He was of Jewish ethnicity, born in Bethlehem to a woman named Mary. Like his adoptive father Joseph, he was a carpenter by profession. When he was 12 he got lost in the temple in Jerusalem. After three days his parents found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, amazing them in turn with his understanding and his answers. Little is known about his boyhood, except that he was said to have increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. He began his public ministry at age 30, teaching and preaching about the Kingdom of God. He healed people too, turned water into wine, multiplied fish and loaves of bread, calmed a storm, and raised at least three people back from the dead. He had twelve disciples, one of whom betrayed him. He died at age 33, crucified to a cross in Calvary. Three days later, the tomb where he was buried was found empty. He was seen by his disciples and over 500 others, walking the earth, for a period of 40 days thereafter.
He is God the Son, the second person of the Trinitarian Godhead along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Through Him, for Him, and by Him, everything was created and He holds everything together. He humbly came down from heaven, wrapped in human flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin named Mary. He came and lived among us on a mission to reveal God the Father to a lost world and save mankind. He did this by living a perfect, sinless life, and then demonstrating God’s greatest love for us through his obedient sacrifice on the cross, becoming our substitute, paying the penalty for our sin. In that moment, a beautiful exchange took place, such that Jesus was considered by God as sin, and we in turn were regarded by God as His very righteousness. After three days, Jesus resurrected from the dead, conquering sin and defeating hell. Jesus’ death satisfied God’s wrath, making us right with God, freeing us to draw near to Him and to live the right way. He physically ascended into heaven to appear before God as our Advocate, and sits at the right hand of God the Father where He reigns as head of the church and intercedes for us always. He is coming again, in bodily form, to judge the living and the dead. When He returns He will rule and reign on earth for all eternity as King over all.
We embrace Him as our God, Savior, King, Treasure, and Greatest Reward. He is the salvation of all who believe and put their trust in Him alone. He is the hope of a restored world that was ravaged by the effects of humanity’s rebellion against God. And His glory is the chief end of all creation.
Jesus is our deepest joy, our greatest prize, and our only boast. As Paul says, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14) .
And so we pray that in everything we do as a church, that we would truly be ALL ABOUT JESUS, and that we would boast only in the Cross. We pray that we would proclaim His gospel in love as we were loved, in joy for the joy of all peoples, as we glory in Him for His glory alone.