Birthplace: Bethlehem, Judea
Died: c. 30 A.D. (crucifixion)
Isaiah 43:12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the LORD, “that I am God.”
Who did Jesus claim to be as per the Bible?
John 8:56-58 ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I AM!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself.
John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:23-24 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I AM, you will indeed die in your sins.”
John 11:25-27 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
John 14:6-7 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.
John 10:24-33 The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
There are so many more passages like these, but even limiting ourselves to the above quotes, any honest reader can see exactly what Jesus was claiming about himself. Like C.S Lewis wrote in the quote above, He was claiming to be the promised Messiah, God in the flesh. And He also claimed to be the only way of salvation. At this point, you may be saying ‘I can see that He claimed to be God, but how do we know that the Bible record of His claims are accurate?’ One of the most compelling proofs that God gives us is in the fulfillment of prophecy. No other religious books such as the Koran contain detailed prophecies. The God of the Bible declares:
Isaiah 46:9-10 ‘I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please.’
Jesus Claimed To Fulfill The Old Testament Prophecies
John 5:45-46 But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
Mark 14:61-63 Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. (Ed Note: the Son of Man sitting at the right hand and coming on the clouds was a key specific prophecy about the Messiah from the Old Testament book of Daniel.)
So Jesus claimed to be the Messiah that had been prophesied to come in numerous passages in the Old Testament. What I would like to concentrate on now, is one chapter in the Old Testament that specifically tells us about the life and even death of the Messiah. This chapter is Isaiah 53. The entire scroll of the prophet Isaiah was found within the dead sea scrolls and if has been verified to be completely accurate with the version in our Bibles today. So you be the judge, for with the discovery we know for a fact that the following chapter was written hundreds of years before Jesus was even born.
Isaiah 53 – The Life And Death Of Messiah Prophesied
1. Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Indicates that few would believe in Jesus. (John 6:66, 12:37-38)
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Jesus had humble and poor beginnings, not coming as a royal King, but as a commoner. (Luke 2:7)
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Jesus was despised, rejected, and suffered at the hands of His own people! (Mathew 27:21-23)
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
Even though Jesus would heal many, and take the sorrows for others, yet the Jewish people would consider Him cursed by God for it is written in Deuteronomy 21:23 ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’ (Luke 19:41-42)
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Though Jesus was cursed, it was for a reason! He was crushed for our sins so that we could be healed and have peace with God! Note also that this prophecy says that the Messiah would be ‘pierced’. The Jewish method of execution is stoning, though God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said He would be ‘pierced’ because He knew that Jesus would be crucified, having His hands and feet nailed (pierced) to the cross!
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
It would be God the Father’s will that all sin would be laid upon Jesus! (Gal 1:4)
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
This verse shows how Jesus, the sacrificial lamb, would be silent before His accusers. This happened as recorded in Mathew 27:12.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
Jesus was judged and died without having any physical descendants. (Mathew 27:35)
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Jesus died alongside common criminals but was given a rich man’s tomb in which He was buried! (Mathew 27:57)
10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
Even though verse 8 says that Jesus was cut off and had no descendants (physically) yet this verse says that after being made a guilt offering (crucified), Jesus would ‘see his offspring and prolong his days’! Amazing prophecy showing that even though Jesus would be killed, He would rise from the dead, live again and that spiritually He would have many offspring! (Mark 16:16)
11 After the suffering of his soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
God the Father saw the suffering of Jesus and was fully satisfied. Sin demanded a sacrificial death and in doing so, Jesus opened the way so that through knowledge of what happened on the cross, humankind could again be justified! (seen as perfect and spotless in God’s sight.) (Romans 5:8-9, 2 Cor 5:21)
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus is now exalted by the Father, for He bore our sins, dying on a cross, and even when He was dying He interceded for those who crucified Him saying ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do!’ Amazing! (Luke 23:32-34)
With all this in mind, can there actually be any doubt as to who Jesus was? We have seen that He didn’t just claim to be a teacher, or a spiritual leader. He claimed to be the one and only Messiah, God in the flesh! His birth, life, and death all accurately and specifically fulfills prophecies recorded hundreds of years earlier. So God has not left us without a means of knowing who the Messiah is! But you have to decide – for Jesus is either a lunatic, a great liar, or He is the Lord to whom we all have to bow. With all this in mind, lets quickly see what the Bible says about salvation and coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ – the King of Kings!
