WHO IS JESUS?

TEXT:  COLOSSIANS 1:18

And he is the head of the body, the church:  who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead:  that in all things he might have preeminence.

“Preeminence” is from the root word proteu’o, meaning to be first (in rank or influence).  It’s from another Greek word pro’tos, meaning foremost (in time, place, order or importance); chief, first day, former, before, beginning, best.

So, “WHO IS JESUS”?

Actually the answer to this question is limitless.  Because He (Jesus) is everything!!!  There aren’t enough words in our vocabulary to describe Him.  Even now, today, many people still wonder “who He is”!  

If I asked some of you now, “Who is Jesus”, your answers would vary because He presents Himself to many people in different ways.  Some may say, “I know Him as a friend, a Savior, a Deliverer”!  The answers would go on and on and on.  And with every answer He is “all that”!

But, just, “Who is He”?

To even answer this question there are not enough hours in the day to complete it.  So I’m going to give you a few answers in the time allotted.

1. HE IS THE SON OF GOD.  He was born of a Virgin.  Isaiah 7:14  Therefore the LORD Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  Matthew 1:22-23 and Luke 1:26 picked it up in the New Testament.  Both ascribing virginity to Jesus’ mother.  This Virgin birth cannot be over emphasized!  In order for our Redeemer to qualify to pay for our sins and bring salvation, He must be in one person, fully human, sinless and fully divine!  The Virgin birth satisfies all three requirements!!

Listen:  (a) the only way He could be born was to be born of a woman;  (b) the only way He could be sinless was to be conceived by the Holy Ghost;  (c) the only way He could be divine was to have God as His Father.

Remember, His conception was not by natural but supernatural means.  Luke 1:35  The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:  therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

2. HE IS ALIVE.  He walked upon the earth and dwelt among men.  He encountered and

changed many people, and He’s still encountering and changing people because He is alive and well!  Hallelujah!!

Death couldn’t keep Him in the grave.  When they crucified Him and He gave up the ghost, the devil and his imps thought they had gotten rid of Him.  I guarantee you, there was a grand celebration from the devil and his gang, but what they didn’t know was that that was the very thing they had to do for Jesus to be resurrected!!!  1 Corinthians 2:7-8  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:  which none of the princes of this world knew:  for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

How many know He “got up”!!  In Matthew 28 when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the sepulcher, they encountered an angel telling them that He was not there but He had risen.  In Luke 24 the women which followed Him from Galilee had prepared spices and ointments and had gone to the sepulcher very early that morning upon the first day of the week, and they encountered two men who stood by them in shining garments and asked the question in verse 5, Why seek ye the living among the dead?  (Vs 6) He is not here, but is risen!  

I’m glad to now say, “God is not dead, but He is ALIVE AND WELL”!  You know something else, “HE IS IN YOU”!  

You may ask “How is He in me”?  I’m glad you asked!  This takes us to number 3!

3. HE IS SPIRIT!  John 4:24  God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship him in Spirit

and in truth.

When He (Jesus) walked the earth, He was with mankind, but after His resurrection, He is now in mankind.  Listen to what He says in John 14:16-20  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him:  but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  I will not leave you comfortless:  I will come to you.  Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me:  because I live, ye shall live also.  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.  The truth can’t get any clearer than this!

In verse 28, Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you.  Well, He came “again” just like He said on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1-4

Pentecost was the second great festival of the Jewish year.  It was a harvest festival when the first-fruits of the grain harvest were presented to God.  In like manner Pentecost symbolizes for the church the beginning of God’s harvest for souls!  Jesus had already told them to not leave Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father.  Acts 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:  and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.  

The question is still, “Who is Jesus”?

4. HE IS JESUS THE CHRIST!  JESUS IS THE “MAN”!  CHRIST IS THE “ANOINTED”!

We now have to know Him by the Spirit or the “anointing”!  

2 Corinthians 5:17  If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation):  old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Even Paul said in verse 16, Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

People who have come to know Him (Jesus) in salvation know Him as “JESUS”!  But people who have come into the fullness of the Gospel of the Kingdom know Him as “CHRIST”!

Ephesians 4:11-13  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of CHRIST!!!

WHO IS JESUS?  HE IS THE SON OF GOD!  HE IS ALIVE!  HE IS SPIRIT!  HE IS THE CHRIST!  And it (He) is all on the inside of you!  Know that He is the Head that gives all to the body (the church):  life, leadership, existence, and all else you can think of!  That’s WHO JESUS IS!!!

~ Evangelist Mary Perry