Who is Jesus?

[AnotherSinner]

Mark,

Read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They reveal the most you may come to learn about Jesus. Otherwise a book I am really wanting to get into is "The Case For Christ." The book approaches finding out the truth about Jesus with a good amount of actual resources. It is one...I am thinking my mother may have given me that I am about to go digging in some of my unpacked boxes to find. If I do....I am going to start reading it. If you can find it, I encourage the same.

Jesus...is so many things, that is if you are wanting to look into the more personal understanding of Him.

I will even read these Gospels with you and learn with you on the way. Hope you find all the answers you seek.

May God Bless You

Dani

[OneLight]

There relationship is simple.

John 20:17-18

"Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"

NASB

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just who and what Jesus was and is...... well, that's not so simple.

The problem is that most people's defination of the word "God" is not what the Greek and Hebrew words mean. Greek and Hebrew use the same word for Baal, Marduk and other gods as they do for Jesus and the Father...... and the Spirit for that matter. The capitol G was put there by the transllators to set aside that they were talking about "our" God. The word "god" is a descriptive word, it's not an entity. it can be used to represent things like carved trees and even for money or wealth..... I know people who's god is sex and or drugs or any number of things that one dedicated his/'her life to.

What Jesus was is so hard to wrap your mind around that John just called him the Word.

I see it different. John 1 isn’t talking about Jesus it is talking about what happens in a person when they receive from God His Spirit, Christ in you. It is talking about what happens in you when you receive from God His Spirit. You become His living word. The word that is made flesh is you. In the beginning of every mans salvation is the word and no one escapes this who is to be in Christ. It is Christ in you who is His living word.

John said there is one coming after him who he can’t give you, it is the Christ in you who John couldn’t give because that comes only from God himself just as John said it does. And Jesus when he was baptized received the same from God, God came to that man and opend all of heaven to him. It is this what comes into man that John spoke of. Even Jesus received the same. See Matt 3:16.

And you are not going to understand this until you receive in you the same as John and Jesus received.

Joe

"That man"? That statement spits in the face of Jesus Christ.

[nChrist]

The Godhead - Also Known As The Holy Trinity

God The Father - 1st Person Of The Holy Trinity

God The Son (Jesus Christ, The Word) - 2nd Person Of The Holy Trinity

God The Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) - 3rd Person Of The Holy Trinity

Three Unique Personages Of God - Yet One

John 1:1-3 KJV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 1:1-3 AMP IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. [isa. 9:6.] 2 He was present originally with God. 3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.

__________

John 1:14 KJV And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 AMP And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. [isa. 40:5.]

__________

John 14:6-7 KJV Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

John 14:6-7 AMP Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me. 7 If you had known Me [had learned to recognize Me], you would also have known My Father. From now on, you know Him and have seen Him.

__________

Philippians 2:5-11 KJV Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11 AMP Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] 6 Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, 7 But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. 8 And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! 9 Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, 10 That in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 And every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

__________

1 John 5:7 KJV For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1 John 5:7 AMP So there are three witnesses in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One;

__________

Jesus Christ was and is God - One with God The Father and God The Holy Spirit. The Godhead (Holy Trinity) is Eternal with no beginning and no ending. The Godhead (Holy Trinity) is the Creator - not the created. This is an unquestioned fact stated many ways in the Holy Bible - God's Word. The only way to dispute this basic Bible Fact is to use a book other than the Holy Bible. Those who reject Jesus Christ as God are unbelievers. Further, God rejects them.

__________

Matthew 10:32-33 KJV Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 10:32-33 AMP Therefore, everyone who acknowledges Me before men and confesses Me [out of a state of oneness with Me], I will also acknowledge him before My Father Who is in heaven and confess [that I am abiding in] him. 33 But whoever denies and disowns Me before men, I also will deny and disown him before My Father Who is in heaven.

[Fez]

When you think about Jesus, how do you see Him?

Prophet, Priest, King?

It’s an important question, one that we need to answer if we are to understand the full work of Jesus.

All through the Old Testament there are scriptures pointing towards Jesus coming as a prophet, coming as a priest, and coming as a King. Traditional OT verses all point towards Him coming as a prophet, priest and King.

