Jesus Christ

  1. Who is Jesus?
  2. How do I know Jesus was really God?
  3. Are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the same “person”?

Who is Jesus?

  • God manifested in the flesh
  • Born between 8-4 B.C. in Bethlehem, Judea (Palestine)
  • Died on a cross, at Golgotha (“Place of a Skull” = calvaria, Latin, or Calvary)
  • Resurrected on the third day. Appeared to His disciples, including to over five hundred of them at once (1 Cor 15:6)
  • Jesus = Yesu, Greek for Yashua (Hebrew), “the Lord saves”
  • Christ = Christos, Greek for Messiah, “Anointed One”, a title

In His brief thirty-three years on this earth, Jesus Christ did work that no one had ever witnessed before:

He walked on water. He calmed the storm. He healed the blind, lame, and sick. He fed thousands with five loaves and two fish. He even raised the dead to life.

He lived not among the pious, powerful elite, but with the downtrodden, the sick, and the sinful. He experienced the same needs and trials we face: hunger, thirst, fatigue, temptation, grief, and rejection.

He was flesh and blood, but Jesus’ whole life was also a concrete expression of God. He welcomed children into His arms. He got angry with people doing business in a temple of worship. He saved the lives of those on whom society had turned its back. He showed love and compassion up to the end of His life. Hanging on the cross, He prayed for His tormentors, made sure that His mother would be cared for, and comforted the criminal hanging beside Him.

Jesus Christ was not just someone born at a point in history. He was more than just a great spiritual leader. He taught people about the kingdom of God and how to enter it: through Him.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” He said (Jn 14:6). He is the light, the door, and our Shepherd.

If we have seen Him, we have seen the Father, God. “Believe in Me,” He said, “and you will never die.”

Why? Because Jesus Christ is the living, everlasting God. Jesus has the power to forgive sins, to heal, and to condemn. He has command over the spirits, the forces of nature, over life and death. “Before Abraham was, I AM,” He said (Jn 8:58). He is the Creator, present since the beginning. He is also the judge before whom all souls must stand on the last day.

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How do I know Jesus was really God?

He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies

Hundreds of years before He was born, different writers prophesied about the Messiah’s coming, His mission, and His life. Isaiah proclaimed that He would be called “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). Jesus’ life fulfilled these Messianic prophecies one by one:

He performed divine wonders

The many signs and wonders Jesus performed were proof to an otherwise unbelieving people (Jn 4:48) that Jesus came from God and was the prophesied Messiah (Isa 35:5-6). Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews who came to believe, said to Jesus: “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (Jn 3:2).

He resurrected

“Destroy this temple,” Jesus said, referring to His body, “And in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19). Jesus resurrected on the third day after He was crucified and buried. He appeared to His disciples several times, showing them His wounds and eating with them to show that He had indeed resurrected. It was the first time in history that such an event had occurred. No other religion can make the same claim.

He gives us the Holy Spirit

Jesus promised His disciples that when He went away, He would send the Helper to guide them (Jn 16:7). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit proves that Jesus returned to the Father and sent down the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33). Today, we also can receive the Holy Spirit because Jesus fulfills His promise to us. You can see the evidence in believers who, when they receive the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues as the apostles did (Acts 2:4). Some even are healed of their illnesses.

His followers bear witness

Given the Jews’ strict monotheism, it isn’t likely that any would so easily believe the “myth” that the man, Jesus, was also Lord. Yet even the Jewish rulers—including someone as well educated as Nicodemus—came to believe in Jesus (Jn 12:42).

When Jesus was arrested, His followers scattered and went into hiding. Peter denied Jesus three times to avoid any trouble with the authorities. Yet within a few months after His death and burial, Peter and the other disciples fearlessly preached Jesus and His resurrection. They did so before the same people that had sentenced Jesus to death. Even the authorities marveled at their boldness (Acts 4:13).

The apostles persisted in preaching the gospel despite being threatened, beaten, imprisoned, and stoned. This dramatic change in them, and their persistence despite extraordinary pressure to stop, testify to the truth of their claims. They said to the council of rulers that threatened them, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

He answers prayers

The work of Jesus continues today. Jesus answers the prayers of those who earnestly seek Him. In His name, addictions are conquered, diseases are cured and lives are transformed. These testify to the power, authority, and eternal words of a living Lord.

Read more on the topic of the One True God.

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Are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the same “person”?

It is misleading to apply the word “person” to God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God and one Spirit, and the Spirit of the Son is also the Spirit of the Father and the Holy Spirit based on the following reasons:

  1. There is only one God, and Scripture does not say that the Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit.
  2. The fullness of God is found in Christ (Col 1:19, 2:9). The Lord Jesus also said that the Father was in Him (Jn 10:38, 14:10, 11).
  3. Jesus Christ, the Son of God is identified with the Father (Isa 9:6; Jn 10:30, 14:9).
  4. The Lord Jesus indirectly identified Himself as the Holy Spirit. When referring to the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus said, “I will come to you” (Jn 14:18) and “a little while, and you will see Me” (Jn 16:17).
  5. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7; Rom 8:9; Gal 4:6; Phil 1:19; 1 Pet 1:11). The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of the Father (Mt 10:20), the Spirit of God (Mt 3:16; Rom 8:9, 8:13, 14; 1 Cor 2:11, 3:16, 6:11, 12:3; Phil 3:3; 1 Jn 4:13, 3:24), or the Holy Spirit of God (Eph 4:30; 1 Thess 4:8). So the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son and the Spirit of the Father.
  6. The work of Jesus is often attributed to the Father or the Spirit, and vice versa:
    1. The Holy Spirit that lives in believers is also called the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9-11).
    2. The resurrection of Jesus Christ by the Father (Gal 1:1) is also done by Christ Himself (Jn 2:19).
    3. Jesus answers prayers (Jn 14:14) and the Father answers prayers (Jn 15:16).
    4. The Holy Spirit will speak for the believers (Mk 13:11), and this Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father (Mt 10:20) and Jesus Himself (Lk 21:15).

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