Strange and important events fill the pages of history and our individual life. Sometimes, we think about great events and wonder, “Did that have to happen?” Could the crime have been stopped? Could the accident been prevented? Could the good thing that came to us worked out a different way?

The Christian has peaceful confidence in God’s hand on history. When we think about the events in God’s plan, we know they had to happen. It is especially true when we think about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

In the season of Easter and Resurrection, it’s good for us to think deeply about how Jesus had to live, had to die, and had to rise again.

Here are a few thoughts on why Jesus had to live, and live among us. It’s a short and incomplete list – feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments section below.

• Jesus Had to Live Among Us Because God Promised to Send the Messiah.

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, we read God’s promise to send a deliverer, a conqueror, and a savior. Starting in the Garden of Eden and going all through the Old Testament, this promise remained. At some point in time, it had to be fulfilled, and it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Can you describe some of the highlights of God’s great plan?

• Jesus Had to Live Among Us So Man Could Meet God.

Jesus perfectly revealed to us the nature of God. Through history, there have been thousands – probably millions – ideas of what God is like. Jesus settled every question about the nature of God. We don’t have to wonder what God is like; we see Him perfectly displayed in Jesus of Nazareth. Have you met God in the Person of Jesus Christ?

• Jesus Had to Live Among Us to Fulfill God’s Law

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. One of the ways Jesus fulfilled God’s Law was in His perfect obedience. Every man and woman before Jesus and every one after Him has disobeyed God in some way or another. Yet Jesus was and is the One who did what Adam and the whole human race was not able to do: perfectly obey God. Do you look to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law?

• Jesus Had to Live Among Us to Bear Witness to the Truth

Jesus told Pontius Pilate that this was why He came (John 18:37). Jesus came to both tell us the truth and to be the living Truth among us – the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). This truth was so important that God brought it in Person. He used messengers before and after Jesus, but Jesus was more than a messenger – He was and is truth itself. Do you believe and receive the truth of Jesus?

• Jesus Had to Live Among Us to Seek and Save the Lost

Jesus said that He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). In our separation from God, Jesus did not just wait for us to seek Him. He came to earth and lived among us as living proof of God’s heart to seek after the lost and troubled. Have you let Jesus find you and rescue you?

• Jesus Had to Live Among Us So the Price Could be Paid

Regarding the cross, Jesus said for this purpose I came to this hour (John 12:27). In Going to the cross and paying the price for guilty humanity, Jesus fulfilled His purpose. Do you look to Jesus as the payment of the price you owe?

• Jesus Had to Live Among Us to Divide Humanity

Jesus said that He came to divide humanity (Matthew 10:34-35), between those who accept Him and those who reject Him. Are you on the right side of that divide – on the side of those who accept and trust in Jesus? The life of Jesus is God’s great gift to the human race and all creation. Yet the value and goodness of that gift depends on our receiving it. Let the life of Jesus – the life He had to live – have full effect in your life.

There is much debate about who Jesus is. Some believe he was a good man or a great prophet. Others claim he was an angel or a god among other created gods. Still others say he was a legend, liar, or lunatic. The Bible, however, tells us that He is God. This means He is the second Person of the one, triune God; eternal and uncreated; holy, sovereign, and supreme; all-powerful, all knowing, and everywhere present at the same time; the maker and sustainer of all created things; worthy of all worship, devotion, and obedience. With this said, here are 6 reasons from the Bible why I believe Jesus is God:

1. THE BIBLE CALLS JESUS “GOD”

Isaiah 9:6, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
John 1:1, 1:14, “In the beginning the Word (Jesus) already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was GOD … the Word became human and made his home among us.”

Colossians 1:15, “Christ (Jesus) is THE VISIBLE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation.” 1 John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the ONLY TRUE GOD, and he is eternal life.”

2. JESUS CLAIMED TO BE GOD

John 5:16-18, “So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, ‘My Father is always working, and so am I.’ So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD.”

John 10:30-33, [Jesus replied] “The Father and I are one.” Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?” They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, CLAIM TO BE GOD.”

3. JESUS’ RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD AFFIRMS THAT HE IS GOD

Romans 1:3-4, “The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be THE SON OF GOD when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.”

4. JESUS POSSESSES THE UNIQUE TITLES OF GOD

In the Old Testament, God claims to be the only Savior who saves sinners from sin (Isaiah 43:11), and He alone is worthy to be called “the first and the last” (Isaiah 41:4, 44:6, 48:12). In the New Testament, Jesus possesses both titles. In John 4:42, He is called “the SAVIOR of the world”, and in Matthew 1:21, He is announced as the one who will save His people from their sins.

Jesus claims to be “the First and the Last”: “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, THE FIRST AND THE LAST, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:12-13)

5. JESUS POSSESSES THE UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

God is eternal (Psalm 90:2), unchanging (Malachi 3:6), everywhere present (Psalm 139:7-12), all knowing (Job 37:16, Psalm 147:5), and all-powerful (Jeremiah 32:17).

These attributes belong to God, and Jesus possesses them all.
• Jesus is eternal: Colossians 1:17, “He existed before anything else,
• and he holds all creation together.”
• Jesus is unchanging: Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
• Jesus is everywhere present: Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
• Jesus is all knowing: Colossians 2:3, “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him.”
• Jesus is all-powerful: Matthew 28:18, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”
Also, Colossians 1:16, “Everything was created through him and for him.”

6. JESUS PERFORMS THE UNIQUE WORKS OF GOD

He created all things: John 1:3, “All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.” He sustains all things: Hebrews 1:3, “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.” He forgives sin: Mark 2:7, “Only God can forgive sins”, and Colossians 3:13, “even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”

He will judge the people of the world: Romans 14:10-12, “We will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the LORD, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance praise to God.’” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.”

Compare this with Philippians 2:9-11: “God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”