I want to introduce you to the Man who has rescued me from death, filled me with hope, directed me in the decisions that have shaped my destiny, employed me in His global work, and is currently preparing a new home for me in a place where I’ll never grow old.

He is my Mentor and Master, and it’s a joy to introduce you to the Jesus you may not know.

None of us know Him as fully as we should, for Jesus is the mystery of the ages—the Almighty God whose throne is in heaven; the Nazarene Carpenter who wiped sweat from His brow; the Stranger of Galilee who napped in a boat; the Teacher whose wisdom changed the ethics of the world; the Prisoner whose execution was excruciating; the Corpse who borrowed a tomb; the Body who returned to life; the Savior who bled for the world; the Hero who divided history into B.C. and A.D.; and the glorious King whose return is right on schedule.

So multifaceted is He that the Bible overflows with names, titles, and designations to describe Him. He is:

The Alpha and Omega, and the Anointed One
The Beloved Son, and the Bright and Morning Star
The Carpenter of Nazareth, and the Christ of Glory
The Deliverer, and the Daystar From on High
The Everlasting Lord
The First and the Last, and the Faithful and True
The Great I AM, and the Good Shepherd
The High Priest, and the Holy One of Israel
Immanuel—God With Us
The Judge of All the Earth
The King of the Jews, and the King of Kings
The Lily of the Valley, the Lamb of God, the Lion of Judah, and the Lord of Lords
The Man of Sorrows, and the Morning Star
The Nazarene
The Overcomer
The Prince of Peace
The Redeemer, the Rabbi, and the Rock
The Son of God, the Son of Man, and the Savior of the World
The Teacher Who Came From God
The Virgin’s Son
The Word of God
The Way, the Truth, and the Life
Yeshua, Joshua, Jesus.

How do you explain Someone like that?

In a book of Christmas stories, I once found this description of Christ:

He was a working man, a ragged carpenter with neither a roof above His head nor a pillow beneath it, sleeping under the stars or in borrowed beds, His robe a blanket, His nightlight the moon.

For thirty-six months He drifted about doing good and telling stories. He never hurt a soul. He healed the sick, taught the masses, fed the hungry, walked across the seas, and preached the good news. Wherever He went, the miraculous broke out—at weddings, at funerals, on the land and on the lake, on the mountainside and in the city streets. He became the help of the helpless and the hope of the hopeless. He turned water into wine, and with bread and fish He fed a multitude; yet He Himself was sometimes hungry, and in His death He cried out in thirst . . . He was buried in a donated mausoleum. Yet His tomb, guarded by the Roman soldiers, was opened by heavenly agents—and found empty. And for two thousand years we can say that all the angels of heaven, all the demons of hell, all the stars in the sky, and all the men of the earth have never understood the influence of this gentle child in swaddling clothes who was laid in a manger with no crib for a bed—Jesus Christ our Lord.¹

Because Jesus lived in history (there’s no doubt about that) and because His life was recorded (the entire Bible is about Him), we can learn about Him. But because He rose from the grave and is now alive, we can have a personal relationship with Him and come to know Him more deeply and intimately. In the following pages, I’d like to help you grow closer to Jesus—the Beloved Son, the Everlasting Lord, the Promised Messiah, the Sacrificial Intercessor, the Compassionate Servant, the Powerful Provider, the Trusted Teacher, the Great I AM, the Selfless Savior, the Worthy King... and my Best Friend.

May He be yours too!

¹Robert J. Morgan, 12 Stories of Christmas (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2014), 226-228.