Who Is Jesus?
The Bible is a collection of books written by dozens of authors over thousands of years, but it has a consistent and clear message: The God who made the world and everything in it became the man Jesus Christ in order to save human beings from the evil in their own hearts (sin) and restore them to fellowship with himself.
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
The Gospel of John calls him “the Word,” and it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus never stopped being God, but he also “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Anyone who wonders what God is like may know by considering who Jesus is what he is like (John 1:18).
Jesus Christ is the Savior.
When an angel announced Jesus’ birth, he told his mother, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). All people are sinners. Because God is good, he must destroy sin. Because God loves his creatures, he made a way to spare them while destroying sin. By punishing his own innocent son Jesus on the cross for the sins of human beings, he made a way to forgive the sins of those who entrust themselves to Jesus as their Savior. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).
Jesus Christ is the risen Lord.
Jesus Christ died on the cross, but he did not stay dead. God the Father raised him, because death could not keep its hold on him (Acts 2:24). Many people witnessed Jesus alive from the dead, including those who wrote the New Testament (1 Corinthians 15:5–8). God exalted Jesus to his right hand in heaven, where he has authority over all things as Lord—that is, the King of everything (Matthew 28:18).
Jesus Christ is coming again.
God the Father has appointed Jesus Christ, his Son, the Savior and Lord, to judge men and women for their evil deeds (Acts 17:30–31). Jesus will bring eternal punishment to those who have not believed, but to those who believe he gives the gift of eternal life, risen together with him and beyond the reach of sin and pain and death (John 3:16–18).
Jesus Christ is God’s free gift.
No one ever deserved for Jesus Christ to die for them. You do not deserve for Jesus Christ to have died for you. But while you were still a sinner, he died for you, to bring you back to God (Romans 5:8). You can do nothing to earn it (Ephesians 2:8–9). The only way to receive the gift is to believe in Jesus Christ and give your life over to him as your God, your Savior, and your Lord, who promises that he will welcome you on the day of judgment through faith in him.