Litmus Test:  “a test in which a single factor is decisive”

Who Is Jesus?  The most important question we will ever be asked—our future, our eternal destiny depends upon how we answer.  Not just “who” He is, but “who is He to me”?

Jesus, who is God, third person of the Trinity, who became a man to save us from our sin.

(John 3:13-18, 36)

Man is not, nor can he be, God.  To imply so is to have a “created God.”  God was not created, was never a man who was elevated to God-status.  Man is a created being who is sinful, in need of redemption.  Jesus came for that purpose--to redeem sinful man.  If man is born again, he has been redeemed; but he will never be God. 

Jesus was not created; He has always been, from eternity backward to eternity forward.

"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

He is from “above”  (John 8:23), “God is not a man….” (23:19).

Man is of the earth (John 4:24); and he was born in sin, because of the fall in the Garden of Eden (Romans 5:12-15).  That is his “essence.”  He is “genetically” a sinner and cannot redeem himself.  But man can be redeemed because of Love, not the subjective kind of love, but the God-kind.  God IS Love, that is His essence, His “makeup,” that of which He is made, what He consists of.  He doesn’t just love, He IS Love, that’s who He is.

All His attributes spring from His essence—Love.

Grace, mercy, forgiveness, justice (Exodus 33:19-20)

Because God is Love, Mercy is at work in His dealings with man.  With Mercy at work, Grace is possible.  Grace gives us access to the attributes of God.

“But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation” (Jeremiah 10:10). (emphasis mine)

If the Lord were just another created man, exalted to godhood (rather than everlasting), it would not be possible for him to be the redeemer.  Our Redeemer had to be sinless from His beginning to His crucifixion; otherwise, He would have been just another created man in need of a Savior himself.  The Bible is replete with references to our God-Redeemer, and they all point to Jesus!   He is Emmanuel –God with us (Matthew 1:23).  As God, Jesus has no beginning, no record of His creation.  Instead, He IS the creator!  (Colossians 1:16)

That “scarlet thread” of who Jesus is, is threaded at Genesis and continues through Revelation.

Jesus is Emmanuel, Our Redeemer, Lamb of God sacrificed at Calvary—our Soon-coming King!

If you have a KJV of the Bible (and maybe a few others versions), you will notice that LORD (all caps) refers to the “Trinity”—God the Father; God the Son; God the Holy Ghost.

(A Psalm of David) “The LORD [“Trinity”] said unto my Lord [Jesus], Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1, Luke 20:42). (emphasis mine) Jesus sits at the right hand of the throne.

“Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God”  (Luke 22:69). (emphasis mine)

“Who is he that condemeth?  It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34).  (emphasis mine)

Note:  To my knowledge, the word "trinity" does not appear in the scripture with reference to God;  however, the doctrine of the Triune-God is referenced throughout the Bible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Litmus Test:  Jesus is Emmanuel—God with Us; and God is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting.

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us” (Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:14).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who is your Jesus?  Does He pass the Litmus Test?  If not, he is not the God of the Bible, and having failed the test will pass into oblivion.  The criterion is not variable.  He would be as powerless as the golden calf of the Israelites; in fact he doesn’t exist.  Discard him and turn to the Real Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Throne of God, making intercession for us!  It is He who told His disciples that He would send the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, which proceedeth from the Father and would “testify of me [Jesus].”

“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeded from the Father, he shall testify of me [Jesus]” [authenticate who Jesus is!].  (John 15:26). (emphasis mine)

**A composite picture and unity of our God**

Jesus is Lord!