Who is Jesus?

[Foreshadow]

The concept of Jesus is a bit confusing to me. Is he God's son or God himself in human form? But if Jesus is god, how can he be God's son?
Was he a average joe who got possessed by God? What exactly was Jesus?

 

[motherprayer]

Jesus, while living, was God in the flesh. I used to ask this same question myself, and found these answers. Jesus was born of Mary and the Holy Spirit. He literally was conceived supernaturally. One important thing I noticed in my studies is how in the OT there were prophets who spoke directly to God. While Jesus was living in the NT, there were apostles who spoke to Jesus, but no other person in the NT spoke directly to God. He, in His fleshly form, became the means of our communication with our Lord, just as Christians pray today "In the name of Jesus."
One way to phrase it was Jesus, as a man, WAS a man, born filled with God, but that doesn't quite get it right, although the idea of that definitely helped me to understand who Jesus is.
I don't really know how to put it better than that, but I hope this helped! Blessings to you in your search for faith!

 

[SavedByGrace82]

Hello!

When it comes to Jesus as God - I wanna share with you this news. Before Jesus was born rabbis translated the hebrew bible to Arameic. This translation was called: Targum.

In Targum they often used an arameic word "Memra" who is the arameic word for "word" And in this Targum this Memra is used many times. I will take some exemples:

Genesis 1:27 - God created man.

Targum - The Word of the Lord created man.


Genesis 6:6-7 - And it repented the Lord that He made man on the earth.

Targum - And it repented the Lord through His word that He made man on the earth.

And the Word [Memra] of YHWH created man in his likeness, in the likeness of YHVHs, YHVH created, male and female created He them.

Targum. Jonathan Gen. 1:27

When John then wrote in his gospel 1:1-3, 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

I believe that it was in the same belief system as the scriptues in Targum.

Sorry for my english here - but I hope that you all will understand what I am saying.

 

[jonathanbchristian]

It is obvious from John chapter one that Jesus is God. The Bible also calls him the Son of God. There are three persons that are our God, 1 John 5:7. Jesus is the Son of the Father. Jesus was God from the beginning but came in the form of a baby to earth. He was conceived of the power of the Holy Spirit in a virgin (Mary).

 

[elman]

The concept of Jesus is a bit confusing to me. Is he God's son or God himself in human form? But if Jesus is god, how can he be God's son?
Was he a average joe who got possessed by God? What exactly was Jesus?

Paul says we see Jesus as through a dark glass. Only later will we see Him clearly. None of us understands in detail who Jesus is. It is not about understanding Jesus. It is about doing what Jesus commanded, if we are to relate to our Creator and have hope of life after physical death.

 

[Foreshadow]

Paul says we see Jesus as through a dark glass. Only later will we see Him clearly. None of us understands in detail who Jesus is. It is not about understanding Jesus. It is about doing what Jesus commanded, if we are to relate to our Creator and have hope of life after physical death.

Why would I follow commands if I don't understand the orders or who I am being commanded by? Why blindly trust in something without a notion of who I am trusting?

 

[elman]

Why would I follow commands if I don't understand the orders or who I am being commanded by? Why blindly trust in something without a notion of who I am trusting?

God has written on your heart and you know when Jesus commands that you love others, that is a good thing to do. All human beings know that. The people standing ther hearing the parable of the Good Samaritan knew before they heard that parable that one should help someone in trouble and not just pass by and not help them. It is not about knowing all the details on Jesus. You know the command is correct. That is what it is about. And you do understand the command. Saying you do not is not an option.

 

[Foreshadow]

It obviously is a option, otherwise everyone would believe in God including myself. If there were no option, then Free Will would no longer be free will. If God is real, then he has given us the ablity not to believe in him. I do not love others because of Jesus, I love others who love me back. My morals are based not on God, but on common senses standards of right and wrong as dicatated by society and my own personal beliefs.

