Skip to content Beth Jones - Who is Jesus Jul 24 · 26 min ...more
July 24, 2022 · 26 min · Pray TV
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Beth Jones is a Bible teacher and founder of The Basics With Beth, a non-profit Christian teaching ministry dedicated to helping people learn the Bible basics.
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0:00 Hi, guys. I'm Beth Jones, and welcome to the basics with Beth where learning God's word is a joy. And I just wanna say we are so honored to be with you right here on pray0:12 dot com. In every message, we will do our best to teach you the bible basics in such a way that it strengthens your faith foundation. In addition,0:24 I want to empower and equip you so that you have confidence to share these Bible basics with others. So lean in and listen with your heart. If you'd like to know more0:36 about our ministry, just go to the basics with beth dot com and get all the scoop. With all of that said, now let's jump into today's message.0:48 We are kicking off this global getting a grip on the basics teaching, And we're gonna spend a number of episodes together as we go through1:00 a book, really, that I wrote 30 some years ago. It's called getting a grip on the basics. And we're gonna do our best to help you and those that you invite to join you1:11 really truly dig into the bible. Let's get a grip on the basics of the bible, the basics of our faith, and let's get stirred up again in maybe some really basic things we once knew, but we've we've let them1:23 lapse, and god wants us to return. Jesus wants us to return to our first love. So before I jump into session 1, let's talk about who is this for. Okay. This is for1:35 you, of course. This is also for those of you seeking, and you're like, god, are you real? Do you exist? I need an answer. Well, this is your answer. It's also for those of you that are new Christians, you're new1:46 believers, and maybe you're not really well versed in the bible, and it's all new to you. Man, perfect timing to help you get established in the basics of the bible. And then what about you seasoned believers? You've1:58 been a Christian for a long time. Listen. This is for you too because not only will it strengthen your foundation and get you pumped up again in your faith, it's also for you to get equipped to help someone else, to do2:09 just what Jesus said, make disciples of all nations. So some of the tools that you're gonna need to do this and so that we can do this together is obviously, a, number 1, a2:21 good bible, a well worn bible or a brand new bible, but grab your bible. And then you might wanna grab a cup of coffee and, get something to drink and join us. And then if you'd like to get the2:33 workbook, it's not necessary. It's not required, but I think it'll help you getting a grip on the basics. You can simply go to the basics with beth dot t v and order yours there. We also have them for kids and for2:44 students. So if you wanna do it as a family, that's awesome. If you wanna take your grandkids through it, that's awesome. Then this is the thing I'm so excited about. If you speak another language, if you're watching us2:55 from another part of the world, the Getting a Grip on the Basics book has been translated into numerous languages, over 15 to I think it's 17 languages now. And so we have a free3:07 download for you. You can download the whole book in another language like Farsi, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish,3:19 Russian, Vietnamese, Thai. If you're from the Philippines, it's in the Waray language. If you're from Pakistan, it's in Urdu. I mean, it's just so cool that God has touched the book and put it on3:31 people's hearts around the world to translate it. And so I would love it. It will be so fun globally to do this together. No matter what language you speak, if we have it in your language, please download it, and3:43 we're gonna jump in here in just a minute. Again, as we've said, the reason this is so important is because we're in a culture where people don't know the bible, and they don't know how the dots connect, you know, and3:53 all the things we've been talking about. But but once they do connect, we have seen fruit, y'all. We have seen such great fruit in people's lives when they're not living the roller coaster Christian life. They're not4:04 sort of feeling like, I don't really know how any of this makes sense, and they and they know very little of what the Bible says and how God's principles and truths work, really truly work in their lives. But,4:16 man, once the dots connect, once people know what they know, we have seen tremendous fruit. And that's what I'm so excited about for you, the fruit that's gonna be the result of our time together. Okay? So you4:27 pumped up? Got your bible? Got your coffee? Got your notepad? We're gonna jump right in to how to be sure you're a Christian. How in the world can you be certain you're a Christian? Is it by4:39 being born in America? Is it by just being born on earth? Is it by choice? How do you know for sure you're a Christian? And the truth is, this is the most4:51 important piece of knowledge and decision you will ever make. How does the bible say? What did Jesus say about what it means to be a Christian? What's the true definition5:03 