ON CHRISTIANITY

DEAR REV. GRAHAM: My friend says that Jesus never claimed to be God, or anything like that. He says Jesus was on a spiritual search just like the rest of us, and what we basically learn from Jesus is how we can find our own spiritual path. Is he right?

— W.Q. DEAR W.Q.: No, your friend is not correct. Even before Jesus was born, an angel told Joseph that he should not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because the child already growing in her womb would be called Immanuel — which means “God with us” (see Matthew 1:18-25).

One way Jesus demonstrated His divine nature was by His actions — and specifically, His miracles. We live in a world that has been ravaged by the forces of sin and death and evil. But Christ confronted those forces, and by His divine power overcame them. No wonder the crowds were “amazed and said, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ ” (Matthew 9:33).

But Jesus also directly declared that He was the Son of God, sent into the world to deliver us from death and Hell and Satan. His enemies knew this, and when He was brought to trial, their main accusation was that He had claimed to be God as well as man. To His disciples He declared, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). On another occasion He stated, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

Yes, Jesus was both fully God and fully man — and because of this, He alone has the authority to be our Savior. He did this by becoming the final sacrifice for our sins through His death on the cross — and He proved it by His resurrection from the dead. By a simple prayer of faith open your heart and life to Him today.