1 JESUS CHRIST: WHO IS HE ?
Pastor Larry C Cobb
Redeeming Light Ministries
Houston, Texas
I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God born a man, I believe he died on the cross, and rose again and is now seated in heavenly places at the right hand of the Father as a man. Matthew 26: 62 – 64 says that the chief priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Don’t you have any answer to what these men testify against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the chief priest said to him, “Swear an oath in front of the living God and tell us, are you the Messiah, the Son of God?” Jesus answered him, “Yes, I am. But I alone can guarantee that from now on you will see the Son of Man in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne. He will be coming on the clouds of heaven.” Hebrews 10: 12 also says, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. Hebrews 13: 8 says, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
The fact that Jesus is God's Son, not God himself, does not in any way diminish the greatness of Jesus; it in fact makes him greater. This man, the man Christ Jesus, is the mediator between God and man. ( 1 Timothy 2:5 ) He is the one through whom the world that had been unplugged from God by Adam, was reconnected to God. The Bible tells us that there is one God and one mediator between God and man and it is the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for us all. Jesus was the only man who was able to accomplish this monumental task because unlike the first Adam, the second Adam did not sin, in other words he did nothing to break the flow of power from his Father God. He lived solely on the word of God. He did not try to extract life from any words other than God's word. He stayed connected to God. As a man connected to God he was unlike any previous man in that all the previous men had broken the covenant that was designed to connect them to the power of God ( the one source of all spiritual life ). ( Romans 3:23 )
The idea that Jesus is not God is not just shocking. It sounds almost sacrilegious and profane to some people. It sounds like you are trying to somehow rob Jesus of his glory and grandeur and it puts people on the defensive. Talking to you from the printed pages is probably the only way we can have a civil conversation on this point because our emotions are not going to clash.
2 JESUS CHRIST: WHO IS HE?
Pastor Larry C Cobb
Redeeming Light Ministries
Houston, Texas
My prayer has been for some time now, that I may know Jesus and the power of his resurrection. I made a pledge to God that I would accept what God says as truth and that I would not be moved by man's opinion of me. In the process of studying to show myself approved I found that the Bible does not say a lot of things I have been taught since childhood and this has caused me to have to meditate long and hard on what the Bible does say about Jesus because old religious teachings keep trying to rise up within me and drown out what I am seeing in the word of God,
Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. He is not God. Jesus is who God says he is. Nowhere in God's creation do we find a son who becomes his own father or father who becomes his own son; and we certainly do not find that any place on this earth. To teach otherwise makes God sound foolish. Jesus is the Son of God born a man; Mary is his mother. A human being can only give birth to a human being. God calls him the son of man. Nowhere that I have found in the word of God is called God. All God's children are human beings, including Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of God born a man. We are men and women born the sons and daughters of God. The word teaches us in 1 Corinthians 11: 27 – 29; Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. God does not have a body or blood, John 4: 24 tells us, God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. So when you are taking communion you must honor Jesus Christ, this man, his blood and body, if you are not doing this, you are taking communion in an unworthy way, and you are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Do you really believe the body and blood of Jesus paid for your sins? God was not crucified or sacrificed for your sins. Man had to pay for his sins, and a man did pay. Jesus paid. Jesus, he died for the whole world. If Jesus a man did not die on the cross our sins are not paid for, and we know anything that is dead can't raise anything back to life. Jesus was separated from God on the cross. He cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?” We know that it was impossible for Jesus to raise himself back to life, and we also know God raised Jesus from the dead.
3 JESUS CHRIST: WHO IS HE?
Pastor Larry C Cobb
Redeeming Light Ministries
Houston, Texas
Jesus is our Lord and Savior, and he is also our brother.
1 Corinthians 15: 20 – 23 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Hebrews 2: 11 – 14 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. For he said to God, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people.” He also said, “I will put my trust in him,” that is, “I and the children God has given me.” Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Matthew 28: 8 – 10 So the women hurried away from the tomb. They were afraid, but they were filled with joy. They ran to tell the disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings!” he said. They came to him, took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see me.”
