Doctrine
"But whom say ye that I am?"
Matthew 16:15
No question in all the world matters more than this one. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself asked it of His disciples — "But whom say ye that I am?" — and upon the answer hangs everything, for time and for eternity. What a person truly believes about the Lord Jesus Christ will decide where he spends forever. The Bible gives a clear, full, and glorious answer.
The Lord Jesus Christ is not merely a good man, a great teacher, or a prophet. He is God Himself, come down and clothed in human flesh. This is the very heart and mystery of the Christian faith.
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." (1 Timothy 3:16)
He was the eternal Word, who was with God and was God, and who was made flesh and dwelt among us.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." (John 1:1,14)
In Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead — not a part, not a spark, but the whole fulness of God, bodily.
"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Colossians 2:9)
The Bible does not shrink from calling Him our great God and Saviour.
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13)
Yet He who was very God became also very man. He was conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of a virgin, just as the prophet had foretold.
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
He grew, He hungered, He thirsted, He wept, He slept, and He was tempted in all points as we are — yet without sin. He became man so that He could stand in our place, for only a man could die for men, while only God could bear away the sin of the world.
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)
So He is the one Mediator, the meeting-place of God and man, being Himself both:
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5)
Alone among all who have ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ never sinned — not in deed, not in word, not in thought. He was the spotless Lamb, and only such a One could be offered for the sins of others.
"Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." (1 Peter 2:22)
Because He had no sin of His own to answer for, He could be made sin for us, bearing our guilt that we might receive His righteousness.
"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
The Lord Jesus Christ is not a part of creation; He is its Maker. Every star, every atom, every living thing was made by Him — and is held together by Him this very moment.
"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible... and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:16-17)
He upholds the whole universe by the word of His power. The One who was cradled in a manger holds the galaxies in their courses.
"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:3)
The Lord Jesus Christ fills every office by which God saves and rules His people. As the great Prophet, He has perfectly revealed God to us — to see Him is to see the Father. As our great High Priest, He offered Himself once for our sins and now ever lives to intercede for all who come to God by Him.
"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:25)
And as King, He is Lord over all, whose kingdom shall have no end.
"And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." (Revelation 19:16)
This same Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again bodily the third day — the very heart of the gospel.
"How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
He ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He lives for evermore; and He shall come again in like manner, visibly and gloriously, as surely as He went.
"...this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)
Because He is both God and man, sinless and spotless, He alone could pay the price of sin — and He alone can save. There is no other Saviour, no other name, no other way to God.
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
The question the Lord Jesus Christ asked long ago, He asks of you today:
"He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?" (Matthew 16:15)
One day every knee in heaven and earth shall bow before Him and every tongue confess that He is Lord — those who loved Him, and those who refused Him alike.
"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:10-11)
The wise soul does not wait to bow until it is too late. He bows now — in faith and in worship — as doubting Thomas did when at last he saw and believed, and cried out the truest confession a man can make:
"And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."John 20:28
If the Lord Jesus Christ is truly God in the flesh, then He is worthy of all your trust, all your love, and all your life. Receive Him now as your Saviour and your Lord, and you shall never be put to shame.