Who Is Jesus?

“’But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’” (Matthew 16:15).

If Jesus really is the Savior, then this becomes the most important question we could ever ask ourselves. Our answer has eternal significance, and changes how we approach the here and now. Regardless, it continues to be a question that many struggle to answer.

To some, he is a great teacher with good moral ideas. To others, he is an interesting myth. There are even some who fail to believe, contrary to all evidence, that he ever existed at all. To believers, he is the very Son of God – the creator and sustainer of all things who will one day return to restore all things. Who is he really? Has the life of Jesus been exaggerated, or is he really more than just a man?

Jesus Is God

“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

Jesus never claimed to be like God. Jesus claimed to be God. More than a prophet, there is no disputing that his followers certainly believed he was God incarnate. He was not the only person who ever claimed to be the promised Messiah. Yet he was the only one whose followers truly believed it. They proclaimed boldly, in the face of ridicule and death, that he had risen from the dead and that he continued to live through his followers in the form of the Holy Spirit. Romans 1:4 clearly states that Jesus, “through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The first person to die for this belief was Stephen. While speaking in Jerusalem, he made this public assertion, “therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:36).

There is no room for ambiguity – the earliest believers saw Jesus as nothing short of the resurrected Lord.

Jesus Is Peace

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

For many of us, Isaiah 9:6 stirs memories of Christmas, and this is fitting for the prophecy proclaiming the birth of the Messiah. However, “peace on earth” was not just a momentary event that happened in Bethlehem. His peace is meant for us in the here and now.

In Ephesians 2:14 we read that “he himself is our peace.” The peace that we receive in Jesus is unlike anything we can find anywhere else. He is not merely a way for us to feel peaceful for a while, but he himself is the very essence of peace. We find peace as we surrender our life to him and his will. In Philippians 4:7 we read that “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” His peace guards us against fear, hate, and keeps us in perfect peace regardless of circumstance.

Jesus Is Hope

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

Our hope is not temporary, but living, founded in the fact that Jesus has been resurrected from the dead. In a painful world where hope is easily taken away, we have an unshakable hope rooted in the eternal. That hope is the one thing that can never be taken away or extinguished. We have hope that our God is over all, and will one day restore all of creation to himself. Until then, our hope is not in governments or ideas of utopia, but in the one true God who is guiding all of creation back unto himself.

Jesus Is Life

“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

As the author of creation, Jesus is life itself. As the one who gives and sustains our lives, it is of vital importance to know that he has defeated death, the enemy of life. Not only does Jesus give us life on this earth, he offers us to share in eternal, resurrected life with him: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36).

Life over death lies at the heart of our faith. If Jesus was simply a great person who died a horrific death, he becomes no more than a sad story. Yet his resurrection gives us hope for our own life and meaning, both now and in the eternal.   

Jesus Is Joy

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

Jesus does not offer sorrow as a goal for our life. His desire is for us to be filled with joy in every situation. There is a distinct difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is generally based on situation, while joy is based on who Jesus is, and who we are in him regardless of our situation. Paul states that he is “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).

Even in the direst circumstances, we can find be filled with joy for who we are in Christ. Scripture reverberates with accounts of those who display joy in the midst of pain and persecution, and this type of joy can only come through knowing Jesus.

Jesus Is Love

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).

There is no way to overstate the deep love of God. 1 John 4:8 tells us clearly that God does not just show us love, God is love. His love can overcome any sin, any offense, and draw us unto himself in forgiveness and grace.

The love we receive from God is not based on condition. The idea that we have to “clean ourselves up” to accept his love is foolishness. We could never become so clean! We are made clean and whole in and through Jesus, his death and resurrection that forgives our sin, and we are made worthy in his love.  His love is never failing, never ending, and is available to all who seek it.

A old hymn starts off with the words,

“Jesus is all the world to me,
My life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day,
Without him I would fall”

These words ring true in the life of every believer.

We see Jesus in the vibrancy of youth and the tenderness of age. He is the beginning and end of all things. He is the maker and sustainer of all life, and he is the one in whom we live and move and have our being. All we are and all we will be are perfected in our acceptance of Jesus for all he truly is.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Alessandro Bellone

Jason Soroski is a homeschool dad and member of the worship team at matthias lot church in St. Charles, MO. He spends his free time hanging out with his family, exploring new places, and writing about the experiences. Connect on Facebook or at JasonSoroski.net.