Trying to understand Jesus and who he was/is...I would appreciate your views?

Question

Here's my thoughts on Jesus (of the Bible). Help me understand what I'm not seeing or understanding:

1. Was he God? There seems to be a disagreement within Christian circles...my point is, even the followers can't agree to WHO he is. <--What am I missing here?

2. Jesus came to save the world. I know most people accept the fact Jesus was a historical figure that existed and I believe he did exist. My question is why then if he had the most important message to madkind that could potentially save billions of humans from eternal hell-fire and torture did the message come in such vague and unprovable way. Even the followers don't agree on the most basic doctrines of faith. Why does he say: who so ever believes on ME shall have eternal life. Why is my life placed in such a postions of believing in a self described loving savior or the alternative is to burn for eternity for my lack of "belief" in Jesus. I'm have troble understanding the logic here.

Serious answers only please.

Answer 1

1. No, he was not God. Colossians 1:15, 16 explains that he was the first being that God created--the firstborn and that God saw fit to share with him the experience and joy of creating all other things.

2. Eternal torment is a misunderstanding of an illustration and should not be considered a Bible teaching. God's viewpoint on burning children alive in fire can be seen at Jeremiah 7:31. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man and as such, he must be a part of our faith. Also, it is only through the sacrifice of his perfect human life which replaced Adam's that we can be bought back from sin and death. The Bible says God has put life and death before us and we must choose life in order to keep living. It says nothing about eternal suffering being part of the choice.

Feel free to e-mail me if you wish.

Answer 2

A couple of corrections here: - some Christians, not all, believe that Jesus Christ died for everyone's sins. - "A.D." is a common term, but "C.E" is the more politically correct term. - Jesus did not renounce the world so that he could fulfill prophecy. You're probably confusing this with the passage regarding losing one's life for his sake. - Easter is not a reenactment of death and rebirth. It is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. - atheists don't follow science; they follow a clock, as opposed to the creationist "magic wand" that logically results in very little curiosity about the world around us. However, the answer to the unanswerable, for the atheists, is always time, expressed in "millions of years" for something random to happen. And again, time is used for the unexplainable, "we don't know YET" which does result in further exploration and hypotheses, assuming that no God exists. What it does not do, is erase a plethora of philosophical questions that are easily answered by religion. Science and religion are linked through philosophy, and although there is rivalry between the two platforms, I believe this to be a sibling rivalry whether we like each other or not.

Answer 3

The problem is The true message of Jesus was not to the liking of those who were in charge of forming the early catholic church.

They could not stand the idea that Jesus asked them to love everyone all of the time, no exceptions.

This went against the good people bad people paradigm that they used to enforce their will on others.

That is if you agreed with they you were a good person. If you disagreed you were a bad person and did not deserve to be treated with love and respect.

So they set out to help poor Jesus with the mistake that he had made. They invented a judgmental punishing God to replace the unconditionally loving God Jesus taught about.

This is where the burn in hell for eternity nonsense came in and we have been stuck with it ever since. Not a word of it is true of course, but millions still believe it, even though it goes against everything that Jesus taught.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 4

Read the book of John. My aunt asked me to do this to prove to me that Jesus was God. What I took away was that Jesus told his followers that he was sent or he is the image of his father. To me that logically says he is a separate person. My Aunt said that Jesus came from God,he is a part of God therefore one and the same. I reasoned back my son is also a part of me and came from me yet we are 2 separate people. I am a Christian..not all Christians believe in the Trinity...It is not in the Bible and if you do your homework will find out it is a man made doctrine. you ask intelligent questions so use sound judgment to find the answers. You make all kinds of choices in your life the good ones lead you to good health and love the bad ones leave you with regret. The choice to follow Gods teachings is just a really important one of those choices.You choose to exist because you love and respect the life you are given from a creator who loves you and respects you more than you could ever know. Its not about follow me or else, its about god wanting you to please return the love he has for you so that you can benefit from the good choices you've made.

Answer 5

1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Jesus is God manifested in the flesh

i like this as well. Jesus is Father in creation, Son in redemption, Holy Ghost in regeneration

just read your Bible and pray and God will show you the truth. this is what i believe. and this is what i get out of the Bible email me if you want a bigger list of scriptures that are about ONE GOD and more on like were it talks about only one Lord and that God is Lord and then were it says Jesus is Lord or that God is the father and creator and yet it says Jesus is the father and creator. and only God can forgive sins but Jesus can forgive sins. so many that a lot of people dont see. yes Gen says that shall make man in our image. however God had a heavenly host. angles were with him. that he was probally talking to. because when he actually made man the Bible says he made man in his own image. not in there image. anyways.

1Jo 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1Jo 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

Answer 6

Jesus is the only begotten son of Jehovah God. The first born of all creation as recorded at Colossians 1:15,16. He is not God almighty because he said at John 14:28: "The father is greater than I am." and again at Mark 13:32: "Concerning that day or the hour nobody knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but the Father."