Let’s look at Jesus the prophet

When we look at a prophet such as Moses we see a person who is a truth teller, and person who tells us about what will be. A person who says to us here is what God has to say, not what I have to say. In 241 occasions the OT prophets start by saying, “thus sayeth the Lord”, not listen to what I have to say.

Very often, especially in the modern church, prophets are seen to be only those who prophesy about the future, of things to come, and this does happen if God places this message on a prophet’s heart. But sadly there are many false prophets out there, and Jesus warned us against them, and warned that they would increase over time.

But generally the OT prophets preached against sin, and for repentance. We all know, or should know what sin is, but some miss the meaning of repentance. Literally it is turning your back on sin and your face to God, it’s that simple. And often that hard to do!

There are many major and minor prophets in the bible. Major such as Ezekiel, and minor (usually because the book is short, such as Amos)

There was always a dual reaction to what a prophet had to say to people. Old theologians had a saying, “the same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay’. And that was the reaction people had to the words of the prophets throughout the bible.

For some, through the words of the prophets, God’s word would beat down on them and melt the ice, and they would hear, the tears would flow and their hearts would melt. They would repent, turn to God, read the scriptures, pray, and they would melt because of the words of the prophet.

Others however, would harden their hearts, they would become angry, defiant, disobedient, their hearts would be hardened, they became religious, self righteous, refuse to repent.

Often they would try to kill the prophet; after all if he was saying something you did not like, and would not shut up and go away, you needed to make him!

Many of the prophets were persecuted, made to suffer or killed.

Hebrews 11:32 to 38 says...

Heb 11:32 and what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon,

Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—

Heb 11:33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained

promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

Heb 11:34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made

strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Heb 11:35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured,

refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

Heb 11:36 others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

Heb 11:37 they were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword.

They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—

Heb 11:38 of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and

mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Prophets tended to be very lonely people. They were direct, truthful, passionate, and had a sense of urgency about them. They were committed to one major goal, and as a result tended not to have a whole lot of friends. They tended to live outside the community, some would say they were too intense, too focused, and far too truthful, and did not hesitate to use every opportunity to preach!

Jesus was a preacher. He came to earth to preach. Remember on one occasion He preached to 5000 men, and that does not include the wives and children of those men. So imagine a crusade, a rally, a mighty men conference, preached by Jesus in the open air, to thousands of people.

So in this case Jesus the preacher is Jesus the prophet. He did not preach under the authority of man, he came to preach the word of God. But as the old prophets would say “Thus sayeth the Lord”, Jesus for instance in Mathew 5 says on 8 or so occasions, not “you have heard it said”, but “I say to you”.

So here Jesus although speaking as preacher and prophet, is also speaking as God, as the Son of God, with direct authority.

So the huge difference can be seen. The OT prophets spoke words God had inspired them to say.

When Jesus speaks, He speaks as God. He is God in the flesh, a fact many forget when reading their bible. Jesus is God, God is speaking to us, not through a second person in the form of a prophet, God is speaking!

Now let’s look at Jesus as a priest.

When you think of priests you think of Aaron, Moses brother, and the priesthood that continued all the way up to the coming of Jesus. Priests are mediators, intercessors and advocates of the Word.

God is in heaven, people are on earth, God is sinless and people are sinful, and a priest stands between God and the people. A priest takes the words and commandments of God and teaches them to the people, and he takes the sins, and failures of the people and he confesses them to God for repentance. (Not that we cannot do that ourselves, but priests are there to guide us, and help us in this) So he’s a mediator, an intercessor. Priests tend to be people who are very loving, compassionate and caring. They pastor people; they nurture them, and bring them along their walk in a patient, loving way.

Jesus came to earth as a priest as well. The bible most completely portrays Jesus as our great high priest. That is the main message in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 4 says:-

Heb 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Heb 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

When we think of priest we should think of mercy, love, compassion, patience, and service. And it usually the priest we go to in our time of need, for his grace, and comfort and love.

Lets then look at Jesus as King.

In addition Jesus fulfils the role as king. In the OT the greatest king was David. But the prophets foretold the coming of Jesus from the line of David as the King of Kings.

