Who is Jesus?
Before this question is finished being asked, “Who is Jesus?”, a thousand spears of prejudice have already severed the image of the human Christ concerning His origin, skin colour, the reality of His miracles leading to the speculation of the power of His deity, and the actuality of His resurrection. And though any person can get to know who Jesus is by reading the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (including First, Second, and Third John), there must first be a “will”, a yearning, or a curiosity in his heart to want to encounter the Christ.
Prejudice is simply “pre-judging” a person before getting to know the person on a personal, or more than superficial (deeper) level. “Pre-judging” oftentimes concludes your mind on a matter based on what others have said or what you have wanted to believe without ever exploring the truth of the matter.
The soul of person is as mysterious as pinpointing where wind originates and where its final destination lies. The soul was created by God, and is the image of God. All men were created with God’s image (Genesis 1:27)—with consciousness (being aware of one’s surroundings), thought, feeling, and will therefore having rational (ability to identify how to get problems solved), volitional (the process of using one’s “will” to make a choice), emotional, and spiritual characteristics. In simpler words: The soul is where your “heart” is; it is the “real” you, the inner you where you form thoughts, and feel, and develop your character as a spiritual being, a person, who resides in a physical human form. And, as the soul was created by a triune God, it can only feel “at home” with God (our Creator-Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit of God).
The Case for Christ is one of the most outstanding books (and a film) about an atheist’s quest for finding the answer to that question, “Who is Jesus?” That atheist, author and investigative journalist, Mr. Lee Strobel, now claims his belief as a Christian, a lover and follower of Jesus Christ; and after experiencing his new birth (John 1:12-13), he has become Pastor Lee Strobel, teacher of Jesus Christ and Christianity (1).
As with once atheist-turned-pastor Lee Strobel, all of us have this one greatest choice to make: either to follow or to reject the omnipresence of Jesus Christ, God’s Holy Word (John 1:1-4; 14). We do not know when time here on earth will end, but all souls will stand before Christ and give account of their choices made, the ultimate one being: “Did I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, or did I reject that invitation?”
God doesn’t force us to make any decision that goes against our own will (volition). He rather presents the evidence or the elements of a problem (or question) at hand and gives you free-will to make the choices to solve that problem (or to answer that question). Selwyn Hughes, in his book The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success, illuminates his readers with this revelation:
The soul fits into the kingdom of God like a hand fits into a glove. It was made by God and for God and will not reach its highest potential until it is at home with God. But our souls have been infected and afflicted with a disease called “sin”. What God formed, sin has deformed. . . . which means that left to itself and without the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ, the soul will die (2002, 165) (2).
One dark and dreary night after the seasonal rains had ceased, I poured libation in worship of a couple of “gods” [idols] of African origin. Suddenly, I was teleported to a blackened forest and forced to sit in a shallow cold river. There, a giant tan-coloured python slithered over my lifeless legs, and screaming in silent terror, I remained in that position paralyzed. A voice above me from the canopy of broad leaves blocking the moon’s reflective light, told me to look; and at my right was a wide chasm. I felt the thickness of its chilly darkness as I witnessed a blazing red fiery inferno at its center; and asked, “Why so cold when fire is blazing so hot?”
I was answered, “By pouring libation, you are worshipping that snake—the python—and your destination is also there—hellfire.” In abject fear that HELL IS REAL, I turned by head and instead looked up. “Will you come with Me, or would you rather stay here?” HEAVEN IS REAL: A white, loving light embraced my soul in that clear-blue air above the clouds. The feeling was so warm and comforting, and that same voice of God, my Father, my Creator, asked me, “Choose whom you will serve.”
“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods [idols] . . . . Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, . . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).
An idol is anyone or anything that you either worship or spend too much time on or with that distracts you from developing (or growing) a pure and close relationship with your Creator, God.
