“…the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.” John 151b (NLT)
Recently, my friend, Tim West, shared a true story about Elvis Presley. In Tim’s words: “Elvis used to frequent the Lil Thompson’s Steakhouse in Tennessee. He was good friends with the owner who would give him free food before he was famous. One night when he was at the height of his fame, the Steakhouse held the ultimate Elvis Presley impersonator contest. A large crowd arrived, including Elvis Presley himself. Elvis decided to take part and sat quietly at the back.
Elvis said confidently, ‘I’m going to mash this.’ Lil was worried the place would go crazy when everyone realized it was Elvis. There was no need. He sang ‘Love Me Tender’ to polite applause and came in third place in the contest!” Yes, you read it correctly! The judges failed to recognize the real Elvis.
As difficult as that may be for some to believe, from the time Jesus was born to our present day, billions of people have failed to recognize Jesus for the real “…Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”
What does the Bible say about Jesus? What does Jesus say about Himself? You may doubt the integrity of the Bible, but ultimately you must come to terms with who Jesus is and what and who He claims to be. You can believe it or not, but you need to know the facts, because what you believe about Jesus will determine where you’ll spend eternity.
The opening words of the Gospel of John say: “in the beginning the Word (Jesus) already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him (Jesus), and nothing was created except through Him (Jesus). The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:1-5 NLT) Verses 10-11 continue by saying: “He (Jesus) came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him. He came to His own people (the Jews), and even they rejected Him.” But here is where the miracles can begin, in verse 12: “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn – not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”
What can we learn from these few verses about who Jesus is?
God, the pre-existent and eternal Spirit, poured Himself into human flesh, was born as the child of a virgin mother named Mary (see Luke 1:27) in Bethlehem and made His home on planet earth. Why would He do that? In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus answers that question when He said He “came to seek and to save those who are lost.” (Luke 19:10 NLT) (note that being lost was the subject of yesterday’s post) Even Jesus’ name has significance, as it means “The Lord saves” (see Matthew 1:21)
My conviction is, most people today who reject Jesus, do so because they have never read the Bible and, thus, have no foundation upon which to judge who He really is.
Tomorrow we’ll begin to dig a little deeper. I just don’t want anyone to come to a wrong conclusion without having more information upon which to base their decision.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 