 

[Publius]

The concept of Jesus is a bit confusing to me. Is he God's son or God himself in human form? But if Jesus is god, how can he be God's son?
Was he a average joe who got possessed by God? What exactly was Jesus?

Jesus is God. He is not God's literal son. He is, however, referred to as the Son of God in order to call attention to both His divinity and His submission to the Father, depending on the context.

In order to be God's literal son, Jesus would have to be the product of a physical liason between God and Mary. This is Mormonism, not Christianity.

Jesus is both 100% God and 100% man. Not a mixture of the two or one at one time and the other at another.

I do not love others because of Jesus, I love others who love me back.

Ultimately, you love others because you were created in the image of God for the purpose of exhibiting His communicable attributes and glorifying Him. You love because He loves.

To love only because someone loves you back is not love.

My morals are based not on God, but on common senses standards of right and wrong as dicatated by society and my own personal beliefs.

So then, your morality is subjective? What should happen if society determines something is "moral" that goes against your beliefs? For instance, there was a time when lyncing black men was considered not only moral, but a responsibility to the community. Do you believe that's right?

If society goes against my beliefs, I won't change my beliefs to meet the status quo.

But you just said that it's society that dictates your sense of right and wrong.

I don't believe that lynching black men is right.

Why not?

However I would be lying if I said that my beliefs are entirely my own. If I was born in Europe I might have different beliefs than if I was born in the United States.

How so?

You don't believe you have any inate understanding of right and wrong? That's it's all about conditioning?

 

[food4thought]

It obviously is a option, otherwise everyone would believe in God including myself. If there were no option, then Free Will would no longer be free will. If God is real, then he has given us the ablity not to believe in him. I do not love others because of Jesus, I love others who love me back. My morals are based not on God, but on common senses standards of right and wrong as dicatated by society and my own personal beliefs.

You miss the point elman was trying to make, foreshadow. When you hear those teachings, there is no question about whether they are good or not. We still have the free will to either act on that or to ignore that and do what we want.

The love you have is called in Greek "phileo", which is that kind of give and take love. The love of God is "agapeo", which is the unconditional self sacrificing love that Jesus exemplified. You are right that your morals are not based upon God but upon your society and common sense... yet there is a conscience in you that I'll bet often pricks you to do more than what you are willing to do, that gives you a little pang of guilt when you respond to those who do not love you with the same... it is this conscience that is from God.

 

[Foreshadow]

Jesus is God. He is not God's literal son. He is, however, referred to as the Son of God in order to call attention to both His divinity and His submission to the Father, depending on the context.

In order to be God's literal son, Jesus would have to be the product of a physical liason between God and Mary. This is Mormonism, not Christianity.

Jesus is both 100% God and 100% man. Not a mixture of the two or one at one time and the other at another.



Ultimately, you love others because you were created in the image of God for the purpose of exhibiting His communicable attributes and glorifying Him. You love because He loves.

To love only because someone loves you back is not love.



So then, your morality is subjective? What should happen if society determines something is "moral" that goes against your beliefs? For instance, there was a time when lyncing black men was considered not only moral, but a responsibility to the community. Do you believe that's right?

If society goes against my beliefs, I won't change my beliefs to meet the status quo. I don't believe that lynching black men is right. However I would be lying if I said that my beliefs are entirely my own. If I was born in Europe I might have different beliefs than if I was born in the United States.

 

[elman]

If society goes against my beliefs, I won't change my beliefs to meet the status quo. I don't believe that lynching black men is right. However I would be lying if I said that my beliefs are entirely my own. If I was born in Europe I might have different beliefs than if I was born in the United States.

Being born in Europe would not change the fact that you know the parable of the Good Samaritan is showing you the right way to act.

 

[Foreshadow]

God is not showing me the right way to act, because if he did I wouldnt have done so many stupid things over the years. No, I learned the right way to act the hard ways, learning from my mistakes.

