who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus of Nazareth?  Some say that he was a prophet; others say he was a priest, a holy man, a religious leader, or a teacher.  Maybe he was just a  rebel without a cause.  It is true that Jesus of Nazareth rebelled against the customs of his culture when he walked this earth about 2000 years ago.  He grew up in a Jewish culture that was based on obeying the laws and commandments that God gave Moses many years before.  Laws like do not steal, an eye for an eye, children must be circumcised after they're born, and so forth.  Because these laws were only given to the Jews, the Jews considered themselves to be an elite class, set aside as God's favorite people.  It was considered to an atrocity for a Jewish person to just talk to a person that was not of his own race. 

So, along came this man Jesus who showed up and seemed to break all of the traditions.  He came with messages such as "love your enemies," "bless those who curse you," and "your faith can release miracles."  He even sat down to have dinner with those who were not of his race--utter nonsense!  He taught many radical things about God, whom he claimed to be his Father.  He healed people from illnesses, blindness, leprosy--you name it.  His fellow Jews were royally ticked off at all of these things.  In fact, they were so mad at him  that they crucified him (they killed him by nailing his hands and feet onto a cross and letting him die a slow and painful death).  They then put Jesus into a tomb and covered the tomb with a large rock.  For added security, they had a couple of Roman guards watching the tomb around the clock.

Three days after Jesus died, the Roman guards (who had been asleep while on duty) awoke to find a big surprise.  The large rock that once covered Jesus' tomb had been neatly rolled out of the way of the tomb opening, and the tomb itself was empty.  Jesus of Nazareth had resurrected after being physically dead for three days.

What does it mean?
The funny thing about this story (besides the fact that it is factual and historical; check out the book of Matthew and John in the bible) is that much of it and many other things that Jesus did in his life were predicted more than 400 years before he was even born (check out the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah).  Like mentioned before, God had given everyone a system of laws to obey.  Problem was, if you disobeyed the law even once, the penalty is death!  Check out Romans 6:23.  Pretty strict rules.  Obviously, nobody was able to go through life without disobeying the law.  But when Jesus came along, he did what no one could--he obeyed the law his whole life and lived as a perfectly sinless person.  He claimed that he was God (which might have been a good reason why he was able to live a perfectly sinless life), and performed all of these miracles to back up the things that he was saying (John 10:30)

Why did he die?
So you could be wondering to yourself, "If Jesus was perfectly sinless, why was he killed?"  Good question.  Jesus did not have to die, but rather chose to die.  Big difference.  Now you would think that if Jesus was who he claimed he was (God), couldn't he have used his divine power to keep himself from getting killed?  Of course!  So there was some reason why Jesus chose to die.  Here's the reason--because he loves us and didn't want to see us die!  See John 3:16.  Because the law required death for every person who disobeyed the law, there were many, many people who were on their way to death and eternal damnation.  However, because Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life, then died and then rose again, he was able to compensate for the deaths of every unrighteous person.  He was able fulfill the law and provide forgiveness of sins for every person who accepts him as savior.

What about you?
Even if some of us think that we are morally good people, we are still under the judgment of the law that God handed down.  And the bible says that this judgment will come after you die (Hebrews 9:27).  Have you obeyed all of the ten commandments in Exodus and the 300-plus laws in Leviticus all your life?  "No," you say?  Well, then you need a savior, just like the rest of us.  See Romans 3:10.  So all that is left to you is just accepting, believing, and confessing the things that he has done (Romans 10:9).  By doing this you will be allowing the death that Jesus died to be YOUR compensation for all the sins that you have done.  So you won't be going to eternal damnation in hell--you'll go to eternal life in heaven!

If you understand these things and are considering accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, feel free to email or call any of our leaders.  Jesus does not just want to be your Savior however; he also wants to be your Lord and your best friend.