Jesus was a Jew and was God in the flesh

Submitted by David (United States), Jun 20, 2013 at 22:59

Jesus came from a Jewish lineage. In the bible His lineage is traced all the way back to Adam. Reference Matthew 1 for this. Also, Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophesies concerning the promised messiah to come. These could not have been masterminded by a scam artist. He could not control being born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, having lots cast for His clothes, etc... Reference Isaiah 52 and 53 then look at the picture of Jesus in the gospels. It is spot on! The term son of man was Jesus's favorite name for himself because it referenced the prophet Daniel's vision of one like a son of man coming down from heaven! This vision was about the promised messiah to come. Other titles that Jesus gave himself were: the bread of life, the water of life, etc... He told a group of questioning Pharisees that before Abraham was I am! YHWH God referred to himself as I am who I am in the Old Testament. Jesus claimed divinity with this statement. He also flat out told a group of Pharasees that "I and the Father are one" in the book of John. He also healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, and forgave sins because He was one with authority (God in the flesh).

When one looks at His life and His sayings one must rule out that he was lying or crazy. That leaves just one answer, that He was who He claimed He was. His death and resurrection from the dead were recorded by eyewitnesses to these events and they knew that He was God. He lived a sinless life. That qualified Him to be the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Only God has the ability to live a sinless life "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". (Romans 3:23). We all have a conscience, we all know that we have broken God's law and have not lived up to His perfect standard of righteousness. Out of every religious leader that has ever lived (Muhammed, Buddha, etc...) none other Jesus offers a solution to the problem of sin in our lives. His substitutionary death on the cross fully atoned for our sins and satisfied the wrath of a just God. He gave us mercy and took the punishment that we deserve. If we turn from our sins and put our trust in Him He gives us new life, His life! We die to our sinful nature as Jesus gives us grace to crucify that sinful nature with Him on the cross. He took all of our sins upon himself anyway so that we could be saved! Then we rise with Him in newness of life. The new life is lived in Him by the Holy Spirit and For His glory. We are now set free to love God with all our mind, heart, soul, and strength and to love our neighbor (fellow humans made in God's image) as ourselves. "But we know that God loves us in this, that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us". (Romans 5:8). Genuine disciples of Christ can still make mistakes but they do not try to justify their sin and they are constantly being molded into the image of Jesus Christ their lord by God who will not leave or forsake them! Jesus is desperately calling out for you. He wants to have a personal relationship with you, He wants to direct your way home, and He wants to give your weary soul rest. Invite Him into your heart today. May God bless your search for the truth.

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