 

[ViaCrucis]

In the Trinity we confess there are three who are co-equally God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Son united Himself to human nature, becoming man, in the womb of Mary. Jesus.

Thus Jesus is the Son, and as the Son is God.

"We also confess that the Son was born, but not made, from the substance of the Father, without beginning, before all ages, for at no time did the Father exist without the Son, nor the Son without the Father. Yet the Father is not from the Son, as the Son is from the Father, because the Father was not generated by the Son but the Son by the Father. The Son, therefore, is God from the Father, and the Father is God, but not from the Son. He is indeed the Father of the Son, not God from the Son; but the latter is the Son of the Father and God from the Father. Yet in all things the Son is equal to God the Father, for He has never begun nor ceased to be born." - Trinitarian confession from the 11th Council of Toledo

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Foreshadow]

....what? The son was born from the father therefore the son is God,.. sorry that quote was entirely confusing

 

[RaiseTheDead]

The concept of Jesus is a bit confusing to me. Is he God's son or God himself in human form? But if Jesus is god, how can he be God's son?
Was he a average joe who got possessed by God? What exactly was Jesus?

Good questions!

These ideas were dissected thoroughly, early on in the church. It is the very crux of our Faith.

It is NOT ok for a christian to imagine He was just some guy that got "zapped" later on. To say He is "God Himself in human form" is pretty much right on, EXCEPT don't think God was ever limited to Jesus' physical body. The incarnation merely added that aspect to God, and it was in fact new.

Trying to understand this better is why Trinity was verbalized.

 

[RaiseTheDead]

I do not love others because of Jesus, I love others who love me back.

Just so you know, per biblical standards, this isn't love at all.

 

[RaiseTheDead]

God is not showing me the right way to act, because if he did I wouldnt have done so many stupid things over the years.

False! Our decisions are our own, including when we decide to go against what God shows us.

 

[hedrick]

The concept of Jesus is a bit confusing to me. Is he God's son or God himself in human form? But if Jesus is god, how can he be God's son?
Was he a average joe who got possessed by God? What exactly was Jesus?

The term "son of God" actually has several different meanings, all of which apply to Jesus in different ways:

* In OT language it could be used for a godly man. But it can specifically refer to the King, as in Psalm 2, a passage which is quoted in the NT. So it can refer to Jesus as Messiah.
* Jesus referred to God as his Father. Although he wanted us to see God the same way, I'd say he was the son specifically. So in this context it refers to a particularly close relationship with the Father, which however is appropriate for a human.
* In the Gospels it refers to a specific role that Jesus carried out. E.g. unclean spirits recognize him as the Son of God. So does Satan (luk 4:3). Luk 4:41 seems to equate this with being the Messiah, which makes sense.
* John sees it as a reference to Jesus as the Word made flesh. See e.g. 1:18. There are several other classic Christological passages that make a similar point.
* In the doctrine of the Trinity it refers to the relationship between the eternal Logos and the Father. Note that in the Trinity the Son is called Son to emphasize that he is truly God from God. Sons are born, and are like their fathers. This is in opposition to Arius, who saw the Logos as a created being, and not fully God. Note however that Jesus is the word *made flesh*, i.e. the incarnation of the Logos. Son in the sense of fully equal to God applies primarily to the eternal Logos, not to the human. The human as human is clearly not pure spirit, omnipotent, etc. However because the Logos and the human are united as one person, that person shows us what the Logos is like and thus he shows us God in his fulness even though he has all the usual human limitations.

I'd say that in the NT it refers to Jesus' special role as God's human presence. The Trinity is a later way of understanding that. But the Bible isn't as specific about just how God is present through Jesus.

 

[Foreshadow]

False! Our decisions are our own, including when we decide to go against what God shows us.

God hasn't shown me anything, he hasnt even shown himself, a concept that you would think would be the first thing he would have done if he wanted people to believe in him. Instead I am suppose to believe that because a book tells me something, that I must believe it or be eternally damned.