.png)
Is Jesus God?
By: Hendrik F. Wieland
Part 1:
Rev 1:17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. Then He laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last.
Rev 22:13 I am the A and the Z, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
Have you ever met somebody with such personal magnetism that they are always the center of attention?
Possibly their personality or intelligence---but something about them is enigmatic (mysterious).
Well, that’s the way it was two thousand years ago with Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ greatness was obvious to all those who saw and heard him.
But, whereas most great people simply fade into history books, Jesus of Nazareth is still the focus of numerous books and media controversy.
And much of that controversy revolves around the radical claims Jesus made about himself.
As an unheralded carpenter from an obscure Galilean village in Israel, Jesus made claims that, if true, have profound implications on our lives.
According to Jesus, you and I are special, part of a grand cosmic scheme, with him as the center of it all.
This and other claims like it stunned everyone who heard them.
It was primarily Jesus’ outrageous claims that caused him to be viewed as a crackpot by both the Roman authorities and the Jewish hierarchy.
Although he was an outsider with no credentials or political powerbase, within three years, Jesus changed the world for the next 20 centuries.
Other moral and religious leaders have left an impact---but nothing like that unknown carpenter from Nazareth.
What was it about Jesus Christ that made the difference?
Was he merely a great man, or something more?
These questions get to the heart of who Jesus really was.
Some believe he was merely a great moral teacher; others believe he was simply the leader of the world’s greatest religion.
Part 2:
Part 1:
Rev 1:17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. Then He laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last.
Rev 22:13 I am the A and the Z, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
Have you ever met somebody with such personal magnetism that they are always the center of attention?
Possibly their personality or intelligence---but something about them is enigmatic (mysterious).
Well, that’s the way it was two thousand years ago with Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ greatness was obvious to all those who saw and heard him.
But, whereas most great people simply fade into history books, Jesus of Nazareth is still the focus of numerous books and media controversy.
And much of that controversy revolves around the radical claims Jesus made about himself.
As an unheralded carpenter from an obscure Galilean village in Israel, Jesus made claims that, if true, have profound implications on our lives.
According to Jesus, you and I are special, part of a grand cosmic scheme, with him as the center of it all.
This and other claims like it stunned everyone who heard them.
It was primarily Jesus’ outrageous claims that caused him to be viewed as a crackpot by both the Roman authorities and the Jewish hierarchy.
Although he was an outsider with no credentials or political powerbase, within three years, Jesus changed the world for the next 20 centuries.
Other moral and religious leaders have left an impact---but nothing like that unknown carpenter from Nazareth.
What was it about Jesus Christ that made the difference?
Was he merely a great man, or something more?
These questions get to the heart of who Jesus really was.
Some believe he was merely a great moral teacher; others believe he was simply the leader of the world’s greatest religion.
Part 2:
But many believe something far more.
Christians believe that God has actually visited us in human form.
And they believe the evidence backs that up. So who is the real Jesus? Let’s take a closer look.
As we take a deeper look at the world’s most controversial person, we begin by asking: could Jesus have been merely a great moral teacher?
Great Moral Teacher?
Almost all scholars acknowledge that Jesus was a great moral teacher.
In fact, his brilliant insight into human morality is an accomplishment recognized even by those of other religions.
In his book Jesus of Nazareth, Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner wrote, “It is universally admitted … that Christ taught the purest and sublimes ethics … which throws the moral precepts and maxims of the wisest men of antiquity far into the shade.”
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has been called the most superlative teaching of human ethics ever uttered by an individual.
In fact, much of what we know today as “equal rights” actually is the result of Jesus’ teaching.
Some said of Jesus that “he lived and struggled unremitting for ‘equal rights’.
‘He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant’—this is the inversion of all political wisdom, of all sanity.”
Some have tried to separate Jesus’ teaching on ethics from his claims about himself, believing that he was simply a great man who taught lofty moral principles.
May you live today with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.
May you discover real happiness in Christ Jesus, happiness the world did not give you; happiness the world cannot take away.
