Jesus

Gesù di Nazareth

Jesus in relation to the Father

«He is the image of the invisible God, begotten before every creature; for through him all things were created, those in heaven and those on earth, those visible and those invisible: Thrones, Dominations, Principalities and Powers. All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things and they all exist in him".
(Col 1:15-20).

Paul states that the Lord Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, and since Jesus Christ is bound to the Father by inseparable love, it is as if God's image is imprinted upon himself. It is also the splendor of His glory, the imprint of His essence: it is, in substance, as if He were the same person and therefore we can affirm that in Jesus Christ there is God himself who walks in his body: what God does Jesus does, what God speaks Jesus says.

There is no difference between the God who is in heaven and Jesus who is on earth, they are ultimately one. Jesus Christ is God, if we wish to know who God is, we must learn who Jesus is. When Philip asked, Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.".
(John 14:8-9)

Jesus in relation to creation

The Lord Jesus Christ is the firstborn of all creation, He is the origin of all things, He is the creator of the universe. Here is what the apostle John says in his prologue: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, He was in the beginning with God. Everything was made through him, and without him nothing was made that exists."

In him was life, and life was the light of men" (Jn 1:1-4). And in turn Jesus said of himself: «I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the one who is, who was and who is to come… I am the foundation of all that exists, I am the beginning and the end of everything".
(Rev 22:13).

Shortly before the crucifixion, Jesus prayed to the Father in this way: «I have glorified you upon the earth, completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me before you, with the glory I had with you before the world was ... As you, Father, are in me and I in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world believe that you sent me ... Father, I also want those you gave me to be with me where I am, to contemplate my glory, the one you gave me; for you loved me before the creation of the world".
(Jn 17:4-24).

Who he said he was.

Jesus declared several times that he was a son of God, that he was able to forgive sins (Mt 9:2); to be the Lord of the Sabbath, thus making himself equal to the Creator (Mt 12, 8). He declared that he was "consubstantial" with the Father, saying the famous phrase "I am".
(Jn 8, 24; 8, 58; Ex 3,14).

Jesus ascribes to himself an eternal existence, claiming to be equal to God; and he puts himself on a par with God, in that he sits at his right hand (Mk 14:61-62). Jesus declares his full Divinity even with his acting, since if Jesus had not been the one he claimed to be, he could not have performed miracles.

Jesus has reconciled us.

“All of this, however, comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. Indeed, it was God who reconciled the world to himself in Christ, not imputing their faults to men and entrusting us with the word of reconciliation. We therefore act as ambassadors for Christ, as if God were exhorting through us. We beg you in the name of Christ: be reconciled to God".
(2 Cor 5:18-20).

With the fall into sin, man had made himself an enemy of his Creator and, therefore, could not have access to the Throne of God, he was definitively lost. He had hidden from the presence of his Creator, while God was looking for man like the good shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep. the Almighty, had already established His plan of redemption for his creatures: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Until when will man continue to hide and not come to light? Christ is the Light. He came to recover each of us. When we realize that we are hiding and not God, then we can know the Lord of grace. He extends his hand to all of us first, let's grab it!

Jesus' goal is to make us appear before him holy, without blemish and beyond reproach, to save us and present us one day to the Father by saying: «Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
(Mt 25:34).

Our future is in him and if we persevere in faith, we will enter into relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ: from that moment on, he will work in our lives to make us, moment after moment and day after day, as similar to him as possible. It will not be the end, but the beginning of our salvation.