Do you believe what Jesus said about Himself?
Speaking about Jesus, and trying to clarify the true nature of Jesus Christ, Paul wrote to the Colossians – “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1: 15)
The apostle John in his gospel wrote about Jesus – “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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” (John 1: 1-5) Pastor John MacArthur in his Study Bible writes – “The Word, as the Second Person of the Trinity, was in intimate fellowship with God the Father throughout all eternity. Yet, although the Word eternally enjoyed the splendors of heaven, He willingly took on the form of a man, and became subject to the death of the cross.” (MacArthur 1372)
Jesus the Messiah was fully and completely God.
The apostle John further wrote – “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1: 14) Jesus Himself said to Thomas – “’I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. If you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.’ Phillip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.” (John 14: 6-11)
Wayne Grudem, from his book on Systematic Theology, writes – “Only God can overcome our sin and enable us to be persuaded of His existence. Finally, it must be remembered that in this sinful world God must enable us to be persuaded or we would never believe in him. We read that ‘the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ’ (2 Cor. 4:4). Furthermore, Paul says that ‘since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe’ (1 Cor. 1: 21). In this sinful world, human wisdom is inadequate for coming to know God. Thus Paul’s preaching came ‘in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God’ (1 Cor. 2: 4-5). We are dependent upon God to remove the blindness and irrationality caused by sin and to enable us to evaluate the evidence rightly, believe what Scripture says, and come to saving faith in Christ.” (Grudem 172-173)
Do you believe what Jesus said about Himself?
REFERENCES:
Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Zondervan, 2000.
The McArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition. 2020. Thomas Nelson.
