Who is Jesus

On The Damascus Road Answers
Who is Jesus?

    Though everybody is aware that Jesus is Our Saviour, and The Messiah, as well as our Strength in time of need, we also recognize Him as Counselor, Emmanuel, God with us, and King of kings.
    However, these are terms given to us through Scripture by preachers, teachers, and by study. They are pleasant, familiar, and comfortable terms we like to keep handy and close to our heart. But, many times that is all we know—the terms. Little else is offered toward improving our understanding. We flinch from the tops of our heads to the tips of our toes when we are asked to describe the Triune God. When we are asked to show the separateness of the Three and the union of the Three, we shudder like the angel of death passed over us. Truly, it was so comfortable to rely on the Christian cliches and the Scriptural quotations. Now, all of a sudden the world around you comes crashing in on you, as you are requested to define, in your own thoughts, what this all means.
    I do not intend to overwhelm you, nor tie you up in word convolutions. I simply wish to help you reach deep down inside and bring out to the front what you already know. The very things you already believe and are (or have been) unwilling to voice because you either felt uncomfortable doing so or knew that as soon as you said something about the subject, someone around you would say that you were wrong. I would like to affirm and settle in your mind your correctness. Jesus is all that the Scriptures claim He is. He is more. Not adding to God's word, but amplifying it.
    How do we separate Jesus and the Holy Spirit from God the Father? How do we understand the three persons of the trinity and still keep the three united as one God? It is clear that Scripture claims both to be true. In the book of Genesis, chapter 1 and 26th verse we find God saying, "Let us make man in our image," indicating an actual plurality. I realize this doesn't declare Jesus or the Holy Spirit to be the others in His statement. But we can look to a multitude of other Scripture passages to see that truth. In particular let's take a look at Matthew 17:5, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22, Luke 9:35, and 2 Peter 1:17 where we will find that all important phrase "This is my Son..." clearly making Jesus the Son of God. And this is by God's own statement. This only makes Jesus the Son of God, but this doesn't make Jesus "God" in and of itself. In response to Philip's quest to see the Father, Jesus reproves Philip and tells him that he has already seen Him. For that we must go to John 14:9-11 to get Jesus' own words on the matter. The real clincher, in my mind, is when Jesus is talking to the Father with out the prying ears of others. It is strictly for the ears of God when He said, John 17:5 Glorify me with the glory I had with thee before the world was. John 10:25-30 very clearly puts Jesus on the same level as God. In fact not only the same level but the same as God, "I and my Father are one." Read the rest of chapter 10 from your Bible* and follow closely the reasoning of the Jews to whom He was speaking. They recognized in His statements that He was saying very clearly that He was God.
    There is still the claim to deal with that the Holy Spirit is God and that the Holy Spirit is a separate person in the trinity. "Separate" in the fact that when Jesus is present with the disciples the Holy Spirit could not come to them John 16:7-11 This does not mean that the Holy Spirit could not be on the earth at the same time as Jesus. It just meant that as long as Jesus was present with His disciples there was no need for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We know that many others had the presence of the Holy Spirit with them. In Matthew 10:5,6 Jesus sent forth the disciples, and commanded them to go forth to the lost sheep in the house of Israel. During this discourse in Matthew 10:16-20 Jesus tells his disciples that the Holy Spirit will speak through them. Many verses throughout Scripture shows the Spirit as a person of God with all the virtues of God and capable of communicating God's Love and desire for our lives. Consider John 14:16-18 and John 14:23-27. First, Jesus said that when the Comforter comes He will be with you forever. Second, Jesus said that today you walk hand in hand with the Holy Spirit, but then, when I am gone, He shall be in you (and you in Him—Baptised in the Holy Spirit and not just on the outside but emmersed and filled through every fiber.) Then in verse 26 Jesus tells the disciples all that the Holy Spirit will do for them. Finally, look at how the Psalmist, David, wrote in Psalm 139:1-10 of the ever present Spirit with him. Go back, just for a moment, to John 14:16-18 and look at verse 18. Do you recognize the implication in that verse that Jesus and the Comforter are one? That is exactly what He is saying. Notice in John 14:23-27 verse 23 that Jesus and the Father (WE) (includes the Holy Spirit) will come and live with him.
    There is no question that each person of the Trinity is an individual person. There is no question that all three are God. Not a Triumvirate but ONE GOD. Do not ask how this can be, believe that God's word is inerrant and that God does not lie.
Heavenly Father,
    Bless thy word to the hearts of those that read the Scriptural passages and help them to better understand and praise you. Your glory is all that matters. I thank thee that thou hast promised Thy help to those who truly want to know thee. Let the words here strike the hearts of the readers and open them to thy love and guidance.

Plain Papers on the Holy Spirit
Written by C.I. Scofield

A Masterful Work With Deep Understanding of the Holy Spirit.

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