About UsWho is Jesus

Where does it all begin?

On the 6th day of his creation God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed upon him and man became a living soul. God saw that Adam was very good. He created him in his image and likeness. But Adam the father of all human kind in whom was the seed of all human race sinned and his disobedience brought sin and death to all, sickness, disease, curse upon the ground, separation from God. Though man in his disobedience abandoned his maker, our loving God whose faithfulness is as high are as the heavens, kept his part of the covenant and promised that at the appointed time he will come to the lost man, the prodigal son and redeem him back to himself. God said to Satan Gen 3:15" I will make enmity between you and the woman, between her seed and your seed, he will crush your head and you shall bruise his heel." Ever since then the coming of the Messiah was spoken by the prophets of old. One day God was to send his Son. The Word was to become flesh and dwell among us, to destroy the power of the devil, to remove the burden of sin from human race who are slaves to sin and fear of death and to give eternal life to those who would come to him and ask forgiveness. In Isaiah 9:2 it says "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has downed".
2000 years ago in the region of Ephrata in the city of David the Savior was born.

His birth into our world

Jesus stooped low to take upon himself humanity. Rude and forbidding were his earthly surroundings. His glory was veiled that the majesty of his outward form may not become an object of attraction. Up in the hills of Bethlehem while the shepherds were still keeping watch by night, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the Glory of the Lord shone round about them. They were very afraid and the angel said unto them Luke 2:8-14 "fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord. This shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the baby wrapped in a swaddling cloth lying in a manger. The whole heaven was ignited with God's glory as the angels were singing "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will towards men. Satan held dominion over the world. Jesus had come to disprove Satan's claim. As the son of man He would stand loyal to God. Thus it would be shown that Satan had not gain complete control over the human race and that his claims to the world were false. Jesus took the nature of man with the possibility of yielding to temptations. He was revealed in our world in the midst of humanity which He himself has created, now submerged in the sea of violence, hatred, restlessness, without hope, destined to wrath. his eyes of love and compassion saw the many that were wounded, stripped of God's glory, sick in their spirit, body and mind, crying for mercy, healing, comfort, miracle, forgiveness and deliverance from fear, misery, poverty and slavery to sin, oppression of the devil. He did not come to give an answer to all of this. But he himself was an answer to what haunted the spirit and mind. He appeared as a reliever of the oppressed, a liberator of captives, a healer of the afflicted, restoring sight to the blind, revealing to the world the light of truth. He said in Luke 4:18-19 "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. To release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Many magnified the Lord, for the source of life was in their midst with many signs and wonders with deeds our world neither knew before nor is worthy of experiencing.

His obedience to the Father

God's enemy, Satan was to be conquered once for all and Jesus was to obtain Victory over death for you and for me and reestablish man's fellowship with God that was lost when the first man Adam sinned. If this has to be accomplished Jesus had to remain obedient to the Father even to the point of death on the cross to shed his blood. For without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Though it was bitter and painful, He was willing to drink the cup prepared for him. Outside the city in the place called Calvary, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ was to be crucified for you and me.

His love for his creation

Jesus was a friend of the lonely, helpless, rejected and brokenhearted, touching the lepers who were ostracized by many; he traveled from place to place that he might gather the lost & wounded. he loved tax collectors, had mercy upon the adulterous and send her with instruction not to sin again, for he hated sin and yet loved the sinner, he fed five thousands with two fishes and five loaves, he raised the only son of his mother and also Lazarus from the dead whose body was in the tomb for four days already, to let us know that he is the resurrection and the life. I believe even today Jesus is still the resurrection. for your end can be his beginning and your disappointment can be his appointment. When you say my life is over, I can't go any further, Jesus can begin from there.

His decision to take our place

Though he did all of these miracles, Jesus came to die on the cross the most painful death on our behalf out of his love for you and me. He chose to take our sins, sickness and disease and curse, sorrow and grief. The bible calls us objects of wrath, enemies of God, children of disobedience, without God in the world, dead in our transgression. We all ought to be punished eternally. Because God is a just and holy God who will not let sin go unpunished. But thank God Jesus was willing to take our punishment upon himself and die on the cross. That's how God showed his love for you and me.

His suffering on the cross

Before they crucified him, his back was mutilated, whipped mercilessly. they stripped his garment, they put a scarlet robe around him, a crown of thorn on his head, a staff on his right hand and mocked him, "king of the Jews" & struck him on his head again and again, many Roman soldiers with their ruthless bare hand smite him, and spat on his face until his face was covered with mucus. Isaiah 60:6 tells us concerning the suffering of Jesus "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting." Isaiah 52:14 tells us "there were many who were appalled at him. his appearance was so disfigured, beyond that of any man, his form marred beyond any human likeness." By the time they took Jesus to the cross his face was unrecognizable. Once on the cross, he cried out "my God My God why have you forsaken me?"

For six hours Jesus went through the most painful and agonizing moments. His blood which is more precious than gold or any treasure the world has ever known was poured out on Calvary. The bible tells us that at the 9th hour Jesus said it is FINISHED. It is accomplished. The full payment for sin is paid. Now the Father is satisfied. Jesus offered his own blood. The power of sin was nullified. Now man can come to God through the blood of Jesus. Now the wall of hostility between us and God was removed by his death.

Isaiah 53:3 tells us "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God smitten by him and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgression; He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted. Yet He did not open his mouth. He was laid like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her sheerer is silent, he did not open his mouth."

His resurrection from the dead

Though He suffered and died, he did not remain dead. But on the 3rd day Jesus rose from the dead. For in the book of Mathew 28:1 it says "after the Sabbath at dawn on the first day of the week, Marry Magdalene and the other Marry went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning. His cloth was as white as snow.............the angel said to the woman, "Do not be afraid, I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'he has risen from the dead & is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him."

What should be our response?

John 3:16 tells us "for God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." God so loved you and me so much he gave us his best, his one and only Son to come and die on our behalf.

After all this introduction about Jesus, the question I want to ask you the reader is, are you saved? Are you sure you will make it to heaven? Do you have peace with God? If not, God says in John 3:7 in order to have eternal life you must be born again. You see, as sinners we deserve to be condemned eternally separated from God and spend forever in hell.

Romans 3:23 tells us "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and there is no one who can claim to be righteous before God. We were born sinners from birth. We inherited sin from Adam. Only Jesus was born pure & sinless. Heb 9:27 says "it is appointed unto man to die once and after this the judgment." But I want to assure you that it is not God's will for you to spend eternity in hell. That is why God send you Jesus. 2Corn 5:21 "for he has made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him". Romans 5:8 "God command his love towards us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us."

God said my sin and your sin were laid upon Jesus and he died in our place. He became our substitute. You don't have to do a lot of good things to go to heaven because God knows by good works no one can be justified. All you have to do is just receive Jesus Christ in to your life. Confess to him that you are a sinner. Acts 17:13 tells us "God now commands all men everywhere to repent."

When I came to know him I made the decision to invite him into my heart by praying a simple prayer. I said "Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I repent of my sin, forgive me Lord, I believe you died on the cross for me and shed your blood for my sin. I invite you into my heart as my personal Savior and Lord. I believe you died and rose on the 3rd day, I believe you are the Son of the living God. Thank you for giving me eternal life and making me your child".

So Jesus is the Life and whoever has the Son has Life.

Pastor Elyas Haile