TRUE GOD
THE WORLD SAYS…
The man named Jesus of Nazareth who lived and walked on this earth two thousand years ago was just that, ONLY a man. Though the majority of the world may claim Jesus is a true man, the majority of the world denies that Jesus is also true God.
THE BIBLE SAYS…
Jesus is TRUE GOD. While it is true that the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible, it is clear from Scripture that God reveals Himself to be a Trinity and Triune. The Bible clearly states that there is “one” God (Deuteronomy 6:4), but God reveals Himself to possess three persons (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14). The Bible likewise reveals the “Word” (Jesus) is God (John 1:1-2), not an angel. It ascribes to Him the work of creation (Colossians 1:15-17). It states that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9), and Jesus Himself claimed not just equality with God (John 10:30), but that He Himself was and still is true God. He proved this not just by His miracles and the authority of His message, but also in His resurrection from the dead. The morning of His crucifixion and death on Good Friday, the Gospel of Luke records that, “As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will by no means believe. And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go. Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.” Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?” So He said to them, “You rightly say that I am.” And they said, “What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.” (Luke 22:66-71)
TRUE MAN
THE WORLD SAYS…
In general, the world says that the Jesus of the Bible was historically a real, non-fictitious man, who lived in Palestine/Israel about 2000 years ago. An individual can search without much effort to see many non-biblical records and accounts of this man named Jesus, living in this time and place, and recorded as one who did many extraordinary and unexplainable things. However, there are some who firmly believe that Jesus was simply a myth and legend, much like the Roman and Greek gods of that day.
THE BIBLE SAYS…
Jesus is TRUE MAN. He was born of a Galilean woman named Mary in the days of King Herod while Israel was under Roman rule by Emperor Augustus (Luke 2). Jesus was not a spirit or phantom, but had flesh and blood (Luke 24:39). He got hungry (Matthew 4:2). He got thirsty (John 19:28). He got sleepy (Mark 4:38). He wept (John 11:35). He felt pain (Mark 14:65). He was humiliated (Luke 22:63). He died (Matthew 27:50). There is nothing in the Bible that would indicate that Jesus Christ was NOT a man. In fact, the eye-witnesses who walked, talked, ate, drank, and touched Him, were the ones who wrote about Jesus in the Bible. Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, spoke to his countrymen saying, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know — Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” (Acts 2:22-24)
This is important because…As a man, Jesus willingly bowed under God’s law and lived a perfect life in our place, He bore our sin, He bore God’s wrath. He suffered the way that we all suffer, He died the way that we all die. Because of all of this, your sins are forgiven.
Christ
THE WORLD SAYS…
Jesus was wrongfully called the “Christ.” At best, Jesus was a messenger from god, but wasn’t god himself. He was a rebellious man who led people to revolt against the tyrannical Romans who treated the Jews harshly. He had some wise sayings, but did nothing to gain heaven for us. Many “Christians” today teach that Jesus showed us the way to heaven by living as He lived i.e. He shows us how to be our own saviors.
THE BIBLE SAYS…
Jesus is THE CHRIST. But what does that mean? The Greek word “Christ” and the Hebrew word “Messiah,” both mean “the anointed one” or “the chosen one.” Many Jews in Jesus’ day, even Jesus’ own disciples on occasion, mistakenly thought that Jesus had come to conquer the Romans and establish a new kingdom here on this earth. But that was not what He had come for (John 18:36; Acts 1:6). He tells us exactly what He was chosen for : “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:32, Matthew 1:21). “And (Jesus) was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17-21)
This is important because… Jesus was chosen to be the sacrifice, the substitute, and the mediator for the whole world. He was not chosen to be an example, a new lawgiver. He was chosen to fulfill the law for us, to die in our place, and to reconcile us to God (2 Corinthians 5:15-21). Therefore, Your sins are forgiven.
The WORD
THE WORLD SAYS…
When it comes to the authority of the Bible, the world generally has a “Yours, Mine, and Ours” kind of approach. Some say that the Bible has authority in your life only because that’s YOUR interpretation of it. Others say that the Bible isn’t really the chief authority, but rather, MY “divine leader” tells me how to interpret it, and therefore, really he or she is the authority. Still some others speak of the Bible without having any authority at all, that it is really whatever OUR interpretation leads us to believe to be true or morally valuable. The world leaves us all looking at the Bible in the same way as Pontius Pilate, mockingly responding to Jesus saying, “What is truth?”
THE BIBLE SAYS…
Jesus is THE WORD. The Bible reveals this fact in the first chapter of the Gospel of John (John 1:1-2), and goes on to say in verse fourteen, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” He Himself, the same powerful Word which formed all things in the beginning is the one who came to bring and to shape the most important word, the final word on all things. All His Word is true (2 Timothy 3:16; John 17:17), and all of it is focused on the gospel of forgiveness through Jesus (John 5:39).
