Jesus

I.  Who is Jesus?

A.  He appears 40 times in the Old Testament.

1.  He is referred to as The Angel of the Lord.

2.  “And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a 

        flame of fire from the midst of a bush.  Then he

        looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire,

        but the bush was not consumed.”  (Exodus 3:2).

3.  Jesus was seen in His pre-incarnate form, i.e., without

       a body.  The word incarnation means to be clothed

       with a body, e.g., to have flesh.  His pre-incarnate

       form means He did not have a physical body yet.

4.  The Angel of the Lord is referred to as the Logos in

        the New Testament.  “In the beginning was the Word
        and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 

        (John 1:1).

5.  Jesus was part of the Trinity as seen in Genesis 1:26:  

     “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image,

        according to Our likeness . . .”

B.  Isaiah 53:3 gives us this description of Jesus.

    1.  “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of

           sorrows, and familiar with suffering.  Like one from

           whom men hide their faces.  He was despised, and we
            esteemed Him not.”

    2.  His life on earth begins in a broken down horse stable 

         sleeping in a feed trough.  

    3.  His mother’s name is Mary and she has a virgin birth.  

        What happens to a young woman who is engaged and 

  becomes pregnant?  She is branded an adulteress and 

         subject to death by stoning.

    4.  The angel Gabriel told Mary His name will be Jesus

           which comes from the word “Joshua” and means, “He
           shall save.

II.  Why did Jesus come to earth?

A.  Matthew 1:21 tells us:  “And she will bring forth a Son

       and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His

       people from their sins.”

     1.  He is the Son of God as revealed in His baptism.  The 

  heavens opened up and God said these words about

           Jesus, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well 

           pleased.”

     2.  Jesus begins His ministry by saying, “The time is
           fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent

           and believe in the gospel.”

     3.  After Jesus started His ministry at age 30, what did His 

         family initially think of Him?  Mark 3:21 tells us.

           “When His family heard about this, they went to take
            charge of Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind.”

B.  What kind of person was Jesus?

    1.  He had so much charisma that people would follow Him 

 instantly and leave everything behind.

    2.  He was able to show His feelings honestly.  He wept

           over the death of Lazareth.  He became angry at the

           money changers.  He laughed at weddings.

     C.  Jesus also came to earth, “. . . to save His people from

           their sins.”  (Matthew 1:21).  Also, “. . . that he might

           destroy the works of the devil.”  (I John 3:8).

III.  No one was ever like Jesus.

A.  When Jesus came to earth, demons recognized Him right

       away.  The sick flocked to Him.  

       1.  He introduced us to God.  He brought God near to us.

           He used the Aramaic word Abba, Father.  

2. When asked by Phillip to show us the Father, Jesus

              said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  

3. When Jesus hung on the cross, it was a message to the 

            entire world that He had become the sacrificial lamb

              of God.  Rejected on earth and He was not accepted

              in heaven.  He hung between heaven and earth
              Totally rejected for us.

4.  He was the sin offering for the world.  All the

              rebellion, all the evil, all the sins of humanity were

              cast upon Him as He hung on the cross.  

5.  Why God cared so much about us, is a mystery we

              will never understand until we come before His

              presence.

6.  Jesus revealed a God who is love.  Who longs for us.

             Who cries when we stray from Him, and runs to us
              when we return.  A God who loves us so much that He

              gave His only begotten son for us.  (John 3:16.)

7.  The bottom line is this:  From Genesis 3 to Revelation

              22, is the story of how God does everything He can to
              get His family back.  It all culminates at the cross.

              No cross means there would be no salvation.

8.  That’s why we love Jesus.  We also know that Jesus is

               coming back again, only this time as King of Kings

               and Lord of Lords.