Who is Jesus Christ?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. 
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-5 | ESV

Is He the one on the statue we often see inside churches? Is He the one we often call to when we are in dire need of help and rescue? Or is He someone who we think of we need Him but often forget about Him when we live happy lives?

Jesus is none of those. In fact, Jesus does not resemble anywhere near those pictures we see being shared on the internet or those graven images inside some churches. Jesus is not our personal genie who comes to us every beck and call.

It should be the other way around! Jesus is the SON of GOD Almighty and He deserves every love and respect He ought to receive as our LORD and SAVIOR.

But let us dig deeper. Who is Jesus? In John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is a TRUE MAN and TRUE GOD in one person. He died on the cross and rose from the dead after three days. He ascended into heaven to sit with the Father and He will one day come to judge all people.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus...
1 Timothy 2:5 | ESV

And since Jesus is the ONLY SON of GOD, it is ONLY through HIM that we can go to God the Father; Jesus is the ONLY ONE who can intercede for us (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus is pleading on our behalf before the Father. And because of God’s love for us, He gave up His Son — Jesus — to die on the cross for us.

Why did Jesus die on the cross?

Jesus died for you and me. But do we truly understand what it means? The bible tells us that the punishment for our sins is death (Romans 6:23). DEATH.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 | ESV

In the Old Testament (Mosaic Ordinances), if a person sinned, he is required to bring his sacrificial offering (usually a sheep, goat) to the priest. He would confess his sin over

the offering and the priest would symbolically transfer the sin he had confessed from the person to the animal. The animal would be killed, thus paying for the sin.

Jesus sacrificed Himself by TAKING ALL OF OUR SINS with him and DIED ON THE CROSS in our place. It should have been us who died, but Jesus took our place. He died for us so we could be made right with the Father (Romans 5:10).

Salvation through Jesus Christ

Salvation means being rescued by God from the consequences of our sins. He wanted to restore our once perfect relationship with Him that was tainted because of humanity’s defiance to God. Our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2).

...but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
Isaiah 59:2 | ESV

We should have died because of our iniquity. Yet the Almighty Father still loved us despite our sins and He wanted to save us from eternal damnation. So our Almighty Father in heaven made salvation possible through Jesus Christ (John 3:16 | Romans 5:8 ). Salvation can be achieved through Jesus Christ.

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 | ESV

Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

Salvation is God’s gift to mankind. It was freely given to us through our faith and not because of our works so none may boast about it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God...
Ephesians 2:8-9 | ESV

Faith is believing that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:31), believing and confessing that He is our Lord, that He died on the cross but has risen and conquered death (Romans 10:9-10). Faith is believing that God incarnated in flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Faith is obeying the commands Jesus had given us. Faith is placing our trust in Christ that He is our savior — believing in Him — and that through Him we will receive eternal life (John 3:36). Whoever denies Jesus, also denies the Father (1 John 2:23).

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 3:36 | ESV

By receiving Jesus in our lives we became God’s children (John 1:12).

Let us pray

Lord Jesus,

I receive You as my Lord and Savior. I now put my trust in You alone for my salvation.

Forgive me, Lord, for all of my sins and wash my robe clean with Your blood.

From now on, Lord Jesus Christ, I am accepting and acknowledging You as my Lord and Savior.

In Jesus’ name, with the power of the Holy Spirit,

Amen.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 | ESV