The Real Jesus Christ

By Author: Mark Snikus
Total Articles: 4717
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Who was the real Jesus Christ? Many people think they know, but do they really? Since Christians are duty bound to believe that Jesus and God are one in the same, through the Holy Trinity, it can be said that the God of the Old Testament and the Jesus of the New Testament were one in the same. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that he had not come to destroy the law or prophecies of the Old Testament, but to fulfill them. This can be taken to mean that even the Jesus of the New Testament agreed with what was said in the Old Testament.

And how could it not? Would the Lord God change his mind between the two books? If God is so almighty, as Christians believe, it would seem that he would not make a 180 degree turn as many seem to suggest today. However, over the last 2000 years the majority of Christians held a different view, or at least behaved like they did. Let's take a look at Jesus based on the Old Testament, Jesus as a warrior for God and His way.

In Exodus 15:3 the Lord says directly and unmistakably that He is a man of war. Anyone who has read the Old Testament would not be surprised by this statement, as God ...
... not only sent multitudes to do battle and commit genocide, but also killed great masses of non-believers on His own. God also laid out countless offenses that should be punishable by death, from not worshiping him to having relations with family or animals.

If the Lord of the Old Testament, from which the Christian creation stories and much, much more have come, is indeed a God of war, then it stands to reason that Jesus would also be a warrior of sorts. Jesus did say things like "turn the other cheek", but these can be taken figuratively and in relation to verbal conflicts. Not only that, but Jesus also condemned cities, recommended cutting off hands and plucking out eyes, said that people would be cast into the everlasting fires, etc.

If Jesus was a warrior, what kind of warrior would he have been? From everything in the New Testament Jesus was kind to those who were kind to him. He seemed to have no problem with people who agreed with his teachings, and he did say that you should treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. So it also stands to reason that Jesus would have treated other Christians very well. But since he did say that those who did not worship the Christian God would go to hell, he would likely have little tolerance for them today. Or would he?

This is a point of great debate by many Christians. How can a fair and just God send people to hell, especially those who have never heard of Him? How can the God of the Old Testament be so radically different from the God of the New Testament? And how can all of the contradictory statements throughout the Bible be understood to make any sense at all? This is where faith comes in. With faith, Christians are taught to believe that which doesn't make logical sense. Faith allows us to believe even when it doesn't make any sense at all. Even though God said he was a Lord of war in the Old Testament, and Jesus said people should cut off their hands, with Faith Christians are able to ignore these contradictions and proclaim that God is a God of love, a jealous and brutal God, but one of love.
About Author:
Mark writes about Jesus on Christian sites around the web. His faith allows him to continue on in the face of doubt and disbelief, based on teachings of Jesus. You can find him studying the Bible daily.