Who Jesus Is

There is no more important subject in the whole Word of God than that concerning the doctrine of Christ. The name Jesus itself suggests the fact that He is God. Jesus means "Jehovah the Saviour," and Jehovah of the Old Testament presents Him as the Self-existent One. In the New Testament Jesus refers to Himself many times as the "I AM," revealing who He is by His very name. (See Exodus 3:14; John 8:58.)

Isaiah, some 700 years before the birth of Jesus, prophesied that "a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (7:14). In Matthew 1:23 we hear that His name, referring to Jesus who was to be born of Mary, was to be called "Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Nothing could be clearer. The Lord Jesus is God who has come in the Person of His Son--God became man.

In Revelation 1:17 we hear Jesus saying, "Fear not; I am the First and the Last." See also Isaiah 44:6. There is none before Him, none after Him. These Scriptures set Him forth as the Eternal One, the One who never had a beginning, who will never have an ending. This is who Jesus is.

Also in Isaiah 9:6 we read these wonderful words, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." There is no question as to whom this refers. The Lord Jesus Himself is a Child born; He is the Son who was given. The Scriptures could not speak plainer to tell us that Jesus is the mighty God, the Father of eternity. He was the mighty God in the manger in Bethlehem, on the cross of Calvary, and now in the glory.

Jesus is the Son of God in the unity of the Godhead, commonly known as the Trinity. This truth is seen many places in the Bible, including the very first chapter, Genesis 1:1,27. Matthew 28:19 also reveals this truth in the commission to go and baptize all nations "in the name (singular) of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost." There is but one God, yet they are three distinct Persons united together in substance, having one purpose, one name.

As Son, the Lord Jesus Christ is coequal with the Father. John 10:30 says, "I and My Father are one." See also John 5:17,18. Jesus is God, the Son of God, God the Son.

Jesus is the Creator and Upholder of all things, as seen in Colossians 1, Hebrews 1, and John 1. "By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist (subsist together)" (Colossians 1:16,17).

According to John 1:1,14, Jesus is the Eternal Word. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Revelation 19:13 tells us that "His name is called The Word of God." As the eternal Word, Jesus has communicated to us the purposes and love of God for sinful man.

Finally, Jesus is the Eternal Life. "The Son of God has come...This is the true God, and eternal life" (1 John 5:20).

--Donald T. Johnson