Why Jesus? The short answer is “He IS God!”
I do not have to prove this because His existence is not based on my belief or the understanding of my intellect. Man did not create God, God created man.
As much as the “Father IS God” and the “Holy Spirit IS God”. The “Son of God” took on human form and came to earth, walked among us, and showed us the “Father”.
I love the introduction of the book of Hebrews, (King James Version).
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
In our search for God the only way to find Him is through Jesus Christ.
When I think of Jesus, I think of what the Apostle John penned in his gospel.
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 anything 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. 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.
Jesus is the “LOGOS” or “Divine Expression” of God. Jesus was the Son of God that became a man. When I think of Jesus, I think of his divinity as the Son of God and His humanity as the Son of Man. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”.
Emanuel – God with Us
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
And at his birth the Angels repeated this and declared to the shepherds in Bethlehem:
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
In Him dwells the Fullness of the God Head bodily.
Jesus is the very expression of the Father. “No man hath seen God”. That word there “seen” means discern clearly. But that verse also says that the Son has declared, or to “unfold”, him.
When his disciple Phillip asked Jesus to show them the Father Jesus replied, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father;” (John 14; 9).
Jesus is the revelation of God in the flesh.
There are those who would attempt to reject the knowledge of God. In their arrogance, they have set their selves up as God. How foolish but a reality in the world today.
He is the Lamb of God
John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
And Paul said this of Christ:
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
The whole concept of a “Blood Sacrifice” is hard for our modern culture to understand until you go back to Genesis and remember that “SIN” brings death and separation from God.
Genesis 2:16 &17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Well, we know the rest of the story.
In Leviticus 17; 11 God tells Moses the significance, and sacredness, of the blood sacrifice.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
In order for Israel’s sins to be atoned, they were commanded to sacrifice. Each family and every year, bought a lamb, goat, bull, even doves or pigeons, to the place that God designated, at first the Tabernacle and then the Temple, to be sacrificed. The blood was poured upon the altar and their sins were covered for another year.
Christ did away with this practice by offering himself, as John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
The writer of Hebrews stated this,
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9;14)
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; (Hebrews 10;10-12)
More importantly, especially to the Jews, was that Christ was the Paschal Lamb.
The Paschal lamb, in Judaism, the lamb sacrificed at the first Passover, on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt, the most momentous event in Jewish history. According to the story of the Passover (Exodus, chapter 12), the Jews marked their doorposts with the blood of the lamb, and this sign spared them from destruction.
This signifies that not only was Christ our sin offering, but this sacrifice is our deliverance. When we apply the blood of Christ to our lives, by believing and accepting this sacrifice, we have been cleansed of our sin and delivered from the bondages of sin. We have been set free.
In short, Jesus as the Lamb of God is a sacrifice for our sins in fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system. It is by His sacrifice that our communion with God is restored and by the covering of His blood that we are spared spiritual death.
I often think of what we have coined, “The Last Supper”. This was the feast of Passover. Jesus told His disciples to find a place and prepare for it. This was a big deal for the Jewish people. It had been celebrated for 1500 years, except during those times that they were taken away and their temples were destroyed. However, His disciples had done this every year. But this one would be different. I imagine as they sat there when Jesus broke the bread and said, “Take eat, this is my body that is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me” and when they drank the wine, “this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me”, that they realize at that moment everything was changing. Please, if you are reading this, never take the “Lords Supper” in a casual way. Jesus said the words, “When you do this, do this in remembrance of me”.
One other thing, Jesus’ death, as the “Lamb of God, took away the “Sting” of death and the conquest of the grave for all those who believe. (1 Corinthians 15; 55).
When our Spirit leaves this flesh, there is a separation. The flesh cries out in agony knowing that it will not survive. We see the example of this at Christ’s death when his flesh cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Or more plainly, “Why has thou left me”.
In His humanity, Christ experienced the “sting” of death when the Spirit is disconnected from the body. The Father never left His Son even when He was on the on the cross.
Luke wrote this
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”
I have witnessed the deaths of those who believe in Christ. And the pain and discomfort in this body as it is shutting down. But always, there is a peace that comes. The sting is gone because not only did Christ open the door of salvation to us by giving his life for us. But he also suffered the pain of separation for us. The Sting. The fear of death is gone for those who believe. We can live life to the fullest.
