It seems like a simple
question, doesn't it? Who is this man? Was he a simply a great
moral teacher or God in the flesh? C.S. Lewis wonderfully addressed
this question in his classic work, “Mere Christianity”.
Lewis wrote: “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.”
Let's make this clear:
Jesus claimed to be God, (John 5:18, John 10:30, John 8:58) and that means
we cannot say he was simply a great moral teacher. As C.S.
Lewis said so well, this would make Jesus either a lunatic or a liar,
but hardly the a man who possessed the character of great moral
teacher.
Jesus' claim to be God
forces each of us to answer the same question he put to his
disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”. How we answer this
question decides our eternity for each of us. His claim requires
that we choose. “Who do YOU say that I am?” You see, each of us
has to answer this question. Each of us must choose to believe who
he says he is or not.
Who is Jesus? He is my
friend, my brother, my Lord and my God. Before I knew him I was
incomplete, but when I gave my life to him he changed me; he gave me
himself and he gave me the gift of everlasting life. There is no
greater gift than this and you too can receive this gift.
I would encourage you
to examine his claim. If Jesus is the Son of God it makes all the
difference in the world. You owe it to yourself to find out the
truth.
Turn away from your old
life and receive him as your Lord and your Savior. I guarantee
you'll never be the same.
Pastor Jim French
St. Luke's Church
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As
a pastor, it is my deep desire and constant prayer that men and women
would come to faith and become Christians. I have this desire for two
reasons. First, because of my deep conviction that there is one God
who has revealed Himself to us, and the way that He has done that is
through His only Son – Jesus Christ. I am personally convinced that
this is the only way that sinned-sick humanity can find its way home.
The
second reason is my own personal experience. In 1965 I heard a
professional football player share his story about becoming a
Christian. It started when he was asked a question by a teammate
about what he thought about Jesus Christ. That struck a chord with
me, because until that moment I had been considering whether or not
“Christianity” was the “right” religion. But at that moment,
I realized that Christianity – if it were true – would be true
because of who Jesus is. And that began a two year search for me
which ended in my coming to know this Jesus in a deep and personal
way. That was over 46 years ago, and the reality of His presence in
my life has been constant from that day to this.
For
many people religious discussions are similar to political
discussions. In the final analysis, it all comes down to “your
opinion” vs. “my opinion.” The difference, however, is that a
discussion about Jesus Christ introduces an inescapable
confrontation. And that confrontation has to do with the claims about
Jesus, and that Jesus made about Himself. For many people Jesus is a
“good person”, perhaps an “excellent role model”, possibly
even an “insightful prophet.” But before you accept one of those
options, consider the following statements:
“I
am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.” John 14:6
“Anyone
who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9
“…apart
from me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5
“Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which you must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Anyone
who considers Jesus as he is presented in the New Testament CANNOT
remain neutral – He does not give you that option.
As
a pastor I am well aware of the barriers that Churches, Christians,
and even some pastors create for man people who would like to
believe. But if you are reading this, I must remind you, that when
you die; you will not stand before a pastor, church leaders, or even
a group of Christians – you will stand before Almighty God, and he
will have only one question for you – “What did you do with my
Son?”
His
invitation to you is: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
shall be saved.”
If
I or any of the pastors of our community can be of personal
encouragement or spiritual assistance to you, please don’t hesitate
to contact any of us.
In
Christ,
Pastor
Dick Brookes
Coila
Church: home- 677-7081
According
to the New Testament, God came to earth in the Person of His Son,
Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that Jesus is not a created being
like the angels, but is the very Creator of the universe. The Gospel
tells us that our Creator has become our Redeemer. The New Testament
reveals that, in accordance with his Father's will, Jesus temporarily
set aside his power and glory to become a tiny helpless baby. As He
grew, Jesus worked in a carpenter shop, experienced hunger, got
tired, and suffered pain and death like us. At age 30, He began his
public ministry.
The Bible reveals God
as the Creator of the universe. He is infinite, eternal, all
powerful, all-knowing, personal, righteous, loving, just, and holy.
