Who is Jesus?
Everyone knows who Jesus is, right? What seems like a straightforward question turns out to be much more profound. At the same time, it is incredibly simple to me.
A Historical Figure
There is no denying that Jesus was a real person. No specific record of his crucifixion exists, but that is not surprising. The Romans did not keep records for crucified peasants.
Flavius Josephus, a historian of the Jewish people, wrote about Jesus in 93 AD. He speaks of an “unlawful execution” that “did surprising deeds.”
Tacitus, 116 AD, in his history “Annals of Imperial Rome” said, “the persons commonly called Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius.”
The Messiah, the Chosen One
A relationship with God always requires a step of faith. After all, as Christians we believe that Mary, Jesus’ mother, was a virgin. (Is 7:14) The writer of Heb 11:6 tells us that without faith, we can’t please God.
The number of Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled is overwhelming. It builds my faith to see how perfectly the Bible fits together.
The Son of God
The Bible tells us he is the Son of God in Jn 3:16, Jn 10:36, Lk 1:35, Mk 1:1, Jn 1:34, Jn 1:49, Jn 11:27, Mt 27:54, even more, and even more yet.
Jesus existed before his birth on the earth. For an eternity going back, he knew what it was like to be worshiped. There never was a moment in his existence where Jesus was not with his father. He was involved in the creation of the world, and he saw Lucifer fall from heaven.
The Son of Man
While Jesus told us he is the Son of God, he often referred to himself as the Son of man. (Mt 8:20, Mt 9:6, Mt 10:23, Mt 1:19, Mt 12:8) When Jesus used this term, he drew attention to his humanity. While Jesus is God, he is also human. He was born, he was tempted, he knew all the trials and pains common to humanity.
Because He was the perfect human being, he was uniquely qualified to take upon himself the punishment for our sins. This video from the Bible project lays it down better than I could.
My Best Friend
Jesus is all of those things. He is a historical figure, the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Son of man. But to me, he is simply my best friend.
When I was 16 years old, my girlfriend dumped me. It might have only been puppy love, but puppy love feels genuine to puppies. My world felt over and I believed I was the most unlovable, alone person around. It seems silly now, but at the time it was authentic.
As I drove my car away from her house, I cried out, “God if everyone hates me, all I need is you!” I then wrote a song called “Love song.” Here are the lyrics:
Sing a love song to the Lord.
Sing a song to my best friend.
Sing a love song to the Lord.
He’s the creator of man.
I love you, I love you, I love you,
I love you, I love you, I love you, Lord.
I love you, I love you, I love you,
I love you best, best of all.
You see, he is my God, Savior, Lord, but most of all—he’s my friend. He is not the highest priority in my life, he is my life. He is the source from which all important things flow. I give him my life, my love, all that I am and all that I ever will be. What I want, all I want, now and forever, is to know him and love him forever.
The Rock, your place to belong
At the Rock, you can belong before you believe. Use the links to the right to begin your relationship with Rock Church. If you are local to Fargo, click the “free movie ticket” button to the right and check out one of our services, every Sunday at 10 AM, at West Acres Cinema. If you are not local to our area, that’s okay. There are all kinds of ways that you can participate in the happenings at Rock Church. We have many people that only interact with our church online. Use the “become a friend” button to be included in everything we are doing.
