Who is Jesus? It is a perennial question.

And there must be as many diverse answers to that

question as any other person who ever walked on this planet. Even during his life on earth,
Christ’s very presence was a point of remarkable debate. Some said Jesus was God, and others
said he was demon possessed. Some said Jesus was a good teacher, and others called him a liar.
Some said he was brilliant, and others labeled him insane. Jesus was applauded as a prophet,
and he was dismissed as a babbling blasphemer. So who is this Jesus? In the words of Hebrews
1:3, we are told Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”
In a 1996 sermon, John Piper answered the age old question: Who is Jesus?
Who is it that sat down at the right hand? Who is it that went to the cross? Who is it that was
buried and rose again? Who is it that upholds all things by the Word of his power? Who is Jesus
Christ? He is the exact representation of the divine nature or of God’s nature. What does that
mean? Jesus said: If you have seen me, you have seen the Father (see John 14:9). Paul said: “He
is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). But do you know what? You could say that
sentence — “he is the exact representation of the nature of God” — and be absolutely wrong in
the way you think about it.
For example, you could say: Jesus is the representation of God the Father the way a painting
represents a person. And you would be wrong. You could say: Jesus represents the nature of
God the way an authorized letter from a king represents the king. And you would be wrong. Or
you could say: Jesus Christ the Son of God is the exact representation of God the Father in that
a wax mold has an impress and it perfectly represents the ring. And you would be wrong. And
the reason we know that would be utterly inadequate to talk that way is because the first
phrase tells us how he is a representation and it isn’t any of those. He is an exact representation
of the Father in that he is the radiance of his glory. He represents the glory of God the way
radiance represents glory.
Think on this for a minute. That is very different than a painting representing a person, a letter a
king, a wax mold and a ring. Radiance coming out from a light streaming down from the sun is
not another thing. It is not a different essence than the thing. The radiance of glory is the glory
radiating. That is the profound thing to get a handle on here. Christ is not other than God
representing God. He is God representing God. He is the Father streaming out in glory, standing
forth in another person whose essence is the same divine essence. We are talking mystery
here, I realize. And we won’t begin to exhaust this or end it, but we can see a little bit. The
window can be cracked enough so that we can worship aright and not make heretical
statements about the Son being a creature or a mere prophet.
Let me give you, in closing, four ways that the Son streams out or is radiating the glory of the
Father.
First, let’s compare him with the sun, the sun radiating out its beams. There is no time when the
sun exists that its radiant light does not exist. They are so much a part of each other that when
the sun exists, the radiance of the sun exists. When God the Father exists, the Son exists. They
are coeternal. The father did not exist and then say: I think I shall bring into being a Son. That is
not the way it happened. He is eternally begotten, eternally streaming out. Where there is light,
there are rays. Where there is God there is a Son of God.
Second, this radiance is the glory radiating out. It is not essentially different. The Son of God is
God. He is not by nature another being.
Third, he is not created or made. Compare this with a solar calculator. I think of this because I
was using one the other night getting my tax stuff ready. And I asked Barnabas: Where is the off
switch here? Pushing at this on switch. He says: It is a solar calculator. I said: Oh. Just put it back
in the cover. It goes off. Now what that means is that when the sun or the light in my dining
room shines on this little window, a little black number appears. Now it would be fair to say
that the light created that or made it, produced it in some way. And that number is not the
light.
So don’t ever think of the Son of God like the numbers on a solar calculator — that God made
the Son; he brought the Son into being like that. The Son is the light shining on the world and
making the world. He is begotten, not made, the old creeds say. The point being that you beget
light. Humans beget humans. Dogs beget puppies. Cats beget kittens. And God begets God.
Fourth, it is by means of the rays of the light that we see light. In the first service at this point
the sun came out and a big beam just landed on about 40 people right there. It was
unbelievable. It was great. And I said: Now, you know what? If you try to look up through that
window at the sun, first of all, it will blind you. Don’t do that. And that is just a little reflection of
God. God would blind you, too. You have to have a means to see God. You have to have a
mediator. The mediator is the Son of God and the Son of God is the radiance of the glory of
God.
And I said: You know what? The light that is on your face right now arrived there eight minutes
after it left the sun. About eight minutes ago while I was preaching it left the sun. These beams
went out and they landed right on our faces. Now if you look at those rays you can actually see
— if you put on the right glasses — you see a ball, or at sunrise and sundown when it is safe,
you can see a ball.
Are you seeing the sun? Yeah. You are seeing the sun, but actually you are seeing eight minutes
later what the means of the sun’s rays give to you to see, right? We are together. This is the
20th century. What we are seeing is a ball that is eight minutes old being mediated to us by
light streaming over 93 million miles from the sun. But we are seeing the sun, folks. That is the
sun. And when you look at Jesus Christ, you are seeing God.
“Jesus to me is the all in all, a pure man without sin [who] cannot sin. He is someone to
look up to, he is the real hero. … I think Jesus was sent down from God, which means
Jesus is God’s son.  – Ash

He’s the one I turn to. – Benjamin

“Jesus is my Savior. If it wasn’t for God’s ultimate sacrifice of his son, we would not be
forgiven. Also I know that I am protected and can do anything because I have accepted
Jesus into my heart.  – Kiersten

“This is a question that I always manage to tear up about when I answer. I don’t wanna
use all the traditional adjectives to describe him. Jesus is the one man who can look at
me with love and when I am covered in the most dirt. He is willing to take me by the
hand even when I turn away from him. Jesus is someone I can not describe because
there is nothing I know that I can compare him to. He takes care of me when I am
depressed, crushed, lonely, or broken. When I stand before him all my shadows are
seen. He is the one that never leaves my side. He is more than a friend, more than a
father, he is my savior. I can’t comprehend his infinitely beautiful and perfect love.” –
Paul

