Who is Jesus?
more >> did Jesus rise from the dead?
People from many cultures around the world have committed their lives to Jesus Christ and become His followers.
So, who is He?
To some people He was the founder of a major world religion. Others consider Him a great teacher or prophet.
But Jesus, Himself, claimed that He was God. He accepted worship of Himself. (John 9:35-38; 20:28-29) He claimed God’s authority to forgive sin and healed miraculously to prove it. (Mark 2:1-12) He declared that the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) was about Himself as the Giver of eternal life. (John 5:39-40; Luke 24:27, 44) He called Himself the “I am,” the holiest name for God in the Jewish Bible. (John 8:56-59; Exodus 3:13-14)
If Jesus’ claim to be God is false, He cannot be called even a good man. Instead, He must be considered a fraud and a liar, or a madman.
The only other possibility is that He was a legend.
But, legends take time to develop, and the several eye witness accounts of His life in the Bible are too close to His own time to allow a legend to rise.
But if Jesus truly is God, as He claimed, what then?
Jesus calmed a storm. (Matthew 8:23-27) Do we have storms in our lives that need calming?
Jesus turned water into wine, demonstrating that He had power to change the very nature of things. (John 2:1-11) Do we need our nature changed?
Jesus made some amazing claims and promises: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35) “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12). “I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved….I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for his sheep.” (John 10:9, 11)
Jesus said that He came as the Messiah, or Christ, “to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) This means that He came to be God’s solution to our basic problem. (See what is sin?). He predicted that He would suffer and die, sacrificing His life for us, and that He would rise up again after three days. (Matthew 16:21) Did His prediction come true? (See did Jesus really rise from the dead?) Jesus raised a man named Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:1-45) Do we need to trust in the Person who can give life? (see “can I know God personally?”)
This material was obtained from the ISI web site. For more questions and answers go to http://www.internationalstudents.org/kgp.php .
All material ©2007 International Students, Inc.
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