Who is Jesus? why did He come? what was His mission?

Submitted by Lactantius Jr (United Kingdom), May 30, 2009 at 09:11

To Shaji (upon whom be peace)

I greet you in the precious life-giving, life-saving, Name of Jesus Christ, Son of Man, Son of God, the sinners all-sufficient Saviour, Prince of Peace, author and distributor of peace, and I wish for you His peace.

I congratulate and thank you for the way in which you set out your beliefs as a Muslim, and yes, I do read your replies, and I'm sorry you're disappointed I haven't answered all the very many questions you ask, and all the many objections to Christianity you make, and whilst believing they can be reliably answered, I choose to respond to what I perceive to be the most important objections you raise, and this is what I again do now, in asking, Who is Jesus Christ? Why did He come? What was His mission?

As a Muslim, I assume that your ultimate authority in matters of belief is the Qur'an, and when I quote it to you, I do so with that assumption that you will accept what it says, not because it is authoritative for me, it isn't, I do not believe it to be divinely inspired by the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, revealed in the printed words of the Bible, which is my ultimate authority in matters of belief and conduct, the New Testament of the Bible being the primary source of reliable information about the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the second line of your posting you say,

"As you are a Christian, please prove whether Jesus is God or not….??."

and in what follows, I seek to demonstrate what Jesus Himself thought, said and did, and what His Bible-believing followers through the ages down to the present-day believe and confidently declare, and in responding to you, I seek to do so in conformity with these words from the New Testament, and by the grace of God I will.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,"

1 Peter 3:15

Firstly, I respond to the following comment of yours,

Jesus never claimed himself to be God. This is what I want to remind and remind you……!!!!.

"Jesus Never said 'I am God' No He didn't. Neither did He ever say, "I am a man," or "I am a prophet" and neither did He ever say "I am not God, do not worship Me." What really matters though, is not the existence of the statement "I am God," but whether there is clear evidence that He is indeed God, no matter in which form He issued the claim. If there is clear proof for His divine identity, then we have to worship Him, even if the wording of His self-description is not exactly the way we think it should be. We cannot prescribe for God how He has to reveal Himself before we accept it. It is not necessary for Jesus to utter the three words "I am God" in order for us to determine whether or not He is divine. Jesus may not have said the exact sentence "I am God" but He did claim the divine name for himself (Exodus 3:14 with John 8:58) and He also received worship (Matthew 2:2; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38).Compare and contrast Jesus' acceptance of worship with the Apostles Paul and Barnabas' reaction, when a crowd started to worship them as gods:-

"While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. He had been that way from birth, so he had never walked. He was listening as Paul preached, and Paul noticed him and realized he had faith to be healed. So Paul called to him in a loud voice, 'Stand up!' And the man jumped to his feet and started walking. When the listening crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, 'These men are gods in human bodies!' They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul, because he was the chief speaker, was Hermes. The temple of Zeus was located on the outskirts of the city. The priest of the temple and the crowd brought oxen and wreaths of flowers, and they prepared to sacrifice to the Apostles at the city gates. But when Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, ^'Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings like yourselves! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God……………………………..' "

Acts 14: 8-15

Jesus never did say "I am God," but just look at what happened when He said "I Am." This happened during a discussion with the Jews during which Jesus had made one of the "I am the light of the world" statements John 8:12. But the argument had gone on from that point, with Jesus eventually saying to His audience, that those who keep His word will not see death John 8:51. At this, the Pharisees pounce. Abraham, the greatest Jew, and all the prophets are dead. Is Jesus therefore greater than Abraham? Is Jesus therefore greater than the prophets, for they also are all dead? And if so, who or what does Jesus claim to be?

Jesus replied that Abraham had seen His day coming, and had been glad about it John 8:56. His reply causes scorn. 'How could that be?' was the response. Had Jesus Himself seen Abraham, and Him, Jesus, being a man of less than 50 years old? Jesus replies, 'I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am.'

