Jesus Christ is the most celebrated, polarizing, embraced, disputed, loved, despised, believed, doubted, enlightening yet misunderstood figure in human history.
One thing He is not, is ignored. There is no indifference on the subject of Christ. More than a religious figure and beyond the bearded visage in stained glass, He’s either who He says He is or He’s a liar. If not a liar, perhaps a lunatic, but there are no other options.
If He is a liar, He has certainly pulled off the greatest heist ever known.
He’s the only man who claimed to be God, that actually performed miracles as if He was God and then ultimately allowed himself to be murdered for the very people who tortured Him because they didn’t believe He was God. Humbly volunteering to die is hardly the work of a con man.
So perhaps He was insane?
The Bible was written over the span of 1,500 years by over 40 authors, and it has one central narrative – Jesus, the Son of God, hope for humanity. This book tells of Jesus’ arrival on earth hundreds of years before His birth. The remainder of the scriptures confirm the prophecies about His birth, miracles, His death and resurrection and showcase the church He founded years after He left the earth.
Our final conclusion is that Jesus is who He says He is.
The living, breathing Son of God.
The hope of the world.
The one true God.
Savior of all.
Worthy of utmost admiration and praise.
- What others have said about Him
- Prophecies about Jesus
- New Testament verses on salvation through Jesus
I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour, millions of men would die for Him. –Napoleon
I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history. –H.G. Wells
Buddha never claimed to be God. Moses never claimed to be Jehovah. Mohammed never claimed to be Allah. Yet Jesus Christ claimed to be the true and living God. Buddha simply said, “I am a teacher in search of the truth.” Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” Confucius said, “I never claimed to be holy.” Jesus said, “Who convicts me of sin?” Mohammed said, “Unless God throws his cloak of mercy over me, I have no hope.” Jesus said, “Unless you believe in me, you will die in your sins.” –Unknown
Despite our efforts to keep him out, God intrudes. The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: “a virgin’s womb and an empty tomb”. Jesus entered our world through a door marked “No Entrance” and left through a door marked “No Exit.” –Peter Larson
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. –C.S. Lewis
Prophecy: Genesis 12:3. Fulfilled: Matthew 1:1.
2. Jesus’ mother will be a virgin.
Prophecy: Isaiah 7:14. Fulfilled: Matthew 1:18–23.
3. Jesus will be a descendent of Isaac and Jacob.
Prophecy: Genesis 17:19 and Numbers 24:17. Fulfilled: Matthew 1:2.
4. Jesus will be born in the town Bethlehem.
Prophecy: Micah 5:2. Fulfilled: Luke 2:1–7.
5. Jesus will be called out of Egypt.
Prophecy: Hosea 11:1. Fulfilled: Matthew 2:13–15.
6. Jesus will be a member of the tribe of Judah.
Prophecy: Genesis 49:10. Fulfilled: Luke 3:33.
7. Jesus will enter the temple. This is important because the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and was never rebuilt.
Prophecy: Malachi 3:1. Fulfilled: Luke 2:25–27.
8. Jesus will be from the lineage of King David.
Prophecy: Jeremiah 23:5. Fulfilled: Matthew 1:6.
9. Jesus’ birth will be accompanied with great suffering and sorrow.
Prophecy: Jeremiah 31:15. Fulfilled: Matthew 2:16.
10. Jesus will live a perfect life, die by crucifixion, resurrect from death, ascend into heaven, and sit at the right hand of God. Prophecies: Psalm 22:16; Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 53:10–11; Psalm 68:18; Psalm 110:1. Fulfilled: 1 Peter 2:21–22; Luke 23:33; Acts 2:25–32; Acts 1:9; Hebrews 1:3.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” – John 3:16-18
“Unless you believe that I Am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.” – John 8:24
“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” – John 20:31
“He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 16:15-17
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” – 1 John 5:13
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. – Colossians 1:15-20 NLT
Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:6-11 NLT
