Who is Jesus? - The Christian Online Magazine

I want to draw your attention to the gospel of John 1:1 for a moment. “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.” He (the word—whoever that is?) was with God in the beginning. What does this mean? Go down to verse 14. “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only who came from the father full of grace and truth.” The Word was what brought us into existence. In Genesis chapter one, God spoke. By His word He spoke, and it was so. Word created the universe. Word created the animals. Word created the fish. Word created the sea. Word created you and me and the Word was/is Christ. That is why Christmas is so special. The very Creator of all things became flesh to walk among us and give Himself as a sacrifice for all who will receive Him. In Jesus Christ we have God incarnate—God’s inner self in human form. He was touchable. Listen to First John chapter 1:1-2 in the NLT version: “The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life. This one who is life from God was shown to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and announce to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was shown to us.”

In Jesus Christ we meet God in human form. It is not enough to merely say that Jesus Christ came here. Or that He was born. That is simply stating a historical fact. It is a fact that Joseph and Mary were living in Nazareth and had to go down to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus ordered everyone to return to their hometown for a census for tax purposes. The gospels tell us that Jesus was born there. The secular historians of that day confirm that fact. But it is of utmost importance to understand why Jesus Christ came. Paul said in the letter to the Colossians in 1:21-22: “And you that were once alienated (that is, enemies, hostile in mind toward God) God has through Christ reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ.” In other words, the physical birth of Jesus was the first step toward Christ’s atoning death on the cross. Isaiah 7:14 adds: “The Lord himself will give you a sign (an indication, so you will be able to know what is going on) a virgin will be of child and will give birth to a son and you will call him Immanuel, which means God with us.”

What does all this mean? Why is it so important? Mankind has turned away from God. A look at the problems of the world and an honest evaluation of our own self-oriented mindset reveals how we tend to distance ourselves from God. Romans 3:23 clearly teaches the universal problem of sin: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory that God.” History attests to the sin problem. Cain and Abel, Abraham lying about his wife, people in the time of Noah, Jacob’s deceitfulness, Samson, King Saul, rebellious people of Israel over and over and over again, the Pharisees, on and on. Regardless of all that, the eternal reality and existence of our holy God remains. And so does the necessity of acknowledging Him for Who He is. But we cannot do this on our own.

It is innate within the nature of mankind to want to have some sort of God and if there was no God, we would proceed to invent one (as many have, who have rejected the true God). Eternity has been written on our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and only willful unbelief can dismiss its witness. There is a very real sense in which the problem of man’s sin created a dilemma for God. God is holy. We are not. The two cannot mix. God is holy and we are not but God loves us so much that He took the initiative for reconciliation. God came into the community of man. He identified with us. There was no other way that we were going to get an understanding of what God is like. And if you do not have that, then what do you have? If you look at yourself and see yourself for what you are, what do you do?

I am reminded of what my friend Jim Elliot said before he was martyred. He said, “Man is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he can never lose.” When we look to ourselves we strive to gain power, do we not? We want to rule, we want to be in charge. But even if we end up with everything, it is not going to satisfy us. Ask the Hitlers of the world. Ask Alexander the Great? Historians tell us he wept. Why? Because there were no more worlds to conquer. How sad! We have seen a lot of that. Situational ethics. Anything goes. Many lose their values in pursuit of their goals.

Not too long ago a large number of teenagers were asked this question. “What do you wish for most in life?” The answer was surprising? They wanted somebody to trust. Think about that. In the light of our current history, that is a strong message for our nation’s leadership, is it not? So to solve the problem and the crisis of man’s search for reality, we read in the Bible, “In the fullness of time (or just the right time as God had planned) there came into human history the revelation. God sent his son made under the law (Galatians 4:4) made of a woman, not man to redeem those who are under the law.” Jesus Christ is the revelation to man of what man was intended to be. First John 3:1-2: “How great is the love the father has bestowed on us, (lavished on us) that we should be called children of God.” And later. “Now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet made known. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.”

As you examine the life of Christ, you see things that are very interesting. We see God in Christ in His love for people at the marriage at Cana where He turned the water into wine. We see God in Christ in His emotions, His concern, when He wept over Jerusalem (Luke chapter 19). We see God in Christ in His healing the afflicted by the pool, the lepers, and the blind. And we see God in Christ in His disdain for death (John 11) in the resurrection of Lazarus. We see God in Christ in His holiness, John 3, where He cleanses the temple of all the people who were the abusers of the law, abusers of the message that God wants a personal relationship with everyone, not just the ‘elite’. These ‘leaders’ were obstacles. “Cannot get in here unless you pay the right tax. You have to have the right sheep and we are the guys that have the sheep and we are going to charge you for the sheep, so let us see your money.” God, in Christ, says, “I do not want that. That is not what I am about, that is not Me!” And we hear God in Christ, calling all to repentance in His teaching on Christian living, the Sermon on the Mount. God was in Christ enables you and me to gain a new perspective and understanding of God.