Aletheia

So, man cannot reach God by any means and therefore God must reach out to man. God had to become man in order that man might be saved from Hell and himself to Heaven and Himself. But in God becoming man, would He cease to be God? No and in fact He had to be both fully God and man in order that man might be saved. C.S. Lewis puts it perfectly when he says that only the perfect can truly repent but only the imperfect need to. But lets start at the beginning.

In the Old Testament, there are many many prophecies about a coming Messiah. This Messiah would be God come to earth to save His people (the Israelites). That is the basic idea. Beyond this there were many prophecies given by God to the Israelites in order that they may know that it was Him. There are 60 main, clear prophecies so I cannot cover them all here. Here are a few: born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, a descendent of King David, have the Spirit of the Lord on Him, be righteous, be faithful, bring peace, someone will announce His coming, ride on a colt, perform miraculous healings, be named Emmanuel (same meaning as Jesus), a man named Simeon would see Him before he died, He would be crucified and rise on the third day, and finally that He would ascend in the clouds to heaven. These are the main ones that I could find. All are specific and each alone, except the virgin birth, would be easy to fake, but in no way all of them. In fact, the chances of 1 man fulfilling 8 essential of 60 specific prophecies are 1 in 10 to the 17th power. Rather high if you ask me.

Could such a Person exist? One who fulfilled all prophesies that needed to be fulfilled, One who was actually God come to earth in humanly form. The answer: yes, of course. If God says it will happen, it will happen. The true question is has this Person come yet? The answer: yes. His name was Jesus and He was born of a virgin in approximately 4 BC in a town called Bethlehem from the line of King David. His name was Jesus. He never sinned. He was perfect. He died on a cross and rose on the third day from a tomb. Many, many people saw him after He had risen. Then, finally, He ascended in the clouds to heaven. All these things have been recorded.

Now the question stands, is what is recorded accurate? First of all, the Bible isn't the only source for a record that a man named Jesus existed. There are many documents of accurate history that mention Him by name. However, the Bible is the main source that attests to His existence. But beyond that it also gives four biographies from people who were His closest friends. Are the four accounts of Jesus life accurate in every way? Yes, they are. There was no embellishing, all the numbers are accurate, all the testimonies of the healings are accurate; just like the rest of the Bible, the testimonies are accurate.

How do we know that they are accurate? We know for many reasons. First, there were four written and none of them contradict each other. There are many places where there may seem to be errors, but when looked at closely and in context, they dissolve. Second, all but one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, his closest friends, died horrible deaths from stoning to beheading to even crucifixion. Who on earth would die for a lie? Third, they are confirmed by many non-religious documents. Fourth and finally, Christianity is one of the top five world religions. Each of these attests religiously and logically that the four gospels are accurate.

Knowing that each of the four gospels are accurate, what do they say about Jesus? Read them sometime, they're quite good. They are annals of Jesus life. They give a detailed description of Who He was, how He lived, how He died, and how He rose again and ascended to heaven. They also attest to the fact that Jesus was and is God. The proofs contained within the gospels of this truth are quite numerous. First of all, there are the prophecies that I already went over. Secondly, Jesus identified Himself with the Jehovah of the Old Testament (Jehovah is God's name in the Old Testament). Thirdly, Jesus claimed to be equal with God. Fourthly, Jesus accepted worship. Fifthly, seeing Jesus was like seeing the Father (Father is a term used by Jesus referring to God). Sixthly, Jesus is called God.

Dealing with the second proof that Jesus was and is God, there are many examples of where Jesus used a name for Himself that God used for Himself in the Old Testament. The more common ones are that Jesus was the good shepherd (Jn. 10:11), Jehovah is the shepherd (Ps. 23:1); Jesus is the light of the world (Jn. 8:12), Jehovah is the light (Is. 60:19; Ps. 27:1); Jesus will judge (Jn. 5:27; Mt. 25:31, 32), Jehovah is the judge (Joel 13:12). These are but three. There are at least 10 more.

On the matter of the third proof, Jesus claimed equality with God four notable times. In the Jewish society in which He lived, to claim equality with God was blaspheme and punishable by death from stoning. He was well aware of this, but made the claim anyway because He had the right. The first way is where Jesus forgave sins. It is written, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Jesus said to a paralytic that he had not yet healed, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Then, Jesus healed Him because those around needed a physical proof that He had the power to do so. The second is where Jesus broke the Sabbath by healing someone and blasphemed by calling Himself God (yet He was allowed to do all for He was and is God). Jesus was then sought after by the Jews to kill Him. Jesus answered them and eventually came to say, "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him (John 5:23)." The third way is whenever Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. It is written, "…the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God (John 5:18)." The fourth and final way mentioned here is when Jesus, after referring to God as His Father many times, said these words, "I and My Father are one (Jn. 10:30-33)."

The other proofs don't really need to be mentioned here but they further exaggerate how Jesus is God. But they are only ways that Jesus acted. They are but words. One of the top proofs is all of the miracles that He performed. The healings that He did astounded everyone. Made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the dead to live again. But if there is one thing that can truly testify that Jesus was and is God, it is His own resurrection.

There is no doubt. The evidence is more than enough. I will write another whole article on evidences and such, but here I wish to get to the final heart of the matter. We have covered Who God is. We have covered that Jesus is the Messiah and is God Himself. But to the heart of the matter, what does all this mean. There is a saying that says "missed heaven by 2 feet." It is approximately the distance between your head and your heart. If all you have is head knowledge, then there is no relationship between you and God and therefore Christ's death was useless and without point. But it does have meaning and is life to those who know it. All that has been covered here can be summed up in one paragraph.

"There is a dividing line between God and everything else. All things are created by God and separate from Him. But God is not therefore impersonal and benign, but rather active in sustaining all things. It is written in Colossians one verse seventeen, "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." And because all things are created and are held together by Him, they shout to all men of His glory. Because of this, man has no excuse for not glorifying and honoring God. But because man did not glorify God but rebelled against Him, He cast him out of his presence. And because man was out of the presence of God, he continued to sin and perpetually made himself worse and worse. But God, in His great grace, became man and died on the cross so that the relationship might be renewed for those who believe in, trust in, cling to, and rely on Him."

It is written, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but a matter of power." All I have done so far is use lots of words, but what do they do but improve the intellect. Rarely do such words as these so touch the heat as to evoke emotion. But hopefully they have left you without and excuse. These are the ramblings of doctrine from a 17-year-old's mind. May they bless your heart or convict it, whichever the Lord wills.

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