“He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” (John 12:48-50)
This is important because… Jesus tells us all we need to know for now and for forever! He tells us you that you are forgiven. His word is eternally true, eternally applicable, eternally important. Read it!
My REDEEMER
THE WORLD SAYS…
The Bible and its doctrines or teachings have become an outdated book for our day and age. One such teaching includes what the Bible says about “Hell.” Many people deny altogether that hell actually exists. Why would a loving God punish someone in everlasting fire? There is a growing belief today that “hell” is, at worse, a “hell on earth” that we perceive in the differences of our highs and lows in life. Tragedy in the world we live in is the only real “hell” one will ever experience. All roads and paths of belief ultimately will lead to heaven.
THE BIBLE SAYS…
Jesus is MY REDEEMER. A “redeemer” is one who ‘pays a ransom to set someone free.’ The Bible says that I have a personal redeemer in Jesus Christ who has paid with His life and innocent blood to set me free from sin (John 8:34,36), from death (1 Corinthians 15:54,57), and from hell and the power of the devil (1 John 3:8). The Bible is clear both about heaven as well as hell (Mark 16:16). Because of my sin, I deserve death and eternal punishment from God (Romans 3:23,24; 6:23). But because of what my Redeemer has done, through faith I am confident in my eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:11-12). Jesus, the only true Redeemer (John 14:6), tells us what will happen on that day: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”.” (Matthew 25:31-34; 41,46)
This is important because… There is no price for me to pay. There is no debt for me to settle and obligation for me to fulfill. I have been redeemed. My sins are forgiven. I am His and He is mine.
My TEACHER
THE WORLD SAYS…
Why would Christians follow someone they can’t meet or talk to personally? Others say, why follow the teachings of a book that’s thousands of years old? A large percentage of the world believes that Jesus was a good teacher, and there are many things that he said that were very wise. But Jesus is considered no different than Mohammed, Mother Teresa, or Gandhi. They were all influential philanthropists who made their mark on the world by what they did and said. That’s all Jesus is too, just another good teacher.
THE BIBLE SAYS…
Jesus is MY TEACHER. There is no question that Jesus was a good teacher. The Bible records how everyone considered Him a teacher of the law (Matthew 22:16,24; Mark 4:38, 12:14; Luke 7:40). In the Gospel of Matthew (19:16), a rich young ruler approached Jesus, the “good teacher,” asking about what he must do gain eternal life. Jesus asked the man why he called Him ‘good’ since it was clear the man thought he could gain heaven on his own, without Jesus Christ. Jesus says He is God’s Son (Matthew 10:32-33; John 10:30), the Messiah (John 4:25), and the one eternal God (John 8:58). He is much more than just another “good teacher.” Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher of the law himself, confessed to Jesus, “Rabbi (that is, teacher), 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” (John 3:2). Jesus not only taught the very Word of God, but showed Himself to be true God in the miracles He did (John 10:37-38), and that He rose from the dead (Luke 24:46-48). Jesus is the greatest teacher because He teaches what no one else can. Peter well confessed this truth about Jesus…”Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69). This is important because… Jesus teaches me that I have and will continue to have eternal life right now because He says to me, “Your sins are forgiven.”
My FRIEND
THE WORLD SAYS…
If there is a God, he seems to be very impersonal and doesn’t really know or care about you. Otherwise, more things would go your way, you wouldn’t live in fear, and you certainly wouldn’t ever wonder or question if he really existed. So often, God is referred to in that impersonal way, like when people speak about God as “the big guy,” “the man upstairs,” or even “mother nature.” Many people in the world say they believe in God, but he goes by many different names and is described very differently.
THE BIBLE SAYS…
Jesus is MY FRIEND. One of the comforting descriptions the Bible gives about God, Jesus Christ, is just how personal He is and just how well He knows each one of us. The Bible says that He knows more about us than we know about ourselves! He even knows how many hairs are on my head (Matthew 10:30). Also, unlike any other friends I’ve had, Jesus is always the same. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). That is so important because He still loves me even though I am a sinner. Jesus spoke about how He was mocked for coming to call sinners to repentance. He said, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ (Matthew 11:19) James chapter 23 uses the example of Abraham saying, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God.” Jesus spoke to His friends saying, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:12-15).
This is important because… We have a friend who knows us, understands us, is with us, loves us, and gives us exactly what we need – the forgiveness of sins.
My HOPE
THE WORLD SAYS…
“I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow,” or “I hope I can do this or that…” The world sees hope as a small light somewhere off in the distance, something to keep my going when times are tough.
THE BIBLE SAYS…
Jesus is my hope and hope is complete confidence. Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Hope in Jesus isn’t a “maybe,” it’s a sure thing. Hope in Jesus isn’t a glimmer at the end of a tunnel, it’s an ever-present, brilliant light even when everything else is dark. Because of who Jesus is and what He has done we can know that what He has promised will be ours – forgiveness, redemption and eternal life in the eternal joy of heaven. Jesus is my hope, just as He promised…”Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26).