Who Is Jesus Christ?
The word ‘salvation’ appears multiple times in the Old Testament and is translated in Hebrew as yᵊšûʿâ and means deliverance, prosperity and victory. Other translations of salvation in different passages in the Old Testament are also translated as Yeshuwah also meaning deliverance, prosperity and victory. So, we see that Yeshua or Yeshuwah is the original Hebrew name for Jesus and means salvation. In Latin Greek iesous became iesus and that is where the English word Jesus comes from.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21, KJV). The name ‘Jesus’ in the New Testament in Greek is iesous and means Jehovah is salvation. The word iesous is typically written in Hebrew as יֵשׁוּעַ and is translated as Yeshua and means "salvation" or "to save.
Jesus Christ is the Messiah - the 'Anointed One' who defeated satan at the Cross of Calvary, so we could be cleansed from our sins and be right standing in the eyes of God when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ rose from the dead after being crucified and is now living in Christian believers. The Bible clearly shows us that we can not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, or live the abundant life unless we believe and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master. We also cannot have a relationship with God (the creator of the universe) without Jesus. Anyone claiming to have a relationship with God that hasn't accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour I believe would be communing with a counterfeit god (aka, a demonic spirit).
"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6, NKJV).
"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away" (Isaiah 64:6, NKJV).
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Timothy 2:5-6, NKJV).
"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12, NKJV).
"And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved" (Acts 2:21, NKJV).
"For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13, NKJV).
Salvation comes to us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they" (Acts 15:11, NKJV).
“Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:5, NKJV).
And then to make his point emphatically clear the apostle Paul wrote, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV).
We cannot get into Heaven without Jesus Christ because we all sin and sin cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus covers our sins when we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour. He then wants us to know Him and enter into a personal relationship with Him.
The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is God Himself in the flesh. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory (1 Timothy 3:16, KJV).
The Bible refers to Jesus as the 'Son of God', and also as 'God Himself'. How can He be both?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1: 1-14 NKJV). These Scriptures clearly show us that Jesus Christ is indeed God Himself manifested in the flesh.
Why is He sometimes referred as God's son? And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35, NKJV). The angel Gabriel gives us the answer to that question. Mary gives birth to a son which was conceived in an immaculate conception by God through the Holy Spirit. The word of God (who is God) in that moment became a human (the flesh of God) and a Son to Mary and God through the immaculate conception which is why He was referred to as God’s Son. The word became flesh and also became the Son of God. When the word became the Son, God became the Father to the Son. For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”? (Hebrews 1:5, NKJV). The word begotten means to be born. Does that mean that the Godhead was not the trinity before Jesus became the Son? The Godhead has always been three in one - The Word, God as the Father over His children as shown in Jeremiah 31:9 when He called Himself Father of Israel, and the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) who was mentioned at the beginning of creation hovering above the waters (Genesis 1:2). For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one (1 John 5:7, KJV).
God as the Son also calls Himself the 'Son of man' which represents God's children becoming true 'sons and daughters' when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. God has shown Himself to us in three ways—as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each has a distinct function—and yet they are all united as one God. The function of the Son in our lives is to reconcile us back to the Father and also change us into the same likeness as Himself. He wants to live and dwell in our hearts in the form of the Holy Spirit and sanctify and cleanse us from our sins. He wants the power of God to live and dwell within us in the same measure as Himself - still us, but walking in the anointing and power of God manifesting all the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God in the flesh. He had to become a human being in order to defeat the devil because humans without the power of God within them cannot resist all sin. His sacrifice for mankind enabled us to be justified (made right) in the sight of God (The Father). Clearly by the above Scriptures and statements, there is only one way - 'JESUS CHRIST'.
By Tania Francis