What The Bible Says About Salvation
Acts 4:12 ‘And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.’
1 John 5:11-12 ‘And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.’
2. That salvation cannot come by performing good works but through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for your behalf.
Eph 2:8 ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.’
Romans 3:20 ‘…by the works of the Law no one will be justified in His sight.’
3. God now offers salvation as a gift to those who will believe.
Romans 3:21-24 ‘But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known… This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:23 ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
4. You need to act to receive the gift of salvation.
John 1:11-12 ‘He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.’
Acts 2:38 ‘Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'”
http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/salvation/salvation.htm http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/jesus66books.htm
Verses saying Jesus is God: Heb. 1:8 God the Father called the Son “God.”
Isa. 9:6 The “child” is called the “Mighty God.”
Mt. 1:23, Is. 7:14 Jesus is called Immanuel, which means “God with us.”
John. 1:1 Jesus (the “Word”) is called “God.”
1 Tim. 3:16 Paul said Jesus was God “manifested in the flesh.”
Col. 2:8.9 Paul said Jesus was the “fullness of the Godhead bodily.
John. 20:28 Thomas said to Jesus, “.my God.”
Titus 2:13 Paul called Jesus “the great God.”
Phil. 2:5,6 Paul said Jesus didn’t feel it was wrong to be considered “equal with God.”
John 5:18 The Jews wanted to kill Jesus because He was “making Himself equal with God.”
John 10:30 Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”
Gen. 1:1; Col. 1:16 The Bible said God created all things and that Jesus created all things.
Mic. 5:2 The messiah (Jesus) had always been in existence.
Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:2,8, 11,13 God claimed to be the “First and the Last.” So did Jesus. God clearly states that He is the only savior. The Bible also says Jesus is our savior.
Other persons had viewed Jesus as God
Rom. 14:10b -12 -Paul uses the words Jesus and God interchangeably. “For we shall all stand before the judgment Seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So, then, “every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
Luke 8:39 -After Jesus healed a demon possessed man, Jesus said: “Return to thine house, and show what great things God hath done unto thee. And he went on his way and published throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done unto him.”
Phil. 2:5b, 6 -Paul said Jesus was God. “. Jesus Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”
John 5:18 -The Jews felt Jesus was making himself equal with God.
“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”
“Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them I am he. As soon as he said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.” (John 18:4b, 5, 6)
(v 2) “. testimony of Jesus Christ .”
(v 8) “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
(v 11) “Saying I am alpha and Omega, the first and the last.”
(v 13) “And in the midst of the seven lamp stands, one like the Son of man .”
(v 17b. 18a) “Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am he that liveth and was dead.”
Isaiah 44:6 -In Rev 1:11, Jesus says He is the first and the last. Isa. 44:6 shows that the one who is “first and the last is actually God. “Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his redeemer, the Lord of host: I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is not God.”
“Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.”
Matthew 1:23 -Jesus is called Immanuel, which means “God with us.”
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us.” Micah 5:2
-Jesus (the Messiah) is everlasting. “But thou, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Zechariah 12:10
(v6) “And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true; and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.”
(v 16) “I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches .”
Here are verses that say Jesus created all things
” Jesus answered, and said unto them Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19)
Verses saying the Father is God:
John. 8:41 “The only Father we have is God Himself.”
Eph. 4:6 ” . one God and Father of all .”
Verses saying the Holy Spirit is God:
Acts 5:3,4 “. you have lied to the Holy Spirit . you have not lied to men, but to God.”
Acts 28:25,26 Referring to Isaiah 6:9,10, Peter said the “Holy Spirit” spoke to the prophet Isaiah. In the book of Isaiah, it says the “Lord” spoke to the prophet Isaiah.
