Who is Jesus?

What did he say about himself?

C.S. Lewis famously asserted we must call Jesus a lunatic, a liar, or Lord, but we can not call him “just a good person”. Why not? After all, did Jesus not do a lot of nice things for people? Isn’t that what his miracles were all about? And, if we deny his miracles, was he not at least kind to people that society had forgotten about?

This line of thinking permeated Lewis’ day, and it is still around today. The problem is Jesus did so much more than just be nice and teach others to be nice.

First, he talked about the Kingdom of Heaven coming to Earth—as in, God is actively involved with Earth (Matt. 3:2). Many people think of God as some far off Being who does not really care about us little creatures. But Jesus taught something very different. Not only did God actively create the Universe, He continued to involve Himself in the Earth’s affairs through the Hebrews. God used the nation of Israel to bring about a new type of kingdom—one not of earthly authority, but heavenly.

Second, Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of Hebrew Scripture which pointed to the Messiah, which means “God’s Anointed One” (Luke 24:27). Click here for an impressive list of prophecies put together by jesusfilm.org. What does it mean to be “God’s Anointed One”? In Isaiah 7:14, the prophet Isaiah said the Messiah would be called ‘Immanuel’ which means ‘God with us’. When Christians talk about Jesus the Messiah, we mean that God Himself has visited us. So Jesus not only spoke about God’s involvement with humanity, but claimed to be God walking among us. If Jesus claimed to be God, then Lewis is right—He is either crazy, lying…or He was telling the truth. If He was God with us, then why did He come?

Why did Jesus come?

Jesus came in order to take away our sins. ‘Sin’ is an old word which means ‘wrong doing’. The Bible uses a few different words to describe it. Sometimes ‘sin’ is like missing the bulls-eye—we just did not do as well as we should have. Sometimes it’s when we purposefully do wrong to others. The New Testament also describes sin as a spiritual sickness in that no matter how much good we want to do, we still find ourselves hurting ourselves or others. All three of these meanings point to the same truth—God designed us to benefit each other and the world around us, but we fail at doing that. We fail because God’s original design has been tainted. There is a story in Genesis 1-3 that tells how God created the world. At the end of creating, God looks at His work and says, “It is very good.” But, in chapter 3, something goes terribly wrong. Adam and Eve are told to eat what they like from the Garden of Eden, but they must stay away from one particular tree. They are coaxed into eating from the forbidden tree by the serpent which is the first act against God. This first act brings evil into the world, and it has been growing ever since. However, sin does not just corrupt us, it kills us (Romans 6:23). Instead of having the life God intended, we have death and all the decay that goes with it—hatred, bitterness, greed, envy, and disease are all a part of sin’s effects.

Jesus came to fix that by getting rid of sin (John 1:29, 1 John 3:5, Romans 11:27).

How can Jesus end sin?

Romans 6:23 starts with, “For the wages of sin is death". Sin earns death. Or as James 1:14-15 puts it, our selfish desires lead to sin, and when sin develops fully, it leads to death. God is the source of life (John 1:1-5), but when we live apart from God, we cannot have that life. So we die. But, Romans 6:23 also say, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus gives the gift of life by taking death from us. We are supposed to die, because of our sin. Instead, Jesus died for us. When He died on the cross 2000 years ago, it was to pay the penalty for our sin. While Jesus walked on the earth, he committed no sin—none. But on the cross, He took our sins so that we can live (2 Corinthians 5:21). He paid the price of sin for us. That’s why it’s called ‘Good News’! We are not bound to death and sin. We can be made alive in Christ! Even more, Jesus did not stay on that cross or in that grave. On the third day, Jesus arose from the dead proving His power over death and sin. What should have been the end of the story for Jesus became a glorious new beginning for us!

Now, instead of being condemned as guilty with no hope, we have a choice to make:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

- John 3:16

The choice is simply, “Will you believe?” Will you trust in Jesus for everlasting life?

If you will believe and trust in Jesus today, all you have to do is pray. Confess to God you are a sinner. Believe Jesus paid the price for your sin by dying on the cross and resurrecting. Ask God to forgive you and help you to not sin anymore.

If you’ve prayed for forgiveness, please let us know. We would love to help you grow in your new life with Jesus.