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Who Is Jesus?
Scripture Reading: John 1:6-14, 29-34
Pastor Judah Smith wrote an incredible book called Jesus
is _____. In it, he uses that short sentence to describe who
Jesus is and why He is so important to us. How would you
describe who Jesus was and why His life matters? What
about His life makes Him unique or even noteworthy? If
you were trying to describe who Jesus is and what He
means to you, could you do it? This week, we are going to
spend some time learning about the Gospel, or the story of
Jesus. However, before we can understand the Gospel, it’s
important for us to fill in the blank. Jesus is _____.
Jesus is God. In our scripture reading, it says that God
“became human and made his home among us.” Jesus
wasn’t just another human who was blessed with wisdom
or charisma; He was actually the physical manifestation
of God. Understandably, this truth can be really hard to
describe or comprehend. How could Jesus be both a man
and God? C.S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia,
wrote a book called Mere Christianity, where he writes:
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things
that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He
would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who
says that he is a poached egg – or else he would be the
Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this
man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or
something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can
spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at
His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come
with any patronising nonsense about His being a great
human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did
not intend to.”
Essentially, C.S. Lewis is giving us a logical explanation
in defense of Jesus as God based on the claims Jesus
made about Himself and His actions. But this isn’t the only
proof we have. John the Baptist announced the arrival
of Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world!” In other words, Jesus is God our Savior. So
what does that mean? It’s both an answer to prayer and
a prophecy of events to come. In one statement, John is
announcing to the world that Jesus has a divine nature
and is going to save humanity by taking the punishment
for all of the wrongs that humanity has committed against
God. Speaking of Bible prophecy, Jesus’ life, death,
and resurrection fulfilled over 300 biblical prophecies,
providing further proof that Jesus is God.
Jesus is unlike any other historical character. His life and His words set Him apart from a normal human
being. In your own words, what makes Jesus so unique?