John 8:52-58

At the Burning Bush on Mount Horeb, Moses was commissioned by God to lead the children of Israel out of captivity in Egypt. He declined for various reasons, but once he had been persuaded otherwise, the one question he asked was this: "When I go to them and say, the God of your fathers has sent me to you," they will say, "What is His name? what shall I reply" It seems that the 'the God of your fathers' would not do Exodus 3:13. God replies: "I AM WHO I AM. Say I AM has sent me to you Exodus 3:14 going on in verses 15&16 to tell Moses what else to say to the Israelites, and uses the more traditional names of 'the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' But the important statement had been made earlier. God had revealed Himself as the Self-Existent One, Whose fullest Name, is I AM, YAHWEH, JEHOVA. Ever afterwards, I AM (JHWH), transliterated as Yahweh, (and in the Authorised version of the Bible as Jehova), was known to the Jews as the great and most holy Name of God. By tradition, that Name was so holy that it was not to be spoken, and whenever it appeared in the Scriptures, a pious Jew would (and still does), substitute the name God (Elohim or Adonai) for speaking the passage. So, when Jesus said to the Jews, "Before Abraham was born, I am" John 8:58 they understood Him to be claiming to be God, His words immediately linked with the I AM of the Burning Bush. This is why the Jews picked up stones to stone Him. John 8:59 they understood very well His claim to be God, and thinking it to be blasphemy, were prepared to carry out the lawful penalty.

"anyone who blasphemes the Name of GOD must be put to death. The entire congregation must stone him. It makes no difference whether he is a foreigner or a native, if he blasphemes the Name, he will be put to death."

Leviticus 24:14

Later, Jesus claimed to be one with the Father and the Jews wanted to stone Him again, because they said to Jesus, "You, being a man, make yourself out to be God." Jesus had taken the divine Name for His own, and the Jews wanted to kill Him for it. Therefore, from Jesus' own mouth we see that he was claiming to be God.

" 'The Father and I are one' [said Jesus]. Once again the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill Him. Jesus said, 'At my Father's direction I have done many things to help the people. For which one of these good deeds are you killing Me?' They replied, 'Not for any good work, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, have made yourself God.' "

John 10:30-33

Here Jesus claimed to be One with the Father, and the Jews wanted to stone Him again because they said to Jesus, "You, being a man, make yourself out to be God." Jesus had claimed the divine Name for His own, and the Jews wanted to kill Him for it. Therefore, from Jesus' own mouth, we see that He was claiming to be God.

And here is what Jesus says elsewhere, not just about existing before Abraham was born 2,000 years previously, but having existed since "before the world existed."

"And now, Father, glorify Me in your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed."

John 17:5

Compare this with John's prologue:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made… He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him… And the Word 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 1:1-3, 10, 14

Not only did Jesus Christ exist before the world itself, He also created every created thing.

Jesus claimed certain functions and abilities that were those of God alone. He said that He had authority to forgive sins, a claim understood by His hearers as usurping divine prerogative, blasphemy in fact:-

"Several days later Jesus returned to Capernaum, and the news of His arrival spread quickly through the town. Soon the house where He was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn't room for one more person, not even outside the door. And He preached the word to them. Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn't get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above His head. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, 'My son, your sins are forgiven.' But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there said to themselves, 'What? This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins!'

Jesus knew what they were discussing among themselves, so He said to them, Why do you think this is blasphemy? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven or get up, pick up your mat, and walk? I will prove that I, the Son of Man, have the authority on earth to forgive sins. Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, Stand up, take your mat, and go on home, because you are healed!' The man jumped up, took the mat, and pushed his way through the stunned onlookers. Then they all praised God. 'We've never seen anything like this before!' they exclaimed."

Mark 2:1-12

Jesus can forgive sins on the basis of His having the divine authority to do so, and as a result of His forfeiting His own life as a ransom for others. Again, the only way Jesus can forgive sins and die as a ransom, is if He were sinless. Otherwise, He would need to be forgiven of His own sins and would be in need of a ransom.

Jesus said He was the ultimate judge of all, the One to determine every human beings destiny:-

"Knowing the correct password--saying 'Master, Master,' for instance--isn't going to get you anywhere with Me. What is required is serious obedience--doing what My Father wills. I can see it now--at the Final Judgment, thousands strutting up to Me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use Me to make yourselves important. You don't impress Me one bit. You're out of here.' These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit--but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use My words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that He was living everything He was saying--quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard."

Matthew 7:21-29

Let's now look at how the New Testament very clearly says Who Jesus is,

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!"

Philippians 2:5-8

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,^"

Colossians 1:15

"For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body."

Colossians 2:9

^"We are filled with hope, as we wait for the glorious return of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Titus 2:12

and here is how Peter's recognition of the Lord Jesus is described in the New Testament,

"When Jesus and His disciples were near the town of Caesarea Philippi, He asked them, 'What do people say about the Son of Man?' The disciples answered, 'Some people say you are John the Baptist or maybe Elijah or Jeremiah or some other prophet.' Then Jesus asked them, 'But who do you say I am?' Simon Peter spoke up, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.' Jesus told him: 'Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed! You didn't discover this on your own. It was shown to you by My Father in heaven.' "

Matthew 16:13-17

And what was the reason for Jesus the Son of God to enter His creation, as He did some 2,000 years ago?

