Who is Jesus?

Why are we called the "Church of the Nazarene"?

We call ourselves the Church of the Nazarene because we follow the teachings of a man named Jesus who grew up in a small town in Israel called Nazareth. Because he grew up there, he was called “the Nazarene” and we have placed that name as the centre of what our church is and believes. Jesus, the Nazarene, is the entire reason for everything we do.

Christians are always talking about “the Gospel”. Well, what is the Gospel?

The Gospel is the good news about Jesus. But what is it that makes it good news? In the beginning, God made everything good with beauty and peace. But it wasn’t long before humans messed things up through rebellion and disobedience. The world became a place filled with pain, suffering, and death. Thankfully, God didn’t give up on us, but promised to make all things new again. This is where Jesus comes in.

Jesus lived, breathed, and existed as a human. He came down from heaven and lived life on earth 2,000 years ago. He perfectly loved God and loved others, which is what God wanted all along from everyone. Jesus lived the perfect life that we so often fail to do.

But then Jesus died. Because this world is not as it should be. Because there is death and decay and injustice. And whether we feel it to be true or not, we all are complicit in the brokenness of the world, because we often love ourselves more than our neighbour and God.

God, being just, must not let wrongdoing and evil go unpunished. But he also desires to rescue us from evil. Therefore he sent Jesus to take our place, receive our penalty and the consequences for our selfish actions. He died in our place. But he also died to destroy the power of sin and death.

Hebrews 2:14 says that, through Jesus’ death on a cross, he destroyed the power of death. Jesus did not just take your place, and take your punishment on your behalf, but he also conquered our worst foe – death.

How do we know he beat death? He rose from the grave. The Resurrection shows us that not only can we be forgiven for our wrongdoings, but also that Jesus is going to remake all things, including you! Jesus is alive and he is recreating all things in the power of his grace and love.

This means marriages can be restored, relationships can be revived, hurts can be healed, priorities can be realigned, despair gives way to hope, fear gives way to peace, and death gives way to life.

The most important thing we want you to know about Jesus is that he is alive today and wants to be your friend. He loves you more than you can ever know. He has been with you during the best and worst times in your life. He will never abandon you.

All he asks is that you open your heart to him. We want to help you learn more about who Jesus is. If you are curious about who Jesus is, we would love to chat with you.

I want to learn more about Jesus
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

C.S. Lewis

The Nitty-Gritty of Who Jesus Is

Here is a more detailed explanation of our beliefs about Jesus. Click through and if you have any questions, we would love to chat with you!

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We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father; that He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say the Godhead and manhood, are thus united in one Person very God and very man, the God-man.

We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He truly arose from the dead and took again His body, together with all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature, wherewith He ascended into heaven and is there engaged in intercession for us.

(You can read all of our Articles of Faith here)

Jesus being divine (being God) is the only explanation for everything Jesus was and did.

  • Jesus was not created, but has existed eternally. He was pre-existent with the Father. "He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" John 1:2-3, NIV

Jesus was not always a man. His divine nature was joined to a human nature through the miracle of his conception. A word theologians invented to describe this unique event is “hypostatic union“.

1. His miraculous birth was prophesied 800 years before His coming (Isaiah 7:14)
2. The prophecy was fulfilled in Mary (Luke 1:30-31)
3. Jesus did human things like getting tired (John 4:6), thirsty (John 19:28), ate food (Luke 24:40-43), showed emotion (Mark 6:34), cried (John 11:35), was tempted (Hebrews 4:15), and died (John 19:30).

The death of Jesus is one of the most well-attested facts of ancient history. His death is accepted as established fact by secular historians. Jesus' death on the cross was the reason he was born (John 12:27) and his death was prophesied hundreds of years earlier (Isaiah 53:3-8)

Jesus died:
Jesus did not stay dead though! He defeated sin, and death lost all power over him. The resurrection was a real, historical event (John 20:1-10). The tomb where he was buried was empty (John 20:11-13). He was seen by many people including a group of women (Luke 24:1-9), a close friend (John 20:1-2, 11-18), his disciples (John 20:3-9, 19-20, 24-31; 21:1-14), and many others (1 Corinthians 15:6-8, Luke 24:13-35) There is also broad consensus that:

  • The tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered empty by a group of women on the Sunday following the crucifixion.
  • Jesus' disciples had real experiences with one whom they believed was the risen Jesus
  • As a result of the preaching of these disciples, which had the resurrection at its centre, the Christian church was established and grew.
Once Jesus returned from the dead and had spent some time teaching his followers, he ascended into heaven and returned to be with The Father (Luke 24:49-53; Acts 1:6-11). Today, Jesus mediates on your behalf in heaven, as your personal advocate (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 8:6; 1 John 2:1).

As a result of his work, he has created a way for you to be saved from your sins.
  • He is the ONLY path to salvation (Acts 4:12)
  • He has done all the work necessary for salvation (Hebrews 7:25)

All that you need to do to be saved is say, out loud and in your soul, that you submit your life to Jesus and that you believe God has raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).