Who is Jesus?

Jesus’ story actually begins, fittingly, in the beginning. In the Bible, we learn that Jesus was present and active in creating our universe (John 1:1-5). It’s here we learn that Jesus is God. God created our world and called it “good,” but it wasn’t long until things began to fall apart. The very humans God created rebelled against him, bringing sin, death, pain, and suffering into the world (Genesis 3). The good news is that our story doesn’t end there! God didn’t leave us in our predicament — instead, he chose to enter into our world to rescue and redeem us (John 1:14). Jesus, creator of the world, chose to become fully human and take the consequences of sin and death upon himself so that we might have a restored relationship with God, right relationships with one another, and that we might share in eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:15-20). When Jesus entered into our story, he established himself not only as our Savior, but also as the liberating king of the universe.

When the first humans (Adam and Eve) rebelled against God, they brought sin and death into our world that we still feel the consequences of today (Genesis 3). Put simply, everything and everyone is broken. God’s word tells us that we live under the curse of sin and death, which is precisely why we need a Savior. We all continue in sin by doing evil, failing to do good, and by not living up to God’s good standard (Romans 3:23). Because of sin, we have earned the consequence of death: ultimate separation from God. Jesus matters because he chose to stand in our place and take the consequence of our sin on himself. Jesus, who is fully God, became human, lived a perfect and sinless life, died on the cross, rose from the dead three days later (defeating death!), and now reigns as our victorious liberating king (1 Corinthians 15:3-5; Ephesians 2:4-6). And he did all of this because of his great love for us. 

Through the person and work of Jesus, God offers each of us the free gift of salvation. We can accept this gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). There is nothing we can ever do to earn God’s grace; it has all been accomplished by Jesus already. To receive this gift, God asks that we turn away from our sin and toward him (what the Bible calls repentance) and trust in Jesus for what he has done on our behalf (what the Bible calls faith). God invites us simply to repent and believe – in other words, turn away from sin and toward God. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).    

Jesus’ gift of grace is available to you. Jesus is looking at you and says, “follow me.” How will you respond?