Jesus and Your Journey of Faith

Committing your to following Christ is an important step in a deeper journey of faith and connecting with God. The writer of the book of Hebrews explains how "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he also created the world.  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.  After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:1-3) 

Many people believe that Jesus lived, was a good teacher and a great spiritual leader, but they can't seem to accept Him as God.  Unfortunately Jesus Christ didn't give us the option to accept him as a great moral teacher or a prophet, but reject him as God.  We either come to Jesus acknowledging him for who he claimed to be, or we reject him all together.

What People Have Said About Jesus

Here are a few interesting quotes from great leaders, past and present, about Jesus Christ:

"I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him." – Napoleon 

"A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act." -- Mahatma Gandhi 

"Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand." -- S.D. Gordon 

"Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair." – Blaise Pascal 

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."              - C.S.  Lewis 

"No, it’s not far-fetched for me to believe that Jesus is God. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the line of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius.  But actually, Christ doesn’t allow you that.  He doesn’t let you off the hook.  Christ says, No.  I am not saying I am a teacher, don’t call me a teacher.  I am not saying I am a prophet, don’t call me a prophet.  I am saying: “I’m the Messiah.” I am saying “I am God in the flesh.”  A prophet we can take.  You’re a bit eccentric.  We’ve had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that.  But don’t mention the “M” word!  Because, you know, we are gonna have to crucify you.  And Christ says: No, no, I know you are expecting me to come back with an army and free you from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah.  At this point, everyone starts to stare at their shoes, and says : Oh my God, he’s gonna keep saying this.  SO what you’re left with is either Christ is who He said He was- the Messiah- or a complete nutcase.  I mean, we are talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson….I am not joking here.  The idea that an entire course of civilization for over half the globe could have it’s fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that’s far-fetched…” -  Bono (lead signer of U2)

What Jesus Said About Himself

Here are 8 declarations and actions of Jesus that show us who he believed he was, and is (with the scriptures to reference): 

•  Jesus said He was God (Matthew 26:63-65; John 8:58-59; John 10:30-33; John 14:8-9)
•  Jesus said He came from heaven, God's eternal home (John 6:38; John 16:28)
•  Jesus said He was sinless, as God alone is without sin (John 8:46)
•  Jesus forgave sin (Mark 2:5; Luke 7:48-49)
•  Jesus said He was the only way to heaven (John 14:6; John 11:25)
•  Jesus accepted worship as God (Matthew 14:33; John 9:38)
•  Jesus performed miracles including raising others, and eventually himself, from the dead (Matthew 4:23; Matthew 17:18; Luke 8:49-50, 52-55; Luke  7:12-15; John 11:43,44; Luke 24:5-8