary, who had to be highly favored (Luke 1:28, Luke 1:42) when so many other women walked the Earth! She birthed God in the flesh! Jesus was in the womb for a full term of 9-10 months. He was born like you and me, but let's make one thing clear: Mary was a virgin, and the Holy Spirit came upon her; then she was pregnant. All mothers understand what comes with having a child, although Jesus was very different in the way He was God in the Flesh, and He was born without sin (Hebrews 4:15) and lived a perfect, sinless life. However, He still needed to be protected (Yes, legions of angels were always around to pounce on anybody or anything stupid enough to find out) and raised. That meant diapers, baths, nursing, schooling, and growing up in general. He had a full life of experiences like you and me, and He did it all without sin. He lived in a community and had friends who He played with. I'm sure He had chores around the house and many other responsibilities. I can't show you scripture on this, but what I can say is that this is one of the most overlooked things Jesus Christ went through, in my opinion. 5. Why does it matter who Jesus is for my salvation? If you have lived life long enough, you will understand that there is structure in all things God created. Meaning, there are rules to everything, like the law of gravity, for example. If you jump off the roof of your house onto the lawn, then you might be spending a few days at your local hospital. Well, you knew about the law of gravity but chose to jump anyway, hurting yourself and ending up in the hospital. Well, that is a consequence of breaking the law of gravity. What does the law of gravity have to do with Jesus and my salvation? Well, before Moses, there were no laws except people knew not to jump off mountains. So, if there were no laws, then can you imagine all the wicked and terrible desires people had and the things they were doing to and with each other? We know how much God hates sin. So, God chose a righteous Hebrew man named Moses to write the 10 commandments. The 10 commandments are as follows:

1. Exodus 20:3: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
2. Exodus 20:4: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:"
3. Exodus 20:7: "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."
4. Exodus 20:8: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."
5. Exodus 20:12: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that they may be long upon the earth which the LORD thy God giveth thee."
6. Exodus 20:13: "Thou shalt not kill."
7. Exodus 20:14: "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
8. Exodus 20:15: "Thou shalt not steal."
9. Exodus 20:16: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."
10. Exodus 20:17: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's."

If God had Moses write the laws down on a stone tablet for all to see, then there must have been some really evil things going on. Unfortunately, people kept breaking the laws, which we call sinning. It is a sin to break any of the 10 commandments, and in order for us to be right with God, an offering or a sacrifice had to be made to cover that sin, because the wages of sin is death, which is stated in Romans 6:23 (KJV): "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." In those times they had to sacrifice animals to cover a sin, but the sacrifice wasn't sufficient because the sin was covered, not completely gone. So no matter how many animals you sacrificed, we were still not fully right with God, as stated in Hebrews 10:4 (KJV): "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Also in Hebrews 10:1-2 (KJV): "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins." So, why does it matter who Jesus is for my salvation? Without Jesus sacrificing Himself, we would have to pay for our sins ourselves, and the wages of sin is death. Jesus pays that cost for us and gives us a new life through Him, as that is the only way to the Father through Him. John 14:6 (KJV): "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Without Him, we are separated from the Father, and that means we never see or meet the Father. That is a one-way trip to Hades, the place of the dead, and then later to The Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:14-15 (KJV): "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." But we can have eternal life through Jesus Christ by earnestly repenting for our sins, believing that Jesus was crucified, died, and rose again on the third day for the remission of our sins! Acts 2:38 (KJV): "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

This is a thoughtful question, because it reminds me that we all learn differently. I started from the beginning, Genesis, and continued through Revelation. I wanted to get the full picture — the HOW unfolded as I read. Reading in canonical order means nothing gets referenced before I read it at least once. However, someone else may want to start with the WHY. John, or The Gospel According to Saint John, answers the WHY question. John 20:31: “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Additionally, this book is where beginners can read the word of our Lord Jesus Christ while getting to learn his character, and deepen their relationship with Him.