and way, the means by which we become a Christian? So we're gonna jump into the bible and see what it says. Let's start with first John 5. Okay? First John 5 verse 11 says, and this is the5:14 testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. So God has given us eternal life. We're talking about how to be sure you're a Christian, how to be sure that you're5:26 saved, how to be sure that you know for certain where you will go when you die. Like, it possible to know for sure? That's what we're talking about. So it goes on to say in first John 5, it says this, he who5:38 has the son has the life. He who does not have the son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the son of God, that you may5:50 know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ. Listen. You can know. I love the word know there. It doesn't say that you can6:02 hope, that you can wish, that you can wonder. It says you can know for certain that you have eternal life. And if I were to ask you the question, you know, when you think about where will you go when you die, when you6:13 leave planet Earth, are you 100 percent certain that you have eternal life? Man, I remember when I was a kid, I remember, especially as a 6 year old kid, this is etched in my mind, I remember6:25 waking up 1 night absolutely terrified because I began to think about eternity, and I began to think about where will I go, and I didn't know. I hoped. I wondered. It scared me. I mean,6:37 honestly, I just had no clue. Then over the course of my life, in later years, I found out what the Bible says about how we can know for certain we have eternal life. And this verse tells us, he who has the son,6:48 Jesus, has the life. You can know for certain you have eternal life. But he who does not have the son does not have eternal life, which I hope puts an impetus in you, a motivation in you,7:00 an imperative for evangelism in you to go, man, I wanna help people know. I wanna help people know what they don't know. It's the good news of the gospel. So let's talk about then7:12 some definitions. And actually, throughout the book, we're gonna look at different bible definitions, you know, what do some of these bible words mean? But this 1 word here, you can know that you have eternal life. What7:22 is eternal life? And this I think you're gonna love. Okay? It's basic, but it may be a little angle on it you've not seen before. This word eternal life, when you think about it of you know, I mentioned this in our7:34 introduction in our last episode, but when you think about eternal life, what comes to your mind? What's the definition for you? And often people say, well, eternal life means to live forever, to7:45 1 day when I die, I get to go to heaven and be with Jesus. And that's true. That is true. You get to live forever, which is a mind blowing thought. Seriously. If y'all ever just stop for a minute to think about it, like,7:57 to live forever, like, okay. Pretend I'm in heaven, and now I'm living forever. Okay. There goes 1000 years. Boom. There goes 1000000 years. Woah. There's 10000000008:09 years. Oh, there's another billion. Well, how about another million? I mean, it just doesn't end. So when you compare that to our 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 years on planet Earth, it is no wonder.8:21 The Bible says our life on Earth is a vapor compared to this eternity that we get to experience with God. Talking about the definition for eternal life. Well, it's true then, the8:32 qualitative piece of living with the Lord for eternity is amazing. But let's talk about another bible definition of this phrase, this word, eternal life. It is the qualitative piece. When8:44 Jesus talked about eternal life, in fact he said, and we'll get to it, that he came to give us abundant life. He was talking about the qualitative and the quantitative piece both pieces of it. Sometimes we8:56 forget there's a qualitative piece, that when Jesus becomes the lord of your life, you have the life now. You have access to this qualitative life on earth because Jesus is the lord of your life. And9:08 we're gonna see throughout our study together what that's even supposed to look like. Because for a lot of us, man, we have set the bar so low. For a lot of us, we did not know how good God was. We had no idea what was9:19 included in all of his blessings, all of his goodness, and what he wanted to do to you and through you to be a blessing. And so I know you're gonna get excited as we get into the details on that. But that's the9:31 definition for eternal life. It's the qualitative and the quantitative piece, meaning this. Okay? This is the key. Drum roll. This is it. You do not get eternal life when you die.9:43 You get eternal life. You receive eternal life when you believe. As soon as Jesus becomes the lord of your life let's say you're 22 years old. Jesus becomes the lord of your life. You now have eternal life.9:55 You gonna live your life, live your life, live your life, live your life, and then 1 day, you're gonna die and go be with the lord. Okay? In this space right here, this is called your life on earth. There's a qualitative10:05 dimension to the eternal life you have received and that we're gonna study in the basics. That is awesome. Then later, of course, into eternity, yes, you're