Bible Basics

Who is Jesus Christ?

By Pastor Ben Berger

"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11)

An angel of the Lord used those words to announce the birth of Jesus Christ to the shepherds in the field that night. The shepherds went into Bethlehem and found the baby Jesus just as the angels had told them. Before they returned to their flocks, they told everyone they passed about the baby boy wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. To this day we still celebrate the birth of Jesus. Why? What makes this baby so special? Just who is this Jesus, the Christ?

Many people in the world think that Jesus is just another man. Oh, he's a little higher than the average man, but a man nonetheless. Many look to Jesus as an example of how to live. He was kind to everyone and paid special attention to the people no one else cared about. He was never afraid to speak his mind or stand up for himself. He was obedient and respectful to authority. He was a good man.

Jesus is human. He was born of a woman, the virgin Mary. He needed to eat and to drink and to sleep. He felt pain and sorrow. He struggled through temptation. He died.

However, Jesus did not become a man in order to set an example of how to live. Jesus became a man so that he himself could live as a man - under the law of God. Jesus is such a good example for us because he lived a perfect life. God demands that we be holy if we want to live in heaven. Because Jesus knew that not one of us could live a holy life, he came to live it for us. Jesus also became a man to die. Jesus knows that God demands punishment for the unholy lives we have lived. So, Jesus came to die on the cross in our place. Jesus became a man to live and die in our place, not as our example.

Jesus is also God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He said he was God and so did his Father. He can do anything: change water into wine, heal the blind or deaf or mute or lame, raise the dead. He even raised himself from the dead.

Unless Jesus is God, everything he did as a man means nothing. Jesus was only able to live a perfect life and obey every command of God in our place because he is God. All other men, who are not conceived by the Holy Spirit, are born with sin and live sin every day. Unless Jesus is God, his death is just another death. But, if Jesus is God, his death counts for you and me and the entire world - just as the Bible says it does. The fact is: Jesus is God. Therefore, his life and death count for me.

Jesus is the Savior. Because Jesus is true man - who lived a perfect life and died an innocent death for us; because Jesus is true God - whose life and death count for the world - Jesus is the Savior.

No wonder the angels announced the birth of Jesus! No wonder we still celebrate his birth today! We are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, true God and true man - our Savior!
We hope you will consider joining us at Mount Olive Lutheran Church this Christmas to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!