In the last section we read of God giving his Son and that this is Jesus Christ? What does this mean? Who exactly is Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ can be trusted, known and loved.

This needs a little explanation: Jesus is an actual, historical person. He lived in Israel. He was born in Bethlehem, brought up in Nazareth, and died outside Jerusalem. No-one, who knows anything about the evidence, seriously doubts that Jesus lived and died. We have four very early biographies which tell of his life, words, deeds, sufferings, death - and, as we shall see in a moment, his resurrection. It is interesting to pause and think of just one part of the evidence. Here are some comparisons:

There are 10 manuscript (handwritten) copies of the works of Julius Caesar; the earliest dates from 1,000 years after he lived.
There are 7 manuscript copies of Plato’s Tetralogies; the earliest from 1,200 years after he lived.
There are 20 manuscript copies of the Roman historian Tacitus’ Annals; the earliest from 1,000 years after he lived.
There are 5,000 manuscript copies of the New Testament in Greek and 7,000 copies of the Latin Vulgate (an early translation); the earliest fragments date probably from the 1st century, and certainly from the 2nd century. The earliest complete New Testament dates about 320-350 A.D..

Jesus died but God raised him to life again.

This seems incredible to some people, but if God is real it is certainly possible. The New Testament is quite definite that it happened: To his disciples Jesus presented himself alive after his sufferings by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days (Acts 1:3). "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures… he was buried… he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures… he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present… After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all he was seen by me also." (the testimony of Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:3-9). "Him God raised up on the third day, and showed him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead." (testimony of Peter, Acts 10:40,41)

Because Jesus is alive he can be known today.

After being raised from the dead, Jesus returned to heaven (you can read about this in Acts 1:9-11). However, even before he died he promised his followers that he would come to them and make himself known to them: "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." (John 14:18,21).

Jesus does this in an inward, spiritual way. He returned to heaven in his body, but his spirit is with all those who love him. He manifests - or shows - himself to all who love him. To those who come to him and who trust themselves to him he gives an inward sense of his reality and presence. A Christian is someone who knows Jesus Christ personally.

In coming to Jesus Christ we come to know God.

Jesus said some remarkable things, and made some staggering claims. Think of these statements: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me." (John 14:6). "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?" (John 14:9).

In view of these words it is not surprising that John says in his Gospel, "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him." (John 1:18).

It is clear that Jesus is saying that it is only through him that people come to know God. But why is this so?

Jesus is himself God.

This seems a very strange thing to say. If God sent Jesus into the world how can Jesus also be God himself? In some of the verses just quoted Jesus speaks about the Father, and there are many verses in which he is called the Son of God. For example when he asked who he disciples who they thought he was, Peter replied: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16).

It is surely clear that a son is of the same nature as his father. However difficult it may be for us to grasp, if the Father is God then his Son must be God also. A son is not a creation; a son shares the life and nature of his father. The son of a human cannot be other than human, and the Son of God must share the same nature as his Father.

This, of course, is how it is that Jesus shows God to us; so that when we come to him we come to God. He is God; we meet God in him. The Son of God became man. He took a form accessible to us. We could not rise up to God. He is high and holy; no one has ever seen him. But the Son has come down to us, and in Jesus we meet with God and come to know God. The Son is one with his Father, so in meeting with Jesus we come to know the Father as well, just as Jesus told Philip.

Jesus Christ died to save us from our sins.

Jesus did not come only to reveal God, he came to save. Even before he was born the angel Gabriel said to Joseph: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21).

Later John the Baptist was to point to him and say: "Behold! The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29).

It was by dying that he saves people from their sins

This is made very clear in many places. He death was not an accident; it was not simply a tragic end to a noble life. He came to die and he had to die: "From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." (Matthew 16:21). "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:3). "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh." (1 Peter 3:18).

In dying he took the punishment for human sins.

Surprisingly this point is seen most clearly in the Old Testament in a passage which is often quoted in the New: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5,6).

It is when we trust in Jesus Christ and his death that our sins are forgiven: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." (Acts 16:31). If all have sinned, then all need to turn to Christ for forgiveness.