Before You Begin

In Lesson 1, you learned that God is the Eternal Creator, Holy, Sovereign, Personal, and worthy of worship.

In Lesson 2, you learned that the Bible is God's revealed Word and that Scripture tells one unfolding story of Creation, humanity, sin, redemption, and restoration.

Now we come to the Person standing at the center of that story.

Not merely the center of Christian Faith.

The center of Creation itself.

Lesson Goal

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to explain:

• Who Jesus Christ is.
• Why Jesus did not begin at Bethlehem.
• How Jesus can be both fully God and fully Man.
• Why Scripture identifies Him as the promised Messiah.
• Why His death and Resurrection matter.
• What it means to say that Jesus Christ is Lord.

1. THE QUESTION

The Question Everyone Must Answer

Imagine sitting across from someone you respect.

You have heard Him teach. You have watched Him do things you cannot explain. You have seen the sick healed, the rejected welcomed, religious leaders challenged, frightened people comforted, and crowds astonished.

Then He looks directly at you and asks:

That is not merely an ancient question asked of a handful of disciples.

It is one of the great questions of human existence.

Who is Jesus Christ?

Some call Him a teacher. Some call Him a prophet. Some admire Him as an example of compassion. Some accept parts of what He taught while rejecting His claims about Himself.

But Scripture does not permit us to reduce Jesus to merely a wise teacher or moral example.

Before we can understand sin, Salvation, the Gospel, or Christian life, we must first understand Who Jesus IS.

2. BEFORE BETHLEHEM

Jesus Christ Is Eternal

Christmas scenes are so familiar that it can be easy to imagine Jesus' story beginning with a Baby lying in a manger.

It did not.

Bethlehem was the beginning of Jesus' earthly Human life. It was not the beginning of Jesus Christ.

Who is “the Word”?

The Word is Jesus Christ.

Jesus did not begin to exist when Mary gave birth to Him.

He was already there in the Beginning.

Before Bethlehem. Before Abraham. Before the nation of Israel. Before humanity. Before the earth itself.

Jesus Christ is Eternal.

Jesus and Creation

Consider what that means.

The Baby in Bethlehem is the One through Whom Bethlehem was made.

The Carpenter of Nazareth is the One through Whom the trees themselves were created.

The Man standing beside the Sea of Galilee is the One through Whom the waters were made.

The Man looking into the night sky is the One through Whom the stars came into existence.

Jesus Christ is the Divine Agent of Creation.

When Jesus enters the world, the Creator is entering His Own Creation.

3. FULLY GOD AND FULLY MAN

Jesus Is Truly Human

If Jesus is God, we might be tempted to imagine that His humanity was only an appearance.

Scripture teaches otherwise.

Jesus truly became Man.

He was born. He grew. He became hungry. He became tired. He experienced sorrow. He felt physical pain. He wept. He suffered. He died.

Those two words are remarkably important.

Jesus knew that He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. Yet He stood among grieving people and wept.

He did not observe human sorrow from a safe distance. He entered it.

Jesus Is Truly God

Jesus is fully Human, but He is not merely Human.

Scripture teaches that Jesus is God the Son. He forgave sins. He commanded storms. He healed the sick. He gave sight to the blind. He raised the dead. He accepted worship. He spoke with Divine authority.

Jesus did not merely tell people about God. He came to reveal God, the Father Almighty.

Hold Both Truths Together

Jesus Christ is not half God and half Man. He is not sometimes God and sometimes Man. He is not a Human being who later became Divine. He is not God merely pretending to be Human.

Jesus Christ is fully God and fully Man.

This can be difficult to understand completely. That is all right. A truth does not become false merely because it is greater than our ability to fully explain it.

4. THE PROMISED MESSIAH

Jesus Is the Promised Messiah

Jesus did not arrive in history without preparation.

From the earliest pages of Scripture, God was moving history toward redemption. Promises were given. Prophets spoke. Israel waited.

The New Testament identifies Jesus as that promised Messiah. He did not simply join a long list of religious teachers. He came as the One toward Whom God's promises had been pointing.

Notice carefully what Jesus did not say.

He did not say, “I know a way.”

He did not say, “I can show you one possible path.”

He did not say, “All roads eventually lead to the same place.”

He said, “I AM the Way.”

He did not merely say that He teaches truth. He said, “I AM the Truth.”