gonna enjoy eternal life forever10:17 after. Okay. Did you did you see that? Now here's the question. Do you know for certain, as we just we're in chapter 1 here, how to be sure you're a Christian. Do you know for sure that you're a Christian?10:29 And if you can say, yes, absolutely. My second question would be, how do you know for certain? Which, of course, we're gonna cover. But you might be out there, and if I asked you, do you know for sure you're a Christian?10:39 You might go, I don't know. I don't know for sure. I don't know for sure that I have eternal life. Okay. Well, you've come to the right place. Because by the end of this lesson chapter 1, session 1, you're gonna10:50 know. You're gonna know for sure. Okay? So let's jump in then to the fundamental question when it comes to being a Christian, and that is, who is Jesus? Who is this Jesus? Because11:02 here's what we're gonna discover. In our study of the basics and studying the bible, in our faith, it's gonna boil down to 2 things. It always does. It always boils down to 2 things, and here are the 2 things. Who do you11:14 say Jesus is? That's the first thing. It always boils down to Jesus. And number 2, what do you believe about the bible? What do you believe about God's living, active word, the bible?11:25 And if we can get the basics on those 2 things, which we will, man, I'm telling you that will absolutely those will be cornerstones in your foundation. Those will be the corner pieces to this puzzle, this11:37 redemptive jigsaw puzzle that we're gonna study together. So who is Jesus? Well, we have to find out what did Jesus say about himself, what did others say about Jesus, and then ultimately, what do you say about Jesus?11:49 But here's why it's important, because Jesus made some he made some amazing claims. Jesus claimed to be God, and we're gonna see that. He didn't claim to be a religious teacher. He didn't claim to be a12:00 rabbi, although he was all of those things. He didn't claim just to be some religious guy who had a message from God. He did not claim that. He claimed to be God in the flesh on the earth that he12:12 created. So were those claims true, or were they not? Okay. So let's look at this. Jesus claimed to be God. Okay. So in John 4 verse 25 and 26, if you've got your Bibles, go12:24 ahead and open up to your old fashioned paper Bible. Or if it's on your phone or iPad, open up, and let's read some of these together, and you can take notes as we go. The woman at the well story. So the woman12:36 came to Jesus, and she said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to12:47 you am he. So this lady at the this woman at the well, she says to Jesus, hey, Jesus. We're We're having a conversation at the well, and you seem to know a lot about my life. I don't know how you12:59 know all this stuff, but you seem to know a lot about my life. And she tries to get religious on Jesus, actually. In this story, she tries to go religious on him. And she says, oh, our fathers worshiped at this mountain,13:08 and I'm religious and everything too. And he said to her and oh, then she tried to she tried to act like she knew a lot about the Messiah. Oh, well, when the Messiah comes, he's gonna tell us everything. And Jesus was13:19 like, okay. I'm gonna call your bluff. And he says to her, I who speak to you am he. And literally, little rabbit trail for some of you that like to study the details of the bible. When you see the word see13:31 a word in italics in your bible, what that means, whether it's the King James, the New King James, or some other version, it means that that word was not in the literal Greek language. The translators put it in there so13:43 that it would make more sense, and most of the time it does. In this case, though, you get a little insight when Jesus says to this woman, I that speak unto you am he, while the word he is in italics.13:55 So really, literally, Jesus says to this woman at the well, hey, lady. I that speak unto you, I am. Well, doesn't that sound familiar? Do you remember the Old14:07 Testament story when Moses was having the encounter with God at the burning bush? And Moses said, Lord, who do I say sent me? And the Lord said, just tell them, I am sent you. Jesus is making a profound14:19 statement here of who he was. I am. I am the lord god almighty that has stepped out of heaven, taken on a human body, and come to Earth. I am the messiah is what he's saying to this woman at the well. Jesus'14:31 testimony about himself. What else? This is great. Look at this in John 10 30. Okay? Jesus said in John 10 30, he said to the he was saying this to the Jews. He was having14:43 a conversation with the Jews, he said, I and my father are 1. Well, to us, it's like, okay. Well, interesting. But to the Jews hearing that, that was that was a profound statement because actually, when he made that14:54 statement, he is making himself equal with God, which under Jewish law is blasphemy. You can't do that. You can't make yourself out to be God unless, of course, you are god. So but to15:06 them, it was blasphemy. So then Jesus said this in, if you go over to John 5. Okay? I want you to see what Jesus said about himself, but then what did the15:18 others say about Jesus per this comment. John 5 verse 18 and also, chapter 10 verse 