Articles
What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus (2)
What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus (2)
Mike Willis
Many Americans plainly state that they believe in Jesus, so we are asking, “What does it mean to believe in Jesus?” In last week’s article, we affirmed that believing in Jesus means that we acknowledge that He was an historical person. In this article, I am affirming that a statement that one believes in Jesus requires that one also acknowledge the incarnation—the biblical affirmation that the Jesus of history was also the incarnate Son of God.
John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. . . .And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14). By the “Word,” John means Jesus.
Both Matthew and Luke’s gospels give accounts of the birth narrative of Jesus. Matthew asserts that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (Matt. 1:23). Luke’s gospel relates that Jesus was not the natural born son of Joseph and Mary, but that the birth of Jesus was a virgin birth. An angel appeared to Mary saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God’” (Luke 1:30-35).
To affirm that one believes in Jesus, he must acknowledge the greatest miracle of all time—that God the Son became human flesh in the man Jesus of Nazareth and continued to live among men until His crucifixion.
