JESUS - The Son of God

 

The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans 16:16)

 

 

The greatest person who has ever lived is Jesus the Christ. The central character of the Bible is Jesus, the Son of God. The message of the Old Testament is that Jesus is coming, that of the New is that Jesus is here! His coming is the most important event in the history of man.

 

The entire Bible tells about Jesus. The Old Testament has many prophecies of His coming. The first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell of His birth, His ministry, His death for our sins, His burial, and His resurrection from the dead. The remaining New Testament books tell about His church and His future second coming to judge the world. Our lifetime here on earth is a preparation for the second coming of Christ. ARE YOU READY?

 

PROPHECIES OF JESUS

 

Jesus died for the sins of mankind. God had planned this from the beginning. Genesis 3:15 is the first prophecy of the death of Jesus for sins: “And I [God] will put enmity between you [the serpent, called the devil] and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed [Jesus Christ]; He [Jesus] shall bruise your [the devil’s] head, And you [the devil] shall bruise His [Jesus’] heel” (Genesis 3:15). Jesus is the seed of woman. He bruised the head of Satan through His death on the cross as a sacrifice for sins, His burial, and His resurrection. There are hundreds of other prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. We can find these prophecies fulfilled in the New Testament.

HIS BIRTH

When we consider the humanity of Christ, we are taught that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesus had a hu­man mother, Mary, who was a virgin. Christ was conceived in Mary miraculously. She conceived Him by the Holy Spirit - i.e., Jesus had no bio­logical father (cf. Matt. 1:18‑25). This was according to what an angel had told Mary:

 

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:31, 34-35).

 

The story of the visit of the shepherds, the visit of the wise men (incidentally, the Bible does not say how many wise men there were…also, they visited Jesus in a house, not at the manger), the trip into Egypt to escape from King Herod is known by many. The details of this part of His life can be found in Matthew 2 and Luke 1 & 2. The Bible does not tell us much about the early years of Jesus’ life. It does tell us that "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52).

 

HIS NATURE

 

Our Lord is a most unique individual. He is the only person of two complete na­tures. Jesus was the Son of God. He was also the son of Mary. Therefore, He was both human and divine (He is God; He is man). Jesus was born as all children are born (Gal. 4:4), and the Lord developed as other human beings do. While our Lord was always God (cf. John 1:1c), at a specific time He also became hu­man. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us," John wrote (1:14). In fact, His humanity is so closely connected with the divine plan, that to deny His incarnation is heresy (1 John 4:1‑3). Additionally, certain names given to Christ stress His human na­ture - e.g., Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 2:22); Son of Man (Luke 19:10); and "... [the] man, Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5).

It was necessary for the Lord to become a man for our redemption. Since He was human, He was tempted in every way as we are: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). As an intermedi­ary between God and man, He was able to offer the sacrifice for sin on behalf of human­ity; that sacrifice was His own blood (cf. Heb. 2:9, 14; 9:12‑14, 26). On the basis of His humanity, He serves in the divine arrange­ment as the sympathetic mediator and high priest, "who ever lives to make intercession for us" (Heb. 7:25). He is touched by our infirmities, and He is able to comfort the tried (Heb. 2:18). Having taken on human nature, Christ now has the "glorified body," according to which, we shall have "the body of our humiliation” formed (Phil. 3:20‑21; 1 John 3:1‑3).

As we address Jesus as "Christ our Lord," we also recognize that He was no mere man. As "Lord," we acknowledge His divine au­thority. He is God's anointed ("Christ" means "anointed"). He was with God, and was God, before time was (John 1:1). He had equal glory with the Father before the world was (John 17:5; Phil. 2:5‑6; Col. 2:9). A re­jection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will render one eternally lost (John 8:24).

 

Since Jesus is a divine person, divine names are ascribed to Him ‑ God (John 1:1); Son of God (John 5:25); Lord (Acts 4:33); the First and the Last (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17); the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 1:8; 22:13, 16). As Deity, Jesus is worthy of worship (Matt. 4:10; Rev. 5:8; 22:8-9; John 5:23). Divine attributes and offices properly describe the Lord ‑ eter­nal (John 1: 1; 1 John 1:2; John 8:58); immutable (Heb. 13:8); all‑powerful (Rev. 1:8); all‑knowing (Col. 2:3; John 16:30); creator (Col. 1: 16-17); author of life (John 1:4); and, judge of the living and the dead (Acts 17:31; 2 Tim. 4:1).

THE MINISTRY OF JESUS

At the age of 30, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. The purpose of John's baptizing people was "for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4), so when Jesus (who had no sins – Heb. 4:15) came to him, he refused to baptize Him. Jesus said that John should baptize Him "to fulfil all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15; cf. Ps. 119:172). John then baptized Him. After His baptism, Jesus went into the desert. He was subject to the sinless infirmi­ties of the flesh - i.e., hunger, weariness, etc. (Matt. 4:2; John 4:6). At the end of forty days, Satan came and tempted Him. Jesus defeated the temptations of the old devil by using the Word of God (Matt. 4; cf. Ps. 119:11). Then Jesus began preaching the kingdom of God: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).  

