EXPLORING GOD’S WORD
Who exactly was Jesus Christ? What was His mission and purpose in coming to earth? Nothing could be more important in your life than understanding the astounding answer to these questions!
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ow much do you understand about Jesus Christ? Who and what was He, exactly? What was His mission, His purpose here on earth? Millions of people assume they know the answers. These are critical questions—not just from a knowledge standpoint, but from the crucial impact they should have on your life! The fact is, knowing the answers to these questions has everything to do with not only how you live every day of your life now, but also how you will spend eternity! Are you ready to discover the true biblical answers to these questions? Let’s dig into the Scriptures to find out! This time of year is important to Christians because it reminds us of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, His death and His resurrection to ascend to His Father in heaven. Well and good, and most people know about that. But to dig a little deeper, why did He have to die? Why did He give His life as a sacrifice? And as a sacrifice for what? And why was He resurrected to life again? To begin to understand, we must first grasp Jesus Christ’s true identity—to go much further back in time to grasp who and what He was before His human birth. 4 Beyond Today
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B Tm a g a z i n e . o r g
You might remember the story in Luke 1 of the angel appearing to Mary, a young Jewish virgin, and telling her that she would miraculously conceive through the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1 records how her husband-to-be Joseph received a similar announcement in which an angel told him: “Do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew then explains, “This was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (verses 20-23, emphasis added throughout). Jesus, we see here, though fully human was also someone and something far more. He was “God with us”! The Word who was with God and was God But what does that actually mean? We find the answer beginning in John 1:1-2: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”
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by Scott Ashley
