Jesus was a man born in the town of Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago. He lived in Palestine, and for most of His life He was a carpenter in a town known as Nazareth. When He was about 30, He began His ministry: teaching and serving His followers and the communities around Him. A few years later, He was tortured and crucified on a cross outside Jerusalem, despite being innocent of any wrongdoing.
Despite only being an active teacher for only a few years, His influence and prominence continues to this day. That’s because He was no ordinary man, but the divine Son of God sent to be saviour to all humankind. We read in the Bible that three days after His burial, he rose again, conquering death (Mark 16:6) and appeared to many of his disciplines.
In John 3:16, the inspired writer John wrote:
In John 1:1-4, John wrote:For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John speaks of the timeless existence of the Person known as ‘the Word’ which was “in the beginning”. This was the Person of Jesus before His earthly birth as a human. John also declares that the Word was with God and was God.
While on earth, Jesus himself affirmed His eternal existence when He said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58). The expression “I am” points back to an account in the Old Testament (Exodus 3:14), where God identifies Himself to Moses the “I AM”. Jesus declared his divinity the same way God did to Moses thousands of years before Jesus was born on earth.
In the book of Revelation, Jesus claims that He is “the first and the last, and the Living one” (Revelation 1:17-18), as well as the “Alpha and the Omega” – the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet (Revelations 22:13). Jesus meant that He was eternal in nature, having existed before the earth was formed and how He will continue to exist after earth’s end.
During His ministry on earth, Jesus performed many miracles, told many parables, and taught many spiritual truths. Jesus taught that:
- He was the only way to God: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
- He would come again in the future. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)
- Those who believe His gospel and are baptised will be saved. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)
We invite you to get to know Jesus. Get in touch with us if you’d like to arrange a personal study to know Him better.