1 John 4: 1 – 3 says, Dear friends, don’t believe all people who say that they have the Spirit. Instead, test them. See whether the spirit they have is from God, because there are many false prophets in the world. This is how you can recognize God’s Spirit: Every person who declares that Jesus Christ has come as a human has the Spirit that is from God. But every person who doesn’t declare that Jesus Christ has come as a human has a spirit that isn’t from God. This is the spirit of the anti-christ that you have heard is coming. That spirit is already in the world.
4 JESUS CHRIST: WHO IS HE?
Pastor Larry C Cobb
Redeeming Light Ministries
Houston, Texas
Jesus did not raise himself from the dead. He could not. He was cut off from the source of physical life and the source of spiritual life. “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Jesus from the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you''. ( Romans 8:11 ) God by his Spirit raised up Jesus from the dead. In order for Jesus to be dead both spiritually and physically, God had to forsake him. And Jesus had to go along with it, which he did when he said , “ into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Luke ( 23:46 ) He gave up his spiritual life. He separated himself from on purpose. He was taking our place. He was becoming us so that we could become him. God could not have separated himself from God. Jesus is not God; he is a mam and he is the Son of God born a man. God is his Father and God is his God. God was his source and is his source and always will be his source. God is the source of all spiritual life. It all comes from God. The channel is from God, through Jesus, to us.
There are those who teach that Jesus is God incarnate, the problem I have with that, there is no scriptures to support that teaching. Satan has two weapons: fear and ignorance. They work together. If I am ignorant of my true identity then I will experience fear in the tests and trials of life. Fear gives the devil authority because it says, the word of God is not true. If I am ignorant of my true identity I become a sitting duck for Satan to pick off at will. If, however, I am armed with the truth of God's word, knowing full well my heritage and my origins and my identity as a full-blooded sibling of Jesus and child of God, I cannot fall and I cannot fail. Jesus is the Son of God born a man. If Jesus is God, who died on the cross? If God died then Satan won. If Jesus the man did not die, you are not saved. ( Romans 5: 9-11 )The blood of Christ has made us right with God. So we are even more sure that Jesus will save us from God’s anger. Once we were God’s enemies. But we have been brought back to him because his Son has died for us. Now that God has brought us back, we are even more secure. We know that we will be saved because Christ lives. And that is not all. We are full of joy in God because of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of him, God has brought us back to himself.
5 JESUS CHRIST: WHO IS HE?
Pastor Larry C Cobb
Redeeming Light Ministries
Houston, Texas
Deuteronomy 18: 18 – 19 I will raise up for them a prophet like you. He will be one of their own people. I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him to say. The prophet will speak in my name. But someone might not listen to what I say through the prophet. I will hold that person responsible for not listening.
John 1: 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the Law. The prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Acts 3: 22 – 23 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.’ Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.
1 Timothy 2: 5 – 7 There is one God. There is also one mediator between God and humans—a human, Christ Jesus. He sacrificed himself for all people to free them from their sins. This message is valid for every era. I was appointed to spread this Good News and to be an apostle to teach people who are not Jewish about faith and truth. I’m telling you the truth. I’m not lying.
Hebrews 4: 14 We have a great high priest. He has gone up into heaven. He is Jesus the Son of God. So let us hold firmly to what we say we believe.
Every high priest is chosen from humans to represent them in front of God, that is, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin.
6 JESUS CHRIST: WHO IS HE?
Pastor Larry C Cobb
Redeeming Light Ministries
Houston, Texas
Hebrews 5: 1 – 5 Every high priest is chosen from among the people. He is appointed to act for the people. He acts for them in whatever has to do with God. He offers gifts and sacrifices for their sins. Some people have gone astray without knowing it. He is able to deal gently with them. He can do that because he himself is weak. That’s why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins. He must also do it for the sins of the people. And no one can take this honor for himself. Instead, he
receives it when he is appointed by God. That is just how it was for Aaron. It was the same for Christ. He did not take for himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.”
1 John4: 1 – 3 Don’t believe all people who say that they have the Spirit. Instead, test them. See whether the spirit they have is from God, because there are many false prophets in the world. This is how you can recognize God’s Spirit: Every person who declares that Jesus Christ has come as a human has the Spirit that is from God. But every person who doesn’t declare that Jesus Christ has come as a human has a spirit that isn’t from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that you have heard is coming. That spirit is already in the world.
John 14: 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.
Isaiah 53: 3 He was despised and rejected a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.