Please keep in mind that I am a fallible human being and I am trying to answer to the best of my knowledge and ability, from an understanding informed by Biblical Christianity. There are things that the Triune God revealed in the Bible cannot do, and forgiving sins without the need for a sacrifice is one of them, so why won't God forgive sin without a sacrifice? and this goes deeply to the very nature of God, what sort of God is He?

The Bible has much to say about the holiness of God, but God is not only holy and just, He is a most loving God and does not want anybody to perish, and Jesus being God's self-expression or living word, is His solution to the problem of sin in all its expressions.

So why is a sacrifice needed? What is sin? Why do humans sin? Simply speaking, sin is rebellion against God, it is rebellion against the highest authority. It is an offence against God's holiness and right to institute all laws. It is saying that we know better what is right and wrong, and we disregard God's authority, it is disobedience, it is desperately destructive, and is profoundly offensive to the all-holy God revealed in the Bible, sin entering the world because of the sinful choice that Adam made,

"sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"

Romans 5:12

The New Testament of the Bible saying that,

"all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Romans 3:23

If the Jews of Jesus' time knew anything at all about sin, they knew it was an expensive business, with an endless annual cycle of animal sacrifices, the old covenant, instituted centuries before Jesus' coming, rested on a sea of blood, it being estimated that in the 1,000 years of the old covenant, one million animal sacrifices were made, and why? What does the Old Testament Scripture say?

"For the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible."

Leviticus 17:11

But if animal sacrifices could take away sin, why did they have to be repeated again and again and again and…………..this is the inadequacy of the Old Testament sacrificial system, and its inability to deal with sin, the New Testament of the Bible saying

"But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins."

Hebrews 10:3

God will not dilute the seriousness of his commands by "just forgiving it without penalty" which would compromise His own holiness, then disobedience/rebellion or that much-misunderstood little word sin, has to find its punishment, and turning to the New Covenant of the Bible, to see why the Old Covenant was replaced,

^"Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God……………….. There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. But because Jesus lives forever, His priesthood lasts forever. Therefore He is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

He is the kind of high priest we need because He is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honour in heaven. Unlike those other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when He offered Himself as the sacrifice for the people's sins. The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed His Son with an oath, and His Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever."

Hebrews 7:18-28

And so, the Old Covenant was replaced by the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross, the New Testament saying that Jesus was,

"The lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world"

John 1:29

and of Whom the New Testament says,

"This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners' "

1 Timothy 1:15

and save sinners He does, for He is,

"Able to save to the uttermost all those who come to God through Him."

Hebrews 7:25

and we need saving, because,

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 6:23

Thats Grace, God's Riches At Christ's Expense, we're not worth it, we don't deserve it, we can't earn it, do we want it? and the sure and certain assurance that if we accept what God has done for us in and through His Son Jesus, we can be confident that when we stand before Him on the day of judgement, we will be accepted because we accepted His solution to our sin problem, but if we refuse to accept God's "rescue plan" we will stand before Him as unforgiven sinners, and receive the just penalty due to us.

So, to recap, God created a perfect world and placed the first humans, Adam and Eve in it, telling them they could eat anything except the fruit of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," warning them that if they ate it "you will surely die," and what happened? Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the "forbidden fruit," and death entered the world through this first sin, with Adam and Eve, and all humans since then dying.

Under the Old Covenant, the Jews of that time sacrificed animals, seeking to atone ("become reconciled to the God their sin had separated and alienated them from"), but this didn't cure the problem, the human problem being the problem of the human heart, the Old Testament saying,

"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

Jeremiah 17:9

So God instituted a new Covenant by sending His dearly loved Son Jesus, to be the sinners all-sufficient Saviour, by dying a hideous death by crucifixion, and as He said He would, He "did death to death" by rising to eternal life from the dead, that eternal life being promised to all who will trust Him to give it to them. So, the death that Adam, the first man, brought into the world, has been defeated by Jesus, who the New Testament of the Bible figuratively refers to as "the second or the last Adam," this second or last Adam bringing life to those who trust Him,

"The first man was named Adam, and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person. But Jesus, who may be called the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit. We see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first. He came after the one who had a physical body. The first man was made from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven. Everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth. And everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven. Just as we are like the one who was made out of earth, we will be like the one who came from heaven."

