Who Is Jesus 2

By Femi Aribisala
The God who appeared to Abraham and
promised him a son is none other than
Jesus Christ.
God says to Moses: “You cannot see my
face; for no man shall see me, and
live.” (Exodus 33:20). John equally
affirms the same: “No one has seen God
at any time.” (John 1:18).
If no one has ever seen God and no
man can see God and live, which God
did Jacob speak to at Penuel? Jacob said:
“I have seen God face to face, and my
life is preserved.” (Genesis 32:30). How
come Jacob did not die after seeing
God? The same question applies to
Moses: “The Lord spoke to Moses face
to face, as a man speaks to his
friend.” (Exodus 33:11). Which God did
Moses speak to face to face?
Jesus says to Israel about God the
Father: “You have never heard his voice
nor seen his form.” (John 5:37). But
Moses saw the form of the Lord. God
said: “My servant Moses; he is faithful in
all my house. I speak with him face to
face, even plainly, and not in dark
sayings; and he sees the form of the
Lord.” (Numbers 12:6-8). If no man has
ever seen the form of the Lord, which
Lord did Moses see?
Glory of God
The Lord no man has seen is God the
Father. The Lord who spoke to Jacob
and Moses face to face is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Accordingly, David says by divine
revelation: “The Lord says to my Lord:
‘Sit at my right hand until I make your
enemies a footstool for your
feet.” (Psalm 110:1). David was king of
Israel, so he had no earthly Lord. The
Lord that spoke to his Lord was God the
Father. The Lord that God the Father
told to sit at his right hand is Jesus; God
the Son.
Jesus confirms this. He says to the Jews:
“From now on, the Son of Man will be
seated at the right hand of the mighty
God.” (Luke 22:69). The writer of 1 Peter
further validates this. He says Jesus
Christ has gone into heaven and is at
God’s right hand- with angels,
authorities and powers in submission to
him.” (1 Peter 3:21-22).
Isaiah also says: “In the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a
throne, high and exalted, and the train
of his robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah
6:1). The Lord Isaiah saw was Jesus. This
is confirmed in the New Testament:
“Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’
glory and spoke about him.” (John
12:41).
Judge of all
In Genesis, God appeared in person to
Abraham. He then renewed his promise
to give him a child: “I will certainly
return to you according to the time of
life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall
have a son.” (Genesis18:10). Close
investigation reveals that the God who
appeared to Abraham and promised
him a son is none other than Jesus
Christ.
Mindful that his nephew, Lot, lived in
Sodom, Abraham pleaded with God
concerning the planned destruction of
the city. He said: “Far be it from you to
do such a thing as this, to slay the
righteous with the wicked, so that the
righteous should be as the wicked; far
be it from you! Shall not the Judge of all
the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:24-25).
Who is the judge of all the earth? It is
Jesus. According to the testimony of
Jesus himself: “The Father judges no
one, but has entrusted all judgment to
the Son.” (John 5:22). Paul also affirms
that Jesus is the judge of all: “We must
all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:10). So Jesus is
the God who spoke to Abraham.
Rock of Ages
Not only Moses, but the elders of Israel
are all said to have seen God: “Moses
and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the
seventy elders of Israel went up and saw
the God of Israel.” (Exodus 24:9-10). But
again, the God they saw was Jesus
Christ. Here is the proof.
Moses chided Israel: “Jeshurun
abandoned the God who made him and
rejected the Rock his
Savior.” (Deuteronomy 32:15). The
psalmist says: “Behold, he struck the
rock, so that the waters gushed out, and
the streams overflowed.” (Psalm 78:20).
Israel’s God and Rock is actually none
other than the pre-incarnate Jesus.
Paul says: “All our fathers were under
the cloud, all passed through the sea,
all were baptized into Moses in the
cloud and in the sea, all ate the same
spiritual food, and all drank the same
spiritual drink. For they drank of that
spiritual Rock that followed them, and
that Rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians
10:1-4).
Jesus is the Rock of Ages. He is the one
who enjoins us to build our house on
the rock. (Matthew 7:24-25).
God of Israel
Indeed, on investigation, it becomes
clear that Jesus is the God who called
Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt.
When God called Moses at the burning
bush, Moses asked: “Suppose I go to
the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God
of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and
they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then
what shall I tell them?” God replied: “I
AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to
say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me
to you.’” (Exodus 3:13-14).
Jesus reveals he is the “I AM” who sent
Moses. He said to the Jews: “Your father
Abraham rejoiced at the thought of
seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
This irritated his listeners who queried
him: “You are not yet fifty years old, and
you have seen Abraham!” Jesus’ answer
was loaded. He said: “I tell you the
truth, before Abraham was born, I
AM!” (John 8:56-58).
This shows Jesus is the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. (Exodus 3:15).
Forgiver of sins
When Jesus said: “I and my Father are
one,” the Jews decided to stone him to
death. They told him: “For a good work
we do not stone you, but for
blasphemy, and because you, being a
man, make yourself God.” (John 10:33).
However, again and again, Jesus proved
to be true to his words. When a paralytic
was brought to him, he told him: “Son,
your sins are forgiven.” The teachers of
the law who were there said: “He’s
blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but
God alone?” Jesus then decided to
demonstrate to them that he is God
indeed.
He asked them: “Which is easier: to say
to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and
walk’? But that you may know that the
Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins.” He then said to the
paralytic: “I tell you, get up, take your
bed and go home.” (Mark 2:5-11). The
man got up, picked up his bed and went
home, proving once and for all that
Jesus is the God he claims to be.
In short, the God of the Old Testament
is the Jesus of the New Testament. Jesus
confirms this to the Jews: “You diligently
study the Scriptures because you think
that by them you possess eternal life.
These are the Scriptures that testify
about me.” (John 5:39).