Note added on 12/10/06: This was what I believed in 1997, when I wrote this. My beliefs have changed since then; for more information read some of the articles in the Changing Faith category.
In my opinion the best source of information about Jesus, who he was and how that impacts our own lives, if at all, is the Bible, since it was written by people who knew Jesus or were close associates of those who knew him.
According to the Bible there is a relationship problem between God and people because by nature we are selfish and choose to act in ways that are destructive, hurting ourselves and others. Even though in one sense this is not our fault, because it is our nature; in another, it is because we all know, if we are honest, that we make deliberate choices to act selfishly. The relationship problem is that our imperfection and selfishness separates us and God, who is good and perfectly unselfish. We are incapable of fixing the problem but the good news is that God has taken care of it for us (because He loves us) by providing absolute forgiveness for us through Jesus Christ. Jesus, who is actually God, laid down his life for us so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God.
God has done this for us; all we have to do is respond in faith (by prayer), admitting to God that we are not capable of being reconciled to Him by our own efforts and thanking Him that He provided reconciliation and forgiveness for us through Jesus.
Those who do so are reconciled with God and now indwelt by God’s Spirit, we are are righteous in God’s eyes because of Jesus; and after physical death will be with God forever. In this life we still struggle with selfishness and destructive behavior but if we choose to be led by the Spirit of God instead of being driven by our own selfish desires, we will be able to act in ways that please God. When we do sin as Christians God is disappointed and it interferes with our relationship with Him but we continue to be His; He does not disown us; once we have come to know Him through Jesus Christ we are His forever. And He forgives us and our relationship is restored as soon as we admit our sin to Him.
God resurrected Jesus from the dead as proof that God was acting through Jesus and that Jesus in fact is equal with God and is God; although Jesus, when he came here as a man, was like us, through choice – his power came from God the Father, through the Spirit of God; he did the will of God the Father instead of doing whatever he thought was best (I believe that God is one God but three persons – God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit of God). Jesus suffered like we do yet he did not sin; he is our example of how to live and helps us to live the way God wants us to; all power and authority has been given to him and every person will acknowledge that one day, in this life or the next.
Doing good things and attending church do not and cannot “make” anyone a Christian; the only way is to come to God through faith in Jesus Christ. If a person really is a Christian then they will want to act in ways that please God and to be with other Christians to learn about God and encourage one another and praise Him together.
How Can We Know That The Bible Is Reliable And Accurate?
What I’ve said above can be dismissed if the Bible is not an accurate source of information. There are, however, good reasons to think that it is. Bear in mind that those who criticize it are doing so not based on evidence that it is incorrect but on presuppositions such as miracles cannot happen. Beware of the presuppositions of those who criticize the Bible and consider whether those who write about Jesus today can really know more about his earthly life than those who walked and talked with him. Please read the Bible rather than what others have written, and read it with an open mind.
Even if you have a hard time with certain parts of the Bible, consider the central miracle that the Christian faith rests upon – Jesus’ resurrection. Our faith is based on a historical event – Jesus’ tomb being empty (and him appearing to many alive). It is surprising that no-one could produce Jesus’ body if the disciples were mistaken or deluded. If the disciples deliberately hid his body and were lying, then one has to wonder why they would endure persecution and death for a lie. It seems to me that the most plausible explanation for the resurrection and the subsequent rapid spread of faith in Jesus is that he really was resurrected and is alive.
Supporting Bible Verses (from the New International Version):
The following verses are about why Jesus died, who he is, and how we can know God through faith in him.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1)
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Matt 28:18).
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
[Jesus], being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death–
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:6-11)
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. (Rom 5:1)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(Rom 5:8)
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them….God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.(2 Cor 5:13,21)
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved… For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. ( from Eph 2:4-9)
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus) and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Col 1:19-20)
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. (Rom 3:22-25)