We have now come to faith in God, the Bible, and in Jesus Christ. We have seen evidence for the truthfulness of the claims of Christianity. We have seen that Jesus indeed was raised from the dead. Now, do you believe in the true Jesus? Many claim to believe in Jesus, but is it the actual Jesus they believe in. Jesus is a real person and gives the definition of who He is in the Bible. If we embrace a definition of Jesus counter to the Bible, then have we truly embraced Jesus? If you cannot embrace Him for who He has declared Himself to be, then who are you serving? In order to truly embrace Jesus, we must embrace Him for who He truly is and that is as defined by the Bible.
Jesus is the Messiah, that is the Christ. He affirmed that He was the Christ when asked (Mark 14:61-62; Luke 23:2-3; John 10:24-26). He also taught directly that He was the Christ (Matthew 16:15-17; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 24:45-47). Jesus is the Christ or Savior and must be embraced as such.
He is also fully human. Jesus both indirectly (Matthew 4:4) and directly referred to Himself as a man (John 8:40). Also, He showed that even after His resurrection He had a physical body (Luke 24:38-40; John 20:19-20). If Jesus did not come in human flesh, then He could not die for humans. We must embrace Jesus as a man.
Probably the most difficult understanding of Jesus to except by some is that He is God, the Creator of the universe. While Jesus never made the exact statement, “I am God,” He did reveal Himself to be God through various means. Angels belong to God (Luke 12:8-9) and yet Jesus called them His angels (Matthew 13:41). The heavenly kingdom belongs to God (Luke 9:60) and yet Jesus called it His kingdom (Luke 22:28-30). People took Jesus’ declarations about Himself to be claims of being God and then He affirmed their belief to be true (Mark 2:5-12; John 8:58-59; Matthew 26:63-66). Jesus said that He was one with the Father (John 10:30) and that if you have seen Him, then you have seen the Father (John 14:9-15). He also declared Himself to be eternal, that is existing even before His incarnation (John 3:13, 8:58). In the statement Jesus made in John 8:58, He may have been referencing the title “I AM,” that God gave Himself in Exodus 3:13-14. He also accepted it when people declared Him to be God (John 20:28-29). Verses that God said of Himself, Jesus applied to Himself (Matthew 11:10; Malachi 3:1 & Matthew 22:41-46; Psalm 110:1). If Jesus is not God, then He would not have been able to die for all. We must embrace Jesus as God.
There are many Scriptures, besides the words of Christ that declare these same truths about Him. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, both man and God. While there are more details about Christ that we will explore later these are some of the most important. If we truly are Christian, that is a follower of Christ, then we must embrace the true Jesus. Jesus is God, man, Messiah.
