Getting Started
 
 

Take a few minutes and describe Jesus.

What does He look like? What does He do?

What is your favorite story about Jesus?

In the box sketch a picture or symbol that says something about Jesus.
 

The Bible Teaches

Jesus Christ is the single most important part of all the news that God delivers to us through the Scriptures. As we saw when we studied what the Scripture is, all Scripture points to Christ. This is because of all of God’s action to save us comes in Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus?

His name is Jesus. His name means "The Lord Saves". By His name He is known. He tells us who He is for us through His name, Jesus. He saves us from our sins.

• NAB Matthew 1:21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Jesus is called "Christ". Christ is not a name, rather it is a title. It is the Greek form of the word Messiah. Christ and Messiah mean "the anointed". Jesus was anointed by God to be our prophet, priest, and king.

• NAB Acts 10:38 "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
• NAB Deuteronomy 18:15 "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.
• NAB Hebrews 7:26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
• NAB Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

So all of redemption has been put into the hands of Jesus. As our prophet, He reveals the good and gracious desire of God to us. As our priest He has given Himself for the sins of all people that we might be forgiven. As our King He authorizes those to send forth His message into the world even as He reigns from heaven to care for His people.

Jesus is both true God and true man:

Perhaps no other revelation of Scripture than this one has been more subject to twisting by Satan into false teaching, {though perhaps an equal or close second is the salvation of all by grace}

In Jesus the divine and the human are united into one person. This divine union began when He was conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit. This unity within Him continues forever.

• NAB John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
• NAB John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
• NAB Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

Scripture reveals Jesus to us as true God.

• NAB John 20:29 Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."
• NAB 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
• NAB Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Scripture reveals Jesus as true man:

• NAB Luke 24:39 "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."
• NAB John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, "I am thirsty."

Jesus came to earth as a human being for one reason. Because of His love for us, it was God’s plan that through His life, death, and resurrection that we might be saved from our sins.

• NAB John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

As God in the flesh Jesus took our place under the Law of God and did what was impossible for us to do because of our sinful corruption; He kept the law perfectly. And then He offered Himself to suffer and die in our place because we had failed to keep God’s law.

• NAB Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
• NAB Romans 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
• NAB Colossians 1:21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,

Jesus was put to death for our sins. It is interesting to note that while the Gospel speak of the whole life of Christ, except for His later childhood, that mostly they focus on the last 3 years of His life which were His active ministry, the time that He began His work as prophet revealing God’s news of redemption through Himself. Still yet, you will notice that most of the materials in the Gospels speak of just a few days in His life, the days right before His death, the day of His death, and His resurrection. The death and resurrection of Jesus are the most crucial moments in all of human history. For in His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ, God and human being, gave Himself so that we might live. Without Christ our lives are a dead end. Because of Christ our lives lead not to destruction but rather to everlasting life.

In His life Jesus spent much time traveling, teaching, and helping others. He spoke of Himself and God’s plan. He endured poverty and contempt. And His death was one of great agony in body and spirit.

• NAB Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
• NAB John 19:1 Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; 3 and they began to come up to Him and say, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and to give Him slaps in the face.
• NAB Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"

Sunday morning after His death on Friday evening, He rose from the dead victorious over sin, Satan, and death. No longer was sin the unbeatable barrier between God and human beings. Jesus holds the solution. Having taken our punishment, He offers us forgiveness. His resurrection is the seal that in Jesus redemption is finished and offered to us.

• NAB John 8:28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
• NAB Romans 4:25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
• NAB John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"

After His death He appeared and instructed His followers for 40 days. Then He ascended into heaven from where He now cares for His people and sends forth the blessings which He has made possible. In heaven He not only watches over us, but He intercedes with His Father on our behalf.

• NAB Luke 24:51 While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
• NAB 1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

What does this all mean for me?

Jesus freely gave Himself out of His love for us. He came to earth as one of us, kept the law in our place, and died for us so that we who are lost and condemned because of our own sin might have our sin taken away and each one of us be forgiven.

• NAB Isaiah 53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

Christ has redeemed us with His blood. Redeem is a term which means to pay a price that a person could never pay so that the person is freed from his or her debt and so set free. Christ has redeemed us from all sin, death, and the power of the devil.

• NAB John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
• NAB 2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
   
• NAB John 8:34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

   

• NAB 1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Christ has redeemed all people with His death. He proclaims to us through the Gospel this good news of forgiveness of sins and life eternal to be had though Him.

• NAB 2 Timothy 1:10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
• NAB 1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

Through the proclamation of the Gospel, the forgiveness made possible by Jesus is delivered to us by the Holy Spirit. Those who believe in Jesus are forgiven and have eternal life. We are saved by God’s mercy through faith alone. There is no work we do to merit this gift. There is nothing we can do to prepare for this gift. Indeed, even our faith is a gift of God as the Spirit works on our hearts through the Word to receive Him who gave His body and blood for us.

• NAB Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
• NAB Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

So what now?

We wait patiently for Christ to return as He promised as we take hope from our faith and continue to live our lives in service to Him. He will come to judge those who do not believe in Him, but for those clinging to His promises there is redemption.

• NAB Matthew 24:44 "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
• NAB Acts 17:31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
• NAB Hebrews 9:28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
• NAB Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
• NAB Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

 
  copyright Rev. David D. Reedy, 1999-2005