John 3:16 and 17 says:
For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved.
Who is the Jesus of the Bible? What are we to know about Him? Let's take a look at some Scriptures that tell us key things we need to believe about Him in order to really know Jesus Christ. You might ask why is it important to know the details, can't I just call on His name and be saved? Well yes and no. While God is merciful to save all who call on the name of Jesus, we have to be aware that mankind has invented many different versions of who He is, and some versions have altered Him so much that they have taken away His deity. (Note: No one can take anything from Jesus, but they can cause you to have faith in the wrong Jesus.) You'll see this when you study the other pages on this website but for now let's see the identifying features of who Jesus Christ is:
The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ:
John the Baptist Announces Who Jesus Is:
John 1:29-35 - The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
John 1:1-17 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made 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. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Mark 4:1 - And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multifude, so that he entered into a ship, and at in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables. Matthew 13:34-35 - All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Jesus Performed Miracles and Shared God's Word:
Luke 7:22 - Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.
Jesus' Blood was the perfect sacrifice because it was God's blood shed for you:
Revelation 1:5 - And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Hebrews 9:12 - Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]. Matthew 26:28 - For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Matthew 28 - In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
The Apostle Peter Speaks About Jesus at Pentecost:
Acts 2:22-27 - Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Jesus On the Throne in Heaven:
Hebrews 12:2 - looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus, the Only Way to God:
John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Statement of Christian Faith - http://www.chick.com/information/general/statementoffaith.asp
Here is a very simple but profound mini-film that explains the beauty of Christianity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKGSWhpIgH8
Wherefore,
my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling.
*A good marker for knowing if you've ever had, or how to have, a true born again experience: Repentance of sins precedes accepting Jesus as Savior and repentance is the understanding that 1) you are a sinner that can never reach God's perfection standards on your own because Adam's sin caused the fall of mankind and you are, (as everyone born after Adam and Eve is), a human being born with a sin nature. As such, there is no way you can get back that initial connection Adam was given prior to the fall without the Lord Jesus being that bridge to God for you. Jesus alone is perfect enough to please God and His sacrifice alone is enough to cause God to forgive you and allow you to be His child. Nothing you can do can make you or your life perfect enough in God's eyes to allow you to be His child. He is too holy and His standard too high for any of us. And 2) you realize that you have lived a selfish life contrary to the Word of God up until this point and you want to turn from doing things your way to pleasing God now. If you do not feel any of this, and you are just saying the sinner's prayer to not go to hell, you may end up deceiving yourself into thinking you are saved when you are not. A person who prays the sinner's prayer will really want to live for God going forward so if you don't have this conviction then you will want to first get your heart right prior to going forward with the prayer below.
Consider this and see if this helps you to feel not only your need for Christ but your WANT for Christ: Jesus is God so He is perfection and He died in your place, as a sinner, because He knew you would never be able to reach God's standard of perfection to get into heaven. And Jesus did this in advance of whether you accept His gift or not! I mean how many people do you know that would do something so horrible as die on a Cross for you, a slow and excruciatingly painful death, when they didn't have to? And knowing you may reject it after He suffered immensely to offer it to you?! Jesus left His perfect home in heaven to come down to this cruel world to do that for you because He knew you could not do it for yourself! That my friend, is love!
I heard this sermon that is excellent in explaining that we all need to examine ourselves to see if we are true Christians or are we false-professing Christians? I am not recommending this pastor/preacher in all of his sermons, he is a Reformed Baptist, which means he is a Calvinist, but unlike other Calvinist preachers of today, he actually preaches this message to all Christians, including those in his church, which is something most Calvinist preachers would not do since they feel anyone in their church is "elect". This preacher's name is Martin Lloyd Jones and he is deceased now so the audio is old and a little hard to hear in the beginning so turn up your speakers and sit back and listen to a very well laid out exposition of what it is to be a true believer. I believe he takes the confusion out of the matter and we need more preaching like this in the churches today!
If you want to get born again in Christ Jesus, please take this time now to talk to God. You can say something like this: God I know I am a sinner and I need a Savior and I believe Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah. I believe Jesus Christ was born of a virgin mother, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that He lived a sinless life because He was God in the flesh, and that He was crucified as the once for all sacrifice for mankind's sins. I believe he was buried and rose from the grave and was witnessed alive before ascending to heaven where He now sits on the throne as King of Kings. I repent of my sins and accept Jesus' gift of salvation today and I ask Him to be my Savior and Lord. I ask the Holy Spirit to come and make a dwelling in my heart and to lead me into all righteousness. Thank you God for hearing my prayer and for sending your Son to save me by dying in my place at the Cross so I can be in the family of God. And Father, I understand that while I am saved by my confession of faith, it is also Your will for me to get water baptized to show my private confession in a public way, and so I ask you to lead me to the church or baptismal situation you have for me so I can get baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen!