In Genesis 12, the Bible records two promises made by God to a man named Abram (later God renamed him Abraham). “Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'”
The first promise was kept when God established the nation of Israel. The Israelites left Egypt, gained their sovereignty and dwelt in the land of Canaan, a land that had also been promised by God.
The second promise was what has been referred to as the Messianic promise. For generations the Jews looked for the one through which “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Over 2,000 years ago a man was born in the city of Bethlehem that many believe to be the One referred to in that promise to Abraham. His name is Jesus, and he was born in the small village of Bethlehem. He is famous the world over. Over the past 2,000 years billions have claimed Him as their Messiah. The question we want to ask, and answer in this video cast – is this Jesus, born in Bethlehem long ago, the Messiah of the world?
He certainly claimed he was. In John 14:6, we find one version of this claim. Jesus said to one of his disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
In other videocasts we will talk about what it means to be the Messiah, or the Savior of the world. We will discuss why a Savior is needed, why Jesus is the only one who can claim that status, and why each of us need to personally submit to Him as Our own Lord and Savior.
But now, we ask, “Should we believe His claim?” My answer is “Yes” and I want to quickly tell you why. The reason? Jesus Christ, after his death on the cross, was resurrected from the dead!
While there are other proofs we could supply, this is the main one. The apostle Peter, after telling the Jews at the Temple in Acts 2 that God has raised Jesus from the dead, finished his sermon in verse 36 by saying, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Now, how do we know this claim that Jesus was resurrected is true? Simple… We have eyewitnesses to the fact. As Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:16, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” Peter’s reference here was to the resurrected Lord. He saw him, and because he saw Him, we can be assured that Jesus Christ is the one!
Now, I know that some of you may doubt we can trust these eyewitnesses. I contend we can. We are out of time for today, but I would like you to do something for me. Please read about the life of one particular witness. His name was Saul of Tarsus. He is perhaps the most important witness of Jesus’ Resurrection, because his testimony is absolutely unimpeachable. This is something we will talk about on our next video.
Is Jesus the Messiah? The eyewitnesses say, Yes, He Is! And God Himself testified that He is the One promised, by raising Him from the dead. Praise God, we have a Savior… His name is Jesus.
