The Reality of Jesus

Continuing on in our look at the core truths of the faith, we come now to Jesus. Now, we have talked about Him a lot previously. Specifically, though, we have discussed His being both God and Man as well as the purpose for which he came.

(Listen to the podcast “The Centerpiece of the Gospel: Jesus,” or read the blogs “Jesus: Son of God,” “Jesus: Son of Man,” and “Jesus: Our Rescuer” for more details.) Now, however, we are going to bring out a few pints that are important to understanding who He is. Our statement about Jesus says:

Jesus Christ is the second Person of the Trinity. He is fully God, and having been born of the Virgin Mary, also fully man. He was born, lived a perfect life before God and people, died on a cross, and rose from the dead. His death and resurrection secured salvation for those who turn to Him in faith. Jesus will return in bodily form in the future to fulfill the Davidic Covenant and rule the nations.

The Apostle Paul tells us:

I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

First, Jesus was and is an historical Person. Even scholars who hold no Christian beliefs acknowledge that Jesus lived. His life is well-documented, even outside of the pages of Scripture. The disagreements, however, lie in the claims that Christians make about Him. Thus, we see movements such as the Historical Jesus movement, which seek to undermine the credibility of Scripture and thus His Person and Work.

Second, Jesus claimed to be God incarnate. He made these claims both implicitly and expressly. We read in John 8:58, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”  The question must be asked, “What did Jesus mean by this? The two candidates that are the leading possibilities are 1) Jesus simply meant that He was older than Abraham (i.e., He was born before Abraham and continued living); and 2) Jesus meant that He was the I AM, the Self-Existent One, thus calling Himself God. The reaction of the Jewish leaders is a good indication of what they thought He meant. We read in verse 59, So they picked up stones to throw at him. Now, if Jesus did not intend to make a claim to be God, He could have stopped right there and corrected the misunderstanding!

Third, not only did He claim to be God, but He proved the truth of His claim by rising from the dead. This is the linchpin. This seals the deal. Either Jesus rose from the dead (in which case everything else He said is true), or He didn’t (in which case why would I believe anything He said?)  Many opponents of Christ recognize that this claim is the central truth of the Gospel. Without the resurrection, we have nothing. Paul is right when he told the Corinthians,

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:13-19).

This is a masterful argument, and one we must take seriously. At the risk of repeating myself, if Jesus rose from the dead, then everything else He said was true (because He predicted He would die and rise from the dead). And if Jesus rose from the dead, then there is hope for the future. Without the resurrection, we have no hope; we are still in our sins. And Paul finishes his argument with a single sentence:  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (verse 20). Thus, no matter what struggles we go through, no matter what pain we experience, we have hope. Life need not be a drudgery on the way to the grave, because Jesus whispers in all of our hearts, “I have overcome death, and in me so have you.”  That is the centerpiece of the Gospel.