Jesus taught in parables. Parables are stories taught to illustrate truth. They are well known stories of the earth to teach the truths of heaven. To see some of the parables Jesus taught read Matthew 13 or Luke 15. As Jesus knew He was soon to leave earth and go back to heaven, He picked out certain men (the 12 apostles) to carry on His work. Later they received the Holy Spirit to help them do the work He had planned for them (Acts 2:1-4).

Before His death, Jesus announced to the apostles His plan to build the church (Matt. 16:18). The word church as used in the Bible does not mean a building, but a group of people (Acts 8:1-4). Once established it was to abide forever (Matthew 16:18; Daniel 2:44). Some today do not think the church one is a member of is important, but the church Jesus started and that is still on the earth is of great importance. In fact, Jesus died and purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28). He is, therefore, the Savior of the body, which is the church (Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:23). It is one and the same thing to speak of obeying Christ and being added to the Lord's church (Heb. 5:9; Acts 2:47).

Having built and purchased the church, Jesus is its ONLY head (Col. 1:18). The church can­not decide its membership requirements. It cannot implement will‑worship (Col. 2:23). It should not reorganize itself according to human wis­dom cf. (1 Cor. 1:18-31). Its mission is decided already (Matt. 28:19-20). One can­not honor the Lord as a person while disre­garding His teaching. We must abide in the doctrine of Christ to be saved. (2 John 9).

HIS MIRACLES

Jesus performed many miracles. His miracles prove that God had sent Him. He healed the sick and cast out evil spirits (Mark 1:34-35), restored sight to the blind (Mark 10:46-52), fed the hungry (Mark 6:34-44), and raised the dead (Luke 7:11-16; John 11). Some people do not know why He did this. The miracles were to show that Jesus was the Son of God (John 20:30-31; Acts 2:22).

 

Today, some people claim to have the power that Jesus had, but compare the following differences.

 

Jesus and the Early Church

Men Today

People cured immediately

Often takes days

Cures were visible to all

Often are of sicknesses none can see

Everyone was cured

Only some are cured

Faith rarely required

Always required

Complete cures

Partial cures

The truth is that men today do not have power like Jesus had; else they would do what He did!

THE DEATH OF JESUS

 

Jesus preached for three years. Then He went to Jerusalem to attend the feast of the Passover. The religious leaders of Israel were jealous of Jesus. They wanted to kill Him. Jesus also knew that He must die as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. He knew that the time had now come for Him to die. He had tried to prepare His disciples for His death: “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day” (Matthew 16:21).

 

Jesus ate the Passover with His apostles. On that occasion He also began the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 26). Then He went into the Garden of Gethsemane where He prayed. About midnight, the soldiers came to arrest Him. Jesus was taken before the high priest. Later, He was condemned by the Jewish Council. They sent Him to Pilate, the governor, for sentence. Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent. He wanted to free Him, but feared he might displease the people. Therefore, he had Jesus beaten and crucified (Mark 14 & 15).

 

Crucifixion was a slow, painful death. Jesus’ was nailed to the cross. He hung on the cross while people mocked and insulted Him. After about six hours, He willingly gave up the Spirit – He died. Two of Jesus’ disciples took His body down from the cross. On Friday evening, they buried the body of Jesus (John 19).

 

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the second per­son of the Godhead, came to this earth to die for our sins. This He did, in unity of plan and purpose with God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:23). Early on Sunday morning, the first day of the week, Jesus arose from the dead (Luke 24). The Apostle Paul wrote years later about the resurrection of Jesus: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

 

Christ is the way by whom one can be reconciled to God, thereby removing the en­mity caused by sin (Rom. 5:10; Col. 1:20). He is the substitution; the sinner himself de­serves the punishment (Isa. 53:6; 1 Pet. 2:24). He is the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6)! Our Lord Jesus Christ established the WAY for us to benefit from His redemptive acts. For every per­son who conforms to the will of God, and obeys Christ (Heb. 5:9), Jesus provides the ransom, or purchase price, to buy that one back from sin (Matt. 26:28). He is the means by which one can have propitiation, the for­giveness of sins (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2). Jesus has power even over death. He will one day raise from the dead those who believe in Him. Jesus Christ died for you. He was raised for you. You can have eternal life by believing in Him.

A MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION

Now that you have briefly studied the life of Jesus, do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? (Read John 8:24).

Yes____ No_____. If your answer is yes, we beg you to accepted Christ as your Savior by obeying the Gospel (cf. Rom. 10:16; 2 Thess. 1:7-9).[ Five Steps To Salvation ]. Today is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2)!

 

 

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