We have said that we can gain knowledge of God in four ways:

1. Through the process of reason and the investigation of His creation.

2. Through the study of His written Word, the Bible.

3. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, God in human form.

4. Through the inner witness of the Holy Spirit (Volume II, Chapter 3).

Having dealt with the first and second ways, let's take a look at the third.

Jesus Christ's appearance in history is well documented by first century standards. Though first century records are scarce, reports regarding Jesus Christ appear often within those that are extant. This is significant especially when one remembers that Christ did not come as a well-known political figure. Jesus Christ is reported, for example, in the records of Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman historian and son-in-law of Julius Agricola, Governor of Britain A.D. 80-84. When reporting about the reign of Nero in his Annals, XV, p. 44, he writes:

But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero from the infamy of being believed to have ordered the conflagra- tion, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished with the most exquisite tortures, the persons commonly called Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius; but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome, also.

A second example comes from the well-known Jewish historian Flavius Josephus who in his Antiquities, xviii, p. 33, wrote the following:

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to Him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first did not forsake Him; for He appeared to them alive again in the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of Christians so named from Him are not extinct at this day.

No one disputes the early church of the first century and how it exploded on the scene. And no skeptic (or anyone else, for that matter) has adequately explained this

occurrence if the person upon whom it is built did not even exist. No one can reasonably claim that Jesus Christ did not exist within history.

It is true that most of what we know of Him is recorded in Scripture. It is the clear teaching of the Bible that this Person, Jesus, is God in the flesh. God saw that men were lost because they had forfeited their lives to sin. He willingly came in the flesh to give His pure life in place of man's sinful life so that we could be free from the consequences of sin,

and live life with real fulfillment - now, and for eternity.

Jesus Himself says, in the Gospel of John:

If Jesus Christ is the Son of God, then we have great hope. But is Jesus Christ really the Son of God?

Of all the major religious leaders who have attained a large following throughout history, only Jesus claimed to be God in human flesh. It is a common misconception that some or many of the leaders of the world's religions made similar claims. The claims of Jesus are many and varied, but they are unique to Him.

The following examples are just a few of the claims that Jesus made:

• In John 14:9, Jesus said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."

• In John 8:58, He said He existed before Abraham.

• In John 5:17-18, He said that He was equal with the Father.

• In Mark 2:5-7, He said He had the ability to forgive sins.

The united testimony of the whole Bible is that He is God. Not only did His friends notice His claim; so did His enemies. There may be some doubt today among the skeptics who refuse to look at the evidence, but there was no doubt on the part of the Jewish authorities in Jesus' day. They knew He claimed to be God.

When Jesus asked the religious authorities why they wanted to stone Him, they replied, "We are not stoning you for any of these... but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God" (John 10:33).

Another fact separates Jesus from all other religious leaders. In the major religions of the world the teachings, not the teacher, are all important. But Jesus Christ is at the center of the Bible and of Christianity.

He did not claim to be teaching mankind the truth; He claimed that He was the truth.

There are only three possibilities for the identity of Jesus:

1. He is a deceiver.

2. He is a lunatic.

3. He is the Son of God.

A popular ploy of skeptics in dodging this issue is to say that they regard Jesus as a good moral man or a prophet who said many profound things. While people will nod in agreement, they never see the fallacy in such reasoning.

C. S. Lewis, long-time professor at Oxford University and himself a former skeptic, understood the fallacy and writes: "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who is 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 a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up as a fool, you can spit at Him and malign Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." ⁴

Jesus claimed to be God. Was He a liar? His claim must be either true or false. Merely claiming to be something does not make it true.

The Bible provides much evidence that clearly demonstrates to us that Jesus is who He said He was. First, we see that Jesus during His life was a worker of miracles (refer back to the Josephus quote in the introduction of this chapter). The Gospel of John records many of His miracles (turning water to wine, chapter 2; healing a paralyzed man, chapter 5; giving sight to a blind man, chapter 9; and raising Lazarus from death, chapter 11, to name a few). As John is finishing his gospel, this statement occurs in John 20:30-31:

In other words, John's whole gospel was written to show that Christ's life validates that He is who He said He was.

Matthew's gospel often turns to the Old Testament (the part of the Bible written hundreds of years before Christ came to earth) to show that Christ is the One whom the Old Testament prophets prophesied would come, which again validates that He is who He said He was. Prophecies relating to His birth are fulfilled as recorded in Matthew 1-2 (born of a virgin - Isaiah 7:14; born in Bethlehem - Micah 5:2). Prophecies relating to His death are fulfilled as recorded in Matthew 27 (betrayed for 30 pieces of silver - Zechariah

11:12; crucified alongside criminals - Isaiah 53:12, cf. Mark 15:27). (For a more extensive listing of fulfilled prophecies, refer back to the chart near the end of chapter 2.)

Many more prophecies are not included here which He literally fulfilled. And remember that these prophecies were recorded hundreds of years before He lived. Coin-cidence, or even Jesus Christ's deception, cannot explain this phenomenon. Even if someone argues that He is a great conniver, consider this: If Jesus were a liar, if He were not God, would He be willing to die for some scheme He concocted to deceive people?

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6-8).

There was one sign above all others which demonstrated that He is God - His resurrection from the dead. At one point Jesus was asked for a sign by the religious leaders. Jesus said, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).

In another place we read, "Then the Jews demanded of him, 'What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?' Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple (speaking of his physical body), and I will raise it again in three days' " (John 2:18-19).

His resurrection from the dead is the sign that ultimately separates Him, not only from all other religious leaders, but from anyone else who has ever lived. The evidence is overwhelming that Jesus did rise from the dead, and it is this fact, more than any other, that proves Jesus to be God.

Your decision of who Jesus Christ is must not be an idle intellectual exercise. You cannot write Him off as just a great moral teacher. That's not a valid option. He is either a deceiver, a madman, or Lord and God. You must make a choice.

CONSIDER There is one additional evidence that Jesus is who He said He was. He has changed my life. Countless thousands of others could also give testimony to this truth: "I once was lost but now I'm found," "I once was blind (to the truth) but now I see."

No other person in all of history has had such a dramatic effect on so many people. I know what He has done and is doing in my own life. I know He is the Son of the Living God.

No matter how clear the evidence, some have rejected Him because they don't want to face up to the responsibility or implications of calling Him Lord.

REASON • Among all the religious leaders over the ages, only Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh.

• The Resurrection is the greatest proof of this claim.

• Because He is God, there is hope for us.

• Jesus provides the answers to our greatest needs: love, forgiveness, acceptance, and belonging.

RESPOND What thoughts are going through your mind right this minute? Where are you? Take another few minutes to reason and respond.

1. Jesus is God - and the implications of that fact extend to the very heart of our human condition and address our need.

a. What reason does this verse give for God becoming man in Jesus Christ?

b. How does that benefit us?

2. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Hebrews 4:15-16).

a. What does this say about how God understands our struggles?

b. What phrase distinguishes Jesus Christ from the rest of the human race?

c. What response is called for in light of this truth?

d. What promise is given if we come to God?

3. "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?' " (Mark 2:5- 7).

a. In presenting Himself as God, Jesus proclaimed His authority to forgive sin. What does this say to you?

"Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent' " (John 6: 28-29).

b. What must we do to do the works of God?