My guess is most people around the world know the name Jesus. That doesn’t mean they know Jesus, just that they know His name. Many people name their sons Jesus, and missionaries have been taking the Gospel to the far corners of the world ever since Jesus gave the command.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16).
Many times, this verse is twisted to confuse what Jesus said. There are some denominations that believe baptism equals salvation. That’s not what Jesus said. He mentioned both belief and baptism in the first part of that verse, but the last part says “… but he that believeth not shall be damned.” A friend of mine once tried to tell me that until you’re baptized, God doesn’t even know you exist. How wrong that statement is. My friend attended a denomination that didn’t study the Old Testament. Therefore, he missed the verse where God calls Jeremiah.
“Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5).
God knew all of the people in the Old Testament, and He knows all of the people living today. He won’t force anybody to believe, but wants everybody to come to salvation. Without faith there is no salvation.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved” (Romans 10:9).
If you were baptized as an infant and think your salvation is secure, ask yourself if, when you were a newborn baby, you confessed with your mouth or believed in your heart. You didn’t, so you need to come to know Jesus now and make that confession of faith for yourself. If you don’t know Jesus, you really need to get to know Him now.
You might start by understanding that Jesus’ life didn’t start in a manger in Bethlehem. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity consisting of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It was Jesus who spoke all things into being.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:1-5).
This agrees with the creation account in Genesis chapter 1. As Christians, we need to understand this. Evolution didn’t create anything over millions or billions of years. Simple logic will make you laugh at the idea of evolution. Jesus created it all and was in full agreement with the Father and the Holy Spirit in doing so. So, if you really want to know Jesus, start in the beginning.
We read in the Old Testament many accounts of an appearance of Jesus. Unless you’re paying attention, you might miss that fact. Usually, when it’s an appearance of Jesus, the Scripture calls Him the angel of the LORD. Not “an” angel, but “the” angel.
An angel is simply a messenger. Too often we call every heavenly being an angel. There are Cherubim and Seraphim, which aren’t described as angels. Sometimes, Scripture calls angels “sons of God.” This is seen in Genesis chapter 6 and in the book of Job. They are beings created by Jesus, and they shouted for joy when God laid the foundations of the earth. Some of those beings rebelled against God, and we read of their evil doings in Genesis chapter 6.
It was the angel of the LORD who found Hagar when she was expelled from Abraham’s household. He told her she would have a son and to name him Ishmael. It was the angel of the LORD who spoke to Moses from the burning bush.
“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2).
It’s worth studying about the angel of the LORD; you’ll be amazed at how busy Jesus was before He was born as a human baby in Bethlehem. He appeared to prophets and to people who needed guidance from the Lord. If you don’t know Him, study His life from the beginning to the end. You’ll see that your life depends upon His life.
Today, people tend to think that Jesus is the Christian God. He is, but He’s so much more. God had called Abraham to be the father of a great nation. That nation is Israel. There is no nation or ethnic group that has been more mistreated than the Jewish people, and that mistreatment must stop. Jesus was Jewish, and His ministry was to the Jewish people first and then to the Gentiles.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).
There’s that word “believe” again. It’s good to know who Jesus is, but salvation only comes from belief in His death, burial, and resurrection. All the prophecies regarding His birth, life, and death came from Jewish prophets. Unfortunately, the Jewish religious leaders twisted Scripture so much that they didn’t recognize that prophecy had been fulfilled by Jesus. That’s much like today; Scripture isn’t taught in full by pastors who just don’t care. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, and one day they will recognize Him.
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25).
After Christians are Raptured, God will turn His attention upon the Jewish people, and they will turn to Him in faith. That’s when He will fight for them. That day is coming very soon. As we watch the prophetic wars of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others unfolding before our very eyes, we can be sure that Jesus will call Christians Home very soon. After that, the time of Jacob’s trouble (the Great Tribulation) will begin. Some people claim the Rapture is wrong, but that’s just a misunderstanding of Scripture. The Tribulation is about Israel coming to know their Messiah.
Abraham was called out of the pagan culture he was born into. God chose him for a very special reason. God wanted to create a nation, and Abraham and his wife Sarah would miraculously have a son (Isaac) who in turn would have a son (Jacob, later called Israel), who would be the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob’s son, Judah, would be the lineage of kings.
King David was from the tribe of Judah, and through him came the promised Messiah… God the Son incarnate. His birth was foretold by the Jewish prophets, but the Jewish leaders were blind to His birth, and His life and death. The prophet Isaiah had a lot to say about the coming Messiah. Not only did he foretell that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, but he also shared a description.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
This is a good place to start to understand the descriptive names of Jesus. He is Wonderful. He gave His life for our salvation. Counsellor? Yes, pray to Him for guidance, and He will help you learn to walk away from sin and temptation. The mighty God. Absolutely, Jesus is God in the flesh.
“And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and the truth” (John 1:14).
John knew Jesus and knew that He was truly God in the flesh. If you don’t know Him, you need to find out who He is. Without Him, your eternity is very dismal.
God is love. There’s no purer love than that which comes from God.
Adam was created and was told not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If he did, he would die. Then Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and Adam chose to join in her sin. They didn’t drop dead immediately, but the fellowship they had with God was broken and they were no longer immortal. Sin was now a part of human life. Even a precious newborn baby has a sin nature. That wasn’t God’s plan, but Adam brought it in. The sin nature that we carry with us will lead us down the road to destruction…straight to Hell. God could have left us to die in our sin, but He loved us.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18).
Once again, it’s belief, not works, that brings salvation. First, you need to understand that you are a sinner. Everybody sins, but that doesn’t make it OK to sin. God sees sin as so bad that the only way to take sin away was to shed His own blood as the final sacrifice for sin. Once you understand that you sin and can do nothing to save yourself, you’ll understand just how much you really need to know Jesus.
Salvation comes only through Jesus. If you think His name is only a swear word, then you don’t know Him. Come to Him now. Repent and ask Him to save you from eternal death. He will do it. No matter how big your sin might be, it isn’t bigger than the love of Jesus.
So, who is He? He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; His name is Wonderful, Counsellor. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the Mighty God! If you know Him, then live for Him. If you know Him, share the Gospel. People need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. One day every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!
God bless you all,
Nathele Graham
Recommended prophecy sites:
All original Scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.
If you would like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).
I