Who Is Jesus?

Jesus is God in the flesh. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin woman (Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:35), and as such is both fully God and fully man.

Few people question Jesus’ existence. But, who he really was has been a debate for centuries. Jesus said, according to the New Testament, to be God Himself. His claims make it impossible to say he was just a good man or moral teacher, as many settle on believing. He was either crazy or a liar. And if he was either of those, how could he be good or moral? If Jesus was not a crazy liar, he must be who he says he is (John 1:1, John 1:14; John 8:58; John 10:30-33).

Jesus is called the Son of God because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, a virgin woman. Through her, God brought about a kind of second creation, without the original sin from the lineage of Adam and Eve. Linking Jesus into Mary’s family tree made him a descendant of King David and Abraham, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies (Luke 2:4).

Jesus suffered as a man, became tired and hungry, felt pain and discomfort. The Bible says Jesus was tempted in every way just as we are, but did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). He was human, yet still divine. 

The Bible says Jesus is the very image of God and that “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Though Jesus left Heaven and became human, he did not lose his divinity: his love, goodness, kindness, or gentleness (Philippians 2:5-8). He was born an infant, grew into a man, lived and died, and then came back to life.

Jesus’ identity is essential to Christians. If he’s not God, his death wouldn’t have mattered (1 John 2:2). Jesus had to be fully God to pay the debt of our sin, and he had to be fully man to die for them (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Redemption can only be found in Jesus. That’s why he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

For more about who Jesus was and is, check out this video: