The question, “Do you know Jesus?” is probably the
single most important question a person can ask you. If the answer is an unequivocal, “Yes!” You are to be congratulated for you have
taken hold of the most precious gift ever to be offered to anyone who ever
lived. You are not only a person who is
eternally living, but one who is tied to an eternal family.
But what if your answer is, “no?”
What if you say, “Well, I believe he existed” and “I
believe he was a good man and wise teacher”?
What then?[1] I would respond, “Yes, He was the greatest
and wisest teacher who ever walked the earth.”
But as a wise teacher, have you ever considered what He said?
Indeed, was he just
a good man and wise teacher? Various
people have done remarkable jobs in documenting the truth and life of Jesus
Christ. One in
particular is Lee Strobel in The Case
for Christ.[2] In the book, Mr. Strobel relates a statement by
C.S. Lewis[3] that the one thing
Jesus Christ is not is just a good teacher.
C.S. Lewis says,
"A man who was
merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral
teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is
a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice.
Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.
You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord
and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a
great human teacher. He has not left that open to us."
Jesus said He was the Son of God. He said it in such certain terms the
Pharisees attempted to kill him for saying it.
(Luke 22:70) In John 8:58, Jesus declared
“I tell you the truth
…before Abraham was born, I am!”
Jesus did not say, “Before Abraham was, I was.” He said, “… I am.” Why did He say that? Because the word which is rendered “I Am” is
the very name of God that the Jews, in reverence, would not say. This is the name God proclaimed of himself to
Moses upon the mountain before He sent him to Pharaoh. (Exodus 3:14)
There was no question in the Pharisees’ minds Jesus was claiming to be
God.
Jesus, the Son of God:
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is
except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those
to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
—Luke 10:22
“I
and the Father are one.”
—John 10:30
“…Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
—John 14:9
So if Jesus claimed to be God,
and the Son of God, there are three possible conclusions you may reach: He was
crazy, He was evil, or He is God.
1. He was crazy if he truly
believed he was God and was not.
2. He was evil if he claimed
he was God but knew he was not.
3. He was truthful, and He is
God.
If he was crazy, you should discount him as being anyone
of significance. If he was evil, you
should reject him and his teachings as unworthy of recognition. But if the third case is true, that He is God, you should carefully understand
what He had to say, and what He has to offer.
We all fall short of God’s requirement for eternal
life. God requires perfect
righteousness.
“For all have sinned and fall short
of the Glory of God.”
—Romans 3:23
Although we deserve death, that is, eternal
separation from God, God offers us the gift of eternal life!
“For the wages of sin is death, but
the Gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”
—Romans 6:23
He has already set it up for us! We don’t have to become good enough to
deserve it!
“While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us”
—Romans 5:8
Jesus did it for us “because
by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”
—Hebrews 10:14
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
—John 14:6
The Apostle Peter tells us, “…there
is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
—Acts 4:12
What must you do to be saved?
“…Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
saved —you and your household.” Then
they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.
…then immediately he and all his family were baptized.[4]
—Acts 16:30-33
So, do you know Jesus?
That’s a
question with eternal
implications. That’s the question facing
you today.
For questions and comments, feel free to contact me
at http://www.smgolden.com.
You are hereby granted
permission to reprint and distribute this tract freely in its present form.
Copyright © 11 March 2010 Stephen
M. Golden