Muslims are trained to ask Christians the same old questions. If Jesus is God where did He say worship me? All we need to do is examine Jesus own claims not what others said about him, but what he said about himself. Jesus claimed equality with God. In John 5:17-18, Jesus equated his own work with that of the Father. He professed to be something more than a man: You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world (John 8:23). In fact, Jesus even claimed to be God. During a discussion about the heritage of Abraham, he remarked, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58). His opponents surely recognized I AM as the name by which God identified himself when he sent Moses to Egypt (Exod. 3:14). On another occasion Jesus said, I and the Father are one (John 10:30). If he was just a man, then his words were nothing short of blasphemy! Jesus claimed power to forgive sins. In front of a large crowd, he said to a paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven you (Lk. 5:20). Jesus wasnt pardoning this fellow for some personal offense; he was pronouncing forgiveness for all the mans transgressions against God. This angered the Jewish leaders, who knew that no one but God himself could forgive sins (v. 21). Jesus statement would have been laugh-able, had it not been so serious. Jesus claimed to be the path to salvation. In contrast to many religious philosophers, Jesus bluntly said that only he could bring people into a right relationship with God. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). He claimed to be the sole source of truth in the world: I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life (John 8:12). Very arrogant statements for a mere man! Jesus claimed sinlessness. He asked his enemies, Which of you convicts me of sin? (John 8:46) Jesus professed to have no moral defect. For any ordinary man to do so would be impossible; to say so would be openly hypocritical. Jesus claimed to be the Christ. Gods prophets had promised Israel a deliverer, his anointed one. The Jews called him Messiah. Jesus said, I who speak to you am he (John 4:26). Many people who heard Jesus believed that he was the prophesied Savior. His closest disciples believed it. When he asked them who they thought he was, Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). Jesus blessed him for saying so. If Jesus was not the Messiah, then he played falsely on the dreams of an entire nation. Jesus claimed to be atonement for sin. Jesus said that when he died his life would be a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28), and his blood would be shed for many for the re-mission of sins (Matt. 26:28). He declared that his death would be the sacrifice before God that would make possible the forgiveness of all mens sins. Imagine a man saying that his life could atone for the wrongs of the whole world! Surely such a man would be a fanatic. Yet Jesus not only said it, but apparently believed it himself, because he willingly died for his claim.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 16:13:42 +0000
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