Growing up in the church, I heard the name Jesus Christ, but I never really understood what it meant when people would also call him God. How could man be God? Was this possible? Should I believe it? If so, why is that important? From my own experience and growth of understanding who Jesus says that he is, I’ve come to truly see that Christianity is meaningless if Jesus Christ isn’t who he says that he is. Therefore, I will be explaining Jesus’ character and why he is the foundation of life.
First off, who do you believe Jesus Christ was?
Jesus was a spiritual being: Jesus is an angel, spiritual being, or God, but he is not the supreme God of the universe
Jesus was a great spiritual leader: Jesus was not God, but a teacher or prophet who communicated ideas that agree with other religions or philosophies.
Jesus Was a Liar: Jesus claimed to be God, but knew he wasn’t God.
Jesus was a Lunatic: Jesus actually thought he was God, but wasn’t a lunatic.
Jesus was a revolutionary: Jesus’ primary effort was to bring reform into failed economic, social or political systems. Jesus primarily taught people how to love each other, fight against oppression, etc.
Jesus was a Legend: Jesus never existed at all.
Jesus is creator and savior: Jesus is the eternal and only God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in the mystery known as the Trinity. He lived a perfect life, performed miracles, died on a cross for our sins, and rose from the dead.
The Bible claims that Jesus is in fact creator and savior of the world. If you’re anything like myself before I went all in with this claim, I questioned why the Bible is in fact a credible source to try and live your entire life by. This topic can get extremely hefty, but let’s just say the simple fact that we have 24,633 manuscripts of the New Testament. This is overwhelmingly greater than the amount of manuscripts we have from Caesar (10), Plato (7), Alexander the Great (7) and many others. If we don’t believe in Jesus, we should also throw away everything else we know about ancient history. The more manuscripts we have the better.
The Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit): The trinity is extremely hard to understand, yet once you receive it for all that it is, it will change your entire world. For the sake of this blog, I will link you to a great source that explains the Trinity.
*My favorite part of the Trinity is knowing that once I first believed that Jesus Christ truly was Creator and Savior of the Universe, the Holy Spirit who is fully God now lives inside of me. This helps me find strength when I’m weak, seek God when I’m lost, and rely on him when I’m afraid. He is always with me!
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”Acts 2:38