WHAT DID JESUS CHRIST TEACH?
Jesus came to show us what God is like.
As He met and talked with people, caring for their needs and healing them, He sowed what God is like in action. And He also gave us teaching that has been the model for moral standard right down the centuries. One example of this is the famous and greatest Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus tells us how we should live if we belong to the Kingdom of God – the rule of God as King in the world.
In two short memorable stories He shows what God’s love is like. It is like a shepherd going out after one lost sheep until He finds it. It is like a father whose younger son demands his share of the inheritance. The boy wastes his father’s money, realizes the mess he is in and returns home, sorry for what he has done, and fearing his father’s rejection. But his father is the look out and welcomes him with open arms. That, says Jesus, is the measure of God’s love and forgiveness.
Jesus was one who was a model for living and teaching – a moral miracle. Yet He said the most staggering things about Himself. He insisted on humility in others lived a humble, selfless life Himself, and yet He said THAT He was God Himself: ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father.’ ‘I and the Father are one.’
He said that He was able to forgive sins. To a man who was paralyzed He said openly, ‘your sins are forgiven.’ He claimed openly to do what only God can do.
He said that He was the only way to God: ‘No one comes to the Father except by me.’
He promised peace to all who come to Him: ‘My peace I give you. I do not give it as the world does.’
He said that He had victory over death: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live even though he dies.’
1 To know Him was to know God.
2 To see Him was to see God.
3 To trust Him was to trust in God.
4 To hate Him was to hate God.
5 To honor Him was to honor God.
These breathtaking statements must either be true or Jesus Christ was a liar, a fraud, a deceiver or just plain mad. But His perfect life and His remarkable teaching show Him to be the most wonderful person who has ever lived. This can lead us to the same conclusion that Thomas, the doubting disciple, came to as he fell at Jesus’ feet: My Lord and my God!’
Jesus came to show us what God is like.
As He met and talked with people, caring for their needs and healing them, He sowed what God is like in action. And He also gave us teaching that has been the model for moral standard right down the centuries. One example of this is the famous and greatest Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus tells us how we should live if we belong to the Kingdom of God – the rule of God as King in the world.
In two short memorable stories He shows what God’s love is like. It is like a shepherd going out after one lost sheep until He finds it. It is like a father whose younger son demands his share of the inheritance. The boy wastes his father’s money, realizes the mess he is in and returns home, sorry for what he has done, and fearing his father’s rejection. But his father is the look out and welcomes him with open arms. That, says Jesus, is the measure of God’s love and forgiveness.
Jesus was one who was a model for living and teaching – a moral miracle. Yet He said the most staggering things about Himself. He insisted on humility in others lived a humble, selfless life Himself, and yet He said THAT He was God Himself: ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father.’ ‘I and the Father are one.’
He said that He was able to forgive sins. To a man who was paralyzed He said openly, ‘your sins are forgiven.’ He claimed openly to do what only God can do.
He said that He was the only way to God: ‘No one comes to the Father except by me.’
He promised peace to all who come to Him: ‘My peace I give you. I do not give it as the world does.’
He said that He had victory over death: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live even though he dies.’
1 To know Him was to know God.
2 To see Him was to see God.
3 To trust Him was to trust in God.
4 To hate Him was to hate God.
5 To honor Him was to honor God.
These breathtaking statements must either be true or Jesus Christ was a liar, a fraud, a deceiver or just plain mad. But His perfect life and His remarkable teaching show Him to be the most wonderful person who has ever lived. This can lead us to the same conclusion that Thomas, the doubting disciple, came to as he fell at Jesus’ feet: My Lord and my God!’
