Jesus
Christianity centres on Jesus Christ, a real first-century Jewish man whom Christians worship as God the Son: fully human and fully divine.
Christians believe Jesus is not merely a prophet, moral teacher or especially holy person. He is God who came among humanity to reveal himself, rescue people from sin and bring them back into relationship with him.
A real person in history
Jesus was born into a Jewish family and grew up in the land now known as Israel and the Palestinian territories. He lived under Roman rule and was shaped by the Jewish Scriptures, worship and hope for God’s promised rescue.
The four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—tell what Jesus did, what he taught, how he died and why his followers proclaimed that he had risen from the dead.
Christians believe Jesus is God
Christians believe Jesus is truly God. They call him the Son of God and God the Son. This does not mean that God had a child in the ordinary biological sense, or that Jesus is a second, lesser god.
It means that the person who lived as Jesus has eternally shared the one divine identity. In Jesus, God himself entered human life. That is why Christians worship Jesus, trust him with forgiveness and eternal life, and believe that seeing his character shows us what God is like.
The Trinity
Christians believe there is one God who eternally exists as three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, yet they are not three gods. They are the one God.
Christians call this belief the Trinity. The three persons are not three parts making up God, and God is not one person merely appearing under three different names. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct, perfectly united and equally divine.
Christians recognise that this is difficult to picture fully. The Trinity is not intended as a puzzle added to Christianity. It is the language Christians use to hold together what they believe God has revealed: the Father sends the Son, the Son becomes human as Jesus, and the Holy Spirit makes God present and active with his people.
Fully God and fully human
Christians believe God the Son became genuinely human without ceasing to be God. Jesus became tired, hungry, distressed and vulnerable. He experienced friendship, rejection, suffering and death.
At the same time, Christians believe he was without sin and acted with God’s own authority. He forgave sins, received worship, claimed a unique relationship with the Father and spoke as the one through whom eternal life is given.
His humanity means God did not rescue humanity from a distance. His divinity means his life, death and resurrection have a significance no merely human teacher could have.
What Jesus taught
Jesus announced that the kingdom of God was near. He called people to turn back to God, trust the good news and live under God’s loving rule.
He taught people to love God and their neighbour, forgive, care for those in need, seek peace, tell the truth and examine their own hearts rather than merely judging others.
His teaching was demanding because sin is serious, but hopeful because God seeks the lost, welcomes those who return and gives mercy to those who know they need it.
What Jesus did
The Gospels describe Jesus healing the sick, feeding hungry people, welcoming outsiders, calming storms, confronting evil and forgiving sins.
Christians see these actions as signs of who he is and of the world God intends to restore. Jesus showed authority over sickness, sin, nature and death, while also showing compassion towards people ignored or condemned by others.
Why Jesus came
Christians believe Jesus came not only to teach a better way of living, but to save. Humanity’s deepest problem is separation from God through sin, and teaching alone cannot remove that guilt.
Jesus came to live the faithful human life we fail to live, give himself for our sins on the cross, rise from the dead and bring people into restored relationship with the Father through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus invites a response
Jesus did not simply invite admiration. He called people to trust him, receive what he offers and follow him.
His first followers learned slowly, asked questions and sometimes failed. A person can begin exploring Jesus before understanding everything, but the central Christian question remains: who is Jesus, and will I trust him?
Next: The Cross and Resurrection
The next part explains why Jesus was crucified historically, why Christians believe he bore the punishment for human sin, and how his resurrection revealed the promise of eternal life.