As a Christian church or website it is easy to assume that everyone knows who Jesus is. But on reflection that may not be the case, especially as Religious Knowledge or Christianity is not necessarily taught in schools and many people do not automatically go to church or Sunday School as used to happen until the last few decades. Also, living in the UK as well as worldwide, there are many people of different religions or none. So who is Jesus, and why is He so important to Christians?
If you own a Bible you can read about Him in the New Testament. His name Jesus means God with Us. You can read about how He was born into a Jewish family during the Roman occupation in a little village called Bethlehem in what is now modern day Palestine, but when He was born, Bethlehem was in Israel. It is about six miles from Jerusalem. Borders and names of countries have changed over the centuries. His birth was a miracle as His mother Mary was still a virgin. She had conceived by the Holy Spirit and so God became man. This is the time the nation celebrates Christmas which has nothing to do with Father Christmas, Santa Claus, reindeer or snowmen. We also recognise that 25 December was not the date that Jesus was born, but is a traditional date that is used.
He was brought up in a small town called Nazareth, as even from His birth He had an attempt on His life and it was believed Nazareth would be a safer place for Him to grow up.
In 27AD, when He was thirty years old He was baptised in the River Jordan by John who was known as John the Baptist and was a cousin of Jesus. John had been calling the people who came from miles around, to repentance of their sins, prior to Jesus’ ministry commencing.
After Jesus had been baptised He went into the desert for forty days where He was tempted by the devil, but He did not sin or succumb to the temptations. He then began His ministry of preaching to the people that the kingdom of God had come and healing their diseases. He called from amongst the many followers, twelve men to be His apostles whom He trained up to do the work that He was doing. It was during this time they came to the knowledge that Jesus was the Son of God and that He had come to save them from their sins. They expected Him to become King and restore their land to their people. But He told them His Kingdom was not of this world.
However, It was only three and half years after His ministry that He was finally crucified. He had been accused of blasphemy as He claimed to not only be the Son of God the Father, but also to be able to forgive sins. In fact, these claims were true. He was and still is the Son of God and it is only God who can forgive sins. The priests and rabbis couldn’t accept this even though they saw the good work He was doing. The time when He was crucified and His resurrection is when Easter is celebrated.
He was nailed to a cross, which was the Roman’s choice of execution, on the Friday just about the time of Passover. He was laid in a tomb as it was the Sabbath the following day, and it was early on the Sunday morning when He arose from the dead. He then went to heaven to offer His blood as the sacrifice in place of us, who should die because we are sinners and have broken God’s commandments or laws.
He returned to earth for forty days and taught the disciples what they needed to know until His ascension back to heaven where He is now our High Priest interceding and judging us. He said He would never leave us and so at Pentecost, ten days after His ascension, He sent the Holy Spirit to fill his disciples. This was the start of the Christian church. On that day over three thousand people accepted that He was the Messiah, the one that had been prophesised about and they had been waiting for, who would save them from their sins.
In 1 John 3:4 it says ‘Whosever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.’ In Romans 6:23 it says ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ In Romans 3:23 it says ‘For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;’ and in Romans 5:12 it says ‘ Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.’
Since the time of Adam at creation, we all deserve to die as we are all sinners. But our loving God had a way that would release us from the death penalty. His innocent sinless Son, Jesus Christ, came to the earth from heaven and died in our place so the penalty was paid and mankind was redeemed. To accept this redemption and to receive eternal life with Jesus, we need to each confess our own sins to God the Father and to follow Jesus on a daily basis. In 1 John 1:9 it says ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ This confession changes our hearts by the Holy Spirit entering into our lives and cleansing us from inside.
This death is not the death we all experience at the end of our lives. For those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour, when He returns soon, He will take the redeemed back to heaven for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. They will only die once, the normal death of sleep. Those who have rejected Christ will remain dead, or asleep, in the ground on earth. At the close of the thousand years the heavenly Holy City of Jerusalem will descend from heaven to earth.
There will then be a second resurrection of those who from the beginning of time rejected God’s commandments and rejected Jesus. Everyone will have been judged prior to the first resurrection. Those in the second resurrection will then receive their punishment. Fire will come down from above and consume everyone and everything on earth that are not safely inside the Holy City of Jerusalem. This is when Satan and his demonic angels will also be destroyed. This is hell fire. It will eventually go out. It is the punishment not the punishing that is eternal as the people who rejected God and Jesus will be no more, as if they never existed. This is the second death, the one Jesus died in our place for.
After this time, God will re-create the earth and the redeemed will live forever with Jesus and God the Father on the new earth. As they will worship the Lord on each Sabbath we can only assume that the Lord will take six days to re-create the earth as He originally did, so He can restore the new Sabbath on the seventh day. All those in the Holy City of Jerusalem now on earth will be able to watch this new re-creation with awe and wonder.
Whilst on earth His disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. In Matthew 6:9-15 we read ‘Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses (sins) your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.’
This is our Jesus. God the Son came down from heaven, died in our place, and returned to heaven enabling us to pray to our Father God through the blood shed for us at Calvary. Jesus went back to heaven but sent God the Holy Spirit to indwell within us once we have confessed our sins and asked Him to come into our lives to change us in preparation for us to live with Him forever in eternity.
We pray that you will also accept the sacrifice of Jesus in your place for your sins. Please use the contact form if you have any questions or want to know more or if you decide to commit your life to Christ. If you live local to Lutterworth, please do join us any Sabbath (Saturday) morning.