Who is Jesus?

Jesus--Who is He?

Do I really know and love Jesus, appreciate Him, exalt Him at every opportunity, talk with Him, listen to Him, live my life through Him or do I have head knowledge of Him only? Do I really understand His name and all His name stands for? What did He really do at the cross for me? This is the essence of Christianity! -- To know Jesus, to have an intimate relationship with Him, and to have a revelation of the power of His resurrection!

Don’t let these words overwhelm you, because this is a lifelong process, but unless we are sensitive to His person (Jesus), our Christianity can become very plastic and impersonal, which if we’re not careful can become very dry and boring.  If we are in close relationship with Jesus, the fire will stay hot! Yes, it will be a challenge because the enemy desires to steal our faith -- because without faith it is impossible to please God, Hebrews 11:6.

What Jesus did on the cross followed by His resurrection, is described best by John the apostle when he saw the Resurrected Jesus on the Isle of Patmos when he fell to the ground as dead, Revelation 1:10-18. That’s a power we don’t comprehend except in the Holy Spirit by faith.    

Let’s look at Revelations chapter 2 where Jesus speaks to the church of Ephesus. With all the things they were doing right, they lacked the most important thing.

Revelations 2:2-6  “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”

I have only heard it said that leaving your first love was leaving God. I don’t agree! A church doesn’t do these kinds of things and have these attitudes without the Spirit of God, flesh does not produce this!

What they left was, their intimacy and love and affection and appreciation for Jesus! If we are not careful we slowly drift into religious behaviors of which is not always bad because of its production, but in due time we could lose our motive. Our motive becomes performance and not abiding. Jesus must be our motive, our purpose, and our passion of which there is no foe that can withstand!

Maybe my favorite person in the Bible, other than Jesus (who is the Bible), is Mary Magdalene. I’m not sure she could even have explained God, she only knew the Master with every ounce of energy she had. She ate, slept, and breathed her Lord Jesus; she was consumed with Jesus! Before she met Jesus she was a prostitute and was delivered from seven demons, Those who recognize they have been forgiven much, love much!!! 

John 20:1-2  Mary Magdalenecame early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

John 20:11-17  Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “ Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “ Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”  Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “ Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’

Can’t you just see the interaction between Jesus and Mary. All she did was hear His voice call her name (“Mary”) and she lit up like a lightbulb!!! Why don’t I love Jesus like that??? and recognize He loves me like that!

Jesus loves us no less!!!  Now can’t you see how much your heavenly dad loves you!   

               John 14:8 “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.”
           John 14:21 "The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who really
           loves Me; and whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love Him and will
           reveal Myself to him - make Myself real to him.

When is the last time you and I wept because we hurt our friend Jesus by being unwilling to believe and trust Him? Praise God, for His mercy endures forever!!!

What is it that keeps us from knowing Jesus? What keeps us from knowing Jesus as our First Love?

2 Corinthians 11:3  But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus.

Walk with Jesus in the Gospels, He is the same yesterday today and forever [Hebrews 13:8] and trust what He said the—He is still saying the same thing now. We have to force our way into intimacy with Jesus. This cannot be done apart from seeking  Jesus with all of our heart, soul and mind. That’s why God said, 

Jeremiah 29:13...“ you will find me when you seek me with all your heart”.

The serpent (the devil, the deceiver) leads us away from Jesus and the true knowledge of Him by drawing our hearts, our attention away through busyness, entertainment, responsibilities, and comforts in the world. We feel we are doing a great honor to God by going to church on Sunday, but really where is our heart? And our heart is what really matters! In today’s world this is not easy; there are so many distractions. That is why we need to stay close to those who cause us to grow and hold us accountable in our walk with Jesus. As the serpent deceived Eve, we must ask ourselves, are we also being deceived? Where, how, why?

Colossians 1:12-13 Giving thanks unto the Father, who qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love; 

This is a powerful verse.  If we Christians are delivered out of the power of darkness and into the kingdom of Jesus, should we not have power over sin then and any attack of  the enemy? Are we willing to forgive? Am I willing to forgive myself? What does it mean to you to be delivered out of the power of darkness??? And into the power of God’s word? These questions have to be answered if you and I are to walk in the light of Jesus! These words have a powerful meaning! It puts a whole new meaning into the term born-again! If I am delivered out of the power of darkness, that means if I sin I choose to sin. I need to deal with it—I need to recognize what I’ve done and realize I’ve fallen short of His best for Me and turn from it, (called repentance). And now if I’m in the kingdom of Jesus, I receive His forgiveness and I refuse to receive any condemnation because the blood of Jesus cleanses me. I choose to walk by His Spirit in obedience to His word. (Bottom line is this, the devil does not have a right to have his way with me because I’m a new creation in Christ Jesus and have covenant rights (promises) which God desires me to walk in. (But he sure works hard to deceive me, he’s a master at deception) (that means I have to know who I am in Jesus, which takes diligence, searching out, trusting, knowing and learning God’s word.). I have to learn how to enforce this (Ephesians 6:16). My mind needs to be transformed -renewed to a new way of thinking. This does not mean we will not have persecution or tribulation, it just means in Jesus, by enforcing His word, trusting Him and His Word , allowing His Word to renew my mind by choosing to believe Him, we can rise above.

              I John 4:4  ...for greater is He, Jesus, who is in you than he that is in the world (devil). 

Do I  go through persecution and tribulation because of my walk with Jesus or because my flesh is an offense to people?[That can only be answered in each of our own hearts! The real truth here is most of us don’t study God’s Word the way we should, therefore we don’t know who we are in Jesus! But we are very quick to argue with other believers over our traditions or things we’ve heard from other people and not our own convictions, yet deep down in our heart oftentimes we are just wearing a Christian mask, which is a dangerous deception! We deceive ourselves into thinking we have something we really don't have - it's not a part of us - but it looks good to others. Conviction in your heart because God’s word spoke to a pure heart is one thing but believing something because someone else said it is another! God’s Word (who is Jesus) needs to be personally trusted in, relied on, believed in and acted on for it to take root in our lives [James 1:21-24].

Colossians 1:14-17  In whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins: (Jesus)  who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in Jesus were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through Jesus, and unto him; and Jesus is before all things, and in Him all things are held together.  

Colossians 1:18  He also is the Head of [His] body, the church; seeing He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; so that He alone in everythikng and in every respect might occupy the chief place [stand first and be preeminent]. For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Jesus should all the fulness dwell; and through Jesus to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.

What does this say to us? To me it says find your way in Him! Make Him your focus, 
your purpose, your everything. Return to your First Love, receive His forgiveness, 
and trust in His goodness and mercy towards you.