Trusting Christ with the care of our eternal souls is a very big deal. Hence, verifying his credentials to be such a perfect savior is of utmost importance. Here are 4 identifications that show Christ is who he said he was.
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Jesus is the one who saved Jacob – Through all of Jacob’s deceit and trickery, the son of God still came down to wrestle with Jacob and ultimately change him for the rest of his life. Jacob, whose name represented deception, was now changed to Israel. John 1:47 shows Jesus speaking of Nathaniel as an Israelite without deception, as if Jacob’s life had been completely changed and his sinfulness disregarded.
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Jesus is the one Jacob spoke of - Gen 49 records that at the end of his life, Jacob called his sons to him and, directed by the spirit of God, prophesied over each of them. Jacob proclaimed that a descendent of Judah will receive tribute, and that the peoples of earth will obey him. This descendent someday would bring such blessing and abundance to the earth that good wine will be as plentiful as wash water and that all on earth will have more than plenty.
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Jesus is the king Jacob spoke of – The beginning of Jacob’s prophecy in Gen. 49 says, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” A king will come from Judah that will eventually rule the world.
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Jesus is the ladder Jacob really saw – When Jacob was on the run from Esau, he stopped and slept. He dreamed of seeing a ladder set on earth and reaching heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. When he awoke he called the place the house of God and the gate of heaven, naming it Bethel. John 1:51 pictures Jesus as being the meeting place between heaven and earth, between God and man.
Christ Jesus is not an imposter, he is the real and only son of the living God.