Everything on this site comes back to one question. Jesus asked it Himself:
“But who do you say that I am?”
(Matthew 16:15, ESV)
He was talking with His disciples. First He asked what other people were saying, and they gave Him a list: John the Baptist, Elijah, “Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:14, ESV). Lots of people still say something like that today. A good teacher. A prophet. A wise man.
But Jesus didn’t let His friends hide behind other people’s answers. He asked them directly. And Peter answered:
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
(Matthew 16:16, ESV)
Jesus told him he hadn’t figured that out on his own: “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17, ESV). Knowing who Jesus really is comes as a gift from God.
So who is He? Let’s keep it plain.
1. Jesus is God
Jesus didn’t start in Bethlehem. John opens his Gospel like this:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
(John 1:1–3, ESV)
“The Word” is Jesus. He was there before anything was made. In fact, He made it. Paul says it just as strongly: “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9, ESV). When Thomas finally saw the risen Jesus, he didn’t call Him a good teacher. He said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28, ESV).
2. Jesus became a real man
The same God the Son came down to us:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
(John 1:14, ESV)
He wasn’t pretending. He was born, grew up, got hungry and tired, and wept. He knows what our life is like from the inside:
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
(Hebrews 4:15, ESV)
3. Fully God and fully man, one Person
This is where Christians in the early centuries had to think carefully, because people kept getting it wrong. Some said Jesus was only a great creature. Others said He only seemed human.
So believers summed up what the Bible teaches. The Nicene Creed (AD 325, expanded in 381) says Jesus is truly God, of the same being as the Father, not made but eternally the Son. The Definition of Chalcedon (AD 451) put it this way, in plain terms: Jesus is one Person with two natures, fully God and fully man. The natures aren’t mixed into something in between, and they’re never pulled apart.
Why does that matter? Because only God can save us, and only a man can stand in our place. Jesus is both:
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
(1 Timothy 2:5, ESV)
4. He died for our sins and rose again
This is the heart of it:
“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,”
(1 Corinthians 15:3–4, ESV)
Jesus didn’t die as a victim of bad luck. He died for sins, ours, and He took what we deserved. Then God raised Him on the third day, in a real body. That’s how we know His death worked.
5. He reigns now as Lord
Jesus isn’t still in the grave, and He isn’t just a memory. He’s alive and reigning:
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
(Philippians 2:9–11, ESV)
He also said there’s no way around Him: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, ESV).
So what will you say?
Sooner or later everyone answers Jesus’ question. You can’t stay neutral forever. Here’s the good news:
“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
(Romans 10:9, ESV)
And if you’re afraid you’ve waited too long or done too much, hear His promise:
“whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
(John 6:37, ESV)
Come to Him. Ask Him to show you who He is, the way the Father showed Peter. The Holy Spirit still opens eyes today.
Keep reading
– Expect a Change, Don’t Chase the Change — assurance, part 1
– Assurance Is the Base of the Mountain, Not the Top — assurance, part 2
– Pull up a chair By The Fire →
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Image made with AI tools. Words and Scripture checked by Justin.