I am a Disciple Of Jesus Christ

What The World Knows.

Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically, although the quest for the historical Jesus has yielded some uncertainty on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the Jesus portrayed in the Bible reflects the historical Jesus, as the only records of Jesus' life are contained in the Gospels. Jesus was a Galilean Jew, who was baptised by John the Baptist and began his own ministry. He preached orally and was often referred to as "rabbi". Jesus debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God, engaged in healings, taught in parables and gathered followers. He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities, turned over to the Roman government, and crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect.[After His death, His followers believed He rose from the dead, and the community they formed eventually became the early Church.

Christian doctrines include the fact that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of a virgin named Mary, performed miracles, founded the Christian Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement for sin, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, from where He will return. Commonly, Christians believe Jesus enables people to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection, an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology. The great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of the Trinity. A small minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, as non-scriptural. The birth of Jesus is celebrated annually on December 25 as Christmas. His crucifixion is honoured on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. The widely used calendar era "AD", from the Latin anno Domini ("year of the Lord"), and the equivalent alternative "CE", are based on the approximate birth date of Jesus.

RAHAB: HARLOT, LIAR... ANCESTOR OF JESUS?

"Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab"
(Matthew 1:5).

Many first-time Bible readers are surprised to learn that the New Testament begins with a genealogy (Matthew 1:1-16), Jesus’ family tree. Those same readers are even more surprised when Rahab shows up on the list.

Most of us know about her. She is almost always mentioned by in the Bible as “Rahab the harlot." But that’s not all. Rahab was also a Canaanite-who were the hated enemies of Israel. Her most exemplary deed was telling a lie. Think about that. A Harlot, a Canaanite and a liar. You wouldn’t think she would have much chance of making the list, but there she is.

You can read about Rahab in Joshua 2 and Joshua 6....

It’s a great story with many lessons, but we mustn’t miss the point that Rahab was a harlot. That was her “trade.” The men hid there because people would be accustomed to seeing strangers come and go at all hours of the night. We also can’t deny the fact that Rahab told a bald-faced lie. Is there anything good we can say about her? Yes! She was a woman of faith. You don’t have to take my word for it. Hebrews 11:31 says, “By faith Rahab ...” She was a believer!

Many people are intimidated by Jesus Christ. They hook him up with a lot of religious paraphernalia-big sanctuaries, stained glass, beautiful choir, pipe organs, formal prayers, and all the rest. When they look at the trappings, it’s all very intimidating to them. To many in the world today, Jesus seems too good to be true.

This genealogy is in the Bible to let us know that he had a background a lot like yours and mine. He called himself “the friend of sinners,” and he said he didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He said, “The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” (Luke 19:10)

The same grace that Rahab experienced is now available to you. I invite you in Jesus’ name to come and be forgiven. He’s already made the first move. The next step is up to you.

Published here by permission of Keep Believing Ministries.

WHY DID GOD SEND JESUS?

The Bible teaches that the Father sent the Son into the world

(John 5:37; John 6:44, 57; John 8:16, 18; John 12:49; John 20:21;)
Also (Galatians 4:4; 1 John 4:14). In other words, God sent Jesus. The Bible also tells us why God sent Jesus into the world—reasons that redound to His glory and our eternal benefit. We will look at four of the reasons God sent Jesus:

Why God Sent Jesus: To Reveal the Father

In creation, we learn some things about the Creator, such as “his eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20). But what is God really like? Is it possible to know Him personally?

In the Old Testament, God began to reveal Himself as the Creator, Lawgiver, Judge, and Redeemer of His people. And then came Jesus (Hebrews 1:1–2). Jesus revealed God in a way that really caught our attention.

Without Jesus, we would not be able to see God. “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). Jesus is, in fact, “the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence” (Hebrews 1:3, AMP). That is, if you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father (John 14:9).

Without Jesus, we would doubt God’s love. But in the works that He did and the death that He died, Jesus revealed God’s love (Luke 7:12–13; Romans 5:8). Without Jesus, we would question God’s goodness and care. But Jesus revealed God’s knowledge of our needs and His desire to meet them (Matthew 6:8). Without Jesus, we might consider God unfair. But in His interactions with people of all backgrounds, Jesus revealed God’s impartiality.

Without Jesus, we would be forever fatherless. But Jesus showed us that we can approach God as a child approaches his or her father (see Matthew 6:9). There’s a relationship not just based on creation, the law, or judgment; there is a family relationship (see Matthew 12:49–50). As J. I. Packer wrote, “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. . . . Everything that Christ taught . . . is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. Father is the Christian name for God” (Knowing God, InterVarsity Press, 1973, p. 201).

Jesus spoke God’s words, thought God’s thoughts, felt and expressed God’s emotions, and did God’s works. God sent Jesus into the world to reveal the Father to us.

WHY GOD SENT JESUS: TO DO AWAY WITH SIN.

Hebrews 9:26 says, “He has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”

The sacrifices of the old Levitical system were insufficient to take away sin. But Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice, once for all time. With the shedding of His blood on the cross, never again would animals need to die as our substitute. When God sent Jesus into the world, the Son of God took on human flesh and provided a better sacrifice for sin and a better covenant with God’s people.