It didn’t take a split of a second to re-birth this idolatrist-turned-pastor; and I fervently pray for every reader of this blog to make the same best choice I ever made in my whole life. ‘Re-connected’ and ‘re-conciled’ to Christ, my soul is “at home”. Home is the experience of being redeemed, forgiven, born-again, an heir to the Father, immortal, sanctified in all mannerisms and conduct, walking on earth as a child of God, and living in reverent fear of Jesus’ second coming.
Jesus testifies, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” Blessed are those who do His commandments, . . ., that they may enter through the gates into the city [heaven]. But outside [hell] are dogs, sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie [anything that denies the existence of Jesus Christ and disobeys the Word of God, truth] (Rev. 22:12-15).
The word soul appears in Scripture, the Bible, 130 times. Salvation is rescue from the downward bias (the consequence of prejudice against Christ Jesus) of the soul. Salvation is a whole process of rescuing the soul from the power of sin and selfishness that goes on all the time in our lives, the power that pulls us down, lowering us, blinding reason (disabling one from making sound judgments), searing conscience (disabling one from distinguishing what is morally right from wrong), paralyzing the “will” with a purpose to sever our connection with God so that it shrinks and shrivels until every vestige (existence) of the Divine is gone and God’s image is left without God’s Spirit, therefore spiritually dead only to reside in hell eternally since a soul is forever immortal.
Free-will must choose salvation thereby experiencing re-birth, a new life made alive to thrive in the everlasting light and life of Jesus Christ. YOU ARE THE CHOICE YOU MAKE.
In the world, there is a sin problem, a sin disease. To deny there is a sin problem is rejecting God’s Word and Jesus Christ. To compromise with sin convincing yourself that some sins are o.k. and others are not is still rejecting God’s Word and Jesus Christ. But to investigate and find out for yourself the nature and cause of sin, and to reject it outright is stepping in the divine direction toward the One who has power over sin and death and who can break you free from the bondage of sin, with unconditional love and, most importantly, eternal life of the soul after the physical body “sheds its mortal coil” and is buried in the earth.
"WHO IS JESUS?" He is the same God who created you and loved His image of Himself in you so much that when the disease of sin deformed, crippled, and severed your soul away from Him, He came to earth in human form, Jesus Christ, to be a living sacrifice, an atonement, a solution to the sin problem, an antidote to the sin disease. Jesus Christ came as our Redeemer by paying the ultimate price to take back your soul out of the clutches of the force of demonic darkness (John 1:4-9). He did this by shedding His blood on that old rugged Cross—the only way for sin to be forgiven and permanently blotted out of your life’s history, your past Jesus is Lord God and Savior of all souls who choose to trust in Him.
SPECIAL INVITATION: “You are invited to come to Me, Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:27-30). I will in no way reject you or turn you away (John 6:37). I have died for any sin(s) you ever committed (1 Peter 2:24). It is my heart’s desire that no one perishes but that all men repent (2 Peter 3:9) and come to Me, for I am coming again soon (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20). Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”
PRAY ALOUD THIS
PRAYER OF SALVATION
The spiritual disciplines of spending quiet time with God, talking with God in prayer, and reading and obeying His Word is our spiritual charging system, keeping our souls ablaze with His love and light.
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© 2023 by Patience Osei-Anyamesem. All rights reserved. Published by The Light In Me Enterprise. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews or other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
(1) Strobel, L. (1988). The Case For Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Zondervan. Retracing his own spiritual journey from atheism to faith, Lee Strobel, former legal editor of Chicago Tribune, cross-examines a dozen experts with doctorates from schools like Cambridge, Princeton, and Brandeis who are recognized authorities in their own fields. Strobel challenges them with questions like: How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence for Jesus exist outside the Bible? Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual event? What he found simply shocked him, because the deepest answer was rooted in one simple word.
(2) Hughes, S. (2002). The Seven (7) Laws of Spiritual Success. Surrey: CWR.
The artwork depicted in the blog article is carefully selected to draw out the points made for healing of the soul, and by no means promote any ideologies from the various artists unless they are found in the center of God's perfect will.
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