Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians, Part 1Sample

Is Jesus God?

The most significant thing to know about Jesus has to do with what Jesus said about himself. It was very direct: “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58 NIV).  He referred to himself here as “I am.” To understand the significance, we have to look at the background of “I am” and that is found in the famous story of Moses before the burning bush.

In the Old Testament passage of Exodus, God himself was speaking to Moses, telling him to go to the highest authority and power in the land, Pharaoh, and demand that he release all of his Hebrew slaves. Moses asked God His name. Here’s the answer God gave to Moses: “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say . . . :“I am has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). That phrase—“I am”—is considered the most holy word in existence because it is the very name of God. It was considered so holy that the Jews would not even write it completely, penning only the four consonants: “YHWH.” Scholars used to think it was pronounced “Je-ho-vah.” We now know that the closest we can make of the actual name in light of the missing vowels is that it was pronounced “Yah-weh.”

God said my name is “Yahweh—I am.”

Now, return to what Jesus said when asked about his identity: “‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” (John 8:58). Jesus claimed the very name of God for himself. He said, “You want to know who I am? I’ll tell you—I am God.” And the people listening understood him completely. They picked up stones to stone him, because this was nothing less than blasphemy. Here, a mere man was claiming to be God, himself. But this “mere man” made that claim repeatedly throughout his life. Here’s a taste from some of the biographical records:

I am the Son of God. (John 10:36)

I am the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6)

The high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

“I am,” said Jesus. (Mark 14:61–62)

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9)

So in Jesus, we have a person who walked the earth and claimed to be God. No other major religious figure has ever made that claim—not Buddha, not Mohammed, not Confucius. Only Jesus made the claim to be God in human form. 

Who do you believe Jesus to be?