Who Is Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, God manifest in the flesh, the only Saviour of mankind, and the Lord of all. He did not begin His existence at Bethlehem, for He existed eternally with God the Father and is Himself fully God.

Jesus Christ Is Eternal God

John 1:1-2 declares:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.”

Jesus Christ is called “the Word.” He was already present “in the beginning.” He was not created, nor did He gradually become divine. The Scripture plainly says, “the Word was God.”

Jesus said in John 10:30:

“I and my Father are one.”

This does not mean that the Father and the Son are the same Person, but that they are one in divine nature, essence, power, and glory. Jesus Christ possesses every attribute of deity. He is eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, holy, and worthy of worship.

Colossians 2:9 says:

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Jesus Christ is not merely a prophet, religious teacher, created being, or lesser god. He is the eternal God the Son.

Jesus Christ Became Truly Man

The eternal Son of God entered the world by taking upon Himself a genuine human nature. John 1:14 declares:

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

The Word did not cease to be God when He was made flesh. He remained fully God while becoming truly man. He possessed a real human body, soul, and spirit, yet without a sinful nature.

Philippians 2:7 says that He:

“made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”

Jesus experienced hunger, thirst, weariness, sorrow, suffering, and physical death. Nevertheless, He never surrendered His deity. He was and remains the God-man—truly God and truly man in one Person.

Jesus Christ Was Born of a Virgin

The incarnation of Jesus Christ was accomplished through the miraculous virgin birth. Isaiah prophesied:

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
—Isaiah 7:14

This prophecy was fulfilled when the angel told Joseph:

“Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”
—Matthew 1:20

Matthew 1:22-23 explains:

“Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

Jesus had no human father. He was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary by the supernatural working of the Holy Ghost. His virgin birth fulfilled prophecy, demonstrated His divine identity, and preserved the truth that He entered the world without sin.

Jesus Christ Lived a Sinless Life

Although Jesus Christ was tempted, He never sinned in thought, word, deed, motive, or nature.

Second Corinthians 5:21 says:

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

First Peter 2:22 says:

“Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.”

Hebrews 4:15 declares that He:

“was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Because Jesus Christ was perfectly holy and completely without sin, He alone was qualified to become the spotless sacrifice for sinful mankind.

Jesus Christ Died for the Sins of the World

The death of Jesus Christ upon the cross was not an accident, a political tragedy, or merely the death of a martyr. It was the predetermined sacrificial offering of the sinless Son of God for the sins of the whole world.

First Corinthians 15:3 says:

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.”

Jesus Christ died as our Substitute. He bore the judgment that guilty sinners deserved. God placed upon Him the punishment for our sins so that all who believe upon Him might be forgiven and justified.

Isaiah 53:5-6 says:

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

His sacrifice was sufficient for every person. First John 2:2 declares:

“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Jesus Christ Shed His Precious Blood for Our Atonement

The shedding of Christ’s blood was essential to the atonement. Hebrews 9:22 says:

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

Jesus did not merely die; He willingly poured out His sinless, precious blood as the full payment for sin.

First Peter 1:18-19 says:

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

His blood was not common blood. It was the precious blood of the spotless Lamb of God. His one sacrifice completely satisfied the righteous demands of God concerning sin. Nothing can be added to His finished work by baptism, sacraments, religious rituals, good works, church membership, or personal merit.

On the cross Jesus declared:

“It is finished.”
—John 19:30

The payment for sin was complete.

Jesus Christ Was Bodily Raised from the Dead

Jesus Christ truly died and was buried. He did not merely faint, appear to die, or rise only in a spiritual or symbolic sense. On the third day, He bodily arose from the grave.

First Corinthians 15:4 says:

“And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

Luke 24:39 records the risen Christ saying:

“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”

The tomb was literally empty. The same Jesus who was crucified and buried arose in a glorified, physical body. His bodily resurrection proved that He is the Son of God, demonstrated that His sacrifice had been accepted, and guaranteed the future resurrection of all who belong to Him.

First Corinthians 15:17 warns:

“And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”

The resurrection is therefore essential to the Gospel and to the Christian faith.

Jesus Christ Ascended Bodily into Heaven

After His resurrection, Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples for forty days, giving many infallible proofs that He was alive.

Acts 1:3 says:

“To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”

At the conclusion of those forty days, He bodily ascended into Heaven before the eyes of His disciples.

Acts 1:9 declares:

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”

His ascension was literal, visible, and bodily. Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father, where He serves as the believer’s Advocate and great High Priest.

Hebrews 1:3 says that He:

“sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Jesus Christ Is Coming Again

The angels declared that the same Jesus who ascended into Heaven will return personally and bodily.

Acts 1:11 says:

“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

Jesus Christ will first come for His Church, and He will afterward return visibly to the earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. His return will not be symbolic or merely spiritual. The same Jesus who died, arose, and ascended will come again.

Jesus Christ Is the Only Saviour

Because Jesus Christ is eternal God, the sinless God-man, the crucified Substitute, and the risen Lord, He alone can save sinners.

Jesus said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
—John 14:6

Acts 4:12 declares:

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Salvation is received entirely by grace through personal faith in Jesus Christ, apart from human works.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
—Ephesians 2:8-9

Jesus Christ is eternal God. He became truly man through the virgin birth while remaining fully God. He lived a perfectly sinless life, died upon the cross as the substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, shed His precious blood for our redemption, was buried, bodily arose the third day, and ascended into Heaven forty days later. He is now exalted at the Father’s right hand, and He will come again.

He is not merely one saviour among many. He is the only begotten Son of God, the Lamb of God, the risen Lord, and the only Saviour of mankind.