“Who was Jesus Christ to me? What a packed question. … In the Mennonite faith he’s
the one that we attempt to model ourselves after, follow his teachings and those of his
disciples. In Islam he’s a holy prophet. To the Jews he’s a false witness. Over the years
people have distorted what Christ has said in order to advance their own agenda, and in
some ways it’s the same way with me. Christ more than often has become more like a
firefighter/Santa Claus. He’s the one that I turn to when I can no longer rely on myself to
pull through on a tough situation; he’s also the one that I turn to when I really want
something. I know that it shouldn’t be this way, however that is not enough for me to
stop.” – Benjamin

“The Bible and Jesus’ life affects me in that all of my actions should be held accountable
and that my example should be that of Christ. Christians should use Christ’s example to
illustrate God’s love and need for a relationship with us.” – Nate

What [Jesus] desires is … a heart that seeks after him in

everything that we do. – Brittany
“Personally Jesus is many things to me and means many things to me. First he is God’s
son and is the best example of who God is and calls us to be, he was blameless and
pure; to put it simpler, he was perfect. His time of teaching on earth was short but was
not short of being a huge impact. Through teaching, praying and leading, Jesus was
purely God in the flesh, a man with the same temptations and longings that we as
humans have. There are many questions that are hard to answer about what Jesus
meant by this or why he did that, but what he desires is a heart that is open to his use
and a heart that seeks after him in everything that we do.” – Brittany
I will admit that I … am still trying to understand and decipher
who Jesus was and is today. – Becca
“So who is Jesus? I will admit that I, along with other people (or at least I hope so!) am
still trying to understand and decipher who Jesus was and is today. According
to Wikipedia’s definition, ‘Jesus Christ is the central figure of Christianity and is revered
by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the incarnation of God’. I agree with
this definition, and feel that it holds true to my life. But I also feel like my idea of Jesus
varies in that I hold Jesus more as an ‘example and lifestyle.’ … And when modeling
Jesus’ life, I try to live in a way that accepts others, teaches peace, and loves those that
are labeled as ‘outcasts.’” – Becca

“In my spiritual world view, Jesus is God. I do not make the distinction between the
multiple facets of God. God, in the form of Jesus, came to earth and lived, taught and
died with his death paying for my sins. Given that, Jesus is not only my God, but my
savior and teacher as well. He serves as an ideal for which I strive for in my life.” – Joel

Jesus is God, he came to Earth, and he died so that our sins may
be forgiven – Tyler
“Jesus was the Son of God, and he died so that everyone’s sins may be forgiven. That
really sums up who he is to me. Jesus was God, and he is the reason that all of sinning
humanity has a shot at getting into heaven. Of course, Jesus can be described as many
things. I could say he’s my ‘personal savior’ or that he’s the ‘king of kings’ or ‘100
percent man, 100 percent God.’ These would all be true statements, but it’s not the first
thing that comes to mind when I think of Jesus. There are a lot of popular ways to view
Jesus, which sound pretty, but have lost most of their meaning by now. In my mind,
Jesus is God, he came to Earth, and he died so that our sins may be forgiven.” – Tyler

“At this point in my life, I believe that Jesus is different and individualized to each
person. At this moment, to me, He is simply a basis at which to place faith on. That may
sound demeaning, but I mean it in the way that faith must be based on some concrete
principle or idea or the faith has the possibility of lacking any real meaning. Without all
of the parables and miracles in the Bible, it would be difficult to have any faith in a
higher power.” – Amber

I’ve grown up believing that God longs to have a personal

relationship with every one of his people and have even been
exposed to great examples of this through my parents. However,
I have struggled to put that into personal practice. – Lindsay
“From the beliefs passed on to me from my parents, I’ve come to believe that Jesus is
God’s Son, and the only way to salvation.  I have always believed in Jesus and what he
did for humanity two thousand years ago. I have accepted that gift of salvation. The
aspect of Jesus that I struggle with the most is the personal relationship part. I’ve grown
up believing that God longs to have a personal relationship with every one of his people
and have even been exposed to great examples of this through my parents. However, I
have struggled to put that into personal practice. I can’t seem to figure out what to do to
take my faith from something that saved me from hell and transform it into something
that resembles an actual relationship. – Lindsay

“I believe that Jesus calls us to love and love unconditionally. Often as Christians, and
especially Mennonites, we are too easily caught up in trying to discern what God would
like and what he wouldn’t like in a person. It is the religion of the church that gets in the
way of being true followers of Christ.”

I’ve always thought of Jesus as a close friend who I can’t see

who watches over me. -Maggie
“I have always heard the name Jesus so I’ve never really had a Jesus-is-my-Savior
epiphany. However, I’ve always been taught that he died on the cross for my sins
(whatever that means). Personally, I’ve always thought of Jesus as a close friend who I
can’t see who watches over me but it’s sometimes hard for me to make that distinction
between Jesus and God.” – Maggie

I believe the Bible tells us about Jesus’ life so that we can try to
mirror Him although it is impossible to be perfect as Jesus was.
– Brandon
“To me, Jesus is the person who is the reason that Christianity is the way it is in that our
sins are forgiven and if we ask, we can have a direct relationship with God in Heaven. I
believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that if we ask Him to come into our
hearts, we are forgiven and can have an everlasting relationship with Him. I believe the
Bible tells us about Jesus’ life so that we can try to mirror Him although it is impossible
to be perfect as Jesus was. I believe the Bible affects me in that it is God’s word; we
should live how it tells us and use it to minister to others and develop a better
relationship with the Lord.”   – Brandon

“Jesus is my dearest friend because when ever I call on him, he always answers.” –
Hope S.