What Do You Think About Jesus?

 

When you think of Jesus, how do you picture Him in your mind? I don’t mean His physical appearance but rather what you think He’s like. How do you see Him as? Did you know that according to His Word, your view of Him now will determine where you’ll spend eternity?

Jesus is God. He did not start existing as a baby in Bethlehem. He has always existed. He said in John 8:58, “before Abraham was, I AM.” John 1:1 says He existed in the beginning with God. In His prayer in John 17, Jesus said,

Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

The name ‘Jesus’, in English, is a transliteration from the Greek 'Iesous' which itself is from the Hebrew 'Yeshua', a common abbreviation of 'Yehoshua' meaning ‘Yahweh is salvation’ or ‘the Lord is salvation’. 

Matt 1:21, “and she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, [why that name?] for He will save His people from their sins.” Yahweh is salvation. (David Hocking)

Paul writes of Him in Colossians 1:15-19. 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. By Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible... All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things consist... It pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.

Col. 2:9. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Heb 1:3, NIV. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise—Jesus is God. Let’s now look at a few verses with regard to His first coming in the first century AD.

AD, by the way, means Anno Domini, medieval Latin for “in the year of the Lord.” It does not mean after death. BC is Before Christ. However, you’ll now find the more secular terms CE (common era) and BCE (before common era) being used. Do you wonder why?

We’ll look at just a few verses of Jesus’ first coming, and we’ll be quoting from the NLT here.

1 Tim 1:15. This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.  

John 12:46. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.

Heb. 2:14. Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil.

Mk. 10:45. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Mk 2:17. Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they  are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.

Lk. 19:10. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.

1 John 3:5. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.

Jesus came to seek and save sinners and to free those who put their trust in Him from the darkness of sin. He came to give His life as the ultimate sacrifice for sin and to conquer and break the power of Satan over our lives.

Forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3), Mk 16:19 says “He was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.” (also in Acts 7:55; Lk 22:69; Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb1:3, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2; 1 Pet 3:22).

What is He doing now at the Father’s right hand? Let’s go back to what the Bible says.

Heb 7:24-25. Because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

1 John 2:1. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.

1 Tim. 2:5-6. There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.

John 14:2. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

From what is recorded in Scripture, Jesus is doing two things: He’s preparing a place for us in His Father’s home, and He’s making intercession for us [a prayer to God on our behalf].

Let’s now turn to the Book of Revelation and see what it says about Jesus.

Rev. 1:13-15. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.

When we read these descriptions, remember that John is not saying that Jesus’ eyes are literally on fire, but they were like fire. His feet are not literally bronze, but they were like polished bronze. Why did John make such comparisons? Fire is often associated with judgment (Matt.25:41, 1 Cor. 3:13, Jude 1:7, 2 Peter 3:7), so perhaps Jesus’ eye reminded John of His judgment upon mankind.

We also read in Ezekiel 1:27-28. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me.

Rev 14:14. He had a gold crown on his head [He is, after all, the King of kings and Lord of lords] and a sharp sickle in his hand [the earth is ripe and ready for His judgment].

For some of us (possibly many), we think of Jesus as only our Lord and Savior. Yes, that He is and we should be eternally grateful for his gift of salvation. But He’s also a judge (2 Tim 4:1, Acts 10:42, 17:31). In John 5:22, He said, 

The Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge.

Since we know that we will all be judged, how do we ought to live? God is patient and longsuffering towards us, but will He wait for eternity?

2 Peter 3:8-10. But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

You can read this whole chapter for a wonderful reminder that the Day of the Lord is coming.

Every person is destined to die once and then we will face judgment (Heb. 9:27). We will be judged by Jesus Himself. Eph. 2:8-9 is very clear that God saved [us] by His grace when [we] believed. And [we] can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Even though we are saved by grace, we will be judged according to our works. 

Eccl 12:14. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. 

Matt 16:27. For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.

Matt 12:36. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.

There will be two judgments: for the true and faithful believers of Jesus Christ, we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10, Rom 14:10). Our works will be clear on that day. Fire will reveal whether our works was temporal or eternal. If eternal, we will receive a reward. If temporal, we will suffer loss even though we ourselves will be saved. Please read 1 Cor. 3:5-17 to understand the full context.

For unbelievers, those whose names are not found in the Book of Life (Rev 20:12), there will be the great white throne judgment (Rev 20:11-15). But will all unbelievers receive the same judgment? Will the rapist and the murderer, for example receive the same judgment as the person who’s good by the world’s standard but who refuses to acknowledge Jesus as their Savior or who does not want to do anything with God? This is unlikely, as we understand from this passage in Matt. 11:21-24 (NASB).

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

Jesus was saying here that in the day of judgment, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon and Sodom (because they did not witness God’s mighty works) as compared to Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.

It’s very likely that for those whose names were not found recorded in the Book of Life, there will be varying degrees of judgment. What this means however, the Bible does not tell us.

You might sincerely believe that you’re a good person and that God is so full of love that you’ll never possibly end up in hell. But His Word could not be any clearer. 

Jesus plainly said in John 14:6. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).