Who Is Jesus?

by Jack Wellman · Print Print · Email Email

It depends on who you ask when you ask them who Jesus was.  Most everyone in the world has heard about Jesus Christ but depending on their beliefs or culture, they have differing views of just Who Jesus was and is.


What Buddhists Believe About Jesus

Buddhists believe that He was very influential but that He was not divine; that is that He was not God.  They emphasize the “was” not God and not “is” not God indicating that they do not believe that He is still alive today.  They believe that He did do some good things like healing the sick and feeding the poor but since Buddhists do not believe that the Bible is true, they believe that He did not come into the world as a baby, was born of a virgin, lived, died, and was resurrected.

What Muslims Believe About Jesus

Actually, Muslims love Jesus and have high regard for Him.  They do not believe that He was God but consider Him one of the greatest prophets of God.  They actually believe that Jesus was born of a virgin and without a human father.  Just like God created Adam and was without a father or mother, Jesus was created without a father.  Since they believe that Jesus was created He must not therefore be divine although they do believe that He was sent by God and was a messenger of God.

Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified and died as a result.  They think it was someone else who people claimed was Jesus.  They feel that Jesus was brought up to heaven and never tasted death. They do not believe that the story of Jesus on Calvary ever happened even though they believe that Jesus went to heaven and is there today.

What Hindus Believe About Jesus

According to Hinduism, Karma is how mankind is judged and people face the consequences, good or bad, for their decisions.  There can be forgiveness because for every action, there will be consequences, therefore they do not believe in conversion or forgiveness of sins. According to legend, Jesus was said to be in India in the “unknown years”; that is while He was a teenager.  This was well before He began His public ministry.  While He was in India, it was said that He learned to be a guru and later returned to be a guru of the Jews.

Hindus believe that Jesus’ death lead to another reincarnation to another state. They do not believe that He was a God in the strictest sense.  They feel that every human has an inner “god-consciousness.”  Deepak Chopra sums up what most Hindus believe about Jesus: “Christ-consciousness, God-consciousness, Krishna-consciousness, Buddha-consciousness–it’s all the same thing. Rather than ‘Love thy neighbor,’ this consciousness says, ‘You and I are the same beings.'”  Therefore, they do not elevate Jesus above any other human who is alive today or who ever lived except for being a guru.

What Non-Christians Believe About Jesus

Since non-believers do not believe in the Bible, they do not believe that Jesus Christ was actually a real person.  They think that He was created.  Some people think that instead of God creating mankind, mankind created God so they do not hold anything of value in Jesus’ deeds or words.  To the vast majority of non-Christians, the Bible is just mythological, just like Jesus was.

What Peter Believed About Jesus

Jesus Himself asked His disciples who people thought He was in Matthew 16:13-17, “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”

What Christians Believe About Jesus

Christians believe, for the most part, that Jesus was with God before the earth began.  The first chapter of John gives us the beginning of the story before humans were even created.  The first chapter of the Gospel of John (1:1-14) begins even before Genesis chapter one..

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Jesus is called the Word of God and He was with God before the earth existed and was also God Himself.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

Jesus was with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit before the beginning of the earth or humanity.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Clearly, this shows that Jesus Christ was also involved in the creation of all things.   All things is all inclusive.  That is the universe, the earth, plant, animal, and even human life.

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Jesus referred to Himself as the light of mankind.  In Him was life; both created life and eternal life.  In John 8:12 Jesus testifies to this fact, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus has overcome the world and His light goes into the darkness [representing sin and evil] and overcomes it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

God sent John as a “loud voice crying in the wilderness” proclaiming the coming of the Messiah prophesied in Isaiah 40:3 and fulfilled in John 1:23, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.

7 He [John] came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself [John] was not the light; he [John] came only as a witness to the light [Jesus].

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

Jesus is the light of the world.

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

Another testament to Jesus as Creator and fulfilling the prophecy that the world would not recognize Him as the prophesied Messiah as Jesus said in John 5:39, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.”

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

He came to the Jews but the Jews rejected Him and called for His eventual crucifixion.

12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 3:3, 5 “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.  No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus divested Himself of His glory with the Father in Heaven, came to earth in the form of a baby.  In Isaiah 7:14 it prophesied  that His name, Immanuel [which means “God with us“]” tells us that “the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Jesus then lived a perfect, sinless life, paid with His life for the redemption of those who would believe in Him, and was resurrected.  Today He sits at the right hand of the Father, once again in glory.  He directs His church from there.  His atonement on the cross is the all-sufficient, for all-time sacrifice to redeem those who have been born-again, continue to be born-again, and will yet be born-again.  That is who Jesus Is.

Believing in Jesus

If you would like to be born-again, this is how you can.  It is not about repeating a sinner’s prayer, it is not about walking down an aisle, it is not about filling out a Decision Card but about believing in Jesus Christ.

To be born-again, you must believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  To believe is to believe in and not just head knowledge, but heart knowledge.  To believe in Him means to rely on, fully trust in, lean upon, rest in, and obey Him.  He Who is your Lord is one in Whom you obey.  If you believe in the Bible, you can believe that Jesus was with God before the earth existed, left His glory with the Father and was born of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life, died on Calvary for your redemption, and was raised again after three days.  Today He is in heaven and His sacrifice has provided a way for you to come to a saving faith. Being saved is fully a work of God.  No one is saved by works.  No one is saved by their own efforts.  It is by grace alone, in faith alone, by Jesus alone.  It is a gift of God.  I pray that you will come to believe in Jesus Christ, be born-again, and be saved today.

There is no other way to the Father in Heaven except by Jesus Christ alone:

Romans 10:9-10  “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Acts 4:12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Acts 16:30-31what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

John 3:16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Contact us if you have further questions about salvation, or to tell us that you have become a believer in Jesus. Click here to Contact us.



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