Jesus is much more than that. Who is Jesus? To get a clear understanding of who Jesus is, we will have to examine what the Bible says about Him, and what the Bible says about the Godhead for our answers.
In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.” Notice that He said, “us” and “our”, not “me” and “my”. From this very early scripture in the Bible, God has told us that the Godhead consists of more than one person. The next logical question would be; how many persons does the Godhead consist of? Jesus, Himself answers this question for us in John 14:23 “ Jesus replied “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” He goes on to say in John 14:26 “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” God has told us in these scriptures that the Godhead consists of three persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In John 1:1-3 God says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:14 says “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Hebrews 1:1-3 says ” In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
If you take the above scripture from John 1:1 and 1:14, and substitute Jesus’ name wherever the words ” the Word” or “Word” appear, you will come up with this; In the beginning was “Jesus”, and “Jesus” was with God, and “Jesus” was God. “Jesus” became flesh and made His dwelling among us. This means that Jesus is God and that he became flesh and dwelt on the earth among us in a human body. We also learn that when He was born on the earth that His father is God the Father. Following this in Hebrews 1:3, we learn that through Jesus all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Hebrews 1:2 we learn that God speaks to us by his Son (Jesus), that Jesus is appointed heir of all things, and that He created the universe. John 1:3 tells us that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory, and that He is the exact representation of God’s being. The verse “after he had provided purification for sins”, means after Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The verse “he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven”, means that Jesus is currently sitting down (the work of purification of sin has been completed) at the right hand of God (The Father) in heaven. When we summarize the above scriptures we learn that Jesus is:
The Word
God
The Son of God
Heir of all things
The radiance of God's glory
The exact representation of God's being
We also learn that Jesus:
Was in the beginning
Was with God
Made all things
Is whom the Father speaks to us through
created the universe
sustains all things by His powerful Word
provided purification of sins
Is currently sitting at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Now that you know who Jesus is, you may be wondering why He had to die on the cross for our sins. When God created the first man Adam, he was created to walk in constant fellowship with God. Adam had access to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, and God intended that Adam would live forever. At that time there was no sin. The only commandment that God put into place in Genesis 2:17 was that Adam was not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, for if he ate from this tree he would surely die.
When the serpent enticed Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, she also gave some to her husband Adam. Their eyes were then open to the knowledge of good and evil, and sin was born. The sin committed was against God because they had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, and disobeyed God.
God had told Adam that the wages of eating from the Tree of Knowledge would be death. In Genesis 3:21 God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. The skin would have been taken from an animal to make the garments which means that this was the first sacrifice in the Bible noted to atone for sin. God has told us in Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”
In the days before Jesus died on the cross, it was required that a high priest enter into the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle once a year. In Hebrews 9:7 the Bible says “But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.” These sacrifices performed by the high priests would have been ongoing, and year after year without any end. Hebrews 10:11 says “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.”
God was not pleased with these temporary sin offerings. Hebrews 10:8 says “sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them (although the law required them to be made).” God wanted a permanent solution, and an offering that didn’t just cover sin, but completely eliminated it.
We learned earlier that Jesus is God, and that He is the Son of God. Our perfect, and sinless God Jesus became God in the flesh when He was born through the immaculate conception of Mary by the Holy Spirit. He became the Father’s firstborn Son. He dwelt on the earth with the same earthly body as all of mankind but was without sin. Jesus came to earth to fulfill the will of the Father, and become the perfect, unblemished sacrifice for sin.
While on the earth, Jesus went through temptations, and trials, and felt the same emotions as any earthly man, but did not sin. He also learned obedience. Hebrews 5:7-10 says “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest.”
When Jesus died on the cross, He took upon Him the sins of all of mankind once and for all. The blood He shed was the final sacrifice. Hebrews 9:13-14 says “The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.” Notice how the end of this scripture says “the living God”? This is because once Christ died for sin, He was raised back to life by God through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He is currently sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
Our Lord Jesus loves and cares for us deeply; so much that He gave His life for us. He is concerned about every detail of our lives. No detail is too small for Him to care about. Hebrews 4:15-16 says “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are —yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Jesus is the only way to salvation. In John 14:6 Jesus says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The word “way” as defined in the dictionary is “a means of entry or exit from somewhere, such as a door or gate”. The word “truth” means “that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality”.
Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
If you have not already received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I would encourage you to say the below prayer:
Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from the dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that you raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan and close the door to any of his devices.
I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus' name. Amen.
The above prayer is from the book "Prayers that avail much" by Germaine Copeland.
All Bible scriptures are taken from the New International Version (NIV).