Am so sorry to say that so many Christians are just claiming to be the followers of Christ without knowing who is Jesus, so on this sermon I am going to show you the facts you must know about Jesus.
Knowing Jesus is very important for anyone who claims to be His follower; because it is what will make him or her maintain their faith whenever the circumstances calls for it.
If we study the scripture very well, we will discover that Jesus does not predict any good thing for those who will choose to follow Him. Rather he would always tell them to prepare to suffer what He Himself is going to suffer.
Another remarkable thing is that all the disciples and apostles of Jesus had a disastrous end, just like their Master.
And they were able to withstand all that transpirred because they really understood Who He really was.
Because after His ressurection, He opened their minds to comprehend the scriptures. (Luke 24:45).
Now without much ado, lets get to the main point of this sermon to discover Who is Jesus.
Who Is jesus?
1. Jesus is the Word Incarnate.
As I said earlier, it is sad to know that even in Christendom; many believers do not have a proper understanding of who their Messiah – Jesus Christ – really is, and the purpose for which He came to earth.
Majority only understand Him to be the Son of God; and that He came to die in order to make atonement for their sins.
And outside Christendom, some religions, for instance Islam; reverence Jesus Christ; whom they call Isa, but they only accept Him to be a prophet like Moses, Elijah, Mohammed etc. and not the Son of God.
But if we carefully survey the story of creation as recorded in Genesis 1, we will come to the understanding that God used the word to create everything.
He said “let there be and there was”. This phrase literally shows the effect of the word manifesting by bringing what was commanded forth.
In the beginning was the Word.
Now the scripture helps us to understand better in the book of John chapter 1 that in the beginning, the word was with God and the word was God. And that all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made
Now if you study the above passage carefully, you will see how it personifies the term ‘word’.
Notable is where it says “He was in the beginning with God”; this phrase in totality explains or describes the Word to be a person.
Now scrolling down the above bible chapter; we will clearly discover how the bible refers to Jesus as the Word of God in verses 10 to 14.
It says that the Word was in the world and that the world was made through Him; and even though the world was made through Him, the world did not know Him.
And in verse 14 it clearly states that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”.
John the Baptist bears witness of Jesus as the Word.
A man called John the Baptist; who himself was born before Jesus, made mention of the fact that this Jesus existed even before he was born, and that He was even preferred than him. (John 1:15).
And when they met for the first time, he openly made this confession about Him. “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! “This is He of Whom I said, ‘after me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me,’ (John 1:29)
Another passage in Revelation, precisely chapter 19, verses 11-13; also describes that Jesus has a secret name that is written on Him, and that name is called the ‘Word of God”.
From this knowledge therefore, we come to the understanding that; when God said “let there be”, the things that become did not just spring up. But rather, the word He uttered – Who came in the flesh to be known as Jesus Christ – went into action and began creating those things He commanded.
Why the creaton story seems confusing.
Now the confusing part of the creation story in the bible is the fact that once Jesus finished a particular creation and God inspected and saw that it was good. He called it one day. (Genesis 1:4-5).
So people reason this one day to be like the day and night we experience here on earth.
But the scripture in 2 Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4 helps us to understand that in the eyes of God, a thousand days is like one day, and one day like a thousand days.
How we have day and night on earth.
Logically, we know that there is no set day and night on earth because; everywhere in the world do not experience day and night at the same time.
For instance, if it is morning in Nigeria, try and contact people in foreign countries; and you will come to understand that, some of them are either in the afternoon, evening, or sleeping at night.
That is why scientists enlighten us about the fact that, it is our earth that rotates around the sun; and the earth’s position around the sun causes the day and night we experience at different times on earth.
In other words, the sun does not rise and set as we physically observe on earth. But rather, it is our earth that rotates around the sun, thereby, causing variations of days and nights.
(We can proof this when one who drives a vehicle looks around, and the houses by the roadside seems to be in motion, when in the real sense it is the vehicle he drives that is moving.)
And with this proper understanding; we can realize that God does not count the days and nights as we humans do.
And the sripture says “Indeed the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to you. (Psalm 139:12).
How the world was created through Jesus.
Which means, it might have took Jesus a thousand or million or maybe billions of years to finish a particular creation. But God will always call it one day.
That is why the bible says in Colossians 1:16-17 that it was through Jesus that everything that are in heaven and earth were created; whether they are visible or invisible.
Thrones, dominions and principalities or powers were created through Jesus; and He is before all things, and consists in all things.