33. We'll look at both of these. Therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath,15:30 but he also said that God was his father making himself equal with God. The Jews answered him saying, for good work we don't stone you, but for blasphemy because you, a mere man, make yourself out15:41 to be God. In other words, they wanted to stone him for blasphemy. Now it was absolutely clear to the Jews that Jesus was making the claim that he was God. And the reason this is important is because sometimes people15:53 say, oh, well, Jesus never claimed to be God. He claimed to be a religious teacher or a rabbi, but the truth is he did claim to be God. So we have to deal with his claim. Either he was God or he was an absolute16:05 lunatic or liar. And so we need to decide which 1 is it. Because if he is god, then we have to respond to who we claim to be. The Jews knew he was making that claim to16:17 be god. Then go to John chapter 1. Okay? So what did others say about Jesus in John 1? John the writer of the Gospel of John wrote these words. He said, in the beginning was16:28 the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Well, who's the word? Verse 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his16:40 glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Jesus was the word made flesh, and he and John said, in the beginning was the word. Jesus existed long before his16:52 birth on earth. Long before his birth in the manger, Jesus existed from eternity past with the father. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. Yes. And the word was17:04 God. And the word became flesh. So clearly, I mean, a clear articulation that Jesus was God and is God. What did Jesus say about himself? What did others say about himself? What did what17:16 did doubting Thomas say? Okay? Let's look at this. John 20 verses 25 through 28. The other disciples therefore said to him, to Thomas, we've seen the Lord. So Thomas said to them, unless I see in his17:28 hands the print of the nails and put my finger in his side, I will not believe. After 8 8 days, his disciples were gathered together again inside, and Thomas was with them. Then Jesus came17:39 in the doors came in, the doors being shut. Jesus walked through a wall in his resurrected body. And he stood in their midst and said, peace to you. Then he said to Thomas, reach your finger here17:51 and look at my hands, and reach your hand here and put it in my side. Do not be unbelieving, but be believing. Now get this. This is the key for what we're talking about. And Thomas answered him and said, my18:03 Lord and my God. What did others say about Jesus? Well, Thomas, doubting Thomas. Maybe some of us can relate to being a daddy Thomas at a certain season of life. When he saw Jesus,18:15 he put his hands in the nail prints and in his side, and then his response was, my lord and my god. He declared Jesus was his lord and his god. Now if Jesus18:26 wasn't god, this would have been the perfect opportunity for Jesus to set the record straight. To say, Thomas, no. What are you thinking? No, Thomas. I'm just a rabbi. I'm just a religious leader. Oh, man. You've got18:38 this all wrong. I'm not god. But, no, Jesus received the worship as god because he is. Amen? So do you see it's really important? I know we spent a little time on this, but, boy, it's so important that we get18:49 established in who Jesus is. Okay? Now let's talk about why did he come. So Jesus came for a purpose. What was his purpose? You're gonna memorize this verse throughout our time together19:01 whether you want to or not. I guarantee it. John 10 10, the thief comes not except to steal and to kill and to destroy. Jesus said this, I have come that you may have life and that you may have19:13 it more abundantly. The amplified bible says that you'd have life and to the full until it overflows. In other words, Jesus said, look, the thief came to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy has a plan. The litmus19:25 test, to know if it's the enemy or the lord is, did something come into your life to steal, kill, and destroy? Your relationships, your marriage, your health, your peace of mind, your job? Well, if it came to steal,19:36 kill, and destroy, Jesus has told us, he's given us the litmus test, it's not from him. It's from the enemy. It's from the thief. But he clearly stated his purpose. I have19:48 come. The reason I came, y'all, is to give you life and life more abundantly. Well, that's eternal life. Of course, that's what we're talking about, eternal life, the qualitative20:00 and the quantitative piece. So my question is this, how then do we define abundant life? What does that look like, especially in this qualitative piece of it in our lives on20:11 earth? We know heaven's gonna be abundant and amazing. But while we're on earth, how is it we're to live out and experience this abundant life, and what does it look like? Well, abundance of peace, of joy, of love, of20:23 patience, of kindness, all the fruit of the spirit. Abundance of God's goodness to us, God's goodness through us. Abundance in our lives, spirit, soul, and body. I mean, this is this is this amazing goodness of God.20:35 But let's make it practical, because I want you to see when God uses this word, when Jesus uses the word abundance, he