WHO IS JESUS?

First published on the Sutherlinsda website 2006, and used here with permission.

http://sutherlinsda.org

An encyclopedia will tell us that Jesus was a prophet of the first century of our era, and to Christians He is the Son of God, a person who is both God and man, the Messiah sent by God to save the human race from the sin it inherited through the fall of man.

But it is in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, that we are able to really discover who Jesus is.  We can read the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, and therein find Jesus, who was prophesied about in the Old Testament and Affirmed in the New Testament.  We find Him particularly in the four Gospels written by his followers and disciples.

In John+17:3  we read that "This is life eternal, that we might know You, the true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."  Turning to the first chapter of John, we see Jesus, called the Word, existing in the beginning with God, and He was God.  We note that He was life, and the light of men.  We see that when He came to earth, He was not accepted by His own people, the Jewish nation, but that as many as did accept Him; He gave them power to become the children of God.  He actually came here and lived among His fellow men, and the writer testifies that "We beheld His glory, full of grace and truth."

Beginning in Genesis one, we see God, written in the plural in Hebrew, creating all things, and saying "Let us make man in our image and after our likeness".  In John+1:3  we read that "all things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."    Turning to the book of  Colossians+1:15   and onward, we find again that Jesus is the express image of God, that He is the creator of everything, that He is before all things, and that in Him all things hold together.  The same chapter tells us that He rescues us from darkness and brings us into His kingdom.  It is He who is responsible for our redemption and the forgiveness of our sins. 

Throughout His ministry, He affirmed that He and His Father are one, as for example, John+14:9  and onward, John+17:11 and onward, and throughout the New Testament.

Back in the Old Testament, we see the prophecy of where He would be born, in Micah+5:2, in the town of Bethlehem.  This prophecy is fulfilled when, in the time of Caesar Augustus, when the Roman Empire ruled the known world. We note that the Jewish leaders of that day knew this prophecy well, as seen in Matthew+2:3-6.

The prophet Isaiah, centuries before, recorded that the Messiah would be born miraculously of a virgin birth.  In Matthew+1:21-23, the angel affirms that Jesus birth would be the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. Prophecy of the virgin birth is Isaiah+7:14, confirmed by the angel to Joseph as a true virgin birth for Jesus.  Jesus' birth story is found in Matthew+1:18;Matthew+2:1-23 , reading the whole chapter, and again in Luke+2:1-40,

In Matthew's gospel, we find His genealogy, Matthew+1:1-17    tracing from Abraham to Jesus, and  Luke+3:23-38, to God., where His lineage is traced all the way back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, and all the way back to God.

 Again, in Isaiah+61:1-5, describes the hallmarks of Jesus wonderful ministry, as noted in fulfillment in Luke+4:17-21.  All four gospels record how Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed with sin and sickness.

His statements regarding His oneness with God the Father, and His actual forgiveness of sins, caused the leaders of the Jews to plot throughout His ministry to kill Him.  The Roman ruler of the region, Pontius Pilate, reluctantly sentenced Him to death, in order to save his own political ambitions when the Jews threatened to report him to Caesar.  Jesus' betrayal, trial, sufferings on the cross, death and resurrection are recorded in all four gospels.  Remarkably, the prophet Isaiah records in Isaiah+53  the details of all this, so that as one reads chapter 53, and turns to Matthew+26;27 ,reading both whole chapters, one sees the exact fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.  Also in Psalms+22:17-18

  these details are prophesied. 

Jesus has assured His disciples, and us, that He is coming again, this time in Glory instead of as a baby in a manger.  In John+14:1-3  He says, "Let not your hearts be troubled,

I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, you may be also."  When, in Act+1 , He in full view of His followers, ascended up to Heaven, angels told them, "This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have seen Him go into heaven."

The signs of His coming are recorded in Matthew+24;

 and Luke+21

.  The manner of His coming is prophesied in 1Thessalonians+4:13-18; and again the wonders of His coming and our own resurrections are written in  1Corinthians+15:20,

 and onward.  Revelation+1:7  tells us that when He comes, every eye will see Him,.  The last chapter of the Bible, Revelation+22:20, record His glorious statement, "Yes, I am coming quickly", with the response " Amen, come, Lord Jesus".

Where is Jesus now?  We know He went back to His Father in heaven.  The book of Hebrews is rich with information of His continuing ministry for us in the heavenly courts.  We are told in Hebrews+7:25  that He always lives to make intercession for us.  In Hebrews+9:24

 we see Him appearing in the presence of God for us.  What a comforting and compelling thought, that our Savior is still ministering on our individual behalf,  our advocate in heaven itself.

 Time does not allow a more detailed treatise than this, but each of us could take the Bible for ourselves and read the wonderful story of Jesus, our savior and our God. 

What is so wonderful about Jesus is that He finds us before we find Him through many of our experiences in life.  I am truly grateful He first came into my life when I was about eight years old.  I remember being in the warm, sunny, lovely meadow below our home, happily picking a bouquet of flowers for my mother, amid Buttercups, Violets, Daisies and Indian Paint Brush.  I remember enjoying how beautiful it was.  Then I felt His presence, and the assurance of His love for me.  I just knew this was the Lord, having learned about Him in my Sunday school classes.  I kept this experience in my childish heart until again, when I was about eleven, it happened again.   This time we were singing the lovely hymn "Wonderful Words of Life," and again His love and His presence enveloped me.  Ever after, whenever that song is sung, I remember that experience.

On the strength of this, I went through childhood into my teenage years, carrying His love with me, although I knew very little about the Bible beyond Sunday school teaching.  Then, when I reached age sixteen, a series of remarkable events happened in my life that led me into full commitment to Him and to His word.  I came across a wonderful book (The Great Controversy),  covering the history of the Christian church, from the time of Jesus up to His second coming.  My reading caused me to do something I had never done before, to attend an Adventist church.  There I heard a life-changing, powerful sermon from the Book of Joel, chapter 3, verse 14, "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!  For the day of the Lord is near, in the valley of decision."  I heeded Jesus' call to me that day, giving myself totally to Him and to His church.  This was the greatest and the most important decision of my life, and it has carried me ever since, over 50 years, now.  Truly, I took "The Road Less Traveled" that day, and it has made all the difference in my life.  Every blessing and every detail of my life has stemmed from that decision.  Praise His Name!

If you, dear reader, would like to make this same wonderful choice, do not let a day go by without giving yourself to Jesus.  If you would like to learn more about Him, or more about the book "The Great Controversy", contacting this website will aid you.  God bless you!

Marilyn King