With Christians everywhere, Anglicans believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that God the Son entered the world in a decisive way and lived among us as Jesus of Nazareth; and that the dying and rising again of Jesus of Nazareth is the means by which all persons might be reconciled to God, having been separated from God by our shortcomings. (2)

Jesus is one of the best known and most influential people in world history. More than two billion people today identify themselves as Christians, with the implication that Jesus is the focus of their relationship to God and of their way of living in the world. (3)

He lived in the Middle East, and in the first few centuries of Christianity, the faith spread in all directions – not only to Greece and Rome, France and Spain, but also to Egypt, North Africa, Ethiopia, Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, Persia, and India. Christianity was a world religion long before it was a European one. (3)

Jesus has never been confined to Western religion and culture. In fact, no other figure has so extensively crossed the cultural divisions of humanity and found a place in so many diverse cultural contexts. (3)

Christians believe that Jesus is God come to us, God with us. Jesus brings the kingdom of God to us, to show us what God is like. Through his life, Jesus shows us that God is gracious, kind, forgiving, patient, creative, holy and full of love for creation and all people.

Scholars have sought the Jesus of history, linking his life to events, times, places, and other people in history including Roman rulers. However, it is the four Gospels in the New Testament that have inspired, directly or indirectly, virtually every image of Jesus both within the church and beyond. (3)

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, God is revealed to us in the person of Jesus, living a fully human life from birth to death. We find God identifying with humanity, even to the extent of suffering pain and rejection. The depth of God’s love for us is shown in Jesus’ cross. God, through Jesus, overcomes death and sin. In his resurrection and his heavenly glory, Jesus models the destiny of all human beings. Life with God. (3)

About the Artwork

You can discover more of Peter Adams’ artwork at  www.peteradamsartist.com

Ref: (2) Anglicans on the Trinity and salvation, www.adelaideanglicans.com

(3) Jesus, a very short introduction by Richard Bauckham, Oxford University Press 2011, p. 1, 2, 3, 5.