I. Introduction
There are many opinions on who Jesus is, and most of them are wrong.
-Jesus is not just a prophet (that is what Islam teaches).
-Jesus is not one of many Gods (that is what Hinduism teaches).
-Jesus is not brother to satin (that is what Mormonism teaches).
-Jesus in was not Michael the Archangel in a human form (that is what the Jehovah Witness’ teach).
-Jesus is not a God of hatred and condemnation. God does not condemn man but man is condemned till he is saved. It is like when you download a program from the internet onto your computer. There is a little box that has to be checked that says: Accept Terms. If you do not check it off, you will never be able to download it because you have rejected the terms by not accepting them. You do not choose between heaven and hell, if you do not choose Jesus, accept the salvation He so freely gives, you have rejected Him. (Now I am not trying to cheapen grace here, sin is a stench in the nostrils of God and a terrible price was paid for our sins, this is just an imperfect illustration showing that not making a choice is a choice.)
John 3:17-19
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
This is not the Jesus I know, the Jesus I have experienced and more importantly that I know from the Bible.
It is easy to understand why there is confusion about Jesus, as people have had questions about who Jesus is since he walked the earth:
Matt 16:13-15
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
II. The Jesus I Know
A. Is the Messiah
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. -Matthew 16:16
-Peter recognized Jesus as the Anointed One, the Promised One who would come.
-He is the Christ, the Passover Lamb who has been slain from the beginning of the world.
-He is the One who paid the price for our sin on the cross and redeemed us by His blood.
B. Is A God of Love
Mark 10:17-22
And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
-Jesus beholding him loved him.
Beholding NT:1689 emblepo (em-blep’-o); from NT:1722 and NT:991; to look on, i.e. (relatively) to observe fixedly, or (absolutely) to discern clearly: KJV - behold, gaze up, look upon, (could) see.[i]Loved G25 agapaō Perhaps from agan (much;); to love (in a social or moral sense): - (be-) love (-ed). [ii]
-Jesus loved this man before he made his decision, knowing his weakness, knowing he would walk away. God knows our hearts and we can of our own free will walk away from Him, His love, His grace and sentence ourselves to a sinners hell. We would be walking away unsaved but not unloved. He loves you with and everlasting, pure, unconditional love but God’s holiness demands sin be paid for. As the old Fram Oil Filter commercial use to say, "you can pay me now or you can pay me later." We can bow now before Jesus as Saviour and Lord or later as judge. He will not force us, we must decide.
C. Is A God of Compassion
Mark 1:40-41
And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
COMPASSION, COMPASSIONATE
splanchnizomai NT:4697, "to be moved as to one’s inwards (splanchna), to be moved with compassion, to yearn with compassion," is frequently recorded of Christ towards the multitude and towards individual sufferers.[iii]
-Jesus shows that compassion moves, it is love in action. The first note is that Jesus moves beyond his immediate request for healing and touches the man. Jesus did not need to touch him to heal him. He did not do that at other times like when He healed the 10 lepers (cf. Luke 17:13-19) and He just spoke the word to them that time and all 10 were healed.
-There are two reasons for this: First is the man need a touch. He had been a leper and had no human contact for that entire time. People shunned him and ran from the sight of him. People need a personal touch, and that is Jesus’ lesson to us for our ministry (no matter where that may be) is that ministry cannot be done third person nor from a distance. The commission is to "Go and tell" and that applies to all not just the pastor and the staff. All need to be involved personally in the lives of others. I remember the story of a man being fed in a city park, when the person giving out the sandwiches said "Jesus loves you" he was told, "I know, He sent you." Let you love towards God shine abroad in your hearts in such a way you are moved by compassion towards actions to others.
-Second is it shows Jesus’ mission. Leprosy is a type of sin and a touch from Jesus in need to heal our souls from sin. One touch, one drop of that precious blood, takes away our sins.
D. Is The Good Shepard
John 10:10-11
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
-This is why Jesus came: so we can have life eternal. And all He wants back from us is our lives lived for Him, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God (Romans 12:1) not out of obligation but our love towards Him.
-Not just life but a more abundant life. Don’t turn me off, and I am not going to "spiritualize" this away and say this refers only to spiritual blessings (it does but not exclusively) but also as a Shepherd who cares for His sheep he meets their physical needs as well. He leads them besides the still waters, leads them to the good grass, leads us in the hard places, and gives comfort to our souls. It is for mind, body and spirit. (cf. Psalm 23)
E. Is The Righteous Judge
John 8:16-18
And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
Jesus? Judgmental? My Saviour? You bet! Take a look and see what He did:
-He judged the Scribes and Pharisees with the eight woes pronounced on them. (cf. Matthew 23:13-29)
-He judged those who were robbing people at the temple (cf. Mark 11:15-17)
Jesus reserved His righteous judgment for those who were religious leaders who should have known better, who should have been bringing the people closer to God rather than driving them away with their actions. As well as those who through unethical practices (like unfair exchange rates to the temple currency needed to buy the sacrifices and charging bloated prices for the animals that were deemed faultless by the priest) who were also putting up a roadblocks between man and God.
I sometimes wonder about the woes that Jesus would announce on the church of America where pastors, teachers, evangelist who water down God’s word (preach commands as suggestions, sins as preferences), cheapen His grace (by not preaching the whole Bible), preach pet peeves as personal convictions as Bible doctrine leading people astray (I one time had a pastor who did not like the men of the church to wear beards, it was his preference so I respected that as long as I attended church there. That is OK to respect your pastor like that but if he would have said "don’t wear beards, it is a sin!" then that would have been wrong). I would not want to be in their shoes! I pray the pulpit here stays pure and preaches the unadulterated Word of God, without compromise or apology! If we stop this practice you have a right to leave and look for a church that does it right and May God have mercy on our souls!
III. What Will You This Jesus?
Now that you know who this Jesus is what will you do about it?
I encourage you to accept Jesus as your Saviour if you have not done so already. I would love to introduce you to my Jesus. If you have not, why not? What in Hell could you want? If you never been saved or if you have backslidden and need to rededicate your life to Christ, why not come up now?
If you are saved, I encourage you to submit yourself wholly to the one who loves you without unconditionally and only wants the best for you. Let His mind be your mind, let His desires be yours, let Him lead you by His Spirit and His Word.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
[ii] Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
[iii] Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
