Who Is Jesus
St. Matthew 1:20 As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.
St. Matthew 1:21 “And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Looking emphatically at the scriptures above, we will see how God, through the Angel, summaratively described Jesus.
“…Joseph son of David…”
Jesus Christ was an actual person who lived on the surface of this earth. He is not a myth. His lineage can be traced as far back as King David. There were prophecies given about this fact. —Is 11:1, Jer 23:5–6.
“…for the child within her has been conceived of the Holy Spirit…”
As much as Jesus is a human being, we must understand that He is simply God himself (who is a spirit), taking up the human body. For that to happen, He would need to be formed in a virgin’s womb for nine months so He could be born as a human being. This is what it means to call Jesus the Son of God. Remember God called Him; “…my Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17)
Jesus likewise called Himself the only begotten son of God when talking in John 3:16 saying “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”
The term “only” does not just signify quantity but also quality, kind, or type, meaning that only Jesus has ever and will ever be born this way—God Himself growing in the womb of a virgin. This is what makes Jesus 100% God and 100% man at the same time. It is a miracle; there’s no need for overthinking it because our mental senses cannot comprehend it. We can only believe it by faith because it is the truth. We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth (2 Corinthians 13:8).
Jesus is 100% God. The prophets, speaking under the inspiration of God, spoke about Jesus in this manner.
Isaiah 9:6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:7 His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David. The passionate commitment of the Lord Almighty will guarantee this! (NLT)
He is also 100% man; he was born to a virgin woman after 9 months of pregnancy, and he grew up from a baby to a toddler, to teenager to youth. He wept. He slept. His skin produced sweat. God had to do all this so he could save us from sin. He needed to be under the same conditions as us, overcome the temptation and remain without sin, to be qualified to pay the price of death for our sin.
Hebrews 4:15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin.
“…you are to name Him Jesus…”
The Hebrew word translated as Jesus has similar meaning to that translated Joshua in the Old Testament texts. The word means “God Saves”. What is that which God wants to save us from?
“…for He will save His people from their sins…”
The word “save” here originally means “to rescue” from danger or bondage. This means that Jesus is a saviour, one who rescues from something bad. In this context, he saves us from “our sins”. Why “our sins” of all the problems that we have on earth today? You mean, God became a man just so he could save us from our sins? Are our sins of more priority to Him?
The correct question is, are we of so much importance to Him? The answer is yes! The first thing the redemptive work of Jesus saves us from is the wages of sin, the punishment that we deserve for our sins. The redemptive works of Jesus refer to His death, burial, and resurrection.
Romans 6:23 NLT
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Imagine a slave who works tirelessly for their master and all their master pays them is death instead of money. Is the master foolish to kill his servants as payment for their work? Will he not run out of servants? The term death here simply refers first to spiritual death which is spiritual separation from God, to be estranged from God. Humans were originally created to be in fellowship with God. Much more, to be the dwelling place of God – having His nature and character.
So the first thing Jesus addresses in His redemptive work is our spiritual separation from God, for this is the root cause of every other issue that man has. When a person is separated from God, they are automatically joined to sin, whoever is joined to sin is under death and whoever is under death is in bondage to the devil.
Hebrews 2:14-15 JB Philips
“Since, then, “the children” have a common physical nature as human beings, he also became a human being, so that by going through death as a man he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might also set free those who lived their whole lives a prey to the fear of death.”
Ofcourse, whoever is in bondage to the devil is in trouble. The Devil is a bad Devil, and all he offers to his subjects is sickness, poverty, calamity, frustration, and sinfulness.
We can keep talking about the redemptive work of Jesus as your saviour, about how He died for your sins and rose again the third day for your salvation but have you experienced this salvation? Jesus loves you, that was why He paid the price of dying for your sins. So you don’t have to perish because of your sin. Receive Jesus into your heart today and enjoy the benefits of Salvation.
To receive Jesus today, say this word of prayer. Lord Jesus, I believe that you died for my sins and you rose the third day so that my sins can be forgiven and so I can become a child of God. I confess you as my Lord and saviour as you come into my heart to dwell.
If you just said that word of prayer, I congratulate you. You are now God’s Child. I encourage you to get a bible and begin to read about Jesus, also please find a local church around you and submit there.
For more counselling and discipleship or questions please contact me at victor.ojo@charisfolks.org. God bless you!
