Who is Jesus
It seems that, at some point, every person begins to wonder about the meaning of life. They begin to search for purpose, hope, and significance. We all tend to look for these things within our careers, families, friends, success, money… you name it, and it’s been done. At the end of the day, none of these things give us the purpose to life that we were looking for. Yet, there is a man who said that He came “to bring life and life abundantly.” This man is Jesus.
Jesus is no ordinary man. The Bible tells us that He is Immanuel, God with us. Yet, though He is God, He willfully laid aside His glory and completely identified with humanity. He took upon Himself human nature with all its struggles and never sinned. Jesus perfectly followed and revealed the will of God so we could have life.
The life Jesus offers came at a great cost. Because every human sins and falls short of perfection, God’s good intent and standard for human life, we are separated from both God and the life we were designed to live. The fair penalty for sin is death, like he had told humans at the very beginning, and God’s justice could not allow guilty sinners to just be let off the hook. The payment needed to be made in order for God to be consistent in His holy character. But God’s great mercy and the depth of His love necessitated a way to make the payment that simultaneously offered forgiveness and grace. To pay for our sins, Jesus was tortured, beaten, and then crucified on a cross. Only Jesus could be this substitute because He was sinless. God gave himself, through Jesus, to be the perfect solution—a sinless human paying the penalty, death, for sin. At the cross He took on the punishment that we deserved. But, fortunately, the story doesn’t end there! A story that ends in death would not give way to life. Three days after His crucifixion, Jesus rose again from the grave, proving that He is a powerful conqueror over sin and death. He became the Mediator who has bought the reconciliation between God and man. The penalty for sin was now paid, and forgiveness could be offered fairly. God allows Jesus’s death to be the just satisfaction of His character and the penalty for sin. Instead of all men having to die, the death of one man bought forgiveness and life for all.
Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection prove that what He claimed about Himself is true. He came to bring not just life, but eternal life. He accomplishes this through the forgiveness of our sins. Because of the cross, we can receive eternal life. Romans 10:9 tells us that, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” The free gift of Salvation brings us into relationship with God where we are empowered to live this present life to fullest. We are restored to the relationship with God and purposeful life that was once broken, and we are given eternal life in heaven with Him.