Who Is Jesus?

Who is Jesus Christ? It is not hard to imagine that question being asked of the Apostle Paul as he went forth on his missionary journeys not long after Christ had died and risen from the dead. Without CBS, CNN, and FOX news, it is likely that many of the folks he ran into had not yet heard about Jesus.
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Today we assume that everyone knows who Jesus is- at least in a Christian country like the United States of America. But I must ask, “Do we all know the same Jesus?” Perhaps you have been talking to someone about a friend with a common name like John. As the conversation progresses you realize that you could not possibly be talking about the same person, because the one they are describing has totally different characteristics than the person you know. Finally you understand that they are talking about John Johnson, and you were talking about John Smith.
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I often feel the same way as I hear people talking about Jesus. Are they talking about the Jesus of the Bible, or some imaginary religious figure of their own making? For example, some speak of Him as if He were some effeminate weakling, yet my Jesus had the courage to stand up to the leaders of His day, and to turn over the money tables in the temple and drive the crooks from the scene. He had the courage to face the death of the cross even as He knew exactly what would come.
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My Jesus is no weakling. He is the all powerful God. In fact, He will return in power as well. Revelation 19:11-16 says, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
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Why would man come up with a religious figure of his own making, when the real Jesus is so magnificent? I believe it is because of man’s sinful resistance to the true God. Let us not forget that Jesus is God in the flesh. If man can convince himself that Jesus is weak, then he thinks God is not such a threat to him. Telling ourselves lies does not change our accountability to God.
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I believe that there is another factor at play as well. If Jesus Christ is presented as weak, that would mean that He may not be powerful enough to save man all on His own. That would mean that God needs help to save us because He is not powerful enough. Let me state emphatically, that is not the God that I serve. My Jesus was powerful enough to create the whole world (see John 1:1-3 & 14). He was also powerful enough to pay for my sins all by Himself. Peter tells us how powerful Christ is to save when he says, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24
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Peter was so adamant about how powerful my Jesus is, that he made it clear that Jesus only had to make a sacrifice once in order to pay for our sins. Read carefully what he said in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”
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My Jesus is so powerful that He only had to offer his body once to pay for the sins of mankind. This is made clear in the book of Hebrews as well. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:10.
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I do not worship a weak Jesus. I worship a powerful Jesus who is my Lord and Savior. He is able to save me all by Himself without the help of priest or saint. I love Him and want to serve Him because He is my God. I pray that you would believe in Him as well. Instead of believing in a manmade idea of who Jesus might be, believe in the Jesus of the Bible. Read it and learn who He is.