What does the Bible say about Jesus?
Ever since Jesus came to this earth, there have been people claiming to be the Messiah. T hey have claimed to have been sent by God to lead people in their lives. However, most of them are quickly unmasked and exposed as self-serving opportunists. A relatively few of these self- proclaimed messiahs self-destruct because of their unstable personalities (Jim Jones — Guiana, David Koresh — Waco, etc.). All false messiahs are tripped up by the fact that they are sinful. Sooner or later, all false messiahs are seen as pale imitations of the real Savior, Jesus Christ.
And yet, they still keep coming! This is nothing new. God told us that there would be false Christ’s who would come and try to deceive us. As we study what the Bible says about Jesus, we will see that no one holds a candle to Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of man and the true Son of God. He is the One promised from of old, the chosen One of God. He is the true Messiah!
1. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of God and is the only Savior of all.
a) Luke 2:11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. John 4:25-26 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” Luke 24:44 ”He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
b) Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. John 14:5-6 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The Bible teaches us that:
a) Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah, or Christ. b) He is the only Savior of all people.
a) I John 5:20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true – even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
b) Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Matthew 28:20 And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
c) John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
d) John 5:23 That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
The Bible teaches us that: Jesus is True God -
a) Calling Him God by name, b) Showing us He has the attributes (characteristics) of God,
c) Telling us He does the things only God can do, and d) Telling us He deserves divine honor and glory, just as God does.
3. Is Jesus a true man?
a) I Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
b) Luke 24:39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.
c) Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Mark 4:38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. Matt. 4:2 After fasting forty days and forty night, he was hungry. John 19:28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. John 11:35 Jesus wept. Matt. 26-27 (Jesus suffered and died.)
The Bible teaches us that:
Jesus is a real human being, for
a) The Bible expressly calls Jesus Christ a man,
b) It states that He has a body and a soul, and
c) He had feelings and did things a human does, except sin.
4. Who, then, is Jesus Christ?
a) Matthew 16:13, 16 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
b) Romans 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!
Jesus is true God and true man in one person.
This truly is a divine mystery, for never before and never since the time of Christ has there been such a unique individual. How can the infinite nature of God be joined to a finite human nature? It came about only through the power of God and is sustained by His divine power, as well. Our brother, Jesus Christ, is true God and true man.
5. Why did our Savior have to be a human being?
a) Galatians 4:4-5 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
b) Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil.
The Bible teaches us that:
Jesus had to be a real human being
a) That He might take our place under the Law;
b) That He might be able to suffer and die in our place.
6. Why did our Savior have to be God?
a) Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
b) Mark 10:45 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.
c) Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil.
The Bible teaches us that:
Jesus had to be true God so
a) That His fulfilling of the Law might be enough for all people; b) That His life and death might be a sufficient ransom for all sin; c) That He might be able to overcome death and the devil for us.
Christ died for all sins for all time. Only God had the power to cover that kind of limitless payment for limitless sins, and He used it for us. What a wonderful gift our Lord has given to us. He paid our plane ticket to eternity.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why is the denial of the sacrificial death of Christ the end of Christianity?
2. What would you say to someone who said that Jesus was only a good role model or a wonderful teacher?
3. Is Christ still with us bodily?