Questions Campers Ask Part 6- Who is Jesus?

Q: I’m confused about Jesus. Who was He really? A good man? God? God's Son? The Messiah?

A: Jesus is God and Jesus is the Son of God who is the Messiah or Christ who God promised from Old Testament times would come and save the people from their sins, providing the only way back to God.

All right, let’s break that sentence apart and explain that answer.

“Jesus is God”-Jesus is way more than a good man-Jesus is God in the flesh. There are many verses that tell us that Jesus is God. Here are a few: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Who was this “Word” who has existed with God throughout eternity past and IS God? “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) Jesus is God!

“[Jesus said] I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) Jesus and God are one and the same. Jesus is God!

One more passage of verses (my favorite!) teach this all important truth that Jesus is God: Revelation 4-5. I won’t type the whole passage here as it is rather long. The scene in those chapters takes place in the throne room of God-in heaven, where there can be no sin. God has commanded that no one is to bow down and worship any but Him (Exodus 20), yet we see the angels in heaven turning from worshipping God, to worship Jesus. Truly, Jesus is God!

“Jesus is the Son of God”- There are many verses in the Bible that teach that Jesus is God’s Son, and since God wrote the Bible and God cannot lie, we know the Bible is true. Here are some of the verses that talk about Jesus being the Son of God:

[The book of Mark tells about Jesus' life on earth. This is how it begins.] Mark 1:1 "The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God."

[Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel came to Mary, who would be Jesus' mother, and spoke the following to her about how Jesus would be born.] Luke 1:35 "The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born [Jesus] will be called the Son of God.'"

[The reason the Jews killed Jesus was because he claimed to be the Son of God. In these verses Jesus talks about His claim to be the Son of God, and the Jewish leaders accuse Him of the same thing to Pilate, the man who orders Jesus' death.]
John 10:36 [Jesus said,] "'Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?'"John 19:27 The Jewish leaders insisted, 'We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he [Jesus] claimed to be the Son of God.'"

[The Jews did not like that Jesus said He was God's Son and had come to save them from their sins, because they thought they were pretty good people and could be good enough to save themselves. But nothing we do can be good enough to earn our way to heaven. That's why God sent Jesus as He says in my favorite verses about Jesus being God's Son.] John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son [Jesus].

Jesus is most definitely God’s Son!

“Who is the Messiah or Christ who God promised from Old Testament times”- Many people see Christ after Jesus' name in the New Testament and wonder if Christ is Jesus’ last name. It's not! Christ is a description of who Jesus is. Christ is the Greek word for the Jewish word Messiah. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, God punished them, then promised a future day when He would send a deliverer to save them from the punishment of their sin.

“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ” (Matthew 16:16) In some versions of this verse, Messiah reads Christ. When Peter calls Jesus Messiah and Son of God, Jesus agrees and tells him that God has shown Peter this. Since we have already shown that Jesus is God, and we know from Numbers 23:19 that God cannot lie, we know that Jesus must be the Messiah promised form Old Testament times.

So, what does all this have to do with us? Why is it so important to know who Jesus is? The last part of our description will help.

“Would come and save the people from their sins, providing the only way back to God”- Isaiah 59:2 tells us that our sins have separated us from God and hidden His face from us so He will not hear us. We have all sinned, and are all thus separated from God. This means that when we die, we cannot spend eternity in heaven in the presence of God who created everything beautiful and perfect. We are condemned to an eternity separated from God in hell.

We all sin, so none of us can get back to God and get in right terms with Him by anything we do. “Therefore, by the deeds of the law, [obeying God’s commands: doing good] no flesh will be justified [declared righteous, good enough for heaven] in His sight.” (Romans 3:20) We need someone who has never sinned to be willing to come and die in our place. The only problem is, all people sin.

So God came to earth in the form of a man. Since He was God, although He was tempted, He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). But Jesus was also the Son of God, fully human, and fully capable of dying. He died and was able to pay for our sins, because He had none of His own to pay for. But the great thing is that Jesus didn’t stay dead; He was God, so He was stronger than death. Three days later, he rose from the dead, signifying that He truly was God and the son of God, the Messiah or Christ promised from Old Testament times who would come and save the people from their sins, providing the only way back to God to those who repent or turn from sin and look to Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for their sin.

You can read more about this in "How can I know I'm truly a Christian" or "How can I become a Christian".