WHO DO YOU SAY THAT HE IS?Nearly 2.000 years ago, Jesus asked the question, "What do you think of Christ? Whose Son is He?" (Matthew 22:42). A person's answer to that question can determine his or her eternal destiny.
JESUS' PREEXISTENCE
The Apostle John declares Jesus' preexistence in John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus says He is "the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End" (Revelation 1:8). Jesus reigns eternally (Hebrews 1:8), and He exists before all thins (Colossians 1:17).
JESUS' DEITY
Jesus did not become God-He has always been God (John 5:18), and is the second Person of the Trinity. (Also see: "What We Believe: The Trinity.") Referring to His deity, Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I Am" (John 8:58). The preexistence of Jesus Christ and the deity of Jesus Christ are inseparable. It is impossible to accept one and deny the other.
JESUS' INCARNATION
The word incarnation means "in flesh." It denotes the act in which the son of God took to Himself the nature of humanity through the Virgin Birth (Matthew 1:23). John writes, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).
JESUS' HUMANITY
For Jesus to represent sinful humanity, He had to become a man. His Virgin Birth, which was essential for Him to be sinless, was prophesied long before it occurred (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:18, 23; Luke 1:34-35; and Galatians 4:4). Jesus experienced everything in life that we do: pain, suffering, thirst, hunger, sorrow, anger, and so on. However, Jesus was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
JESUS' DEATH
The penalty for our sins is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus died in our place and paid our penalty (Matthew 20:28; John 10:17-18; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18). Jesus' death on the cross laid the foundation for a righteous God to pardon guilty and sinful people without compromising His righteousness in any way.
JESUS' RESURRECTION
Jesus' resurrection assures us of our future resurrection. Because of His victory over death, we have victory as well. Without the resurrection, there would be no gospel message. His resurrection has been proven beyond a shadow of doubt (Matthew 28:5-8; Luke 24:39; John 20:27028). The empty tomb, the shape of His linen wrappings, and His appearances to many after His crucifixion were just a few of the credible evidences of His resurrection.
JESUS' ASCENSION AND EXALTATION
After His resurrection, Jesus visibly departed from His disciples into heaven (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9). His ascension and exaltation were necessary to complete the redemptive work of God. His work was not complete when He rose from the dead (Mark 16:19; Philippians 2:9; Ephesians 1:20-21; Hebrews 1:3).
JESUS' PERSONAL PRAYER
Jesus Christ will return to this earth and receive His church, the body of Christ, to Himself (John 14:4; Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7).
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SACRIFICE
Hbr 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Hbr 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name.
What does man define as sacrifice?
The act of offering something to a deity in propitiation or homage, especially the ritual slaughter of an animal or a person.
Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.
Sacrifice is losing or giving up something (of value/worth) for the good benefit of another person or cause. I now realize that from the very beginning we were created by God in sacrifice. Ultimately everything was created by God. Everything including Satan, sin, death and murder.
Why would such a loving and perfect God create such terrible things? or how about this question that I am so very familiar with myself. Is this all really worth it? Have you ever thought this; if I was never put on this earth I would never be burdened with making these decisions or have to face the possibility of heaven or hell? Have you ever said to God, I never asked to be put on this earth in the first place? If so, lets put everything into perspective so that we will appreciate the love and glory of Jesus Christ and God our Father. The answer is simple it is sacrifice but we need to understand the answer so that it is fulfilling in truth and it will take away these questions and cast away a couple more of Satan's many lies and misconceptions of truth.
It all comes down to sacrifice. God had to sacrifice so much to give us this gift of free will that ultimately benefits us the most in the end. Does it benefit God; of course it does but I want you to see how God had our best interest in mind and how God gives up more for us to have this than we do with our little time on this earth. In such a way you will no longer have a thought of comparison.
When God first created man He sacrificed more than the world can ever see. God did not create evil for the purpose of evil. When God created man He created something very special beyond all other creations. We know Satan was created before man for a simple reason. When God created Adam and Eve He gave them something special called "choice" or "free will". If we did not have choice then we would be robots and we would not have a free will. Why would God want us to have something so powerful as free will? To God we become real, we become meaningful, we bring purpose and we fulfill one of His greatest creations which is love. Just think for a moment what it took for God to give us free will.
It takes good and evil to make us have a decision so that we do in deed have free will. Although this can be very painful to a man or woman at times in life. Realize that when God created evil He knew that all the perfect creations of His such as man, woman and angels would be divided and He would have to lose part of His perfect creation for the gain of what is left. Simply put; many will spend eternity in hell and the rest will be with God Almighty in eternal life. Whatever is cast into Hell is really God's and once was a perfect creation, even Satan. So it is God who loses something that was His and was perfect. Can you now start to see how much God sacrificed for us before Adam and Eve walked this earth? Even after that, God came to earth Himself and sacrificed His life in flesh. All in all, God has sacrificed Himself to us both in spirit and in flesh.
Why would God create something that would cause Him so much pain and something that will actually take a part of Him away forever. In the end; God's children are His by our own will. Not because we were forced to but because we chose to because we were not blind to His love. As the days get shorter the devil is working harder to make people believe in everything but God. Satan is also working hard on those who do believe in God by limiting our beliefs in his power and existence. Do not be blinded to the sacrifice God has given to you before you made any sacrifice in your life whatsoever towards His glory. Why do you think we were commanded to give sacrifices to God? So that we could be conditioned to understand the meaning of sacrifice in order that we could see the great love that God had for us before man was even created.
Glory to GOD,
Kerry Dale Hancock Jr
messenger in CHRIST
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Well said. Great post.
love the site, i'll be checking it out regularly. Hope you'll check out mine as well! God Bless!
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