2Sa 7:12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

2Sa 7:13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

When you think of a king you think of one who rules, who has dominion, who has authority, one who is set apart, worthy of devotion, worthy of respect. One who is above us, who is set apart and rules, who is to be honoured. One who has control, and we are to obey and honour Him.

Jesus did come from the line of David, and the opening lines of the first gospel, Mathew, tell us that.

And when you think of Jesus as king, you need to think of Him as He is presently. He came, was crucified, rose again and was taken up into heaven.

And following the ascension of Jesus into heaven we get a portrait of that in the last book, Revelation.

Some people have tragically made revelation out to be an intimidating, bizarre, book scaring us into thinking about the anti Christ, dragons and monsters and there have been people who have made loads of money doing this.

But the opening line of the book tells us what the book is actually about. “The revelation of Jesus Christ”, and in 14 of the 22 chapters the central piece of furniture is a throne. And when we think of a throne, what do we think about? A king!

In the days of Jesus common people mostly sat on the floor or squatted, chairs where reserved for nobility and thrones for Kings.

And seated on the throne through the book of revelation is Jesus Christ the King, and he is ruling over people, times and places, angels and demons, nations, cultures. He rules over all the kings and political leaders.

So Jesus rules over all, and as Christians we need to understand that there is no such thing as my private life!

Because if He rules over all, He then rules over all of my life. My sexuality, my work, my finances, my health, my deeds, my thoughts, my marriage, my home, my studies, my family, children, extended family. This means that the rule of Jesus is to be over all of your life.

Jesus is prophet, Jesus is priest, and Jesus is King!

He comes to preach to us a prophet, serve us as a priest, particularly on the cross, and His work is to transform all nations of the earth as a King.

So what happens when Jesus is not prophet, priest and King?

The result is that some people don’t like one or more of these views of Jesus. Their view of Jesus is not wrong, but it is incomplete, often with tragic results.

Here are three examples.

This is one way that some preachers, teachers and theologians will pull parts of the truth from scripture and ignore others, thus not giving us the complete picture of Jesus.

For example. Firstly,

If you only understand Jesus as the prophet and King and not priest, and everyone needs to listen to Him, obey, come to Him and repent, and you don’t understand Him as a priest, that’s the Jesus of fundamentalism. These are people who say the bible says this, and your whole life belongs to Jesus, and you need to stop! And they don’t tell you that Jesus loves you, and He died on the cross for your sins, and He’s very patient, He’s very humble, he’s willing to serve you, willing to help you.

He doesn’t just tell you what to do; He helps you to do it! People who don’t understand the priestly nature of Jesus wonder if He really loves them. They wonder if he will ever, truly, care for them. They know that Jesus is big and powerful and hates sin, but rather than running to Him, they run from Him. Because rather than trusting Him, they are scared of Him. They tend to hide from Him and cover their sin, rather than going to Him with it.

It’s tragic not to see Him as a priest, because you know how keenly you need Him, but you are discouraged from perusing Him. Because He’s just not very nice, He’s not very loving, He’s not going to help you, he’s going to yell at you some more, and be very, very angry.

Secondly, if you believe Jesus is a prophet.

He preaches, he tells the truth, He commands you to repent, he has authority, and he’s a priest, He’s going to love you, he’s going to help you, He’s going to be alongside you, He’s going to serve you, He’s going to endure with you, but you don’t understand that He is a King, and that he rules over all your life?

That’s Jesus the evangelist. People say the bible is true and I believe it, and it is how Jesus speaks to me. I know Jesus is a priest and he is here to help me, but there are parts of my life that are none of His business.

There are parts of my life that unless I invite Him in, he has no right. For instance, some people say that I know Jesus loves me and will help me, but in financial aspects, sexual aspects, relationship aspects and job aspects, this is my private life.

Now.

Look around you in your daily life, and often the behavior of those who claim to be Christian is the same as those who are not. Lying, stealing, sexual immorality, swearing, etc, there does not seem to be a big difference.

The question is why? Now if you ask some people, they will say, I know Jesus loves me, I know he will help me, I just don’t think that everything in my life is His business. I have a private life; I have things that unless I ask Him, I don’t want Him butting in.

And if you see Him only as your King?

He is your private life! He reigns over everything in your life, He’s the boss, He reigns over all nations and cultures, He’s in control.

