What Do Christians Believe About Jesus? Christology 101

What Do Christians Believe About Jesus?

This is a very important question! Over the centuries, many heretical individuals and groups have proposed false claims. We don’t have the liberty to invent answers when it comes the person and work of Jesus. We also can’t simply believe whatever we want or whatever sounds the best to us. If we want to know the truth, we need to go to the primary source. The Bible is the God-inspired, timeless, inerrant, and sufficient standard given so that we “may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing (we) may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

So, what do Christians believe about Jesus? The Bible teaches that Jesus is the eternal Son of God. That, being born of a virgin, He became a man. That He lived a sinless life, perfectly righteous in the eyes of God. That He offered Himself up to God as a spotless sacrifice. That He was executed on a Roman cross, receiving the full weight of God’s wrath for the sins of His people. After dying and being buried, He rose from the grave and ascended into heaven where He is seated as the exalted King of all creation, awaiting the day when He returns to judge the world.

That’s a lot! Let’s take our time and walk through this carefully.

Jesus as God

The man Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:15-20, bold added)

The Bible is clear: Jesus claimed to be God. This is what His earliest followers believed about Him.

Had Jesus only claimed to be another preacher, or another prophet, or another man of God, it’s likely that the Jews of His day wouldn’t have demanded His life. However, His claim went far beyond that; He professed to be the Son of God.

When His disciples asked to see God the Father, Jesus replied:

Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say “Show us the Father?” Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? (John 14:9–10, bold added)

Saul of Tarsus understood this claim of Jesus. His response, at first, was to persecute all who believed in Jesus because Saul thought it was blasphemy. Eventually, Saul of Tarsus was converted to the truth about Jesus. Now known as the Apostle Paul, this man began proclaiming the truth of the divinity of Jesus that he once persecuted.

While defending his proclamation of Christ, the Apostle Paul had this to say about Jesus:

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form. (Colossians 2:9)

Consider that claim for just a moment. The “fullness of Deity” dwelt in Him! Jesus isn’t partially God. He isn’t “godly” or “god-like.” He is God; a member of the Godhead. Namely, the second member of the Trinity, the Son of God.

Many people struggle with the trinitarian nature of God. That’s reasonable; it isn’t an easy thing to understand. However, Christians believe Jesus is co-eternal and co-equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus was (that is, He existed) before all things. By Him all things hold together.

In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word [Jesus] was with God, and the Word [Jesus] was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:1–3, bold added)

It’s important to note that Jesus didn’t have to give up His godhood at His incarnation. Taking on flesh didn’t make Him any less God. We’ll look at this more closely later in the article. For now, let’s recognize that the incarnation of Christ is the single greatest miracle recorded in the Bible.

Jesus was, is, and always will be God.

When His detractors accused Him of blasphemy for making this claim, He responded:

Do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, “You are a blaspheming,” because I [Jesus] said, “I am the Son of God?” If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father. (John 10:36–38)

What do Christian’s believe about Jesus? Christians believe the Bible and the testimony of the Apostles of Jesus when they tell us that Christ is the eternal Son of God.

For more on the deity and pre-existence of Jesus see our articles:

Jesus as Man

As necessary and profound a Christ’s divinity is, we must also recognize His true humanity.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25, bold added)

Thanks to our modern practice of Christmas, the verse above may be very familiar. Sometimes familiar things lose their profundity. However, if we are to think rightly about Jesus, we must never allow the miracle of the Divine incarnation to become “ordinary” to us.

Of course, in His day, no one had a problem with accepting Jesus’ humanity. From all outward appearances, He was an average man.

But emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:7-8, bold added)

While on earth, Jesus had a very human experience: He got tired after walking long distances (John 4:6); needed to sleep (Mark 4:38); got thirsty (John 4:7; 19:28); was hungry (Matthew 4:2); and even experienced emotions like we do (John 11:15, 38, etc.).

Yes, Jesus came to us as a man.

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. (Romans 8:3, bold added)

But, is this really all that important? Are we making a big deal out of nothing?

No! It was absolutely necessary that Jesus come as a man.

