The Jesus of the Bible

Do you know the Jesus of the Bible? Or perhaps do you know about the Jesus of the Bible? There is a significant difference here. Firstly, to know the Jesus of the Bible is to receive Him as your personal Savior and have a relationship with Him. Secondly, after trusting Jesus as your Savior you will be able to know about Jesus from the Scriptures.

There is a song many of us used to sing at Church services that goes: “Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to know who Jesus is. He’s the Lily of the Valley, He’s the brightest morning Star. He’s the fairest of ten thousand. Everybody ought to know.”  

The Bible tells us that Jesus’ mother Mary would “bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21). This text informs us about the conception of Jesus and also that He would become the Savior of mankind.

Jesus describes His purpose for coming into the world. He said, “For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10). The “lost” means everyone since the first man Adam, are sinners and in need of a Savior, because without exception, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This Savior is Jesus Christ, the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. Jesus “died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

Jesus is the only way to God. He declared of himself, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). As “the way,” Jesus came “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79). As “the truth,” Jesus is “the Word [who] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). As “the life,” Jesus prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” (John 17:1,2). 

Jesus is the light of the world and the light of life. “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”(John 8:12). Darkness and light cannot co-exist. Darkness speaks of sin. And the Bible points out that before a person accepts Jesus as Savior, that person is regarded “as darkness.” But being born again establishes union with Jesus Christ, and the believer becomes light in Him. Paul says, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true).” (Ephesians 5:8,9). Being born again, enables the believer to live a life that glorifies the Lord.

Jesus is the giver if eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Eternal life is the result of God’s unmerited, unearned, and undeserved favor to sinful mankind. It is solely by God’s grace a person is saved. The Scripture clearly teaches, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9). You see, “spiritual death” is the condition of the natural man as long a he lives without God. But because of God’s mercy and grace, even when we were spiritually dead, God has made us alive with Jesus Christ and saved us by His grace. God’s amazing and marvelous grace is far greater than all our sins.

Jesus is returning for those who have put their faith in Him. After His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus ascended to God His Father in heaven. At the moment of His departure, He commissioned us to evangelize the world, saying in part, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). And as the disciples watched His departure for heaven, they heard these words, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11). 

The promise that “This Jesus . . . will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven,” gives us the assurance that Jesus Himself will be returning for His people.