When you think of a King, you think of one who rules, who has dominion over all, one who has authority, one who is set apart. One who is worthy of devotion, worthy of respect, worthy of honour.

And you don’t see Him as prophet? That’s the Jesus of liberalism. He never has any sense of urgency. He never says, “You know what?”, “not all religions lead to heaven”, because that’s controversial, He never says sex outside of marriage is sinful. People who don’t see Him as a prophet believe their Jesus would never say that.

He’s a king, and he’s a priest, but he’s if he is not a prophet, he’s not going to confront you boldly, call on you to repent, he’s not going to put His finger on the most sinful part of your life. He’s never going to show up and say this is wrong, and it has to stop right now. Instead their version of Jesus is He will say, it’s Ok, I love you, I don’t expect you to change. He is not going to call you to repentance; he is going to defer your sin. That’s the Jesus of liberalism.

All three of the themes of Jesus as prophet, priest and king dominate the church.

If you think He is only prophet, you believe in fundamentalism, you believe the bible is true and Jesus is a jerk, and you worship Him because you are scared of Him.

If you think He is only a priest, this is evangelism, and you believe Jesus is a great guy, and his job is not to keep you from sin, his job is to forgive you when you do. So Jesus’ job is that when you blow it, he will fix it.

And for the new liberal churches, the new age churches, this is what they believe. Jesus is a total sweetheart. He wears dress, open toed sandals, flowers in His hair; He is just a total sweetheart. Everyone loves Him because he never says words like sin, and repent and hell.

If Jesus was that guy, He would still be alive today, and nobody would have crucified Him.

In closing, and in love, because this is important.

Ask yourself, which Jesus am I most familiar and comfortable with, and where am I most weak?

And how might that be affecting my relationship and my passion for Jesus, my devotion and joy for Jesus?

Evangelist?

Your doctrine is clean, but your life has secret hidden sins you don’t believe are any of His business? Because that’s your life, your body, your time?

Liberalism?

You have no problem loving people, serving people, but when they sin, you don’t say anything? You don’t like conflict because you can see they are damaging themselves and others, but you say nothing.

In closing lets pray.

Lord Jesus thank you that You are a prophet and you speak to us, that you are a priest and You minister to us, thank You that You are a King, and You rule over all tribes, all nations, all religions, all spiritualities, all ideologies. And Lord we acknowledge that You rule over every aspect of our lives, there is not money that does not belong to You, not time that does not belong to You, there are not words, or thoughts or deeds, that do not belong to you, there is not provision that does not belong to You.

And so Lord Jesus we ask that as prophet You would speak to us, as priest You would help us and minister to us, and as King you would do this in every aspect of our lives.

Amen.

[Mark2005]

Fez,

Are you writing a book there?

[gdemoss]

This is just about as difficult to explain to someone as explaining to them who they are and how their own internal parts relate to one another. I get it. I can explain it. I get the deer in the headlights look from anyone who doesn't. To understand it, one needs to understand the human without a body as a body is just a restrictive covering or dwelling to keep us in check. Humans were created in the image of God. Think about Jesus being the Word of God and find that part within yourself while understanding that you, the self, are as the father. Once you can see this, you will understand their relationship to each other.

Gary

[xero]

Eternal says it all.

[Fez]

Fez,

Are you writing a book there?

Nope, it's from a lesson I gave after a bit of research.

[Mark2005]

Fez,

Are you writing a book there?

Nope, it's from a lesson I gave after a bit of research.

Honestly, mate, the post was so long it was hard to follow.

People of Jewish background probably relate to the prophet, priest and king roles much better than do I or other gentiles.

[mizzdy]

Fez,

Are you writing a book there?

Nope, it's from a lesson I gave after a bit of research.

Honestly, mate, the post was so long it was hard to follow.

People of Jewish background probably relate to the prophet, priest and king roles much better than do I or other gentiles.

If we understand the temple and its set up the role of priest is fairly easy to understand. The role of King is pretty straightforward He will be King sitting on His throne in Jerusalem during the millennial reign. He is our King He rules over us, He is our High Priest who intercedes upon our behalf in the heavenly temple, He is the prophet who teaches us Yahwehs plans and goals and His instuctions.

shalom,

Mizz