God sent Jesus not to deny the fact of sin or help us forget about our sin. Denials and cover-ups were not His purpose. God wanted to do away with sin once and for all. In Christ, God forgave sin and released us from its penalty. Through faith in the Son, we have full deliverance from guilt. Not only that, but we have deliverance from the hold of sin itself, true salvation, and real peace with God. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Our religious actions cannot put away sin. Neither can feeling sorry, practicing self-denial, or holy living. Not even our death can get rid of sin. Sin is a blot on our soul, a stain in the fabric of our being that can only be washed away by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Jesus alone can put away our sin (1 Peter 2:24). It’s one of the reasons God sent Him.

WHY GOD SENT JESUS: TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL

Another biblical reason that God sent Jesus into the world is spelled out in:

1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
It was a divine mission, executed with the precision of a well-planned military strike. Two thousand years ago, the Son of God landed on foreign soil, behind enemy lines, with a mission to demolish something, and He succeeded in His objective. He wrecked all that the devil had been doing.

The devil has been working to build a kingdom for himself, and Jesus came to dissolve the framework, making everything Satan has ever done a worthless waste of time. The devil had made his sand castle, and Jesus was the tide.

The devil’s works that Jesus destroyed include deception (Jesus is the Truth); sin (Jesus is our Righteousness); and death (Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life).

Jesus accomplished His wrecking of Satan’s work by the fact of His holiness
(Matthew 4:1–11; John 14:30), the excellence of His sacrifice:
(John 12:31; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14–15; 1 John 2:2), and the action of His grace (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 3:4; Romans 16:20).

The devil had a plan for Lazarus, and it did not involve his being resurrected from the dead (John 11). The devil had a plan for Saul of Tarsus, and it did not include his becoming a missionary to the Gentiles (Acts 9). The devil had a plan for the Philippian jailer, and it did not include living through the night and being saved and baptized with his entire family (Acts 16). Satan’s plans have gone awry, and they will continue to as God’s will is accomplished in and through us. As for the devil’s future, he will eventually be sent to the place of torture he dreads:

(Matthew 8:28–29; Revelation 20:10).

WHY GOD SENT JESUS: TO PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE OF A HOLY LIFE.

In the context of suffering for righteousness’ sake, Peter tells us that Christ has left us “an example, that [we] should follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

All those who follow Christ:
Ought to conduct themselves just as Jesus conducted Himself (1 John 2:6).

We are to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16), and Jesus is our example.

Jesus handled temptation, and He did so without sin (Luke 4:1–13; Hebrews 4:15). Jesus lived blamelessly, being holy in word (John 8:45–46) and holy in deed

(1 Peter 2:22; Hebrews 7:26). Jesus nurtured a prayer life (Luke 5:16), and He relied on the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1, 14).

God sent Jesus into the world, and we praise Him for it.

We are eternally grateful to our Lord who, at the end of His ministry, was able to look to heaven and say, “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). Mission accomplished.

IS JESUS GOD?

Some who deny that Jesus is God make the claim that Jesus never said that He is God. It is correct that the Bible never records Jesus saying the precise words, “I am God.” This does not mean, however, that Jesus never claimed to be God.

Is Jesus God? — Jesus claimed to be God.

Take for example the words of Jesus in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” We need only to look at the Jews’ reaction to His statement to know He was claiming to be God. They tried to stone Him for this very reason: “You, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33, emphasis added). The Jews understood exactly what Jesus was claiming—deity. When Jesus declared, “I and the Father are one,” He was saying that He and the Father are of one nature and essence. John 8:58 is another example. Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth … before Abraham was born, I am!” This is a reference back to Exodus 3:14 when God revealed Himself as the “I AM.” The Jews who heard this statement responded by taking up stones to kill Him for blasphemy, as the Mosaic Law commanded (Leviticus 24:16).

Is Jesus God? — His followers declared Him to be God.

John reiterates the concept of Jesus’ deity: “The Word [Jesus] was God” and “the Word became flesh” (John 1:1, 14). These verses clearly indicate that Jesus is God in the flesh. Acts 20:28 tells us, “Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood.” Who bought the church with His own blood? Jesus Christ. And this same verse declares that God purchased His church with His own blood. Therefore, Jesus is God.

Thomas the disciple declared concerning Jesus, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Jesus does not correct him. Titus 2:13 encourages us to wait for the coming of our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ (see also 2 Peter 1:1). In Hebrews 1:8, the Father declares of Jesus, “But about the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.’” The Father refers to Jesus as God, indicating that Jesus is indeed God.

In Revelation, an angel instructed the apostle John to only worship God

(Revelation 19:10). Several times in Scripture Jesus receives worship:
(Matthew 2:11; Matthew 14:33; Matthew 28:9, 17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38).
He never rebukes people for worshipping Him. If Jesus were not God, He would have told people to not worship Him, just as the angel in Revelation did. Beyond these, there are many other passages of Scripture that argue for Jesus being God.

THE REASON JESUS MUST BE GOD.

The most important reason that Jesus must be God is that, if He is not God, His death would not have been sufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of the world

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 ESV). A created being, which Jesus would be if He were not God, could not pay the infinite penalty required for sin against an infinite God. Only God could pay such an infinite penalty. Only God could take on the sins of the world
For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV), die, and be resurrected, proving His victory over sin and death.

IS JESUS GOD? YES!

• Jesus declared Himself to be God.

• His followers believed Him to be God.

• The provision of salvation only works if Jesus is God.

Jesus is God incarnate, the eternal Alpha and Omega:

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
(Revelation 1:17-18 ESV) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (Revelation 22:13 ESV), and God our Saviour
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: (2 Peter 1:1 ESV).