Jesus is undoubtedly the most influential person on earth for the last two thousand years. I have read a lot of books on a different viewpoint, and I believe that there are more ideas out there about who Jesus was than anyone would like to count. However, the Bible is extremely clear about who Jesus was. Often, I see online, “Who was Jesus, man or God?” and I think the average American is confused about the exact nature of Jesus. I wrote this to help anyone better understand who Jesus was and why people worship Him as God. I would love to help you in understanding who Jesus is. Feel free to reach out to SteepleLess Church at any time. There also is a sermon that relates to this topic, if you are interested in watching it please click here.
5 Common Questions About Jesus
1. Was Jesus a Man?
Jesus was fully man in every way possible, yet He did not sin (To understand more on sin click here.) He was not a spiritual being on earth, and He was fully man so that His death could save humans from their sin. I will explain this later. He was tempted in every way that humans are tempted (Heb. 4:15). He grew both physically from a baby into a man and grew in understanding and wisdom. He also grew in favor of men and God (Matt. 16:24-5). Jesus came to earth in human flesh (1 John 4:2-3).
Paul and Jesus called Jesus a human man (1 Tim. 2:5-7; John 8:39-40). Jesus had His own will but denied it so His father’s will could be done (Luke 22:42). He is the example that Christians are called to resemble with their lives. Jesus lived like a human so that we would know how to follow God the best way possible.
2. Was Jesus God?
The human Jesus was and is God eternally. God is made of three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each of these persons makes up one being, God. One person is not more important than another and they are equal in every way possible, for they are One. The Bible makes explicitly clear that Jesus was God and that He claimed to be God on earth. Firstly, He was crucified by the Jews because He made Himself equal to God. The first chapter of John is extremely clear that His followers believed He was God. He was worshipped as God in the Bible many times (Matt. 2:11; 14:33; 21:9; 28:9; John 12:13; 20:28).
In all of these instances, we see Jesus being worshipped as God and accepting this praise. There was an angel that was about to be worshipped and told the man to stop because he was not God. We would expect Jesus to stop these people if He does not claim to be God.
3. Why does Jesus Being God and Man Matter?
This matters because we know that God can truly sympathize with us as human beings. Also because for justice to be done on earth there needs to be a punishment for the sins that are committed. God created humanity with free will. When humanity decided to trust their own will over the will of God and sin, we were separated from God. This is because God is morally Holy in every sense of the word. He cannot be in the presence of sin. To make a way for this separation to end the humans need to pay for their sin.
The problem is that all humans sin and therefore believe that their will is more important than God’s will. Jesus came to earth and lived a human life completely sinless. He died so that all humans could have this way back to God. This is a gift and cannot be earned. All that needs to happen is the person needs to believe in Jesus and put their faith in Him as the Son of God.
4. Why did Jesus Need to Die?
As explained, because of the holiness of God, He cannot be in the presence of sin. Why didn’t God just forgive humanity in the first place without needing punishment for the sin? He cannot because He is just. God is indeed all-loving, but God also is just and this means that all sin must be punished or there will be no true justice in the world. In the lovingness of God, He gave us a way, the only way, that we can be saved. God did not have to provide this way by the death of Jesus, but He did. In this way, justice and love can be made complete. Without the sacrifice of Jesus, we would need to pay for our sins ourselves or be sinless.
5. How Can I Accept Christ so that I Will go to Heaven?
There are only two ways to respond to this knowledge, and because you have free will you may freely choose either. You may either believe in Jesus as God and accept the gift of salvation by putting your trust in Him or not. To put your trust in God you must admit that you are a sinner in need of a savior. In doing so you will become a new creation and the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will be saved and live in heaven with your creator forever. God does not force us to make this choice.
There is a prayer below if you would like to make that step now. If you have accepted Jesus but your life hasn’t changed, you may want to confirm that you have saving faith. Belief needs to be acted out in faith, intellectual belief in God is not enough. These questions are answered here.
If you have made this decision, need someone’s help understanding more, need prayer, or someone to talk to please reach out to me at johnjr@steeplelesschurch.com. God bless.