In Hebrews 1:1-2 it says that in the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in this age He is speaking to us through His Son with Whom He made the world.
Therefore, we can now say in clearer terms that, Jesus was the Word God used to create everything, and He took human form – Word incarnate – to come down to earth.
Why Jesus came to earth.
Now after understanding Who Jesus is, we have to find out why He came to earth; i.e. what His purpose and mission was.
But some might ask: if Jesus is really the Word, couldn’t He have stayed where He was and caused whatever He wanted to happen on earth to happen?
Why would He stoop to low as to take on human form and come to earth?
These and many more questions will abound; which the devil will use to confuse so many about the status of Christ.
In order to have a proper understanding of why Jesus came to earth; we must first of all take our minds back to the creation story to see the fall of man and it’s consequences.
The fall of man and it’s consequencies.
After creating and putting man in a position that he wouldn’t have to struggle for anything; God gave an instruction to our first parents, Adam and Eve, not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
But when they disobeyed God, He drove them out of the garden after placing a curse on them as we can see in Genesis 3:16-19.
Now, once out of the garden the curse began to take effect on them, and this made them to realize their mistake and have the desire to make peace with God. So He could return them to the garden where they never saw the kind of suffering they were going through.
And the only way of making peace they could find was through animal sacrifices of which we see Cain and his brother Abel did in Genesis 4:1-16.
This tradition continued ever since, and in the law of Moses was done once every year; after which the blood will be sprinkled on the believers to make them clean.
Sacrifice could not appease God.
But then, this process could not appease God because, after the cleansing process the worshippers will always go back to sin; knowing that next year they will return to the synagogue to perform yet another cleansing exercise.
In fact, this process really displeased God, and so He was looking for a sacrifice that will replace this kind of sacrifice. A sacrifice that must be done once and for all; and it must be a human sacrifice.
So looking around, there was no one fit for that job except the Word God used to create everything; that same word that was there with Him during the creation of the fallen man.
And there was no way He could achieve that sacrifice except in taking on the very flesh of man i.e. to enter into the physical body.
You can find all I’m trying to explain in (Hebrews 10:1-10).
The reconciliation and gift of the Holy Spirit.
And after this sacrific,; God will then return the one appease to the garden. And He will achieve this process through God Himself coming down to dwell in the individuals conscience by means of the Holy Spirit, causing him to be able to obey His commandments, as He promise in Ezekiel 36:27.
And Jesus Himself reminded us in John 14:26 and 16:12-13 that he has many things to tell us but we can’t hear it now, but afterwards He is going to send the Spirit of truth that will reveal all He has to say to us.:
That is why; one cannot have the Holy Spirit unless he believes in Jesus Christ as the scripture reveals in (John 7:38-39)
Jesus Himself told the disciples to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 24:49)
We see how the Holy Spirit; from the Father through Jesus, came (for the first time) on each of the apostles head as tongues of fire on the Pentecost day. (Acts 2:1-4).
So what should now happen in the life of each individual is: after repentance, one must go through baptism (because the baptism replaces the former sprinkling of blood to make the worshippers clean – the water here symbolizing the blood of Jesus).
And once baptism takes place, the believer will instantly receive the gift of the Holy Spirit Who will henceforth enable Him to obey God’s commandments. (Acts 2:38-39)
So the reason Jesus came to earth was to make that peace with God; which Adam and Eve were looking for when they realized their mistake; and this He achieved through the sacrifice – His death on the cross, as we can see in Colossians 1:19-20.
Baptism.
Note: Baptism is a process Christians must do once and for all because, it replaces the former sprinkling of blood which was done year after year but couldn’t make the worshippers back then clean.
But now, a worshipper will have no excuse to give again for disobeying God because; after the new sprinkling – baptism – the Spirit of God will enter and live in that person, to enable him obey God.
For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)
And the most important point to note again is that, any believer who purposely continues in sin has no more chance to get forgiveness, as all he has to wait for is God’s ferful judgment. (Hebrews 10:26-27)
The only sin God can forgive us is the one we unknowingly commit, i.e. if we forgot and afterwards realize it and go back to ask Him for forgiveness as Peter did in Luke 22, which you will see an explanation below.
How the Holy Spirit helps us obey God.
1. Keeps Christians in constant reminder of God’s law.
The Holy Spirit will dwell in the human conscience or mind, and keep them in constant reminder of Gods law and commandments. And in so doing, obstruct them from breaking it.
For instance, if someone wants to fall into an occasion of sin, it is the conscience within that individual that will start to tell him or her implications of what he or she is about to do.