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

Acceptance of God's "rescue plan" is something we must decide before we die; picture a man who can't swim falling into deep water. The man will drown unless he accepts the lifebelt thrown to him. Now, picture us in this life, as the imaginary drowning man, and God Himself throws us a lifebelt with the word "Jesus" written on it, will we accept it, or say "no thank you, I don't want saving, I'll drown."

According to the Bible, God loves the world, and has done, and is doing, everything He can do to keep us out of Hell.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that all who believe in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

"God is not willing that any should perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance"

2 Peter 3:9

and this salvation is available to everyone who accepts God's "rescue plan,"

^"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced.' Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on Him. For 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?"

Romans 10:9-14

So there it is Shaji, I've attempted to go 'fast forward' through the Old and New Covenants of the Bible, outlining our sin problem, and God's solution to it by sending His Son Jesus to die in our place, and in sacrificially doing so, He has "done death to death" for all those who personally accept His gift; and it's not just "pie in the sky when we die," it's steak on the plate whilst we wait," because Jesus told us His job-description, saying,

"I have come that you might have life, life in all its fullness."

John 10:10

"I give them eternal life and they will never perish, no one can snatch them out of my hands."

John 10:28

Christianity absolutely stakes its claim to validity on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life following His sacrificial death by crucifixion, Jesus Himself prophesying His upcoming death by crucifixion on 18 occasions, and on 8 of those occasions, also said He would be resurrected to eternal life, saying of Himself that,

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Mark 10:45

The prophet Isaiah, writing ~800 years before Jesus' birth, had this to say about "the suffering servant," which is to be found in the Old Testament at Isaiah 53:1-12

"Has anyone believed us or seen the mighty power of the LORD in action? Like young plant or a root that sprouts in dry ground, the servant grew up obeying the LORD.

He wasn't some handsome king. Nothing about the way He looked made Him attractive to us. He was hated and rejected; His life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at Him. We despised Him and said, "He is a nobody!" He suffered and endured great pain for us, but we thought His suffering was punishment from God. He was wounded and crushed because of our sins; by taking our punishment, He made us completely well. All of us were like sheep that had wandered off. We had each gone our own way, but the LORD gave Him the punishment we deserved. He was painfully abused, but He did not complain. He was silent like a lamb being led to the butcher, as quiet as a sheep having its wool cut off. He was condemned to death without a fair trial. Who could have imagined what would happen to him? His life was taken away because of the sinful things my people had done. He wasn't dishonest or violent, but He was buried in a tomb of cruel and rich people. The LORD decided His servant would suffer as a sacrifice to take away the sin and guilt of others. Now the servant will live to see His own descendants. He did everything the LORD had planned. By suffering, the servant will learn the true meaning of obeying the LORD.

Although he is innocent, He will take the punishment for the sins of others, so that many of them will no longer be guilty. The LORD will reward Him with honour and power for sacrificing His life. Others thought He was a sinner, but He suffered for our sins and asked God to forgive us."

And going fast-forward to the New Testament, we read at Romans 1:4

"and he was shown to be the Son of God when He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord."

Jesus Himself appearing to the Apostle John, imprisoned on the island of Patmos for preaching the Word of God, and his testimony about Jesus, and we read in the last book of the New Testament,

"When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said:'Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I have the keys of death and the world of the dead.' "

Revelation 1:17-18

Following His death by crucifixion, the resurrected Lord Jesus appeared to many witnesses, and these appearances are recorded in the New Testament,

"My friends, I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing.

I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is:

Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried, and three days later He was raised to life, as the Scriptures say. Christ appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After this, He appeared to more than five hundred other followers. Most of them are still alive, but some have died. He also appeared to James, and then to all of the apostles.

Finally, He appeared to me, even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time. I am the least important of all the apostles. In fact, I caused so much trouble for God's church that I don't even deserve to be called an apostle. But God was kind! He made me what I am, and his wonderful kindness wasn't wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God's kindness at work and not me. But it doesn't matter if I preached or if they preached. All of you believed the message just the same.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

And to "ink-in" the importance of Jesus resurrection from the dead,

"And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust is God is useless."

1 Corinthians 15:14

You're going to live forever Shaji, please choose your address.

"In the Scriptures God says, 'When the time came, I listened to you, and when you needed help, I came to save you.' That time has come. This is the day for you to be saved."

2 Corinthians 6:2

With all good wishes

Lactantius Jr

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