C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, says this about Jesus Christ:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.“
“We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said or else a lunatic, or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form.”
When people say “Christ”, what do they mean?
Jesus Christ is different things to different people:
The Mormons believe Christ is just a man.
Jehovah Witnesses believe Christ is an archangel.
Others believe Christ is half man and half God.
New Agers believe that there is a Christ spirit, and that there have been many Christs down through the ages of time; Jesus being only one of the many.
What did the Disciples and Apostles say about Christ?
Philip asked Jesus to show him, and the other disciples, the Father. Jesus answered Philip with these words; “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”
Hebrews 1:3, “Who being the brightness of His Glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His Power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High.”
Philippians 2:6, 11, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father.”
Colossians 1:15, 19 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.”
Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega–the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come–the Almighty One.”
The devil has False Teachers and False Teachings.
The devil can quote Scripture. The problem is, he leaves out important parts, and misapplies the scriptures to deceive man into following his own desires for fame, power, money, comfort, and self-exaltation above the Lord Christ. Jehovah and Jesus set the devil straight in Genesis chapter three and Matthew chapter four.
II Corinthians 11:3-4, “But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.”
II Corinthians 11:13-14, “These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
Jesus wants you to know who He is personally.
Jesus asked His disciples who they said He was. He knew what everyone else was saying about Him, but He wanted the disciples to ‘Voice’ their ‘Confession’ of who they ‘Believed’ Christ to be to them personally, in their own hearts. Peter spoke boldly, proclaiming Christ to be the Messiah! (Mark 8:29)
The word, ‘Messiah’ meant the one whom God would send to save His people from their sins. The anointed one, the Christ, or God has become Salvation. The Angel Gabriel told Mary that Jesus would be the Son of God. Paul said God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. (Luke 1:35 & II Corinthians 5:19)
The question becomes not what others are saying about Christ, but what are you saying about Christ?
Until you open your heart and your mind to the possibility that He may indeed be all that He claims to be, you will stay confused by what the world says about Him. When you humble yourself, and sincerely ask Him to reveal Himself to you, with a willingness to lay aside your preconceived ideas about Him; then He will draw you to Him via your spirit and you will know, as C. S. Lewis (a former Atheist), that He is indeed the Son of God and the only way to the Father!
I believe by Personal Experience with Christ and His Spirit World.
I have been privileged to see the Lord Jesus Christ, several times, in dreams and visions. I have seen angels in bodies of flesh, and in dreams and visions. I have seen demons respond to the Word of God and the Name of Jesus Christ. I have seen the healing and miracle-working power of God in my life, and in others. I have seen Jesus Christ change hearts and lives from selfish addictive lifestyles to serving others with humility and thankfulness. To me, Jesus Christ is God, the one who forgives us of our sins, and offers each of us the free gift of Eternal Life. He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life, and no man can come to the Father except through Him.
Christ is a God of Mercy
No matter what mistakes you have made and no matter what sins you have committed in this life, He is ready to forgive and wash your heart clean by the power of His shed Blood on Calvary. He is merciful and not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance and eternal life through a personal relationship with Him in your heart.
You have to believe that He is, and that He will reward you for seeking Him with an honest heart. He is as near as the confession of your mouth. (Romans 10:9, Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:21, 38)
Behold I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock. If any man, woman, child, hears my voice (in their conscience) and opens (the door of their hearts-by confessing with their words their faith in me as their Lord and Savior, the Son of God) I will come in and share a meal together as friends. (Revelation 3:20 paraphrased)