JESUS
At the centre of Christianity is the man, Jesus of Nazareth who lived about 2000 years ago.
Who Jesus is and what He has done is the foundation of Christianity. It is often called the “gospel” or the “good news”.
Who is Jesus?
Jesus is the king! God promised a king would reign over His people forever. He made this promise to one of Israel’s earliest kings named David. The promise is that David’s kingdom would endure forever through one of his descendants. There developed from this an expectation of a coming Messiah or Christ – which means ‘Anointed One’ – who would re-establish David’s kingdom. God has fulfilled this promise through Jesus.
However, Jesus is more than just a man. He is God who became a human. God is Trinity – three persons in one being. God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That’s who He has revealed Himself to be in the Bible. God the Father sent God the Son to become human – the man Jesus.
So, Christians believe Jesus is God and that He rules over everything.
What has Jesus done?
It is quite well know that Jesus died on a Roman cross. This is the astonishing thing about Christianity. How can they think their own king receiving capital punishment as a lowly criminal be considered a good thing? Jesus died on a cross, but not for anything He had done to deserve it. What happened as Jesus died on the cross was far more significant than simply a death. The Bible teaches that as Jesus died, He bore the punishment that everyone of us deserves for our rejection of God and our rebellion against Him.
Secondly, Christians believe the eye-witness testimony of the first Christians as recorded in the Bible: that Jesus bodily rose from the dead on the third day. This is may sound astonishing, but it is central to what Christians believe God has done through Jesus. He died and He rose again, and He reigns as king in heaven.
Why is it good news?
Are you wondering how Jesus being a king and dying and rising from the dead could be good news? It is because of the amazing benefit to those who accept this news.
Something a king does is not only rule but judge the people. One day at the end of time, Jesus will return and judge the whole world. That may not sound like good news because if we are honest, we know we haven’t always done the right thing. But this is why Jesus came the first time. His death was as our substitute to pay our penalty. And because He has defeated death through His resurrection from the dead, He can give eternal life to us. Through trusting in Jesus and what He has done, God reconciles us to Himself. He forgives us and gives us new life so that we will live in submission to Him. Those who have accepted Jesus, will one day dwell with God forever, not in heaven, but in a new heavens and new earth. In other words, in a new universe where there will no longer be anything bad.
Christians, in the mean time, want to live their lives in service of their king who has saved them. We are given the third person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit – to dwell in us and transform our lives to live more like Jesus. This is all a work in progress for Christians. None of us become perfect this side of Christ’s return.
The good news is all about Jesus. It is about who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Jesus is our Ruler and our Rescuer!
If you want to understand more, please contact us. Someone in our church would love to chat with you about Jesus and what difference He makes.