One would think that the basic requirement of being a Christian would be to believe in Jesus.
The problem is, believing in Jesus means different things to people.
Ask twenty people who they think Jesus is and you might get twenty different answers.
The most common are a good man, a holy man, a myth, a religious Jew, a son of God, and God Himself in human form.
There is controversy even within churches as to who they believe Jesus to be.
As an example, the Church of Christ believes that Jesus was the son of God, as we are all sons and daughters of God, but not the same as God.
Generally they regard Jesus as one of several important moral and ethical teachers who have shown humans how to live a life of love, service, and compassion.
Another denomination, the Episcopalian church, follows the Nicene creed which confesses that Jesus is God, but within the church, they allow for individual interpretations of belief.
There is even an Episcopal priest in Seattle who is both a practicing Christian AND a Muslim.
She believes the Trinity is an idea about God and cannot be taken literally.
She does not believe Jesus and God are the same, but rather that God is more than Jesus.
Within mainline churches who profess that Jesus is God, there are 'believers' who believe otherwise.
Then there are many churches who believe in Jesus but act like it's up to us to work our way to Heaven.
Why is it so important what we believe about Jesus? Can't everyone have their own opinion and all still be on the way to Heaven? Jesus didn't seem to think so.
In Matthew Chapter 16:13-17 we read, "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that you are John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
" It was very important to Jesus that His followers know exactly who He was.
Some said He was a prophet, but that was not the answer Jesus sought.
He wanted to be sure His followers knew that he was the Son of God.
By Son of God, did that mean just a generic son, like each and every one of us are or did it mean something more? Is it true that He never claimed to be God, but that others invented this myth about Him? In John Chapter 10, we hear Jesus own words concerning this claim.
"27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and the Father are one.
" Even his critics confirm this claim to be valid.
In John 10: 31 we see, "Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father.
For which of these do you stone me?" 33"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.
" Again in John 14:9 He says, ""Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? " To be a Christian, Jesus tells us that we must believe in Him and acknowledge that He is God.
Why is this so vital to the Christian? It is vital because if we follow a Christless religion without a Savior who is also God, we are not Christians.
This was the most important thing His followers needed to understand.
He was not a mere man with a good philosophy.
He was God Himself, the only one who could save us from our sin and open up heaven to us.
It is vital to our eternity that we believe correctly concerning Jesus.
Without that faith in His claim to be God, there is no entering into Heaven.
In John 3:36 Jesus tells us, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
" In John 4:24 He says, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
In John 5:39 He tells the Pharisees, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.
These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
".
In John 6:29 Jesus tells His disciples, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.
In the most sobering verse of all Jesus clearly tells the crowd, John 8:24 If you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be,you will indeed die in your sins.
" If our belief in Jesus does not include believing that He is God, that His Words are true, and that, as Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
", then we are NOT Christians.
It matters little the beliefs of people around us.
Those who think they are wise have developed philosophies that have 'debunked' God and Jesus.
The same people who make mistakes every day at work, who are not able to handle the problems within their own families, who discover 'truths' that are soon disproved by other wise men, think they know better than the God who created our world.
We can try to outsmart God with our ideas of who Jesus might have been, but in order to be a Christian, you must believe the words of the one from who the movement took its name.
Some modern believers are calling themselves Christ-followers.
For that to be true, they must start with the basics, the most important tenant of the faith, that Jesus the Christ, the Savior, the Messiah, was God.
To deny that is to negate everything else that He said and did.
Throw out the fact that Jesus claimed to be and is God, and it's not Christianity.
It's apostasy and the beginning of another religion.
If we are willing to face the truth, we must conclude that Christianity is all about Jesus.
If we are to be Christians, we must also be all about Jesus.
In our beliefs, but also in our everyday lives.
We will look at this in detail in part four of this series.
The problem is, believing in Jesus means different things to people.
Ask twenty people who they think Jesus is and you might get twenty different answers.
The most common are a good man, a holy man, a myth, a religious Jew, a son of God, and God Himself in human form.
There is controversy even within churches as to who they believe Jesus to be.
As an example, the Church of Christ believes that Jesus was the son of God, as we are all sons and daughters of God, but not the same as God.
Generally they regard Jesus as one of several important moral and ethical teachers who have shown humans how to live a life of love, service, and compassion.
Another denomination, the Episcopalian church, follows the Nicene creed which confesses that Jesus is God, but within the church, they allow for individual interpretations of belief.
There is even an Episcopal priest in Seattle who is both a practicing Christian AND a Muslim.
She believes the Trinity is an idea about God and cannot be taken literally.
She does not believe Jesus and God are the same, but rather that God is more than Jesus.
Within mainline churches who profess that Jesus is God, there are 'believers' who believe otherwise.
Then there are many churches who believe in Jesus but act like it's up to us to work our way to Heaven.
Why is it so important what we believe about Jesus? Can't everyone have their own opinion and all still be on the way to Heaven? Jesus didn't seem to think so.
In Matthew Chapter 16:13-17 we read, "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that you are John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
" It was very important to Jesus that His followers know exactly who He was.
Some said He was a prophet, but that was not the answer Jesus sought.
He wanted to be sure His followers knew that he was the Son of God.
By Son of God, did that mean just a generic son, like each and every one of us are or did it mean something more? Is it true that He never claimed to be God, but that others invented this myth about Him? In John Chapter 10, we hear Jesus own words concerning this claim.
"27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and the Father are one.
" Even his critics confirm this claim to be valid.
In John 10: 31 we see, "Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father.
For which of these do you stone me?" 33"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.
" Again in John 14:9 He says, ""Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? " To be a Christian, Jesus tells us that we must believe in Him and acknowledge that He is God.
Why is this so vital to the Christian? It is vital because if we follow a Christless religion without a Savior who is also God, we are not Christians.
This was the most important thing His followers needed to understand.
He was not a mere man with a good philosophy.
He was God Himself, the only one who could save us from our sin and open up heaven to us.
It is vital to our eternity that we believe correctly concerning Jesus.
Without that faith in His claim to be God, there is no entering into Heaven.
In John 3:36 Jesus tells us, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
" In John 4:24 He says, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
In John 5:39 He tells the Pharisees, "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.
These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
".
In John 6:29 Jesus tells His disciples, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.
In the most sobering verse of all Jesus clearly tells the crowd, John 8:24 If you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be,you will indeed die in your sins.
" If our belief in Jesus does not include believing that He is God, that His Words are true, and that, as Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
", then we are NOT Christians.
It matters little the beliefs of people around us.
Those who think they are wise have developed philosophies that have 'debunked' God and Jesus.
The same people who make mistakes every day at work, who are not able to handle the problems within their own families, who discover 'truths' that are soon disproved by other wise men, think they know better than the God who created our world.
We can try to outsmart God with our ideas of who Jesus might have been, but in order to be a Christian, you must believe the words of the one from who the movement took its name.
Some modern believers are calling themselves Christ-followers.
For that to be true, they must start with the basics, the most important tenant of the faith, that Jesus the Christ, the Savior, the Messiah, was God.
To deny that is to negate everything else that He said and did.
Throw out the fact that Jesus claimed to be and is God, and it's not Christianity.
It's apostasy and the beginning of another religion.
If we are willing to face the truth, we must conclude that Christianity is all about Jesus.
If we are to be Christians, we must also be all about Jesus.
In our beliefs, but also in our everyday lives.
We will look at this in detail in part four of this series.