Who is Jesus?

They listened to the liar, Satan, who convinced Adam and Eve not to trust or fully believe God. 

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, "You must not eat from any tree in the garden?"

You will not certainly die,' the serpent said to the woman."

“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬, ‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Satan was successful, and the earth and all of mankind were put under a curse. They would experience death and worse, separation from God. Satan believed he had won.

Yet, God loved mankind. Though Satan now had dominion over the earth, God still had ultimate power. And a hidden mystery--God would save man from Satan’s grip.

If man chose to follow God, he would have freedom, forgiveness from disobeying, and receive life. Real life.

The plan was set in motion. Steps were taken and a nation would be chosen to be set aside for God’s work—His mysterious, miraculous plan. From that nation—a child would be born. He would be born of God and woman. He would be unique—God’s only perfect Son, Jesus.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6, NIV

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:24, NIV

Since rebellion was brought into this world by mankind, mankind therefore needed to pay the punishment price for it. But who would step up as a perfect sacrifice? Who would be perfectly holy to pay for the sins of mankind? 

Since God is a Holy God, a just God and a loving God—He would use His own Son to pay the price for all mankind. Jesus willingly agreed.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

something to be grasped,

but emptied Himself,

taking the form 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.

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place

and gave Him the name above all names,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father,” Philippians 2:5-11, NIV

Jesus was all man—for He left His divinity in Heaven to claim it again when the work that He was asked to do was completed.

Jesus ate, learned, laughed, and cried like every other human being. Yet—unlike anyone else, when Jesus was tempted to disobey God to do His own thing and demand His own way—He didn’t rebel. Jesus was obedient to His Father to the point of death on the cross. 

His death would satisfy the payment for all the wrongs mankind has done or ever would do against God. One man for all sins.

So, payment was made as Jesus breathed His last breathe upon the cross. However, victory over sin still remained. Satan still had his influence and control over the hearts and souls of men, so he thought, for three more days. What would be the final blow to the kingdom of darkness? The victory of the kingdom of righteousness. 

And so Jesus rose from the dead claiming victory over death! Victory over the death that came into the world as a result of the original rebellion. Jesus conquered death—

“Oh death where is your victory, O death where is your sting?” 

I Corinthians 15:55/Hosea 13:14, NIV

Jesus freed us from the chains that bound us due to our own rebellion. He frees any and all who desire to walk with God in obedience. 

This is God’s free gift of eternal life for everyone.

"For God so loved the that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16, NIV

But God in His love didn’t stop there. He even gave His children—those who choose God—the gift of His own Spirit. God promises to seal His children with His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. This way,  when the enemy—Satan—lies to us, we will be able to know the difference. We can choose truth over lies. Obedience and right living over distraction and brokenness.

We once again can have fellowship with God the Creator! Fellowship like Adam and Eve had—in the beginning, before disobedience happened.

All we have to do is admit we have broken God’s laws, and that we wanted to do our own thing and have our own way over obeying God. The list of possible “sins” is long. We have all broken at least one, and probably many, many more.

When we admit our fault, this is called humbling yourself before God. We recognize who He is—the Creator God, and realize we were created by Him. Therefore, we need to obey Him.

The next step is ask God to help lead you, show you how to now walk uprightly, and how to effectively obey Him.

We learn the most by reading His Word, The Bible. It tells His story in intimate detail. It gives instructions and encouragement. It gives hope and is filled with promises we can trust—because it’s God’s Word, and He cannot lie.

Would you like to receive this gift from God? This gift of forgiveness? This gift of freedom? The gift of His Holy Spirt?

If you want, you can begin by praying this simple prayer—

Dear Heavenly Father,

I don’t really know You, but I want to.

I know and believe I, too, have broken Your law and commandments. I’m sorry. I wanted to live a life my way, not in obedience to You. But now I want to obey You.

I know I won’t be perfect, but can you help me and teach me what it’s like to be a Child of God? I want to know You.

I believe that Jesus made this possible for me to come to You and ask to be saved from death’s punishment, and I just wanted to say, “Thank you.”

Because of what Jesus did for me,

Amen.