Answer 7

Long before Jesus was born, the Bible foretold the coming of the one whom God would send as the Messiah, or Christ. The titles "Messiah" (from a Hebrew word) and "Christ" (from a Greek work) both mean "Anointed One." This promised One would be appointed by God to a special position.
The Bible teaches that Jesus lived in Heaven before he came to earth. Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and also that His origin was "from early times." (Micah 5:2) On many occasions, Jesus himself said that he lived in heaven before being born as a human. (John 3:13; 6:38, 62; 17:4, 5) As a spirit creature in heaven, Jesus had a special relationship with Jehovah.
The above was taken straight from a little book called "What Does The Bible Really Teach?"

The Bible, believe it or not, holds all the answers to all your questions, and if only more people would pick one up and read it, it would make such a huge difference in the world. I for one have had so many questions and needed answers that I have tried to read the Bible. I couldn't understand it, but then one day a Jehovah's Witness knocked on my door as they have been for years, and offered me free Bible Study in my own home in my own time. The time must have been right for me, for I excepted and I have not looked back. It has opened my eyes to so many truths. All the answers have always been there for us. Look for yourself then make up your own mind.
Have Faith in yourself and in Him!
God Bless :-)

Answer 8

Read John 1..."In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Read down a few more verses and you will see, "The Word became Flesh."
The "Word" is Jesus. Jesus is God
You will notice that many "christians" try to make God fit their lives instead of making their lives fit God. The message isn't vague. Seek and ye shall find. It's there don't give up.

Answer 9

1) Jesus was God -- known as 'The Word' in the New Testament, and the "I AM" (YHWH) of the Old Testament. He divested his Godly attributes and became flesh and blood. This left only God -- who is called the Father in the NT -- in heaven. Those who do not know and believe this are not his followers. There are many who claim to be his followers, but they do not know him or do what he taught; and by his own words, that disqualifies them.

2) You have not read or understood the Scriptures. This belief that you state -- of burning in hell fire for not believing in Jesus -- is not biblical; it comes from popular, unchristian beliefs, not the Bible.

Believing in Jesus requires the spirit of God. God has not yet given everyone his spirit. Yet he is a just God, so he has not condemned to destruction those who have not believed. Their time has simply not yet come. There will be a time when EVERYONE will know Jesus -- those who are alive, and even those who have died -- EVERYONE who has ever lived; there will be no excuse.

Answer 10

1. The most important question for building a relationship with anybody, including your Maker, is what and who is He. So you are wise to have started off exactly where you need to be starting. The answer is, He is 100% God and 100% man. This is the teaching of the Bible, any true version or translation from the original Greek and Hebrew will do - KJV, NASB, RSV, NAB, Douay-Rheims, Living Bible, Good News, NKJV, Amplified, NIV - read any of them and you will find this teaching, from the mouth of Jesus Himself, by the old testament prophets, and by early church leaders. It's in there. There is no dispute about that in Christian circles. Any dispute about it is from without, from groups that have diverged from the teachings of the Bible and the traditions of the church. These are called "cults" and their teachings are called heresy. The cults have addressed illogical teachings like the fact that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man, and thrown these truths out on the basic of their lack of logic, rather than keeping and believing them on the basis of "Jesus said so", and so did Jeremiah, and so did Paul, and so did John, and so did Peter, and so did Isaiah, and so did David, etc. Well, you get the point. Please do not confuse a cult like LDS or JW with a Christian denominational church.
[Don't get me wrong, Mormons, Scientologists, Jehovah's Witnesses - You are perfectly legitimate religions. You are just not Christian religions. You have every right to believe whatever you want about Jesus. You just don't have the right to call your belief Christian. Christian denominations believe Jesus is God. Cults believe logic trumps the Bible.]
2. A very similar answer follows for your second question. The message is NOT vague or unprovable. The message of "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." is clear in every book of the real translations of the Bible - KJV, NASB, RSV, NAB, Douay-Rheims, New Living Bible, Good News, NKJV, Amplified, NIV. Christians denominations do not differ on the most basic doctrines of faith. But, some denominations you will have to dig deep and ask questions and talk to clergy to extract these truths. Others, you can listen to two minutes of a sermon and hear them plainly stated. But, one way or the other, all Christian denominations agree on these truths:
I. Jesus is God.
2. Man is a sinner in His natural state.
3. God's nature is Justice. This justice requires punishment for sin.
4. Man cannot save himself; he needs a Savior.
5. Jesus never sinned.
6. Jesus paid sin's price.
7. Since He had no sin to pay for, His price could pay for others'.
8. This gift of Jesus is activated by faith.

Everything else, all the differences from denomination to denomination, all stem from one of three things:
A. Individual pastors and/or members who do not believe, or more often just fail to plainly teach, the above 8 doctrines, even though they remain the official doctrine of their own Christian denomination.
B. Varying rules about how a person who believes the above 8 doctrines is to behave; rules that govern how his faith is revealed in his lifestyle. (And, if actions are not the source of salvation, these naturally are rendered trivial, no?)
C. Differences in style of worship for those who believe the above 8 doctrines.

Bottom line - just read any one of the translations of the Bible (KJV, NASB, RSV, NAB, Douay-Rheims, New Living Bible, The Way, NKJV,Good News, NKJV, Amplified, NIV) BY YOURSELF. You will see the fact that Jesus is God, clearly portrayed in the New Testament, and in the Old Testament, too if you look closely. You will also see the 8 truths I listed above, all clearly laid out for all to see. Then make your decision on whether to and how to serve God based on what God tells you Himself in His Word.