Who Is Jesus Series

Elvis Presley used to eat at Lil Thompson’s Steakhouse in Tennessee quite often. He was good friends with the owner who used to give him free food before he was famous. One night when Elvis was at the height of his fame, the Steakhouse held the ultimate Elvis Presley impersonator contest. A large crowd arrived, including Elvis Presley himself, who decided to take part and sat quietly at the back.

Elvis said confidently, “I’m going to mash this.” Lil was worried the place would go crazy when everyone realized it was Elvis. There was no need. He sang “Love Me Tender” to polite applause and came third place in the contest! (Blog, “The True Complete Story of Mark Hanks,” 706UnionAvenue.com, Accessed 1/28/21; www.PreachingToday.com).

When God came into our world, very few people paid Him much attention. Even today, people give him polite applause, but many fail to appreciate who He really is. As a result, they miss out on all He has to offer them.

Do you want to see Jesus for all that He is? Then turn with me, if you will, to John 1 in your Bibles. The Gospel of John, chapter 1, where one of Jesus’ closest friends introduces us to Him.

John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God (ESV).

Who is Jesus Christ? Well, He is none other than God Himself.

JESUS IS LORD!

He is the Sovereign King of the Universe, the God of all gods and the Lord of all Lords.

John calls Him “the Word” – o logos in the original Greek. It’s the term the Greeks used in John’s day to talk about the “Controlling Reason of the Universe.” They had many gods with many names, but the Supreme God, the Ultimate Intelligence of the Universe, they called o logos—the Word.

Jesus is the Word, the God of all gods, which means He is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning WAS the Word”—Not “In the beginning the Word came to be,” or “In the beginning God created the Word.” NO! “In the beginning WAS the Word.” At the very beginning of time, the Word was already existing. Jesus had no beginning. He is the eternal God!

And He is equal with God. John 1:1 says, “The Word was WITH God.” Literally, “The Word was TOWARDS God”, or FACE TO FACE with Him. Jesus was not only WITH God in terms of being in the same place. He was WITH God on equal terms—in His face, so to speak.

Growing up in Maryland, I had many opportunities to visit Washington D.C. I especially enjoyed the White House and the Capital Building where you just might catch a glimpse of some of the most powerful people in the world! You can be in the same building “with” the President or “with” the Speaker of the House, but none of us could ever be “WITH” these men on equal terms. We were just tourists. No.

The only people who are WITH the president or WITH the Speaker are cabinet members, other representatives, and other senators. They make and enforce laws together. They walk together, sharing private conversations. They sit together as equals around the dinner table or in a conference room.

In the same way, Jesus is WITH God. He is NOT a tourist in the same place as God. He is WITH God on equal terms, and they are running the universe together. Jesus is the eternal God. He is equal with God.

And He is in His very essence God. John 1:1 says, “The Word was God” – very God of very God. Not “a god” like some claim, but THE God of the universe. In fact, Jesus is the Creator God, the One who made everything there is.

John 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made (ESV).

Jesus made it all, not blind chance as some seem to think.

For decades, scientist Sir Fred Hoyle pioneered research in astrophysics. He started his scientific career as a staunch atheist who saw no evidence of design in the universe. In his early years, he said, “Religion is but a desperate attempt to find an escape from the truly dreadful situation in which we find ourselves.”

But as his career went on, he discovered something that would rock his atheism—physicists call it “fine tuning.” Fine tuning refers to the discovery that many properties of the universe fall within extremely narrow and improbable ranges that turn out to be absolutely necessary for complex forms of life, or for any life at all. Hoyle’s contribution to the discovery of fine tuning began in the 1950s.