Faith
WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?
Greetings,
I would like to introduce Myself to you. I am Jesus Christ, the Lord of all creation. It’s unlikely that you’ve never heard of Me. Maybe a friend or family member has already tried to introduce you to Me. They explained to you from the Bible how everyone is a sinner according to God’s perfect standard. And how the penalty of sin is eternal death. And that God loved the world so much He gave Me, His only Son, to pay for your sins on your behalf. Maybe you listened politely and then turned away. Maybe you reacted with hostility, saying you never want to hear about Me again. Or maybe you feel drawn by God, but you still have doubts. You want to know “exactly who is this Jesus, why is He so special, and what does it mean to believe in Him?” Are you willing to really listen to Me and believe Me? I always tell the truth. Because, I am the Truth.
Who was I? Every year, you hear the Christmas story about Me being born in the manger. Most people think that this was My beginning. But would it surprise you to know that I always existed, before My birth in Bethlehem? That’s right, there was never a time when I did not exist. Before I was born on earth as the Man, Jesus, I always existed in perfect communion with God the Father, and with God the Holy Spirit. I existed with God and as God. Both the Old and New Testaments speak of My deity and eternality. If you don’t understand Who I have always been, you cannot have a full appreciation for Who I AM. I am the theme of the entire Bible. I existed prior to the creation of the heavens and the earth. Furthermore, everything was created by Me and through Me.
The Bible says that “no one has seen God at any time.” Yet, many times in the Old Testament, there are accounts of people who “saw God.” What they saw was “The Angel of the Lord.” Do you know who that was? It was Me! So not only did I exist, I was very active.
Throughout the Old Testament times, God sent Me to help people, and to accomplish His purpose for them. They couldn’t see God, but they could see Me. Moses wrote about Me, because he knew Me. In the Old Testament, as The Angel, I prepared people for what I would do in the New Testament. The Old Testament was the shadow of what was to come. The New Testament was the fulfillment.
Why did I come? God gave you His Ten Commandments. The purpose was to make your sin obvious to you. Everyone has broken every one of the Commandments. They were a “tutor” to lead you to Me. In the Old Testament, sacrificing animals was God’s temporary solution, but their blood only covered the sins. In the New Testament, because of My shed blood on the Cross, the sins were completely, permanently done away with.
My Father God is perfect, righteous, just, and holy. His glory is so intense that no sinful human being could ever live in His presence. That’s why He sent Me to this earth in human form. So that anyone who trusts in Me, alone, as their Savior can become a child of God and go to live with Him eternally in heaven. No other religious leader ever claimed to be deity. I claimed it numerous times in the Bible. I was (and am) 100% human and 100% deity. I was sinless flesh united with eternal deity. Just as My Father God is all-knowing, all-wise, eternal, holy, just, unchangeable, and more, so am I also all these things. I am the image of the invisible God. And consider this:
Just as I was sent by God as The Angel in the Old Testament, so I also was sent by God, as Jesus, in the New Testament.
Just as I accepted worship as The Angel in the Old Testament, so I also accepted worship, as Jesus, in the New Testament.
Just as I had authority as The Angel in the Old Testament to forgive sins, so I also had the same authority, as Jesus, in the New Testament.
You may think that because I was on this earth 2,000 years ago, that I don’t know what it feels like to have the problems you have today. Do you think I don’t know what it feels like to have emotional pain, physical pain, or temptations? I have experienced everything you have, because I had to be made like you, physically (yet without sin), to take away your sins. This is why I came -- to give My life as a ransom for you; to bear your sins in My own body; to be crucified because of your offenses.
You may think that I was just a victim of circumstances, that My crucifixion really didn’t have to happen. But I tell you, My death on the Cross was planned by God before time began. My birth, death on the cross, and resurrection were all prophesied in the Old Testament hundreds of years before My physical birth. The Scriptures had to be fulfilled. I could have called down hundreds of angels for My protection any time I wanted, but I willingly, joyfully went to the Cross. When I was hanging on that Cross, bearing your sins in My body, I was thinking of how much I love you.
And despite what you may think, I did indeed resurrect from the dead. I appeared to hundreds of people. After I proved that I was indeed resurrected, I ascended to where I was before, to the right hand of My Father God, in My glorified body. I finished everything I was sent to do. Your guilt and your sin were nailed to the Cross.
I am the one and only Mediator between God and you. I am able to save you completely if you come to God through Me. If you deny Me, you deny God. If you do not honor Me, you do not honor God. If you persecute those who tell you about Me, you persecute Me, and you persecute God. And still, God loves you and does not wish for you to perish!
What am I doing today? For those who have trusted in Me as their Lord and Savior, I am still quite active on their behalf. I promised My disciples that I was going to prepare a place for them in heaven. And I am doing the same for all believers. I am constantly praying for those who are Mine. I am their Advocate. However, if you have not yet put your trust in Me as your Savior, I’m sorry to tell you, I’m not doing any of this for you. My Father God does not hear the prayers of those who have rejected Me. You’re on your own.
What is in your future? If you have trusted in Me as your Lord and Savior, I guarantee that your eternal future is wonderful. Ever since My death and resurrection, all those who are Mine at their death are absent from their bodies, and present with Me in heaven. And at some point in the very near future, I will come back for every believer on earth. Everyone who has believed in Me since My resurrection, though now physically dead, will be bodily resurrected. And immediately after that, all those believers who are currently living on earth, will also be caught up by Me in the “twinkling of an eye” to meet Me in the air. (This is called the Rapture.) Everyone will have glorified bodies that will conform to My glorified body. That means that you can live in the presence of God in heaven. And the reason I’m taking you back with Me to heaven is so that you will not have to go through the 7 years of God’s wrath that will then come upon the earth. (This is called the Tribulation.) He will be pouring out His judgment on all the people who have spent their lives rejecting Him, and Me. If you have not yet put your trust in Me, one day you may find yourself left on this earth when your Christian friends and family have literally disappeared.
After the 7 years are finished, I will come back bodily to this earth as sovereign King and Judge. I will also bring with Me all those whom I took up with Me at the Rapture. Every person on earth will see Me. During the Tribulation, there will be some people who have become believers in Me. Those who still reject Me will be sent to Hades. Those who are Mine will go into a 1,000-year period of time (called the Millennium) to live with Me as I rule on earth. After that comes the Judgment. All unbelievers through the ages will hear My voice calling them to My judgment seat, and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that I am King of kings and Lord of lords. But it will be too late for them to be saved. They died in their sins.
I have been despised and rejected for centuries. You may still have your own ideas about Me. You may still despise Me. You may think that I was a nice person, but that I’m dead now. You may think that all other religious founders are just the same as Me. But what if you’re wrong? Are you really willing to play Russian Roulette with your eternal future? How do you think that makes Me feel? Your hardness of heart grieves My heart. Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship with Me! Everything I’ve told you is in My Word, the Bible, and it is the truth, because I AM the truth. Now that you know how much I love you, that I always existed, that there is an eternal future … just as I asked My disciple Thomas, I ask you -- who do you say that I am? If you were to die right now, would you meet Me as your Savior? Or will you meet Me as your Judge on the Judgment Day?
You might say you believe in God, or in Me, but that’s not the same as being born again. You don’t just believe in a parachute -- you put it on, or you die when you jump. Are you willing to put Me on? If you are willing to put your life into My hands, you will have peace with God, access to God, and eternal life with Him. And nothing can separate you from His love. If you want to know more about Me, start reading the Gospel of John. Contact your born-again family or friend. And begin attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church.
“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore!”
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