Jesus is a Jewish man who lived in Israel roughly two thousand years ago. He was apprenticed as a carpenter and eventually became a preacher who gained a large following. His teaching upset the religious establishment of the day and he was eventually executed for claiming to be both God and the Messiah, the one who would bring salvation to God’s people.
As Christians, we believe that Jesus’s claims are true. We believe that he is both fully man and fully God. This is why one of the names the Bible gives him is Emmanuel, which means “God with us”.
As a man he lived a life without sin (wrongdoing) so that he could free us from sin’s punishment by bearing its rightful judgement himself as our substitute. He did this even though he had done nothing to deserve it. He allowed himself to be tortured and killed on a cross as a sacrifice for sin so that those who believe in his name could receive a healed relationship with God, forgiveness of their sins, and eternal life with all brokenness removed in the new heavens and earth with God Himself.
Jesus then rose from the dead, demonstrating his power and authority over death and over the powers of evil. Jesus ascended back to heaven and now reigns eternally at the right hand of God the Father. One day, he will return to judge the living and the dead and restore all things to his design.
This news of what Jesus came and did is called the gospel, a word that literally means “good news”. This gift of salvation that Jesus offers is a free gift accepted by faith in him, not a result of doing enough good works. If this is something you would like to discuss with us at Skyline, please reach out, we’d love to talk about it with you!