1 Cor. 3:16 “Don’t you know you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
Verses saying there is only one God:
Mk. 12:32 “You are right in saying God is one and there is no other but him.”
Mk. 12:29 “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
1 Tim. 2:5 “For there is one God .”
1 Cor. 8:4 ” . and there is no God but one.”
Gal. 3:20 ” . but God is one.”
James 2:19 “You believe there is one God. Good! .”
Ps. 86:10 ” . you alone are God.”
Deut. 6:4,5 “The Lord our God, the Lord is one .”
Isa. 44:8 “Is there another God besides me?”
Isa. 45:21 “There is no God apart from me . there is none but me.”
Isa. 45:22″ For I am God and there is no other.”
Isa. 46:9 “I am God, and there is no other”
Isa. 45:5 “I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.”
Isaiah 45:18 “I am the Lord, and there is no other.”
Mal. 2:10″ Did not one God create us?”
http://www.biblehelp.org/(Mat 7:7 KJV) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
(Luke 11:10 KJV) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
(Gal 5:22 KJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
(Gal 5:25 KJV) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Pass it on. The Lord wants to infuse you with an anointing, by the Holy Spirit, which will propel you through every line of Satan’s defense. This is how you can overcome every situation as you receive “power from on high!” Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself was full of this power as He withstood the onslaught of the devil while fasting in the wilderness. The Bible records that John the Baptist baptized Jesus, the Lord of Glory, in the river Jordan prior to Him praying and fasting 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of this fast Satan came to Him and tempted Him in His spirit, soul and body to sin against God. But Jesus resisted Satan’s offense with the statement, “It is written!” After this, Luke 4: 14 states, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. If Jesus, walking as a man, needed the power of the Holy Spirit to stand against the assault of the devil, I ask you, “How much more do we need the power of the Holy Spirit?” There’s a Holy Spirit revival coming, and it’s can also be coming even through your words, through your hands and through your life!
Would you like to have God’s Holy Ghost Power in your life? If so please pray this prayer humbly. “Dear Heavenly Father. As per your promises in your word, the Bible do next baptize me with your Holy sprit, power. I accept the promise of Acts 2: 38 & 39 and the anointing power of the Holy Ghost. I ask to have the power that Apostles had received even in my life. I also do want the power to overcome Satan everyday, in all areas of life! Jesus you are my lord so by your Holy Spirit, please fill me now and take full control of my life, my body and even my tongue. Let my tongue now also give praises to God the Father and His Holy Son, Jesus in a Heavenly language. I put myself, my all under your full control. Amen!”
We should never take for granted, that we are filled with Gods Holy Spirit. Each and every day, would it not also be a good idea to ask the Lord, ” Lord please fill me a fresh with your Holy Spirit, anoint my head again a fresh with the Holy Spirit, fill my cup and let it over flow with the peace, power and joy in the Holy Spirit “. Thank you Jesus. May the Lord anoint you head with oil, may your cup over flow.” http://anyonecare.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/the-consistent-ongoing-symbols-of-the-holy-spirit-in-the-bible/
Come, Lord Jesus, and fill these people full of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul lists out these gifts. Any Spirit-filled Christian can eventually manifest or release any of His gifts as the Holy Spirit directs him http://anyonecare.wordpress.com/2008/05/03/the-holy-spirit/ http://anyonecare.wordpress.com/2008/05/03/the-holy-spirit-continued/
As per the other real question as to whether apostles, prophets, pastor teachers exists today as in the Time of Jesus Christ first needs to be superseded by the question as to whether all true Christians are now also anointed by the Holy Spirit, Anointed, Greek word , Christos meaning one who shows evidence of the holy Spirit.. and the answer is yes. all true Christians are evidentiary now also anointed by the Holy Spirit, and if the other people cannot see this you certainly are not a true Christian.
http://mccainvrsobama.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/as-to-who-is-jesus-christ/
JESUS SAYS COME 