The True Gospel: Identity of Jesus

Since the gospel centers around the person and divinity of Jesus, we need to know who Jesus was. The Bible declares who Jesus is in many forms through the roles that he fulfills. This article will explore four main roles Jesus fulfills that describe his identity. 

The Bible declares Jesus is Messiah, King, Savior, and God’s Son. We are going to explore these identities a little further. 

Jesus is the Messiah and King. This phrase “Messiah” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “Anointed One”. Jesus is the one Anointed by God the Father. When Adam and Eve sin, God promises an offspring of the human that will defeat Satan by “striking his head” which we learn is the death and resurrection. This offspring is also promised to Abraham, Jacob, Judah, and David and his descendants. When we come to Jesus in the New Testament, Matthew introduces Jesus by giving us his family history and calling him the “Messiah”. He is the offspring that Israel has been waiting for. When we see this word used in the Old Testament it is used to refer to the priests who are anointed as well as the kings of Israel (Saul and David). Jesus is the king of the world which would be an announcement in direct contrast to the announcement of the Roman caesar as king. Jesus fulfills the role of priest and king by becoming our High Priest and King (Matthew 27:37, Hebrews 4:14). 

Jesus is the Savior (Acts 13:23). The word “savior” means deliverer or rescuer. This was often used for the gods or leaders throughout the ancient world. So the question is what exactly did Jesus rescue or deliver us from? He delivered us from our sins in a way that our bad choices do not hold us down or affect our eternity if we believe. He provides forgiveness for our sins (Ephesians 1:7). Since he rescued us from sin, he rescued us from the consequence of sin, death. Romans 6:23 declares that God’s free gift is eternal life. Jesus saved us from sin and eternal death. 

Jesus also rescued us for a relationship with God and to restore the entire world when he returns. We know from Revelation that those who have eternal life will worship the Lamb in the new creation. We were created to be in God’s presence forever and those that are saved will be in his presence forever. We were lost from this vocation when sin entered the world and so Jesus saved us so we could be restored and reconciled (2 Corinthians 5:18) to this state of eternity. 

Jesus is also the Son of God. We should not be confused by thinking Jesus is the Son of God in a human sense. Jesus was conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, he is divine. He was born a human and grew up as we do and so he was in the flesh and also human. When we say Son of God we mean Jesus was a “son” in the sense that he was born by a human female, Mary yet he was conceived by God. When we say “of God” we direct his identity to God and his nature. To be the Son of God means that Jesus was the same nature of God yet took a human position and flesh. Hebrews 1:3 declares that Jesus is the presence of God and the exact image of God. This is what it means to be the Son of God.