And that way enable that individual refrain from disobeying God.
At this point, it is worthy to note that, anybody that doesn’t have the Holy Spirit will not consider whatever sinful actions he or she embarks upon. As well as feel no remorse whenever he or she transgresses.
Such an individual will always have a reason to give for doing what he or she does, and when it backfires, will blame it on his father: the devil.
But a true child of God that has the Spirit of God; (as explained earlier) is always conscientious, and so avoids any occasion of disobeying God.
And in so doing thre is no way his heart will ever condemn him, as he will always maintain his confifence in God. (1 John 3:19-21)
2. Help them to repent if they sin unknowingly.
Secondly, since we easily forget, i.e. there are times you will unconsciously, unknowingly, and not on purpose; fall into the occasion of sin; but when you do, it is your conscience – where the Holy Spirit dwells – who will afterwards point out the wrong you have done, and thereby help you to go back to God and ask for forgiveness.
We can see this in the case of Peter, (Luke 22:31-34, 54-62) whom Jesus foretold about his denial of Him, but when Peter was about to err he forgot what Jesus said, until he was reminded by the cock that crew, which symbolizes the same way the Holy Spirit will later remind us of the sins we commit because we forgot.
This then will help us go back to God and reconcile with Him as Peter did.
In Acts 21:17-29, we see how Paul was instructed by the disciples to go to the temple and perform the sacrifice of purification; something he used to preach against because, Jesus had already done the proper sacrifice.
But Paul forgot and the scripture helps us to understand in chapter 27 that just when the seven days were about to come to an end, some Jews form the province of Asia saw Paul n the temple and steered up the crowd to arrest him, and that way he was prevented by the Holy Spirit from sinning.
2. Jesus is the biblical word.
Christians that understand Jesus to be the Word of God are not in any way wrong about it because, if you study the whole bible from Genesis to Revelation, you will discover that it makes reference to only One person – Jesus Christ – Who is the Word of God;
Jesus Himself made this known.
“You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. ”But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
John 5:39-40.
Now let me give you some instances.
Old Testament review of Jesus Christ.
Genesis 3
Upon finding they were naked after disobeying God, Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves to cover their nakedness.
But when God sought them out, He stripped the fig leaves off and used animal skin to cover their nakedness.
Knowing there could be no way of God getting animal skin without having to kill an animal; that animal therefore symbolizes Jesus Christ; who will later be sacrificed on the cross and His flesh used to cover the sins (nakedness) of man.
While the fig leaves symbolize the former burnt offering man tried to use to make atonement for his sins. (Hebrews 10:1-10 explains this in full as we saw earlier. You can also see Job perform this act in Job 1:5.)
Genesis 4.
God rejected Cain’s sacrifice of the fruit of his harvest, and accepted Abel’s sacrifice of the first lamb born to one of his sheep.
Now Cain’s sacrifice symbolizes man’s own means of selfishly appeasing God, while Abel’s lamb symbolizes Jesus Christ, Who will later die in order to please God, and put human beings right with Him.
Genesis 22,
God commanded Abraham to offer his only son – Isaac – as a sacrifice, and this event foretold Gods intention to offer his only Son – Jesus – as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind.
Exodus 12
In Exodus 12, God commanded the Israelites to kill a lamb and put some of its blood on their doorpost, so that when He passes to destroy every first born son in Egypt, He will pass over every doorpost that has the blood of the lamb.
The lamb symbolized Jesus, who paid the price with his blood to save those that will believe in Him and receive his blood as a mark in their lives.
Joshua 2
In Joshua 2, Rahab, the prostitute, saved the two spies that were sent to Jericho.
And because of this act, she was given a scarlet thread to hang on the window that she let the spies down.
So that in so doing, when they come to destroy Jericho she and her household will be identified through the scarlet thread and be saved.
That scarlet thread was Jesus who stands at the house of every believer to save them from every destruction.
Numbers 21
In Numbers 21, God sent fiery serpents to bit the Israelites because of their disobedience, but after repenting of this, He commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent and hang on a pole, that whosoever will look up to it will survive the serpent’s venom.
The bronze serpent symbolizes Jesus hanging on the cross that whosoever will look up to him by repenting, believing, and obeying His word, will save himself from the devils destruction. J
esus Himself reveals this in John 3:14, that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so shall the Son of Man be lifted for the whole world to see.
Besides these instances, there are countless prophecies about His coming and mission.
