As Christians, our belief in Christ is central to our faith. It is Christ who saves us, Christ who is returning to rescue us, and Christ who will reign in heaven where we will be in His presence for eternity. In this post, I will share 10 specific things we believe about the Person of Christ.
- Jesus really existed. He is not a myth or a legend. There are references to His life and even His death in texts outside of the Bible. Paul even says in Scripture that if Jesus was not really who He said he was, and if He did not really rise from the dead, our faith would be worthless (1 Corinthians 15:14).
- Jesus was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-23). The virgin birth is important because it signifies that Jesus became incarnate. This means that He left His throne in heaven and came to earth not just as God, but as the God-Man. Because He was born of Mary, He took humanity upon Himself so that, as the only sinless human, He could be the sacrifice needed to permanently take away our sins.
- Jesus was fully human (Luke 2:7). Jesus had a human body and soul. He had a human mind. This is signified in His birth and confirmed as He “grew in wisdom and stature.” Jesus demonstrated human needs and emotions. In the Gospels, we find Jesus hungry, sad (when Lazarus dies), and angry (at the money changers in the temple). We even find that He slept (Matthew 8:24).
- Jesus was baptised. His baptism signified the beginning of His public ministry. It also testified that He was the Messiah coming to save the world.
- Jesus was sinless. He never sinned, and in Matthew 4, we find Jesus overcoming the temptations of the devil. He was victorious in this event, and it is through Jesus that we now have the power to overcome sin.
- Jesus was fully God (2 Peter 1:1). Jesus was the one through whom God created the world. Jesus holds the world together. All creation bows before Him. He will remain the Lord of all creation for eternity. Yet in the fullness of His deity, He chose to come to earth, take humanity upon Himself and rescue His creation from sin.
- Jesus functions as prophet, priest, and king. Jesus is a prophet because His words to us are the direct words of God. He is a priest — our eternal High Priest — because it is through His blood that we can go directly to God the Father. We pray to the Father through Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is a king because He is our Lord and Saviour. He reigns forever.
- Jesus taught us how to live life in obedience to God through His own ministry. He showed us how to love other people. He showed us how to trust God during suffering. He showed us how to be humans as God intends us to be.
- Jesus displayed the power of God. He performed countless miracles, but He also showed how much He cared for each person He encountered.
- Jesus rose from the dead. As Christians, we believe that Jesus lived and died, but that He did not remain dead. On the third day, the tomb was empty, because Jesus rose from the dead and is alive today (Luke 24:5). In 1 Corinthians 15:5-8, Paul tells of how the risen Christ appeared to more than 500 people after His resurrection — not to mention the disciples and Paul himself. Today, He is in heaven, reigning over creation.
In the next post in this series, we will see how part of His work is to return and renew the creation that He made and that was corrupted by sin.
