Jesus – Who Was this man?
A. Introduction
A man was born some 2000 years ago whose name was Jesus. Who was this man? What was the nature of his existence and his mission in life? Did he have a message to bring to this world? How is it that this man, born to peasants in an obscure village of the Roman Empire, has become one of the most recognizable personalities in all the history of the world?
Except for a small number of references from non-biblical sources everything that is known about Jesus Christ comes from the written record of the New Testament. Having already presented a survey of the evidence demonstrating the trustworthiness of the New Testament, we now turn to look at what it says about the person we know as Jesus of Nazareth.
As we study the New Testament it will become evident that Jesus was not an ordinary man. What makes Jesus altogether unique in that he claimed to be the Son of God who came into this world with a message and mission given to him by God! He told others to believe his testimony because of the supernatural miracles which he performed, the Old Testament prophecy he fulfilled and his resurrection from the dead which he foretold. We will learn that others did in fact believe Jesus was the Son of God, having come to that conclusion because of the before mentioned evidence which they had come to know and experience firsthand.
After we have considered what Jesus and his disciples taught regarding his identity, message and mission, we will explore the significance of these things as they pertain to the nature and origin of the Bible.
Please continue to the next page as we examine what the New Testament has to say about Jesus of Nazareth!