He did not merely offer advice about living. He said, “I AM the Life.”

And then He made His claim unmistakably exclusive: “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus Christ IS the Only Savior.

There is no second Savior waiting beside Him. There is no alternate road to the Father. There is no competing system that accomplishes what Christ accomplished.

This does not give Christians permission to treat other people with contempt. Quite the opposite. If Jesus Christ IS the Only Savior, Christians should speak about Him with humility, compassion, urgency, patience, and love.

5. WHY JESUS CAME

He Came to Save

Jesus came because humanity needed rescue.

That statement immediately raises another question: Lost from what?

That is where Lesson 4 will take us when we ask, What Is Sin?

For now, understand the central point.

Jesus did not come simply because humanity needed better advice. He did not come merely to improve our manners. He did not come merely to add another philosophy to human history.

He came to save.

Watch the Teacher

Sometimes we learn Who a person is not only from what he says, but from what he does.

A leper approaches Jesus. Many would have pulled away. Jesus touches him.

A grieving family stands beside a tomb. Jesus weeps.

Children are brought to Him. Jesus welcomes them.

Religious leaders parade their righteousness. Jesus exposes hypocrisy.

Sinners approach Him. Jesus shows mercy while never pretending that sin does not matter.

A violent storm terrifies experienced fishermen. Jesus speaks. The storm obeys.

Again and again, Jesus displays something remarkable: perfect authority without cruelty, perfect Holiness without pride, perfect truth without dishonesty, and perfect compassion without moral compromise.

This is Majesty under complete control.

6. THE CROSS AND RESURRECTION

The Cross

Eventually, the road Jesus walked led to a Cross.

At first glance, the Crucifixion can look like defeat. Jesus was arrested, mocked, beaten, rejected, Crucified, and killed.

But Scripture does not present the Cross merely as a tragedy that happened to Jesus.

Jesus willingly moved toward it. The Cross was part of His saving mission.

We will study the meaning of His death more carefully in Lesson 5 when we ask, What Is the Gospel?

For this lesson, remember this: Jesus did not accidentally lose control of events.

But the Grave Was Not the End

Jesus died.

And Jesus rose again.

The Resurrection is central to Christian Faith because Christianity does not rest upon the memory of a dead teacher.

Jesus Christ is alive.

The tomb could not hold Him. Death did not defeat Him. His enemies did not have the final word. The grave did not have the final word.

Jesus Christ did.

7. JESUS CHRIST IS LORD

Every Knee WILL Bow

The word Lord can become so familiar that we stop hearing its force.

Calling Jesus Lord is not merely a polite religious title. It speaks of authority, rule, Majesty, and Sovereignty.

Scripture does not present Christ's universal Lordship as a possibility.

Every knee WILL bow. Every tongue WILL confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Kings. Presidents. Generals. Scientists. Teachers. Pastors. Skeptics. Believers. The powerful. The forgotten. Every generation. Every nation.

Every knee will bow.

Jesus' Lordship does not depend upon humanity voting to approve it. Jesus is not Lord because enough people believe in Him.

Jesus is Lord because of Who He IS.

8. THE QUESTION RETURNS

Who Do You Say That He Is?

We began this lesson with Jesus asking:

Now you know more about what Scripture says.

• He is Eternal.
• He is Creator.
• He is fully God.
• He is fully Man.
• He is the promised Messiah.
• He reveals God, the Father Almighty.
• He came to save the lost.
• He died.
• He rose again.
• He IS the Only Savior.
• He is Lord.

Final Knowledge Review

Before taking the lesson quiz, see whether you can answer these without looking back.

1. Did Jesus begin to exist when He was born in Bethlehem?
2. What does John 1 teach about Jesus and Creation?
3. Is Jesus partly God and partly Man?
4. What does the title Messiah mean?
5. According to John 14:6, how does Jesus describe Himself?
6. Why did Jesus come?
7. What happened after His Crucifixion?
8. What does it mean to call Jesus Lord?

If one of these feels unclear, return to that section before continuing.

That is not failure. That is learning.

Lesson 3 Quiz

Answer all ten questions. The quiz is designed to confirm that you understand the lesson before moving forward.

Looking Ahead

Now we know more clearly Who the Savior is.

But why does humanity need a Savior at all?

To answer that, we must face one of Scripture's most important and sometimes uncomfortable truths.

Lesson 4 — What Is Sin?