My first and foremost identity is as a follower of Yeshua. “Who is that?” you might ask. Well, let me start from the beginning…
At the beginning of time, the One true God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, created humanity to be in relationship with Him. And yet, we rejected Him and willingly chose our own destruction—we turned our backs on the One who made us. Though God reached out to us again and again, even setting apart an entire nation as His ambassadors to bring us back into relationship with Him, we still wanted nothing to do with Him. The Jewish people (Israel) whom He chose as His special possession—His light to the world—refused His love and His calling as they pursued their own lusts and desires. He was nothing but good and merciful, and we were nothing but wicked and ungrateful. Yet, despite our unworthiness, God did not give up on us.
In the greatest act of compassion, God sent His Son, Yeshua, to pick up the task Israel had been unable to accomplish. He became one of us—a normal, Jewish man—yet never once did He sin, never once did He do any wrong… never once did He reject the will of the Father to satisfy His own wants and desires. With every moment of His life, He showed us how to live in relationship with God. Yet this was not enough. We were separated from God by our sins, and without something to wipe them away, we could never be close to God.
And then, Yeshua made the ultimate sacrifice—He allowed Himself to be brutally cut down, shedding His own blood in payment for our sins. Though He alone did not deserve death, He laid down His life and took the punishment we deserved…
But death had no power over Yeshua, and He was raised to life again! Now, through His sacrifice, our Jewish people—and indeed, the whole world—can finally be restored to relationship with our Creator. But not only that, Israel can finally be the nation He made us to be—a kingdom of priests for the rest of humanity! How can we do anything less than give our all to the One who loves us so much? How can we not live every day trying to be more like Him? How can we refuse to be His messengers, proclaiming salvation to all the earth?
That was an absolutely beautiful description of who Yeshua is. I felt like I was listening to the opening narrative of a film. Thank you.
Julie
If he is who he claimed to be, he is also the greatest . . . and thus each of us must make a decision about his claims if we are intellectually honest.