May the trash that's been thrown on you be completely removed from your memory as you rise to achieve the dream that God has given you.
Let this day be a day of new beginning, as the angels of God go before you to make your way clear, and behind you to be your rear guard.
Part 3:
Christians believe that God has actually visited us in human form.
And they believe the evidence backs that up. So who is the real Jesus? Let’s take a closer look.
As we take a deeper look at the world’s most controversial person, we begin by asking: could Jesus have been merely a great moral teacher?
Great Moral Teacher?
Almost all scholars acknowledge that Jesus was a great moral teacher.
In fact, his brilliant insight into human morality is an accomplishment recognized even by those of other religions.
In his book Jesus of Nazareth, Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner wrote, “It is universally admitted … that Christ taught the purest and sublimes ethics … which throws the moral precepts and maxims of the wisest men of antiquity far into the shade.”
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has been called the most superlative teaching of human ethics ever uttered by an individual.
In fact, much of what we know today as “equal rights” actually is the result of Jesus’ teaching.
Some said of Jesus that “he lived and struggled unremitting for ‘equal rights’.
‘He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant’—this is the inversion of all political wisdom, of all sanity.”
Some have tried to separate Jesus’ teaching on ethics from his claims about himself, believing that he was simply a great man who taught lofty moral principles.
May you live today with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.
May you discover real happiness in Christ Jesus, happiness the world did not give you; happiness the world cannot take away.
May the trash that's been thrown on you be completely removed from your memory as you rise to achieve the dream that God has given you.
Let this day be a day of new beginning, as the angels of God go before you to make your way clear, and behind you to be your rear guard.
Part 3:
This was the approach of one of America’s Founding Fathers.
President Thomas Jefferson, ever the enlightened rationalist, sat down in the White House with two identical copies of the New Testament, a straight-edge razor, and a sheaf of octavo-size paper.
Over the course of a few nights, he made quick work of cutting and pasting his own Bible, a slim volume he called “The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth.”
After slicing away every passage that suggested Jesus’ divine nature, Jefferson had a Jesus who was no more and no less than a good, ethical guide.
Ironically, Jefferson’s memorable words in the Declaration of Independence were rooted in Jesus’ teaching that each person is of immense and equal importance to God, regardless of sex, race, or social status.
The famous document sets forth, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights …”
But the question Jefferson never addressed is: how could Jesus have been a great moral leader if he lied about being God?
So perhaps he wasn’t really moral after all, but his motive was to begin a great religion.
Let’s see if that explains Jesus’ greatness.
May the Lord bless you, and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and may God Himself be gracious unto you.
May you be covered by the blood of the Lamb; strengthened, fortified, encouraged, healed and liberated because Christ and the atoning work of the cross has been released into your body by the speech of your mouth and by the power of the Holy Communion.
In Jesus' name, we are free and celebrate it. Hallelujah.
President Thomas Jefferson, ever the enlightened rationalist, sat down in the White House with two identical copies of the New Testament, a straight-edge razor, and a sheaf of octavo-size paper.
Over the course of a few nights, he made quick work of cutting and pasting his own Bible, a slim volume he called “The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth.”
After slicing away every passage that suggested Jesus’ divine nature, Jefferson had a Jesus who was no more and no less than a good, ethical guide.
Ironically, Jefferson’s memorable words in the Declaration of Independence were rooted in Jesus’ teaching that each person is of immense and equal importance to God, regardless of sex, race, or social status.
The famous document sets forth, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights …”
But the question Jefferson never addressed is: how could Jesus have been a great moral leader if he lied about being God?
So perhaps he wasn’t really moral after all, but his motive was to begin a great religion.
Let’s see if that explains Jesus’ greatness.
May the Lord bless you, and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and may God Himself be gracious unto you.
May you be covered by the blood of the Lamb; strengthened, fortified, encouraged, healed and liberated because Christ and the atoning work of the cross has been released into your body by the speech of your mouth and by the power of the Holy Communion.
In Jesus' name, we are free and celebrate it. Hallelujah.
0 komentar: