INTRODUCTION

There are as many views about who Jesus was and is as there could possibly be about anyone, are there not?

I heard today of yet another new book by a prominent “New Testament scholar” who spends all his time trying to persuade everyone that there is nothing supernatural in the New Testament at all: Jesus was “just a man”, and his disciples were either deluded, deceived, or misrepresented.

So much for the wolves in very scanty sheep-clothing, because, thank the Lord, there are also New Testament scholars who will reason powerfully that the opposite is true. Take your pick-I will side with the believers, because I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, while unbelievers have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

You can spend as much time as you like considering secular views of Jesus in secular sources: this post will consider the Biblical testimony of Jesus. What follows is as brief a summary of the results of my own study as I can prepare.

Part one (this one) and perhaps one or two subsequent parts will discuss the less obvious clues, indicators, references and claims, and then I will cover the most obvious and commonly discussed ones.

All Bible quotes are from the NIV.

(METHOD ONE “Biscayne”)

1: THERE IS ONE SAVIOR…

GOD

“Apart from me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11 and verse 3);

“I am the Lord your God…no savior except me” (Hosea 13:4);

“…the living God, who is the Savior of all men…” (1 Timothy 4:10);

“God our Savior” (Titus 1:3 and Jude 25).

THE SON

“…a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11);

“This man really is the savior of all the world” (John 4:42);

“…the Father sent his Son to be the Savior…” (1 John 4:14);

“…appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13);

“God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior” (Acts 5:31).

2: THE FIRST AND THE LAST…

GOD

“I am the first and I am the last…” (Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12);

SON

“I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever” (Revelation 1:17-18);

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End…I Jesus have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches…” (Revelation 22:12, 13 and 16).

 

3: THE CREATOR…

GOD

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1);

FATHER AND SON

“…in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:2);

“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26).

SON

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1-3 and verse 14);

“But about the Son he says…In the beginning. O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands” (Hebrews 1:8-10);

“For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth…He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church…” (Colossians 1:16:-18).

4: THE ETERNAL ONE…

GOD

“…you are from all eternity” (Psalm 93:2; Isaiah 26:4; Romans 1:20).

SON

“…the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5);

“Before Abraham was born, I AM” (John 8:58).

5: THE JUDGE…

GOD

“God, the judge of all men” (Hebrews 12:23);

“Fear God…the hour of his judgment has come…” (Revelation14:7).

“Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side” (Joel 3:12);

“…this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats” (Ezekiel 34: 17).

SON

“When the Son of Man comes in all his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory…and he will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats…”(Matthew 25:31-33);

“Have you come to torture us before the appointed time?” (Matthew 8:28-29);

“…the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father” (John 5:23).

6: HE WALKS ON WATER…

GOD

“He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea” (Job 9:8).

SON

“…when they saw him walking on the lake they thought he was a ghost. They cried out because they all saw him and were terrified” (Mark 6:49-50).

WOW!

THANKS FOR READING! PART 2 WILL FOLLOW IN A WEEK, BUT BEFORE THAT, “MIND BURP” ISSUE 4!

• APOLOGETICS