Who Is This Jesus?

Jesus Christ is the most influential person to ever walk on this planet. In just three years in the public eye he changed the world we live in forever. He is so influential that we now gauge time by weather something came before or after Him. When I talk to people about Jesus many will say that they follow His teachings or that they believe in what He stands for but when I ask them who He is they give a wide variety of answers. Some will say Jesus is a great teacher, others say Jesus was a very moral man, some say He is a prophet of God, some say He is an enlightened being, and some even say He is an angel of God. So who really was Jesus? To find out I feel you need to look at what people that knew Him say about Him, what He said about Himself, and what His actions say about who He is.
The people that know the most about Him are the ones who spent the most time with Him. There were twelve men that spent almost three years with Him. What do they say about who Jesus is? The Apostle John wrote in John 1 in reference to Jesus “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Through Him all things were made. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” Well that statement is a pretty big claim. It says Jesus was there in the beginning of time, that through Him all things were made, and that Jesus was with God and is God. This is a bold claim. Maybe John has it wrong. So what does another of the disciple say about Jesus? In Matthew 8 we have Jesus asking the disciples who they think He is. And Simon Peter called Him the “Son of The Living God”. The disciple Thomas in John 20:28 called Jesus “My Lord and my God”. Paul wrote in Hebrews 1 that God made the world through Jesus and that Jesus is the image of God. So do they have it all wrong?
What did Jesus say about who he was? Would He say to them no you have it all wrong, or would he agree with what they are claiming that Jesus is deity? Well when Simon Peter called Him “The Son of the living God” Jesus said he was right. When Thomas called Him “My Lord and my God” Jesus didn’t correct him but instead He told Thomas he was right. When the Jewish leaders said to Him “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” Jesus said “I did tell you but you do not believe. . . .I and the Father are One”. What does this statement mean? The Jewish leaders response tells me what they thought He meant because they picked up stones to stone Him for “blasphemy” of “a mere man claiming to be God”. At another time Jesus told the Jewish leaders that “If you know Me you know the Father” and “I am not of this world” and “I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I Am”. Again they picked up stones to stone Him for blasphemy because they knew what He was saying. He was claiming to be alive before Abraham and to be God (I Am).
So if Jesus and those who knew Him claimed that He was God was Jesus just a “good teacher”? Apparently He is either God or a teacher who teaches lies. Was he just a moral man? Well He is either God or a liar and not moral at all. So what do His actions tell us about who He is?
Jesus did many things that were considered miracles, changing water into wine, healing a person’s withered hand, healing a person of leprosy, restoring eyesight to the blind, walking on water, stopping a storm, bringing the dead back to life, and coming back to life after His own death. So what does this say about who Jesus is? Can a good teacher or a moral man do these things? What are the attributes of God so we can compare. God is omniscient (all knowing). John said in John16:20 “Now we can see that you know all things”. God is omnipresent (everywhere present). Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” God is Omnipotent (all powerful) Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” God is Eternal (no beginning or end). John 1:1 declares of Jesus “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” God is Immutable (unchanging). Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
The prophets of God in the Old Testament told of one who would come as a savior for mankind and over a thousand years they were given parts of a detailed description of what this savior would look like. This description was so detailed there would be no mistaking Him when he came. Even the day he would arrive in Jerusalem was given. Who His descendants would be, where He would be born, how he would act, how He would be treated, and how he would die. Over 300 clues to the identity of this savior and Jesus is the only one who they all point to.
So why is it important for the savior to be more than just a man (deity or God)? It’s simple. Jesus said “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whomsoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life”. You see we are all going to die physically and spiritually unless someone pays the price for our sin, because the penalty for sin is spiritual death (separation from God). If Jesus were just a man he could substitute His spirit for one of us but being eternal His sacrifice covers all of us.
The only problem is you need to accept this and let Him substitute Himself for you. All you have to do is believe and ask. If you haven’t asked Him or don’t believe that He is who He says He is then you can’t receive the gift of everlasting life.