is talking about something serious like overflow, like superior in quality20:47 and in quantity. So abundance. Some some examples God's given us in nature. Okay? Through nature, the Bible tells us we can we can understand the Godhead and God's character.20:58 Alright. So let's look at an apple orchard. Here in Michigan, we are big apple orchard people up here. Lots of apple orchards. And maybe where you are, there's a particular fruit they grow a lot of. So imagine that. If21:10 you go to the apple orchard, then in peak season in the fall, man, the apple trees are loaded with apples. And do you know that those apples, when they get ripe, if they're not picked, they drop21:22 to the ground? And if you go visit the apple orchard with your kids in the fall, you will notice apples, apples everywhere. On the trees, in baskets, people have picked, and then hundreds and thousands of apples21:34 have dropped to the ground. They're rotting. No 1 is gonna eat them. No 1 is gonna use them for apple cider or applesauce. They're just rotting. We walk through the apple orchard in our human thinking, and we might go,21:46 wow. What a waste. Look at all these apples that just went to waste. The tree's loaded. The baskets are loaded, but, wow, all these apples on the ground are wasted. That's how we define it. But do you know what? God21:57 defines it as, no. That's abundance. That's how I that's how I define abundance. There's always overflow. There's more than enough. God is not freaking out that some of the apples are rotting. He's like, this is how22:09 I set up my kingdom, y'all. This is how I set up my creation. So, yes, should we be frugal? Should we be good stewards of everything we have? Of course. Absolutely. But at the very same time, if you have this lack22:20 mindset, and there's just so much, and there's not enough to go around. You need to get a new paradigm. You need to get a bible paradigm of why Jesus he came for a purpose to give you abundant life, abundant life.22:32 And then in case we didn't get it, he he he reiterated it, and life more abundantly. He wants us to get that he is so good that in every area of your life, he wants you blessed with abundance. And when you're22:44 blessed with abundance, when something comes to you, then you can let it go through you and be a blessing to others. Amen. And finally, what do we know about Jesus? We know that he rose from the dead.22:57 We know that Jesus claimed to be God, Jesus came for a purpose, and Jesus rose from the dead. The thing that gives validity to all of this is that he didn't stay in the grave. He's alive. He's alive23:08 today, seated at the right hand of the father. Jesus rose from the dead. And we know from first Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul wrote this and said after the resurrection, over 500 people saw23:20 him, in addition to the disciples. Over 500 people saw him after the resurrection. So it is documented. And in fact, a great book you might wanna read is a book by Josh23:32 McDowell called Evidence That Demands a Verdict or More Than a Carpenter, where he literally proved biblically and historically that the resurrection is a fact of history. So23:43 who is Jesus? What does it mean to be a Christian? How can I be certain I'm a Christian? Very simple. We go back to that very first verse. He who has the son has the life. He who23:55 does not have the son of God does not have the life. I've written these things to you, the apostle John said, so that you may know that you have eternal life. Listen. If you've never invited Jesus to be the24:07 lord of your life, let's do it right now. We'll we'll pray this prayer numerous times throughout our our study together, but let's just do it right now. Say it with me. Say, Jesus, I believe. And right now, I invite24:19 you to be the lord of my life. I know you're gonna explain a lot more to me. I'm gonna learn a lot more. But right now, in this minute, Jesus, I invite you to be the lord of my life. Come into my heart. From24:31 this moment forward, I am so thankful that you forgive all of my sins, and I am now a Christian. I declare from this moment forward, I'm a Christian. Jesus is the lord of my life.24:43 Amen. You know, if you prayed that from your heart, man, he hurt you. And right now, it's been a game changer for you. You are now a Christian. And in our future episodes, listen, we're gonna drill down a lot24:55 deeper, talk more about what does it mean to be a Christian, and what about this abundant life? About this qualitative life that he has now given you? So hope you enjoyed today. Got a good25:07 kickoff to the global, getting a grip on the basics, and I'll see you in our next episode next time. Alright? God bless. Hey. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you were25:19 encouraged. Be sure to hit the follow button so you can binge on all the bible basics throughout the week and stay encouraged in your faith. And don't forget to share these messages with25:30 your friends. If you'd like more information about our ministry, you can always go to the basics with beth dot com. That's the basics with beth dot com. It's been great to be with you, and I will25:42 look forward to seeing you next time right here on pray dot com.
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