Who is Jesus?

The astounding claim at the heart of Christianity has to do with who Jesus is. Christians say that Jesus is both truly human and truly God.

Jesus is truly human, having experienced a normal birth, childhood and process of development. He lived with a family in a typical first century Jewish house. At times he felt weary, hungry and thirsty. He experienced pain and suffering when he was tortured and crucified. He felt a full range of emotions – joy, sorrow, love, compassion and anger. The gospels describe Jesus being tempted to reject God’s ways, but he resisted.

Christians believe Jesus was truly God. The records of his life recount eyewitnesses who observed his power. He displayed power over disease, nature and even death. He was able to cast out demons, exerting authority over powers of evil. Jesus claimed equality with God. This staggering claim got him into a lot of trouble with religious authorities, eventually leading to his execution. Jesus pronounced judgement on hypocrites and granted repentant sinners forgiveness for their sin. Jesus was a teacher who taught with authority and wisdom. During his life on earth, crowds flocked to hear him teach about God, right living and forgiveness.

The resurrection of Jesus is the most striking thing that singles him out from other religious leaders, and any other person. This is central to Christianity. Jesus made some astounding claims about himself, which were validated when he came back to life, showing his power over death.

In Jesus, all the promises of the Old Testament came to fulfilment. He fulfilled prophecy as the greatest King of God’s people who would bring in a kingdom of righteousness, mercy and justice. He also fulfilled the prophecy of a suffering servant who would deal with the sin of God’s people, by taking this punishment on himself.

Christians wait eagerly for Jesus to return to bring this kingdom to complete fulfilment. The Bible says that when Jesus returns all the wrongs of the world will be put right and creation will be renewed. Wrongdoing will be punished and there will be a rule of righteousness and justice. There will be no more sin or suffering. We are told, ‘he will wipe away every tear’ from his people.

Christians know Jesus as a brother and friend. They believe he understands their sorrows and struggles, because he also experienced these things. Christians also worship Jesus as Lord and ruler of God’s world who rightly deserves their obedience.

(Reproduced courtesy of christianity.net.au)

What we believe shapes our life together:

We believe that the Bible is God’s Word, given to us, and the Bible makes us wise for salvation, by teaching us to put our faith in Jesus Christ. This is why we teach from the Bible in all our groups and activities, and why we are constantly seeking to have our lives shaped by the Scriptures.
We believe that the central message of the Bible is Christ’s death and resurrection, which reconciles people to God. This message of Gracious forgiveness shapes all that we do.
We believe that God’s Holy Spirit enables people to trust Jesus, and God’s Holy Spirit enables us to call God our Father. We believe that prayer to our loving, sovereign God is the right way respond to Him and express out dependence on Him.
We believe that Christ’s gracious forgiveness bring us together; Christ’s people are united together by His death and resurrection, and we share the experience of Christ’s Spirit being at work in our lives. We express our Christian unity when we gather, which is why we make our Church Services each week a priority and why we value our congregations. People of all ages, abilities and cultural backgrounds find their unity in Christ, and we celebrate this “United Diversity in Christ”. Christ’s Spirit gives his people different gifts, and these different gifts are vital for our Church community’s growth and spiritual maturity. This is why we recognise, train and equip our members for their ministries of service.
We believe that God’s grace toward us in Christ naturally leads to us serving others with practical love and care. This is why our church actively supports Christian ministries of care (such as Compassion) and why we encourage to our members to care for others in our local community.

We are part of a network of congregations that make up the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. We value the doctrinal statements and creeds that express a summary of bible-based belief as acknowledged in the 39 articles of religion.