Who Do You Say Jesus Is-Online PDF

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Who Do You Say Jesus Is? Course: CWV-101 Date: March 14, 2021

Jesus’ assertion of Matthew 7:15-23 is a warning to let his people know to beware of false prophets. False prophets are teachers who profess themselves as commission from God whose aim is to rob believers of God of their earthy and spiritual good. Their deceitfulness entails having an outward appearance of a harmless animal such as a sheep, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. In addition to appearances, false prophets are also recognizable by their devilish acts, where “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:16). This is demonstrated within their teachings as it does not line up with God’s teachings.

An Atheist might view this teaching as unnecessary and misguided because their worldview does not believe in the existence of God. Instead, their belief is that creationism stems from all evolutionary science or the universe it its own reality. Whereas Pantheism fuses religion and science, because their belief is that God is everything and everything is God (Flinn, 2016). In other words, there is no distinction between God and the universe, he is united with everything. Therefore, there is not an all-knowing God, so there is no concept of sin against God. So, the teachings about false prophets from Matthew 7:15-23 would be view as an illusion from a pantheistic worldview because if people who believes in false prophets that are hurting them, then they are just hurting themselves.

From the teaching, Jesus who is God the son is letting humanity know that he is the one and only truest prophet to ever walked amongst humans and who ever existed. So, all mankind should take heed to his warning. There will always be people who claimed to be prophets of God, where their teachings may seem impressive such as casting out demons (Matthew 7:21-23, NIV), but they are not God they are all just pretenders. To these people, Jesus gave a grave warning, “thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19, NIV). This translate to meaning that those who are false prophesying will not have a relationship with God.

The proclamation in John 10:25 – 38 is about Jesus identifying himself as equal with God the Father. This proclamation was bringing into view during a debate between Jesus and Jewish leaders. Throughout this debate Jesus did not claim to be only a prophet or a messenger but as someone of equal power to God where he states, “I and the Father are one” (John 10: 30, NIV). However, this proclamation was not reciprocal to the Jewish leaders, instead Jesus was blamed for committing blasphemy. According to Jewish law blasphemy was considered a crime punishable by death (Sakellariou, 2020). In other words, any act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God. Although the Jew willfully rejects Jesus’ proclamation, they understood him. As John 10:38 noted, “Even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you understand the Father is in me, and I in the Father” (NIV). “Believe the works” is a justification that Jesus is here to promote God’s purpose which is healing humanity through miracles and teachings which is testifying to who he is, equality with God, and

he is God in human flesh. The significance behind Jesus’ claim is for humanity to witness that he held the same power as God and he is not only God, the Son, but also God, the Father. So, it is up to humanity to ensure that our hearts are not apart from God’s grace as the Jewish leaders were because there is ample evidence to show who Jesus really is.

My foundational belief of about Jesus is centered around he is Christ, the son of God. He is God in human form, he is a great teacher, a great prophet, and a representation of all things truthful. Jesus in his human form indicate to me that he understands my trials and tribulations that I have encountered thus far. He is able to empathize with me and help me. Jesus was tempted as humanity was and is, he was mistreated, he was hated, he suffered physical pain as human does, he also suffered the sorrows of a prolonged and cruel death. This signifies only a human can experienced these horrible things, therefore only a human can fully understand. By showing me who he truly is as a human makes me accept him even more. Because he came to earth and did all of that to mend humanity broken relationship with God. So, opening my heart and have faith and trust in his teachings and accept him as my savior will enable me to live for him through the power of the holy Spirit. For when I believe in him, I will receive the greatest gift of all that God has to offer which is salvation of my soul.

References: Atheism. (2009). In Grey House Publishing (Ed.), Contemporary legal issues: Encyclopedia of religion and the law in America (2nd ed.). Grey House Publishing. Credo Reference:

https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login? url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/greyrala/atheism/0? institutionId=5865 Flinn, F. K. (2016). Encyclopedia of world religions: Encyclopedia of Catholicism (2nd ed.). Facts On File. Credo Reference: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login? url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/fofc/pantheism/0?institutionId=5865 Sakellariou, A. (2020). Blasphemy. In A. Possamai, & A. J. Blasi (Eds.), The SAGE encyclopedia of the sociology of religion. Sage UK. Credo Reference: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login? url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sageukoumu/blasphemy/0? institutionId=5865 Bible Gateway. (2021). Bible gateway passage: Matthew 7:15-23 - new international version. Retrieved March 14, 2021, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...