Jesus IS: God, Savior, Deliverer, Redeemer, Friend... 

To fully understand “who Jesus is”, we must first look at human history and understand WHY Jesus is - needed, necessary and available to us. 

The Bible tells us in the book of Genesis, that God created man, male and female in His image, placing them in the Garden of Eden. He created them with free will to make their own choices. He did this because He wanted His creation to love Him for who He is, knowing that true love is not love at all if it is forced. According to God’s Word, when He finished His creation, everything was very good (Genesis 1:31). Everything was free to them except one thing – God told them not to eat from one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then the serpent came along and enticed them by telling them that if they ate the fruit of that tree then they would be “like God”, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5). This exposed the human heart and our desire to be like God, to be in control of our own life, and so they ate the fruit and disobeyed God. 

This was the first sin and the decision that broke our perfect fellowship with God until this day. Sin is simply disobedience to God. And until this sin is paid for, we are all eternally separated from the Father. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death, and in order to fix our sin problem, a sacrifice had to be made on our behalf to pay for our sin. That sacrifice had to be perfect and sinless. Our sin became a debt that we could never pay. There was only one way this could be solved, only one who was able pay it…

1 Peter 1:18-21 tells us that we could never purchase our redemption but that it was paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot and that He was foreordained before the foundation of the world. For around 4,000 years it was prophesied that one would come and restore us back to unity with God. Jesus of Nazareth was born of a virgin, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, and preached the good news of salvation to all that would hear Him. For that, He was beaten, mocked, and crucified as the perfect, sinless Lamb of God. He took the penalty that we deserved and paid the price we could never pay. And how do we know the payment was accepted by God?

The Resurrection!

Jesus said in John 10:17-18 that he had the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up again. Never before in history has anyone been born of a virgin or raised from the dead on their own accord…but Jesus! We believe in one God manifested in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the central figure in human history, and the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15); He is the creator of Heaven and Earth, everything seen and unseen (Colossians 1:16). 

“For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. Anyone that believes in Him is not condemned: but anyone that does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son.” – John 3:16-18

The Bible is clear that it takes a conscious choice to accept the payment made by Jesus Christ. All have the opportunity, but not all choose to accept this free gift. “For God says,“At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.” – 2 Corinthians 6:2 NLT. 

If you haven't accepted Jesus in your heart, today is your day of Salvation. This is your sign and your moment! Your sins can be forgiven and you can have eternal life through Jesus Christ! Romans 10:9 states, "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." Turn from your sins and turn to God, the Kingdom of God is here and available to you through Christ! After the Resurrection, He ascended to heaven and sent His Spirit to dwell in all who believe in His name, helping us until He comes back again to fully redeem the world. Accept Jesus today, He is the only way to live!

Acts 2:37-38 AMP: "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart [with remorse and anxiety], and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."