He created us in His image and for His pleasure. According to the
Bible, God made us to have an eternal relationship with Himself. When
God spoke to Moses at the burning bush 1500 years before Christ, He
reaffirmed that He is the only God. God told Moses His name is
Yahweh, (I AM). At the time of Christ, each worship service began
with a recitation of the Shema. (George A. Barton, Jesus of
Nazareth (New York: Macmillan, 1931, 39)). "Hear, O
Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD." (Deuteronomy 6:4) It is
in this world of monotheistic belief that Jesus entered into,
ministered in, and began making claims that astounded all who heard
them. Jesus is the central theme of the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus came
to this world in the form of a living, breathing human being. He
is the One who satisfies and fulfills all the symbols and
prophecies of Genesis through Malachi.
As we move from the Old
Testament to the New, we find that one person, Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, is the focal point of both Testaments. But if Jesus is the
fulfillment of the Old Testament, His claims should confirm that God
is one Lord. When Jesus began his ministry, His miracles and radical
teaching immediately drew huge crowds, creating a frenzy of
excitement. As his popularity swelled with the masses, the Jewish
leaders (Pharisees, Sadducees, & Scribes) began to see Jesus as a
threat. Suddenly they began looking for ways to trap him. One day
Jesus was debating with some Pharisees at the Temple, when
suddenly He told them He is "the light of the world." It is
almost bizarre to picture this scene, where a traveling carpenter
from the lowlands of Galilee tells these PhDs in religion that He is
"the light of the world.” Believing that Yahweh is the
light of the world, they replied indignantly: "You are making
false claims about yourself" (John 8:13 NLT). Then Jesus told
them that 2,000 years earlier Abraham had foreseen him. Their
response was incredulous: "You aren't even fifty years old. How
can you say you have seen Abraham?” (John 8:57 NLT) Then Jesus
shocked them even more: "The truth is, before Abraham was, I
AM." (John 8:58 NLT) Out of the blue, this maverick carpenter
with no degree in religion claimed to eternal existence. Furthermore,
he had used the I AM title (ego eimi), the sacred Name of God for
Himself! These religious experts lived and breathed the Old Testament
Scriptures that declare Yahweh alone as God. They knew the
Scripture spoken through Isaiah: "I alone am God. There is no
other God; there never has been and never will be. I am the Lord, and
there is no other Savior."(Isaiah 43:10, 11 NLT) Since the
penalty for blasphemy was death by stoning, the Jewish leaders
angrily picked up stones to kill Jesus. They thought Jesus was
calling himself, "God." At that point Jesus could have
said, "Wait! You misunderstood me - I am not Yahweh." But
Jesus didn't alter his statement, even at the risk of being killed.
C.S. Lewis explains their anger: "He says ... 'I am begotten of
the One God, before Abraham was, I am,' and remember what the words
'I am' were in Hebrew. They were the name of God, which must not be
spoken by any human being, the name which it was death to utter."(C.
S. Lewis, God in the Dock (Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 2,000), 157.) Jesus also used "I AM" for himself
on several other occasions. “I am the light of the
world” (John 8:12)
·“I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6)
·“I am the only way to the Father” (John 14:6)
·“I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25)
·“I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11)
·“I am the door” (John 10:9)
·“I am the living bread” (John 6:51)
·“I am the true vine” (John 15:1)
·“I am the Alpha and Omega” Rev.1:7,8)
Pastor Richard "Rick"
Setzer
Associate Pastor at
Jacob's Well Fellowship
Some have said that Jesus never
claimed to be God. Scripture flies in the face of that error.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
(KJV)
When Jesus said this, his audience
knew exactly what he was saying. The Jews knew the
way as the path to the Temple, up Zion’s Holy Hill. They
knew the truth as the Tablets of Stone with the Law on
them inside the Ark of the Covenant, and they knew the Life as
representing the very presence of God upon the Mercy Seat. So Jesus
had then said, I am the way to God, I am the Word and the
Commandments of God, and I am the very presence of God. If that’s
not speaking plainly, I don’t know what is.
I want to take this part of my
response to the question “Who is Jesus?” to tell you who he is to
me. He is my Lord, my Savior, my present help in the time of trouble.
He is my God, my redeemer; he is my all in all. Without Jesus, I
would be a sorry drunk, or be dead by now. He picked me up, dusted me
off, forgave my sins and put my feet on the narrow way. He is the
friend who sticks closer than a brother, he is my everything, and I
Love Him!
Rev.
Timothy A. Bohley
Senior
Pastor Jacob's Well Fellowship
revstnc@aol.com
