Who is Jesus?

Through the centuries, people have called Jesus a good man, a prophet, an angel, a liar, even a lunatic.What about you? Who is Jesus to you?

Maybe you haven't given much thought to Him other than perhaps at Christmas when you see the baby in a manger scene in the market square. Or maybe you call Him your Lord and Saviour. Either way, the good news is that we don’t have to guess at who Jesus is; the Bible gives us the answer.

In Colossians 1:15-20, the Apostle Paul offers a clear and comprehensive description of Jesus. According to the Bible, Jesus:

• Is the image of God. His life on earth provides a visual picture of who God is.
• Has the position of authority over all creation.
• Created all things in Heaven and on Earth… the visible (physical world) and the invisible (spiritual world).
• Holds all things together and keeps the world from falling into chaos.
• Is the head of the church (or, in other words, has authority over all His followers).
• Defeated death and the power of sin when He came back to life after His death on the cross.
• Was fully human and fully God.
• Is the means by which God reconciles His relationship with mankind.

Each of the descriptors Paul mentions here in Colossians is used elsewhere in the Bible, but this is the one place where they are all used at once. The reason for this extensive description was that there were people in Colossae proposing that Jesus wasn't who He said He was. These people wanted to turn Christianity into one philosophy or theory among many.

Isn’t it interesting that the same thing is happening today? There are people who want to demote Jesus to something less than who He is. And yet, God’s Word—which has withstood millennia—offers us a clear, unchanging description of Jesus. When we look at the Bible for an explanation of who Jesus is, we see that He isn't just a good man or a prophet, and nowhere in the Bible is He ever described as an angel.

The study guide we're using to understand Colossians asked us to put Colossians 1:15-20 in our own words. Here’s what I wrote:

Jesus is the way we can know and understand God. He enables us to have friendship with God. He created all things and holds the world together (even our messy, messed up lives). He is the source of hope for our lives now and for eternal life one day in Heaven. He is my Lord and Saviour.

Jesus has been called many things by many people. But what matters most is what you call Him.

So the question stands: Who is Jesus to you?

If you don’t know, read the Bible for yourself and ask God to show you through His word who Jesus is. Any one of the first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) will give you a good overview of Jesus’s life and purpose on earth. Or, if you’d like help studying the Bible, contact us for information about our weekly meetings or one-on-one Bible studies.

Notes from the Women’s Bible Study