• What Does Jesus Look Like?
• Why Do We Need to Believe in Jesus?
• #1 The Word that Became Flesh
• #2 Fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophecy
• #3 Jesus Promises the Time of the Second Coming
• Result of Believing in Jesus
• Conclusion-Why Do You Believe in Jesus?

As Christians, the core of our religious belief is accepting, believing, and having a good relationship with Jesus Christ as the way to salvation. However, living a life of faith is an everyday duty. Though we are sure that there’s glory in the end, it is undeniable that it is not an easy path to take. So, how are we going to make that relationship with God and Christ alive, every day?

Like our relationship with our loved ones in this physical realm, we invest time and effort to keep that relationship and make it even more meaningful. Would it be the same with our relationship with Jesus? What exactly should we do for Him to acknowledge us as His believers when He comes back? 

In this article, ‘Why do you believe in Jesus?‘, we will dive deeper into His identity according to the words of the Bible. We will know the importance of believing in Him, how to understand, obey, and keep His word, and, the outcome of those who believe in Him.

Who is Jesus?

Born in Bethlehem by the Virgin Mary through the conception of the holy spirit, Jesus came to this earth 2,000 years ago. He had His first preaching of the good news in Galilee and performed His first miracle by turning the water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana (John 2:1-11). 

During His ministry, he had 12 disciples namely Peter, Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him and was later replaced by Matthias. At the time of the first coming, the 12 disciples were aiding Jesus in spreading the gospel throughout the land by preaching it to the people.

Known as the Savior, Messiah, or Christ, Jesus is regarded as the key figure of Christianity. Not only is He known for these names, but also, the Holy Bible refers to Him by other names such as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29); the Cornerstone rejected by many (Psalms 118:22); the True Vine (John 15:15); the Son of God (Mark 3:11), Son of Man (Matthew 20:28), and the Bread of Life that came from Heaven (John 6:51) to mention a few.

What Does Jesus Look Like?

While the scripture calls Him the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), His physical appearance at the time of His first coming is the complete opposite of how a king should look like. He is described as someone without beauty or majesty to attract people to Him (Isaiah 53:2). 

Why Do We Need to Believe in Jesus?

Jesus came to this earth mighty but not as a grandiose king that the people, particularly the believers during that time were expecting. He had a sword, but it was not a physical one, rather the word of God was described as a double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). Their expectations of how the promised Messiah will come and how he looks are way too far from reality. Hence, their understanding of the promise and what the actual entity of it was like heaven and earth.

It is the reason why the majority of the people at that time did not believe and accept Jesus as the Messiah promised by God, whose life was written in the books of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms (Luke 24:44). People did not understand the promise of God (prophecy) and instead made their interpretations of it, which resulted in their unbelief of the fulfillment. As the Bible says, He came to which was His own but His own did not receive Him (John 1:11).

These interpretations and teachings of men of the promises of God in His word are the main reasons why Christianity today has gotten so divisive in terms of denominations, beliefs, understanding, and whatnot. 

As a believer of Christ, have it not crossed your mind why there are so many different religions out there when we only believe in and serve one God? I think this is something we should reflect on and ponder.

How do we know that Jesus is the one God promised in the Old Testament?

#1 The Word that Became Flesh

It may not be as common a notion as the names referring to Jesus mentioned above, but the best description that we can refer to Jesus is the word that became flesh (John 1:14), which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched (1 John 1:1).

In other words, Jesus was once a word written in the scriptures but came years later as flesh to fulfill what the scriptures said about Him (John 19:30). 

#2 Fulfillment of the Old Testament Prophecy

It means that Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise of God in the Old Testament— the promised Messiah or Savior that God prophesied through His servants, the prophets that He would send to His people to save them from their sins. 

With all the prophecies that had been fulfilled, we can say that God is alive and faithful to all His promises. Thus, believing in the promise of God and its fulfillment, who was Jesus at the time of the first coming, must be the core of their faith. Unfortunately, it was something that they failed to keep at that time, as seen in the 6,000-year biblical history. 

#3 Jesus Promises the Time of the Second Coming

As Christians living in this time, which we all believe and agree is the time of the second coming of Jesus, we need to have a discerning heart and be sure of our faith. As recorded in the Bible, Jesus promised a second coming and even established a new covenant using His precious blood on the night of the Passover (Luke 22:14-20).

But what is this new covenant that Jesus made with His blood? And how important is it to keep by all the believers in our time today? 

The new covenant that Jesus established 2,000 years ago using His blood is inscribing the law of God in the hearts and minds of the people (Hebrews 8:10-12). Writing this law in our hearts and minds is the only way to achieve our hope as believers, to attain salvation and eternal life.

Since Jesus made this promise, we know and believe that it will surely be fulfilled at the appointed time. And at the time of its fulfillment, it was mentioned that there will be a Passover food that can be eaten again as written in Luke 22:16. But what is this Passover food that Jesus was referring to? 

Result of Believing in Jesus

The prophecies made and written in the four gospels and the book of Revelation are for us to believe and keep. But to do that, we need to know and understand these prophecies. But how are we going to know and understand them? It is by studying the word of God. However, one can’t learn the word of God if no one teaches him, just like what happened to the Ethiopian Eunuch encountered by Apostle Phillip (Acts 8:26-40). 

Therefore, we must go to the one who can teach us the meaning of the prophecies described in the New Testament Bible. Because if we think of it, no one can keep a promise if, in the first place, he doesn’t understand or even know what it is.

Hence, everything boils down to knowing, understanding, and believing the word of God and Jesus for us to keep the New Covenant. In this way, we can enter the kingdom of heaven promised in the Bible. And it is through studying the word using the Bible as our only reference and standard that one can know, understand, and keep it.

Conclusion-Why Do You Believe in Jesus?

As believers whose faith is anchored on the word of God and Jesus, whose hope is to attain the kingdom of heaven, salvation, and eternal life, understanding the word must be a priority of all believers and be regarded with high importance as if our life depends on it. It should not be something we only choose to do out of compulsion—without knowing the very purpose of why we’re doing it. Our faith and its foundation must be clear to us not to be deceived and be able to keep the kind of faith that God and Jesus acknowledge. 

We need to understand that there is a faith that believers should possess at the time of the second coming of Jesus otherwise, Jesus would’ve not asked if He’ll be able to find faith when He returns (Luke 18:8), considering there are millions of believers in the world today.