What are you talking about?
It’s an intellectual bit of laziness to call Jesus Christ a “good teacher.” I find that those who make such statements are tending to collaborate in the spirit of ecumenicalism because saying anything else to accurately describe the nature of Jesus Christ based on the Bible would risk having to be exclusive.
Those who finds descriptions such as a wise man, a prophet, a teacher, the most moral man ever to have walked the earth, a man who reached the height of enlightenment, a social revolutionary and other worldly gauges of successful characters are not a whole lot different from most religions who acknowledge the impact on history Jesus had.
Led more by imagination and the misguided assertions by a wide variety of people and groups throughout history, Jesus, in many people’s minds, including many who attend a church, remains this important figure who is extremely adaptable to diverse world and religious views, from Islam to Mormanism, to social extremist would like some support from a historical character that is like a buzz word for some credible moral justification.
When it comes to who Jesus Christ really is, most people are ready to accept the lie that there is no real proof of who Jesus was as though separation by 2000 years is a bomb proof excuse not the take anything too seriously, and certainly not the Bible its self. Most people are comfortable with their ignorance of Scripture and of who Jesus Christ claimed to be.
For those of you who are new to the Bible, a good place to start is to read the eye witness accounts of Jesus that are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Follow that up with the early Church history preserved in the Book of Acts, and then get the power punch from the Apostle Paul by reading the Letter to the Romans.
If you read it as eye witness accounts, historical narrative, you will be challenged to decide who Jesus was. You will come to issue that although Jesus had very strong human attributes that many adopt and aspire to, the main focus of who Jesus was and what He very clearly taught and emphasized to his disciples was that He was the Son of God. Jesus Christ was God incarnate on the mission to provide salvation to a sinful world and to defeat death.
This is the essence and purpose of the Bible. God created a perfect world, it was broke by the ungodly choices of people and to be rescued and restored by the Grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ.
God revealed early on, virtually as soon as Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden which led to “The Fall” of humankind, God promised Hie would provide a Savior to save the world from sin and death.
“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.” – Genesis 3:15
Throughout the Old Testament, every book has a consistent theme that highlights God’s character, God’s laws, and the fomation of God’s chosen people, a story that begins with the faithful willingness of nobody in particular named Abram, who is renamed Abraham.
Throughout the Old Testament, God reveals through many different writers, a consistent focus on the Glory and the character of God who through the ups and downs, the obedience and the disobedience of the growing people known as the Hebrews, the Israelites, the tribes of Jacob, the sons of Abraham and the Jews. It is though God’s interactions, leading and judgment of the Israelites, that we learn the eternal nature and attributes of God and the revealing of God’s plans and the rise and fall of world kingdoms through the many prophets preserved in the Old Testament.
The fact that an abundance of prophecies and have been fulfilled and the fact that the ancient tribe of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob exists and are thriving throughout history, as well as persecuted throughout history one served to underline the truth that is stated in Genesis.
The Israelites as a nation are instructed to embark on an intensive practice of non-human sacrifice, because it emphasized the truth that a death must occur to pay for the breaking of God’s laws caused by human sinfulness. The sacrifices were symbolic and imperfect desfpitethe remarkably meticulous procedures involved with Temple sacrifice that could only be done by priests who were of special tribe of Israel (The Levites, descendants of Moses’s brother Aaron)
This brings us to the Birth, Life, and Mission of Jesus which culminated with the death and Resurrection. Because Jesus was God, and therefore perfect, only Jesus Christ could provide he perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of all the people of the world through history. This is the Gospel that:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. – John 3:15-18
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23
Jesus’ ministry was not simply healing people, though he spent a substantial portion of his 3 year ministry healing people miraculously. His primary focus was to bring knowledge of the invisible Kingdom of God and the purpose of the Parables that only Jesus taught, were given to illustrate what the Kingdom of God is like.
We begin to see how Jesus taught some very specific and truthful statements of who he was, and the most casual reader would have to begin the accept that Jesus was not merely a good teacher or some elevated human being.
Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. – John 14:16
To bring this post to a close, a serious reader of the Bible, left to consider the claims made in the Bible and especially made by Christ.
It is my prayer and hope that you find that the Truth has been hiding in plain sight all your life and how God’s grace and plan for salvation through the Gospel will speak to your very soul.
Although John 3:16 is the most often repeated verse meant to convey the Gospel message, you can learn the essentials of who Jesus Christ was and is by reading the Bible, beginning with the Gospels, Acts and Romans.
Giving your life to Christ will be the most important and consequential decision you can ever make. The Gospel of Jesus Christ offers the greatest hope and security that you can ever know. It is a gross misrepresentation and a hazard to your personal eternal salvation to believe that Jesus’ claim to fame was only being a famous teacher. Don’t settle for that. Read the Scripture for yourself to learn who is Jesus Christ.
You may find yourself in agreement with the Apostle Peter:
And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” – Matthew 16:16
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel from the late Pastor John MacArthur, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
All quoted excerpts have footnotes removed, usually from Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), sometimes from New International Version (NIV), on rare occasion the Amplified Bible (AMP).
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