Jesus: Why?!

JESUS: WHY?!

March 19, 2016

Colossians 1:15-20

Have you ever asked yourself this question . . . . If I had the chance to tell someone about Jesus — someone who had never heard about Jesus and who didn't know anything about Jesus — what would I tell them?

What would I want them to know about this God / man. How would I describe Jesus? For the past 30+ years I’ve followed Jesus. Sometimes, not very well, at other times, better. Way back then, I had to choose between my family and Jesus. I chose Jesus! I’ve been in ministry for over 25 years, so what would I tell someone about Jesus? What would you tell someone about Him?

I also wondered, and it’s kind of funny or ironic or maybe even sad - - but what would I tell the people who are already at church? What would I tell the people who already believe in Jesus? What would people need to know about Jesus in order to follow Him more faithfully? Or even just have a better understanding of who Jesus is, so He makes more sense!

Most people who’ve been to church know at least a little bit about Jesus' life and ministry, but the problem is — we tend to view Jesus through such a modern filter that, if we were to come face-to-face with Jesus — we might not recognize Him.

We see Jesus through the filter of who we are, fitting Him into our mold and being one of us. Jesus has been presented as a business leader in books such as Jesus CEO or The Management Methods of Jesus or Leadership Lessons of Jesus.

Some see Him as a true blooded red, white and blue American. For some, Jesus is the Ultimate Republican. Others see Him as the Ultimate Democrat. And even others, like Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, see Him as the Ultimate Socialist.

Some portray Jesus as a first century Mr. Rogers; others portray Him as a first century Chuck Norris or Rambo.

And, of course, all churches portray Jesus as one who would be recognized and right at home in their congregation, and would be an enthusiastic supporter of everything they do.

We’ve seen Jesus through the filter of ourselves for so long that at times we run the risk of missing a very important point. It's not for us to conform Jesus into our likeness. It's for us to conform and be transformed into His likeness.

In order to do this, we need to know who Jesus is as He’s revealed to us in Scripture. The good news is that Scripture paints a very detailed picture of who Jesus is and what He’s like.

What we discover, is that many times, Jesus is not at all what we expect Him to be. He's full of surprises. But if you spend time with Him in the gospels, you’ll get to know Him very well.

For this reason we'll spend the next few weeks — examining the person of Jesus Christ. I want to go deeper than some of the stories we’ve learned, so we not only know about Jesus — but more importantly, we can truly know Jesus, intimately know Him.

And as we learn about who He was and who He is, we'll also have the chance to think about who we need to become . . . how we can become more faithful followers of our Lord.

Today, I want to talk about who is this Jesus, that we should follow Him? What makes Him different than any other religious leader? And why does He deserve our devotion?

Understand this - - - - Jesus is God.

He is God in the flesh. The Eternal God. Not an angel. Not a pre-existent supernatural being. Not merely a god. He is The God. The Eternal God. Jesus has always existed and will always exist - - and that is vitally important for us to know.

John 1:1 says ~ 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. – John 1:1

Jesus and God the Father, as well as the Holy Spirit, are One. One God. Each uniquely identifiable, yet One in nature. This is what we're referring to when we say we believe in the trinity — God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This passage gives us an important truth - - - Jesus is and always was! John refers to Jesus as THE WORD! He was there in the beginning and He was with God, and in fact He is God!

Now you may say, ‘well, of course that’s true!’ But know that there are so many people who do not believe this. That’s true today, and true 100's of years ago. There was a popular belief in the 4th century called Arianism, which believed Jesus and the Holy Spirit were created by the Father, and as a result they were inferior to the Father. They didn’t have the same standing - - which means Jesus’ power to save us diminishes.