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:17–18, bold added)

The author of Hebrews argues that Jesus had to be a man in order to pay for our sins. In the verses directly preceding this quote, we are told that Jesus didn’t come to help angels. There are fallen angels. While we don’t have all the details, we can assume angelic rebellion against God is equally tragic as human rebellion. Except for one crucial detail: Jesus wasn’t born as an angel so as to redeem them. He was born as a man so that He might be the perfect sacrifice for mankind’s sins.

We’re going to look at the idea of Jesus paying for our sins below. The point here is this: Christians believe the Bible and the testimony of the Apostles of Jesus when they tell us that Christ, the eternal Son of God, humbled Himself by becoming a man.

Jesus as Savior

It’s the clear testimony of Scripture (from beginning to end) that each and every one of us is a sinner.

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written,
“There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.” (Romans 3:9–12)

And

For there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:22–23, bold added)

Having sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, we are enemies of God. Our sinfulness has separated us from Him because His holiness can’t tolerate our sin.

Lost. Fallen. Sinner. Enemy. Rebel. All words that the Bible uses to describe humanity as it stands outside of Christ. Regardless of which word you choose, it’s clear that we need a Savior. We need a Redeemer. We need to be reconciled with God. Our sins and transgressions against Him need to be paid for. This brings us back to the passage from Hebrews we looked at earlier:

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:17–18, bold added)

The phrase, “make propitiation” may not be part of your common vocabulary. In this context, to “make propitiation” means to perform an act that wipes away or cancels the debt of sin. When the author of Hebrews says that Christ made “propitiation,” he means that Jesus – as the merciful and faithful high priest – offered a sacrifice that satisfied God’s demand for justice.

The sacrifice He offered was Himself. By His blood He purchased a people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, language, and people (Revelation 5:9). In doing so, He served as our Redeemer. Our Savior. He restored us to a righteous relationship with God.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: the Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4a)

Christians believe the Bible and the testimony of the Apostles of Jesus when they tell us that Christ, the eternal Son of God, humbled Himself by becoming a man in order to be our Savior.

For more information on Jesus’s humanity and the implications of the resurrection, see our articles:

Jesus as the Exalted King

It’s extremely important to note that Jesus’ death wasn’t the end of the story. Three days later, He rose from the dead in fulfillment of prophecies made about Him and His own testimony prior to His death.

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. (Psalm 16:10)

Jesus also prophesied His own death and resurrection.

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. (Matthew 16:21)
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. (John 2:19–22)

His resurrection has profound implications. As the God-Man who suffered and died for the sins of the world, He is now raised from the dead and has been granted all authority in heaven and on earth.

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11, bold added)

In John’s Revelation of Jesus, he refers to Him as “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5).

Luke records Peter making this declaration during his sermon at Pentecost:

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36, bold added)

It’s common to hear some well-meaning Christian tell an unbeliever that they need “to make Jesus Lord of their life.” While the sentiment is true and understandable, the reality is, no one needs to “make” Jesus Lord of anything. God has already made Jesus Lord of all things. The real question is, will you submit to Him since He is Lord? Christians ought to lovingly encourage everyone they know to acknowledge and submit to the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord of all.

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. (Hebrews 10:12)

Jesus is highly exalted because of what He has done for man, in love and obedience to the Father. There is no one greater, higher, or more worthy than Jesus.

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:12–14, bold added)

For more information on the exaltation of Jesus, see our article Worship the Lamb Who is Worthy.

Christians believe the Bible and the testimony of the Apostles of Jesus when they tell us that Christ, the eternal Son of God, humbled Himself by becoming a man in order to be our Savior. And, as a result of His atoning sacrifice and loving obedience to God, He is the exalted King of kings and Lord of lords.

Eternal Judgment

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given to assurance to all by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31, bold added)

Finally, Christians believe that Jesus will return to judge the world. How can we be so sure? We have proof! In part, God raised Christ from the dead as testimony to the judgement to come.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11-16, bold added)

The same prophets and Holy Scripture that foretold of Jesus’ first coming assure us of His return. He is coming again. When He does, He will judge the world in righteousness, according to His standard of perfection. Anyone who belongs to Him will have nothing to fear from that judgment.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1, bold added)

And while this is extremely comforting news to believers, it should be an urgent wakeup call for those who reject or ignore Christ.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)

Don’t wait to be reconciled to God. Today is the day of salvation! Call on His mercy and receive the gift of everlasting life through grace by faith in Jesus.