Jesus; by John.

A Note To the Reader:

I intend this to be a simple account of my own observation and resulting belief concerning Jesus. I don't intend it to be a dogmatic, or theological presentation, but rather a report of my lifetime experience with the Lord.

I knew little of Jesus when I became a Christian. I attended Sunday School and Worship almost from birth throughout my life of 80 plus years. I learned the Bible stories and heard impressive preaching. None of that made me a Christian. I became a Christian when a man who became a dear friend and brother pressed upon me the fact that Jesus came into this world to save people. I knew that included me. Before that I thought it impossible for Jesus to pay any attention to me at all. I may have been close to considering Him an ideal rather than a person.

Weeks passed as my friend and I talked. Rather suddenly, I became aware that Jesus was really a person who cared for everyone, and for me personally at that moment. That became vitally important. Heaven and hell had been to me like Valhalla, or the top of Mount Olympus with its pantheon of gods and goddesses. Now, I was flooded with the truth that what the Bible says is true including heaven and hell, and all that it says about Jesus is true. I began to read the Bible with a great thirst for knowledge about everything spiritual, and as I discovered truths, I also discovered I could not keep them to myself. I began to share them with everyone around me. That's the reason for what I'm doing right now. There is so much being said that I find to be unbiblical. I invite you to see for yourself if this is Biblical, or not.

Jesus is God, and as far as I can ascertain, He has always been with God the Father. I see our earthly father/son relationship to be of a similar nature. My own father was always in charge, but we were always equals in everything other than wisdom, knowledge and chain of command. My father always shared as much knowledge with me as he could. Jesus referred to His Father as teaching and instructing Him, and also said He was always obedient to His Father. I don't intend to leave out the Holy Spirit, but all I plan to say is that God's Holy Spirit always present, came to represent and act for Jesus among men. He seals us, teaches and leads us when we allow Him to do God's will in our lives.

Before the incarnation, Jesus was there with the Father in creating all that was created. I think He probably worked directly with mankind during those millennia, but I am not comfortable in stating that as fact. I am aware that heavenly messengers visited people on varied occasions, and if we stick with John's use of "the Word" then almost every time God spoke, the speaker was Jesus.

People have always believed that God, or gods, were behind the scenes observing the activities of mankind. Greek mythology is full of that belief as was Judaism of the day. Not everything in pagan religion is bad. It falls far short of Christianity, but I suspect God used it, and curbed it, to accomplish His will. How much their existence changed the history of mankind is debatable at most. Personally, I believe Romans 8:28 expresses it well: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." This indicates we are free, and God does not cause everything, but uses everything for His children's good, and His work is always perfectly good.

I believe God exists in three personalities, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and I believe the three are not three, but one God. Beyond that, my experience is that God is perfect love and perfect power. He rules everything with a loving touch that always accomplishes His will. That means being apart from God is the worst position in this world, and to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives is absolutely the best