Do You Know Jesus
Have you met Jesus?
Who is Jesus?
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
- John 14:6 (NIV)
"But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people for today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord."
- Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
- John 3:16-17 (NIV)
"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say the Son of Man is They replied, some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But what about you? he asked. Who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
- Matthew 16:13-16 (NIV)
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
- John 1:1-5 (NIV)
Additional Scripture Verses
John 1:14
Romans 6:23
Matthew 23:8-11
Romans 5:8
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Isaiah 55:8-9
Revelation 22:12-13
Colossians 1:15-17
Hebrews 1:3
Philippians 2:5-11
Jesus is not just a historical figure - For over 30 years, He Lived. He was God in the flesh. He was a teacher (many times, he taught using Parables). He was a Rabbi/Preacher (read His "Sermon on The Mount.") He performed many miracles. He suffered. He was crucified. He paid for our sins. He ascended into heaven and, according to Him, the apostles, thousands of witnesses, the Bible, and to those who believe in Him, He is the only way to a right relationship with God Almighty and, when we die - salvation.
Actions You Can Take
1. Commit to making an informed decision about Jesus.
Like anything we do in life, we spend quality time studying and learning about something long enough so that we can make an informed decision about it.
But, I believe there is one thing we can agree on - any decision we make should be one we make backed by a sincere commitment to learn (and have a clear understanding of) so that we can be confident we make an informed decision.
In Luke 8, Jesus tells us the Parable of the Sower or 4 Soils. In verse 8, Jesus said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak parables, so that, though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand."
Jesus communicated in parables to compel sincere listeners to pay attention, focus, and commit to understanding what he was teaching. It's ok to be "skeptical." There are many verses in the bible that speak to Jesus and the apostles encouraging people to "do their homework first."
In Acts chapter 17, verse 11 Luke says, "Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
Like the Berean Jews, I encourage you to approach this sincerely. If you approach learning about Jesus in a distracted, antagonistic, or half-hearted way, you will very likely not understand His message and Good News and, as a result, not make a clear and informed decision about Him.
Finally, while some people understand and/or are convinced quicker, it may take you more time.
If you are new to this, please remember: the Bible is one full story about Almighty God. It may take you longer before you have a clear understanding and are ready to make an informed decision.
2. Get a Bible. I suggest a Study Bible. I have The Life Application Study Bible by Zondervan (New International Version/Translation). If you cannot get a bible, download the Bible app on your phone.
Personally, I have found great reinforcement by reading the bible first, then using my study bible to reinforce what I've read (so I can better understand it's meaning).
3. Read/reread the Gospel of John (Start with Chapter 1:1-18) Why? John introduces Jesus as God, the Creator, and the Savior of the world. Set aside 5-10 minutes today to read John 1:1-18. Ask yourself this question: ‘What does this passage say about who Jesus is?’
4. Understand the key characteristics of Jesus: The Bible provides us with these verses that help us understand who Jesus was, is, and always will be.
Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 16:15-16, Mark 1:1, Luke 22:70-71; John 8:24)
Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah (Matthew 26:63-64, Mark 14:61-62, Luke 9:20, John 4:25-26)
Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 16:15-16, Mark 1:1, Luke 22:70-71; John 8:24)
Jesus came to call sinners (Matthew 9:13, Luke 5:32)
Jesus has the power to forgive sins (Mark 2:9-12, Luke 24:47)
Jesus has authority over death (Matthew 28:5-6, Mark 5:22-24, 35-42, Luke 7:11-15, 24:5-6, John 11:1-44
Jesus has the power to give eternal life (John 10:28; 17:2)
Jesus healed the sick (Matthew 8:5-13, Mark 1:32-34, Luke 5:12-15, John 9:1-7)
Jesus taught with authority (Matthew 7:29, Mark 1:21-22)
Jesus taught us how to pray (Matthew 6:5-13, Luke 11:2-4)
Jesus taught us how to live (Matthew 5-7)
Jesus is compassionate (Matthew 9:36, Mark 1:41; 8:2)
Jesus experienced sorrow (Matthew 26:38; John 11:35);
Jesus never disobeyed God (Matthew 3:15, John 8:46)
5. If you haven't yet, take time to actually open the Bible and read the scripture verses above (don't just "gloss over" these verses and move on).
6. Read and understand Jesus's parables.
Why did Jesus come?
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
- John 3:16-17 (NIV)
"Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’"
- Luke 5:31-32 (NIV)
"and whoever wants to be first must be slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
- Mark 10:44-45 (NIV)
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
- John 4:9-10 (NIV)
Additional Scripture Verses
Galatians 4:4-5
Isaiah 53:5-6
Romans 5:8
Mark 10:14-16
Mark 10:17-27
God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ to show us how to Live, Love, and to freely offer each of us the most precious gift we will every get in our lives (should we each personally choose to accept it): Salvation - God's gift of forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins.
Actions You Can Take
1. Find somewhere quiet (grab a cup of coffee, etc) and read/reread these scripture verses and additional scripture verses. Without God sending Jesus to live on earth, our opportunity to receive God's gift would not be possible.
2. Take time to understand that God sent Jesus so He could share Mark 10:44-45 (see above). These verses reveals not only the motive for Jesus' ministry but also the basis for our salvation. A ransom was the price paid to release a slave or a captive. Jesus paid a ransom for us because we could not pay it ourselves. His death releases all who believe in Him from the devastating consequences of sin.
