Who is Jesus?

If you want to learn about a person, ask someone who has known and loved them for many years. We asked UGM’s staff pastor Sonny Westbrook, who has known and loved Jesus for decades, to answer the question, “Who is Jesus?”

By Sonny Westbrook, Director of Ministries

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I  have several books on my shelves that seek to answer this question: Who is Jesus?  Each of them is several hundred pages long.

Jesus is absolutely the most wondrous, extraordinary Person in the history of this world.  It is difficult to summarize the dimensions of Who He is and, closely aligned with that, what He has accomplished. His accomplishments infinitely exceed those of any other.  So, please accept this post as my best current attempt at a very brief summary of Who He is.

Creator, SOURCE, sustainer

The first really big thing to realize about Him is that He is the Source of everything good in this world, because He is the Creator of it all.  In at least four places in the New Testament, Jesus is directly identified as such: John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1, and Revelation 1. Each of these chapters reveal Him as God the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens and of the earth and of all that lives—of all we know and experience.

I’ll include the Scriptural texts of just a couple of these.

Consider what is written of Him in John 1:1-3, clearly a reference to Christ:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

For further reference, consider what is written of Him in Colossians 1:15-17:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

Hebrews 1 and Revelation 1 reveal this same truth.

So, Who is Jesus? Ever one with the Father and the Spirit, He is God the Creator.  As such, He is the source of all that is good in this world!  Everything that is good which we enjoy in this world is directly from His hand, because He is the Source of everything. The Bible reveals Him as the One Who has given us richly all things to enjoy! (1 Timothy 6:17)

To personalize this down to our lives: You and I are here only by  the creative will and love and power of Jesus Christ, because He is the One Who created you and me. Read Psalm 139 and see how it reveals God’s attention to the details of creating you to be the unique person you are.  With the light of New Testament revelation, we come to know that the God Who created us is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please ponder this truth for a while and embrace the Lord Jesus as your Creator. If you let this truth sink in, it will elicit a deep sense of awe and gratitude to Him.

Savior, sacrifice, redeemer

Secondly, our Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior from everything that is bad in this world!  He created man and the human family to enjoy all His goodness and all His gifts, and He wanted us to remain free from the knowledge of any kind of evil. As image bearers of Himself, however, He also gave us the power of viable choice. In the persons of our original parents, we all chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and of evil, and this brought the terrible curses of sin upon us.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they changed human nature for all the generations to come, for all of us who came from them inherited the law of sin in our members (Romans 5:12). This became reality for all of us. And we could not get ourselves out of this despicable predicament. We needed a Savior. And our Lord Jesus came into this world to rescue us.

He became the only begotten Son of God through the miracle of the virgin birth, lived a perfectly sinless life, and in the fullness of time went to the old rugged cross, there to take our sins upon Himself, there to pay the wages of sin, which is death. He took the death we deserved and died in our place. 

He then defeated death by His resurrection from the dead, never to die again. When we believe in Him and receive Him, He actually gives us His eternal life. We are thus born again into His eternal family.  And we are gifted then with His inheritance — co-heirs with Him for eternity! We are saved; all the negative consequences of  sin have been taken off us. Hallelujah! What a Savior! And there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). 

He alone could accomplish this for us. May we worship Him as our eternal Savior and Redeemer. So amazing is His grace to us!

Sovereign lord, eternal king, just judge

Thirdly, I conclude in declaring that Jesus is the Sovereign Lord over all of human history! The future of the whole world is in His hands.  The Bible teaches us that our Lord Jesus will come a second time to this earth, only this next time to set up His kingdom over all the earth. There are literally hundreds of references to this coming event in the Old Testament and it is well reiterated in the New Testament.   For examples, read Psalm 2 and 1 Corinthians 15.

Jesus is coming again!  This is actually the greatest prophetic theme in all of the Bible.  He came first as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world.  He will come again as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to take the literal government of the world upon His shoulders.

He will breathe on His enemies and they will perish.  He will set everything that is crooked straight.  He will establish righteousness and justice over all the earth.  And he has promised us a place in His kingdom, that we His people will rule and reign with Him. 

Wow, there is no one else as great as He, not even a close second place to Him!  He makes the future as bright as His promises to us. 

Who is He?  He is our future!  Praise the Lord!

An invitation

Our purpose statement here at the Union Gospel Mission clarifies that we exist to partner with the Inland Northwest to reach the poor with the love and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so that they may become God-dependent, contributing members of society.

Beloved ones, what a privilege it is to be His ambassadors here in this crazy, upside-down world.  We have good news to share.  Pray we'll be faithful in this commission.

Jesus does love each one of us in the human family. He saved us from all the destructive results of our sins to prove it!  He lives to share His eternal life with us and to make us heirs of His kingdom. And He is coming again. He is our future!

We invite you and all who come to us for help to join us in praising Him forever and in serving Him all the days of our lives while we are on the earth, on our way to His heaven!

Spend time with Sonny, and you'll learn about Jesus. Spend time with Jesus, and you'll be changed from the inside out. Click here to learn more about how Jesus changes people every day at UGM.