Isaac prophesied about Jesus.
The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until shiloh comes; and to him shall be the obedience of the people. (Genesis 49:10).
David, of whom Jesus descended, was not left out:
For thou will not leave my soul in hell; neither will thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. (Psalm 16:10).
I think Peter – after Jesus resurrected – explained David’s prophesy better in (Acts 2:29-32).
And several prophets foresaw Him in several ways:
Jewish Prophets who predicted the coming of Christ.
1. Prophet Isaiah.
Prophet Isaiah prophesied that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel, meaning Savior. (Isaiah 7:14).
He also prophesied that the government shall be upon the shoulders of this child, and this government shall know no end i.e. continuing forever:
Isaiah further gave a precise prediction about the whole life of Jesus, and you can find that in Isaiah chapter 43.
(Please read it for a better understanding).
2. Prophet Jeremiah
Prophet Jeremiah prophesied that unto David, God will raise a righteous branch and a king who will reign and prosper and execute judgment and justice in the earth. (Jeremiah 23:5-6).
3. Prophet Daniel.
Prophet Daniel saw the eternal king coming with the clouds of heaven, and given the dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations and languages would serve.
And that his kingdom will last forever and never pass away, neither shall anything or anyone destroy it. (Daniel 7:13-14)
4. Prophet Micah.
Prophet Micah, specifically pointed out Bethlehem to be the birthplace of this eternal King. (Micah 5:2).
5. Prophet Zechariah.
Prophet Zechariah saw the king as a sacrificial lamb upon David’s house. (Zechariah 12:10)
The final prophecy.
And the final prophesy was brought by Angel Gabriel to the predicted virgin in person of Mary.(Luke 1:26-33) espoused to Joseph, whose genealogy is traced down to the root of David, the son of Jesse descended from Judah the son of Isaac whose fore-father was Abraham. (Mathew 1:1-16)
So, wherever you see the bible make mention of the Word of God, know that it is indirectly referring to Jesus Christ as a personality.
Note what Jesus Himself said: (“The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:16b)
And Peter drives home our point: (But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:25)
How all the scriptures witness Jesus as the Word.
Therefore the scriptures: be it the Old or the New Testament, gives the witness about Jesus, who is the Word of God incarnate.
If the Jews had this understanding, they would have recognized and accepted the Word of God when it came as flesh to them.
But since they only understood the bible to be the book of law (Joshua 1:8), they took hold of, persecuted and killed the very Word that was physically manifested right before their eyes.
So, now that you have fully understood that Jesus Christ is the Word Who is responsible for whatever came to be; and He alone was with the Father when you and I were created.
Jesus the creator.
Therefore, He is the only One – besides the Father – that knows the beginning and end of everything that ever and will ever exist, as well as control them all.
He is the one that has given the idea to human beings to create whatever their eyes can behold. (the houses that protects man from the sun and rain, as well as give them a resting place.)
The airplanes, ships and automobiles that helps man in locomotion; just look around and name them all.).
It is Jesus Christ, through the Father, Who embeds man with the knowledge to create these things; same way they began by creating every other thing, including us. Jesus Christ is the source of all creation.
Why Jesus is popular.
This is why the name ‘JESUS’ is so popular and seems to be on everybody’s mouth at all times; any little thing that happens, people will consciously and unconsciously scream out “JESUS”.
This is because all the power and authority is given to Him by God. (Philippians 2″9-10.)
And this Name is powerful to save anyone that calls on Him; which is why Peter witnessed about Him in (Acts 4:10-12) after using the name of Jesus to heal a lame man:
Now because, most of us do not understand Jesus to this extent; we are unable to receive or listen to the instructions and warnings of the Spirit that God has put within us through Him.
That is why we continue in sin and take pleasure in it.
We even go to the extent of allowing the false prophets that surrounds us today to misinterpret the very Word of God in the bible, and urge us to continue in our sinfulness.
For if we have the Spirit, we will read the bible with the proper understanding as the scripture reveals in 1 John 2:27.
Conclusion.
Finally, after coming to the knowledge of Who Jesus is and the purpose of His coming to earth, it is time to recover yourself through Him.
If you are a Christian, you need to re-examine your conducts in order to know, whether you truly have the Spirit given by the Father through Jesus, living in your conscience.
Study these passages to see how to examine yourself. (2 Corinthians 13:5, Galatians 6:4, 5, 7, 8)
And if you are not yet a Christian, it is time to act according to the scripture in Acts 2;38-39.
“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.
