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Understanding who Jesus is Jesus being God in-flesh is not just an important point but THE point in all of Scripture. If you miss this you gain nothing eternal from believing in him. You can believe or do all the Bible says; you can say He died for you, that he heals and does miracles, that he is the greatest of any human or any prophet in history and you can still miss the salvation freely given through his name! Why? Not knowing WHO actually is leaves you out of the kingdom. Those that deny his deity and say he is only a man. This is certainly the common belief of all the cult groups, and schisms. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me . But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? " (John 5:46-47) Luke 24:25-27 On the road to Emmaus Jesus speaks to two of his disciplesdiscussing the recent events,“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Why are some people's messages religious but do not carry salvation, it is not the gospel of God. The true Gospel involves the person of God who was sent by the Father to earth to forgive us of our sins. Who is this son of God? In Micah 5:2: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler (shepherd) in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting .” Matthew 1:23 "and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." This happened when he was born. No one is ever called this name, for it can only be applied to the creator. Describing the deity This is what it says in the Greek New Testament, kata sarka, in the flesh .1 Tim. 3:16 “ And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.” The reason is found in 1 John 4:14 states, “The Father sent the Son as Savior of the world.” Two persons are described as acting with the same purpose and goal, having different functions. The Bible says the Son was sent from heaven by the Father. We see that the Bible describes God not only in singular as the being who always existed but in the plural. Scripture uses terms as We, Us. God is described as both plural and singular. God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is one, in this category of being, there is no other like him. He is unique in that He alone exists eternally, before anything was created, He alone has infinite knowledge that no other being has or can attain. That all OTHER beings, When scripture identifies God as one (singular) it is making the distinction of his being to others who are not God, it is not referring to the persons, the identities that make up the being who is God. Trinitarians are monotheists, we believe there is only one true God . This is the foundation of the Christian faith that is a fulfillment of Biblical Judaism. For even in the Old Testament we see a messenger of God who is not fully revealed called The Angel of the Lord that says in Exod.3 he is Israel’s God. Why does the Scripture say the Son was begotten? To be begotten in human terms carries the implication of having a beginning. Scripture does not teach the Son was begotten, as a human being he had a beginning, begotten through Mary. The word used for Jesus is ONLY BEGOTTEN . When both these words are used together it emphasizes this person is unique, unlike any other person who lived. He alone is both God and man. John whose writing is mostly focused on the deity of the Son states in John1:1-5 “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” The beginning refers to when God created the heavens and the earth, he as the word (creator) was there. All was made by him. He is the living one (eternal). John ended with the darkness did not comprehendthe light . In Jn.1:1 John presents that the logos (word) is eternal that it always existed that it was there from the beginning. The very same phrase is used for God in Gen.1:1 in the beginning God. John is making a comparison to connect the two. "The Word" an expression which is there applied to the Son is said to be "God." In both places, it clearly means God existed BEFORE creation, before the world was made. The Word (who is the Son of God) according to John is not, a "creature," a created being, since “He” has existence before Gen.1:1. The Word is uncreated and eternal. There is only ONE Being that is uncreated, that which we identify as God. John tells us The word was WITH God and is God. The conclusion of his narrative that he began with. No one has ever seen it is God the only begotten Son who is in relationship eternally with the Father makes him known. Jesus who is humanity, that which "became" a man, his incarnation, John 1:14. Getting back to what John has conveyed about the word is the son.The darkness did not comprehendthe light.Do you comprehend the light? Scripture is also called light, from which Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-41) The scripture points to God, God is the only savior. 1 John 5:11-12 “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” And this is why it is of the utmost importance to understand who Jesus is to be saved. He made the way to God simple, by having faith in what he did and knowing the one who did it. That is what we need to comprehend to receive salvation. |
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