The Real Jesus book

• Why write a book about Jesus
  • Most people have a cultural understanding of Christianity, not a relational
    • Christmas, Easter, Gospel choir at the Grammy’s
• We need a fresh revelation
  • For early church it wasn’t a mystery, there was no other reason to gather other than to talk about JESUS

• Is Jesus important?
  • The most important person in history is Jesus Christ
  • The most recognized name and face is Jesus Christ
  • Stats:
    • 27% of the world worships Jesus
    • 65% of the world knows the name and face of Jesus Christ
    • 856 million search results for the name Jesus
  • Facts
    • B.C. and A.D. are determined by him
    • Imagine one character being so widely popular that 2000 years later, we are still talking about him
    • He is the epicenter of everything

His teachings:

• Revolutionary - Very different than anything else
• Challenging - Not an easy, instinctive way
• A WAY of life - Not just a belief

Matthew 16:13–17 (NLT) — 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” 15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.

Humans label things, name things, categories things

• Names, nicknames
• Genres of music, species of animals
• Boxes in our attic or pantry
• Jesus, how do you label him?
  • Miscellaneous box
  • Deal with later box
  • Historical figure box
  • God in flesh, alive on the throne, center of everything

SO WHO IS HE? 

• The name Jesus means - “God saves” 
• Jesus - the name of God in the flesh. Many names for God, but only one for his incarnation.
• The name Jesus means God has a face

How do you label Him?

How the FATHER labeled Jesus

• “My dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy”
• God’s favorite topic - Every time God spoke in the gospels, it was about His Son.
  • Like a grandma that wants to show you pictures 

 How the DISCIPLES labeled Jesus

• He convinced the people closest to Him
• “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” - Peter
• “My Lord and my God” - Thomas

How the DEMONS labeled Jesus

• “You are the Son of God” -
• Mark 3:10–11 (NLT) — 10 He had healed many people that day, so all the sick people eagerly pushed forward to touch him. 11 And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, the spirits would throw them to the ground in front of him shrieking, “You are the Son of God!”

How the WORLD labeled Jesus

• “He’s a mad man” - Nazareth
• A resurrected prophet - Elijah, Jeremiah
• A good teacher - “Man that’s good stuff”
• Our world is still on the fence on how to label Jesus

How JESUS labeled Jesus

• I AM
• I am the bread of life 
• I am the light of the world 
• I am the door 
• I am the good shepherd 
• I am the resurrection and the life 
• I am the way, the truth, and the life
• I am the vine

How do YOU label Jesus

• Not ready to label Him
• “Jesus claimed to be God. His claim is either true or false. If it is true, then, ipso facto, He is God. If the claim is false, then either He said it knowing it was false, in which case He is a liar, or He said it not knowing it was false, in which case He was mad. Therefore, we are left with three logical options: He is either God, or a liar, or a lunatic.”
• Liar
• Lunatic
• Lord

If you come to the conclusion that He is Lord, it demands your whole life. When people in the Scriptures came to the conclusion that He is Lord, they would fall at His feet and surrender their lives to Him. He becomes LORD!