Here we are on the first Sunday of Lent. It is a season for repentance and forgiveness. That is, our repentance and God’s forgiveness for our sins. In our world there are many people who continue to ask, “Just who is this Jesus? What can He do for me? Why should I repent and ask Him for forgiveness?”
Now, you could go and ask any number of people to explain Who Jesus is. Do that and you most probably will get a number of differing opinions. You might be told, “Jesus was a very good man”, or “Jesus was a great teacher”, or “Jesus was a prophet of God”; or “Jesus was God’s Son”, or even “Jesus is the figment of some men’s imaginations, a fairy tale character that some weak people believe in to bring them comfort.” But I believe, whenever possible, in going right to the source to get answers.
Luckily for us, it is possible to go to the source for the answer to the question, “Just who is this Jesus Christ about whom we hear so much conflicting talk?” So let’s do that. Let’s go to the source and discover what Jesus has to say about his identity.
For the next several weeks, we shall investigate the “I AM” sayings of Jesus, that are found throughout the New Testament, and see what insight we can gain as to His true identity and how that affects us.
First, we shall look at Revelation 1:8. It reads: “‘I Am the Alpha and the Omega’ says the Lord God, ‘Who is, Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty.’” “Wait a minute, pastor!”, you say. “Are you sure that passage is about Jesus? It reads, “says the Lord God”, not “says Jesus Christ”.
Actually, that is a question that many ask, and it is a good question. The Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the three-in-one God, deny the deity of Jesus as God-the-Son, and indeed will tell you that it is Jehovah God speaking in this passage of Scripture. They are half-correct. It is Jehovah God speaking. However, He is speaking through the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. It is the Jehovah’s Witnesses collective understanding of the make-up of Jehovah God that is in error.
You ask, “Now Pastor, how do you know that?” Let’s investigate. Let’s read a little farther and find out. The person speaking in chapter 1, verse 8, (which even the Jehovah’s Witnesses admit is God) continues to speak in chapter 1, verse 17b. He says there, “Do not be afraid. I AM the First and the Last. I Am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I AM alive for ever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
The question to ask the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who admit that it is Jehovah God speaking in those passages is, “When did Jehovah God die as He said He did?” The answer is, “The only time Jehovah God died was when Christ Jesus, the Second Person of the three-in-one God, died on the cross of Calvary.”
If that is not enough proof that Jesus is God, this same person that spoke in these passages says, in Revelation 22:13, “I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Then He continues speaking through to verse 16 where He says, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony…”.
So, there is undeniable proof that Jesus claims in these passages to actually be God. The Jews understood that to be the case, and because of that which in their eyes was major blasphemy, they were continually trying to find a way to kill Jesus and eventually decided to have Him crucified.
Is there any evidence in Scripture to support the existence of a three-in- one God? Absolutely! Let’s look at just a couple. The first reference of a singular God consisting of “multiple persons” is at the very beginning (excuse the pun) of the Bible. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.” Then it goes on to say in verse 26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…’”. It is very significant that as God speaks He uses the plural form for “us, our image, our likeness”. He does not say, “Let me make man in my image, my likeness.” Nor does He say, “Let us make man in our images, our likenesses.”
Saying, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” is in effect saying that God is singular in essence, yet plural in being. It is not surprising then to see that the original word translated as, “God” throughout these passages in Genesis is “Elohim”, which is the plural form of “Elowahh” (God in the singular form).
All of this is given even more credence when you turn to the Gospel of John 1:1-4. John tell us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God. HE was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
So you see, Genesis says that God created the heavens and the Earth, and we are told in John that, “all things were created by the Word (Jesus)”. So what does all this mean to you and me? It means that as believers in, and followers of, Jesus Christ, we are indeed children of the one, true, three-in-one God, and we can put all of our trust and faith in Him, that whatsoever He promises will come to pass exactly as He says it will.
How do I know this? Because John 1:12 tells us, “…all who received Him (Jesus), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” Because of that promise, we can be absolutely certain that one day He will come for us, and all of His followers will be taken with Him to live forever in His Kingdom.
I want now to conclude much as we began. Jesus says, “I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Believing these words is what separates Christians from every other religion or belief system in the world. For in saying these words, Jesus is proclaiming that He is indeed God. All other religions of the world have some sort of belief about Jesus. All of their beliefs are some form of perversion of the truth as to who Jesus is.
For instance, Hindus and Buddhists believe that Jesus was a “good man and great teacher”. The Jehovah’s Witnesses and those who follow Islamic beliefs believe Jesus was a prophet, but surely not God. The Mormons believe that Jesus was “a god”, but not The God. The New Age Movement believes that there is a “Christ-likeness”, a “spirit of goodness”, but not a physical “God-Man” being.
The list goes on and on. The test of the validity, the eternal truth, of any religion is what they teach about Jesus Christ. Is He the Jesus Christ we learn of in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, or is He some perverted image of those teachings?
Sadly, we are even being exposed more and more to false images of Jesus Christ from our mainline church pulpits. The most common are the teachings that focus explicitly on Christ’s love and totally ignore Christ’s righteousness. You can’t have it both ways. Jesus is either exactly as He is portrayed in the Gospels, exactly who He says He is, or He isn’t.
To those in our churches who are preaching and teaching a perverted, alternate gospel, and to those in the world who are turning to those false teachings, I implore you to return to the Christ of the Gospels. If you refuse, then listen to these words from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians.
Friends, turn away from false teachings. Reject false, watered-down images of Christ and turn to the Jesus of the Gospels. If you will come to Him, then rather than being eternally condemned, you shall enjoy eternal life in God’s Kingdom. For Jesus says, “ I AM the Alpha and the Omega.” Amen.