- source: Life Application Study Bible (page 2205)
3. Recognize that a right relationship with God means believing Mark 10:17-27.
4. Consider changing your attitude, if necessary, towards knowing God. In Mark 10:14-15, Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." As you may be already aware, complete intellectual understanding is not a child requirement. Children believe simply by trusting us. Jesus was saying that people should believe in him with this kind of trusting, childlike faith.
What did Jesus do for you/me/us?
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
- Luke 19:10 (NIV)
"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
- Mark 10:45 (NIV)
"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
- Titus 3:4-7 (NIV)
"He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; 'by his wounds you have been healed.'"
- 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
- John 3:16-17 (NIV)
“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.”
- Matthew 4:23-24 (NIV)
Additional Scripture Verses
2 Corinthians 5:21
Ephesians 2:4-5
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Jesus came to share the Gospel with us. He came to be an example. He came to die for our sins. He came to provide us with a path to a right relationship with God Almighty here on earth and after we die. He taught us to pray. He defeated death.
Actions You Can Take
1. Read the Miracles of Jesus, his apostles, and disciples.
Why? Because Jesus provided proof. Jesus lived. Jesus performed miracles so that the people he healed (and those who witnessed these miracles) would have proof.
Our choice is this: Do we believe the 12 apostles, disciples, and thousands of people who witnessed and benefited from these miracles...or not?
2. Read these following scripture verses so that you can understand that Jesus came to fulfill old testament scripture and, most importantly, the will of God. Biblical scholars believe over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament point to Jesus as the Messiah. Here are just a few...
Isaiah 7:14 (NIV) - "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." See also Isaiah 35:5-6; Isaiah 40:3; Isaiah 50:6; Isaiah 53:7; Isaiah 53:12; Isaiah 61:1-2
Micah 5:2 (NIV) - “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
Isaiah 11:1 (NIV) - "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit."
Jeremiah 33:15 (NIV) - “In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land."
Ezekiel 37:24 (NIV) - “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees."
Hosea 3:5 (NIV) - 'Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days."
3. Read the Lords prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). For those who believe, they realize the 4 most important "activities" you can do are: Love God with all your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul (fully surrender to Him daily); Read the Bible; Pray; and Love Your Neighbor.
4. Read Matthew Chapters 5-7 (also known as His Sermon on the Mount). Jesus was a Rabbi...a teacher. Here is the NIV Version of Jesus teaching his disciples and speaking to 5,000 people...
5. Appreciate all that has been done by God for you. Before Jesus came, God's chosen people were the only ones who had a path to Him. Jesus came to share the Gospel "The Good News" that God was establishing a new way for all of us to know Him. Jesus is that new way. It is God's will, His perfect justice, and love that, through Jesus Christ, we may have a right relationship with God here on earth and in eternity. We have God's revealed Word, The Bible, to give us the full meaning of Jesus's death and resurrection. We have no excuse for unbelief.
6. Read and understand Jesus's parables.
Why did Jesus have to die?
His death and resurrection
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-"
- Romans 3:23-25 (NIV)
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
- Isaiah 53:5-6 (NIV)
"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
- Hebrews 9:22 (NIV)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
- John 3:16-17 (NIV)
Additional Scripture Verses
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus
Matthew 26-28
Mark 14-16
John 18-21
We have a problem. We have all sinned. We have all failed to obey God and His commandments. Because of this, we are broken. We are alienated and separated from God Almighty creator of heaven and earth. Separation from God is death. Without God, there is nothing we can do to become united with Him.
Here's the "Good News" (The Gospel according to Jesus Christ). God sent an offering to us in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ. Because Jesus never disobeyed God and never sinned, only he can provide us with a path between God and you/me/us.
That's why he died. In freely obeying God and offering His life FOR US and dying on the cross FOR US and in our place, he took responsibility for our sins, our wrongdoings, and our debts upon Himself so that we don't have to suffer the consequences...if we freely and make the very personal decision to choose to believe and accept this gift.
On behalf of YOU, ME, and all human beings who choose to follow Him by faith alone, not works, Jesus has taken all our past, present, and future sins...and washed them away so that we can have new life. Because of this gift, we are forgiven. We have a path to God. Jesus found the way!
But that's not all...Jesus's resurrection from the dead is proof (witnessed by many) that his sacrifice on the cross was acceptable to God. With His resurrection, we have new life if we choose to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and declare that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. All who believe are freely given this new life, this new path to a right relationship with God through Jesus. Amen.
Actions You Can Take
1. Read the story of Jesus Crucified. While God sent Jesus to teach and show us how to live a right relationship with Him, ultimately, it was His sacrifice of dying on the cross and our personal acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior that is the only path to God. For believers, this is the defining moment of human history. All 4 Gospels share the story of Christ crucified (Matthew 26-28; Mark 14-16; Luke 22-24; John 18-21). Read all 4 and you will, no doubt, understand the depth of His sacrifice. We have provided Luke's version (as it is generally regarded among biblical scholars as the most thorough account of these events) but all are equally impactful.
2. Listen/Watch Alistair Begg's The Power and Message of the Cross
Spiritual Growth is God's Timing...
"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
- Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
- Hebrews 5:12-14 (NIV)
Keep Going...
"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I keep going toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
- Philippians 3:13-14