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Why Jesus? He overcame Death and Hell
When Jesus died, and He did, he was put in a tomb. Although he spoke of His resurrection, metaphorically, like it is written in John,
Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. John 2:19
And also directly to his disciples,
From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Matthew 16:21
Most either misunderstood or plainly doubted it. But He did. He showed himself to Mary, then the disciples. My favorite is the story in Luke about the two men walking to Emmaus, after the crucifixion, and Jesus “Drew near and walked with them.” They didn’t recognize Him at first and when they did, he left. It was what they said to after that gets me,
And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? (Luke 24; 32)
Yes there are many references to the resurrection all cumulating in Acts chapter 1 forty days after He rose from the dead.
Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: (Acts 1:2-3)
The fact that Jesus came from the Father to show us the Father, to teach us of the Kingdom of God, to shed his blood for the remission of sins, and to suffer the “Sting of Death” for man was not the end of Gods mission. To believe in all these and yet miss the final display of His resurrection is to miss the defining display of the glory of God in His Son Jesus, the Christ.
He is risen! Why is this important? No other faith can claim the resurrection. No greater power has been displayed. No greater glory shown than the resurrection of Jesus.
I do not need to prove these things of God. I like what the Apostle Paul wrote,
Nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 2 Timothy 1;12
Why Jesus? He is Jehovah Shammah (The Lord is there)
Jesus spoke these words:
John 16:33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Of course, there are things I experienced, as I have walked with Jesus, throughout my life that substantiates my belief.
At each stage in my life, Jesus has met me on a level I could understand and accept. When I was five years old, with my face buried in our couch, praying for my grandfather undergoing cancer surgery. My intellectual understanding was of a five year old. Grandpop was sick and I was praying to Jesus for him.
My next memory was at nine years old where I was sitting in church listening to the preacher. When he asked for people to come forward, to receive Christ, I went. I remember crying out to Jesus and once again He met me at my level of understanding. Again when I was thirteen years old I remember, as I was sitting next to my girlfriend holding hands, the young preacher that night gave the call to the altar and I responded. Once again I cried out and He met me where I was. This time it was even deeper. A change took place in me and I experienced a closeness to Jesus I never knew before. I had forgotten all about my girlfriend that night.
I remember one dark time in my life. I had made some bad decisions that led to me sitting alone at my dining room table. I can still remember in the state of regret saying, “All is lost. I am all alone and there is no one to blame but myself.” I was done. I couldn’t even pray. As I sat there crying in my hands I heard a whisper, “I Am Still Here”. It was Jesus! I know it was. All at once the darkness fled and I came to my senses.
As I write this I am reminded of the prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations 3
And I said, my strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Shortly after that time, He restored everything. I couldn’t cry out that time, but He spoke to me! “I AM STILL HERE”
Another time:
We had just gotten home from the emergency room. We had been on a trip taking my granddaughter to Disneyland. While there something popped in my wife’s knee and it had begun swelling. We rushed home to the doctor. The emergency techs could not find anything but when we got home they called. I could see the expression on my wife’s face when they told her that there was an abnormality in her bone and to not walk on it. She needed to get to the doctor as soon as possible.
I remember as fear swept through the room because we had just walked through a trial with cancer. But as soon as the fear came it was blown away by a peace. This peace came on its own bringing strength that we did not have. It was cancer. But throughout the next several months dealing with negative prognosis and no hope from the doctors, we found the scripture in Hebrews true to us. He is the author and finisher of our faith. All the years that her and I professed our faith in Jesus, now our faith was more than a profession. It was the rock solid foundation that was holding us up. Oh there were times that we needed the Lord to remind us again. Like one morning sitting in a restaurant in Redding California she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “I don’t know if I will be with you this time next year”. But, even though the doctors did not give us hope, my wife recovered and 15 years later we still have breakfast together most every morning.
We have had many challenges to our faith throughout our lives but He has always been there when we cried out and even when we could not.
Why Jesus? Because He is coming back.
And when he (Jesus) had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Acts 1: 9-11
If left up to mankind the world would be destroyed and all living things.
God will not allow this to happen.
He sent his son, the first time, to show his love by expressing himself to man in the flesh.
He came to us. Mankind rejected him.
Which by the way was no surprise to God. However, by rejecting Him we have bought judgement on ourselves.
HE IS RETURNING. This time as THE judge pouring out His Father’s wrath to purge His creation, destroying all evil, and redeeming the world.
Most of the peril in the world today is just results from the “worthless” decisions of mankind.
We have not yet experienced the JUDGEMENTS of GOD.
This is what Jesus told his disciples: Mark 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Why Jesus?
- He IS God
- He came from the Father and walked with us in the flesh to show us God.
- He was, and is, the Lamb of God that takes away our sin.
- He delivered us from bondage.
- He took away the sting of death.
- He rose from the grave conquering death and hell.
- He is always there.
- And He is returning again.