Who is Jesus

Who is Jesus?
Throughout the centuries Christians have asked people to answer the question Jesus asked of Martha when he said,
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” John 11:25,26,27.
Jesus among all the individuals that have ever lived stands alone.
Napoleon Bonaparte said of him,
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”
“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel.  Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.” Napoleon Bonaparte.
H. G. Wells, British writer, (1866-1946) When asked which person left the most permanent impression on history, he replied that judging a person’s greatness by historical standards:
“By this test, Jesus stands first.”
“I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very centre of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”
“Christ is the most unique person of history. No man can write a history of the human race without giving first and foremost place to the penniless teacher of Nazareth.” H. G. Wells.
The apostle John writes,
“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 men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1:1-4,14
What John is saying here is Jesus is God, the creator of the universe. That God in the form of Jesus entered the world he created. Jesus is God incarnate.
The gospel of John tells of this incident in the life of Jesus,
“The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  
I and the Father are one.” 
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” John 10:24-32.
Even when faced with stoning and death Jesus did not back down on saying who he was.
The apostle Paul tells us why Jesus came, stating,
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6,7.
The apostle John stating,
“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.
God sent Jesus to point man to heaven. To provide mankind with a way directly to heaven through faith in Christ Jesus.
C. S. Lewis states,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg, — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
  Ultimately you must decide who Jesus is. Before you do however I would ask that you read the New Testament for yourself. Read what Christians who knew Jesus personally believed about him. Then decide.
Please think about it.

Same Message Different Way

Same message different way
Matthew’s Gospel records Jesus as saying,
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.  
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.  
And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.  
He who has ears, let him hear. 
“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:“ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’  
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.” Matthew 11:12-19.
Here Jesus states that John the Baptist is Elijah the prophet who was to announce the coming of the Messiah. Jesus being the Messiah. This is what Christians believe.
Jesus points out that the people of the time did not accept this. He points out that John and he had the same message presented in quite different ways and still, particularly the religious leaders did not accept this.
Jesus notes,
“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”
John the Baptist was calling people to repentance as was Jesus. John however was quite different than Jesus. Matthew says of John,
“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”  
“This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” 
  John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. John 3:1-4.
Jesus by contrast dressed normally. He moved from city to city calling people to repentance and proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Jesus sat down with anyone who would listen to him irrespective of their station in life.
It seems at the time, no matter which way the salvation message, the need to repent and turn to God, was presented it was rejected by the religious leaders apparently because it was not their way. Both Jesus and John were not part of the religious mainstream at the time.
The same thing happens today. When it comes to how you get to heaven and who Jesus is. It doesn’t matter how you present the salvation message people reject it.
The book of 2 Chronicles states,
“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”2 Chronicles  7:14.
The apostle John tells us,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 1John 1:9-10.
The apostle Paul writing to the Romans tells us God went one step further to point us to heaven. Saying,
““You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.   Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  
Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” Romans 5:6-11.
This is a message the religious leaders of the Christ’s day could not accept. It is a message I know many in the world today cannot accept. It however is what Christians believe.
Thus I leave it up to you the reader to decide.
The call of Jesus is to admit you are a sinner. That you fall short of God’s ideals for your life. That you make mistakes and do things that are not right from time to time. Big things or small things.
The call of Jesus is to confess those things to God accept God’s forgiveness and the Salvation and Eternal Life with God that Jesus offers.
Please think about it.

Of Importance?

Of importance?
C. S. Lewis said,
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” C. S. Lewis.
You the individual must decide this for yourself if Christianity is true of false, because ultimately it could be the most important decision of your life. Upon your decision rests your eternal resting place.
Christians believe Jesus is God incarnate, God in the flesh. That God entered the world in the form of his one and only Son Jesus. What Christians believe is summed up by what is known as the apostles creed. While not written by an apostle of Jesus what it says is what Christians believe.
1.I believe in God the Father the almighty maker of heaven and earth
2. I believe in Jesus Christ God’s on and only Son, our Lord and Saviour.
3. I believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary
4. I believe Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate; That He was Crucified, died, was buried. That he descended in hell.
5. I believe He rose again on the third day from the dead.
6. I believe that he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
7. I believe Jesus will one day Judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost
9. I believe in the Church which is the communion of the saints,
10. I believe in the forgiveness of sin.
11. I believe in the resurrection of the body.
12. I believe in life everlasting.
The question is do you believe. There is no middle ground when it comes to Christ. Jesus speaking of himself gave us all a choice saying,
“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.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:16-18.
C. S. Lewis points out,
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
Thus the choice is yours. Please take some time to read the New Testament and see for yourself What Jesus said of himself and what his disciples believed him to be.
Please think about it.