He is Mercy From Allah
“He said, “Thus said your Lord, `It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign for humanity, and a mercy from Us. It is a matter already decided’.” (Mariam 19: 21)
He is the Blessed One
“And has made me blessed wherever I may be; and has enjoined on me prayer and charity, so long as I live.” (Maryam 19: 31)
Isa Al-Masih is “blessed” wherever He is: He has carried the good news with Him since His birth and “made me blessed wherever I was” (Mary 31). He remained at every moment and in every position of his life wherever he was a blessing. No prophet did God bestowed upon him such a blessing in all the moments of his life.
That’s why it you need to follow Isa Al-Masih, for He will bless you abundantly, for He is blessed wherever He is.
He Is Among the Closest to Allah
“The Angels said, “O Mary, God gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, well-esteemed in this world and the next, and one of the nearest.” (Al-Imran 3: 45)
Greatest Healer, Revealer of Secrets
“A messenger to the Children of Israel: I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I make for you out of clay the figure of a bird; then I breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by God’s leave. And I heal the blind and the leprous, and I revive the dead, by God’s leave. And I inform you concerning what you eat, and what you store in your homes. In that is a sign for you, if you are believers.”
Supported by The Holy Spirit
“…And We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear proofs, and We supported him with the Holy Spirit…” (Al-Baqara 2: 87)
“These messengers: We gave some advantage over others. To some of them God spoke directly, and some He raised in rank. We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear miracles, and We strengthened him with the Holy Spirit…” (Al-Baqara 2: 253)
Victory Over the Devil
The Legacy of Isa’s Character
What was the character of Isa Al Masih, and what does His character tell us about Allah if Isa Al Masih is a perfect representation of Allah?
Isa Al Masih was gentle, He was humble, and forgiving. He was not ashamed or embarrassed to surround Himself with the lowly, the sinners, and even those who persecuted Him. He prayed for those who were carrying out His death. In short, there was nothing that could separate His love for us from Him. He befriended the outcasts, those considered to be “unclean.”
What is the reason Isa came to the world?
One of the reasons He came to the world is to reveal the real and true character of Allah. In a way, He came to reintroduce us to God’s love and power because years of sin have blurred God’s connection to us. The Injil declares that in the life of Isa Al Masih on earth is seen a perfect representation of what Allah is like. 2 Cor. 4:6.
Furthermore, it also says if you want to know who Allah is, study the life of Isa Al Masih.
How did Isa defeat the Devil?
Jesus did not yield His life until He accomplished the work that He came here to finish, and with His last breath He said “IT is finished.” John 19:30. DoA Chap 79.
At that point, Satan was defeated and he knew that he lost the kingdomship he was trying to take from Allah. He did not defeat Jesus no matter how much he threw at Him.
Do We Still Have To Offer Sacrifice After Isa Al Masih’s Death?
When Isa Al Masih died on the cross, it was no longer necessary to observe Jewish traditional sacrificial laws. The death of Isa Al Masih meant further animal sacrifices are meaningless. The purpose of sacrifices was to point the sinner to Allah. Once the Messiah died for the world, there was no need to point toward His coming.
In the Torah, specifically in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, you will find Allah’s requirement for sacrifices. In the B.C. time, God commanded Israel, the people, to make animal sacrifices for a substitution, or an atonement. That means that the animal death will take the place of our death as a consequence of sin. Romans 6:23.
Allah demands holiness from us and His commandments also demand holiness. Not because He forces us, but because He is that much superior. He is our creator, after all. See 1 Peter 1:15-16.
This is where Jesus comes in. Hebrews 9:12-15 tells us “Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever. Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ritual defilement. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our hearts from deeds that lead to death so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, so that all who are invited can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.”
Also, in Romans 8:3-4, “The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”
Without the death of Isa Al Masih, Allah’s Law would still need to be satisfied…by us!
Which Disciple turned his back on Isa?
Judas was the disciple who turned his back on Jesus. Judas walked with Jesus, he witnessed His miracles and wonders. Unfortunately, the temptation of money was greater than his faith. Matthew 26:14-15: “Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, 15 and said, ‘What are you willing to give me to deliver Him up to you?’ And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.”
This was also a prophecy in the Torah:
Psalm 55:12-14 Indeed, it is not an enemy who insults me, or else I could bear it; it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me, or else I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like me, my close friend in whom I confided. We would share personal thoughts with each other; in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.
Foreshadowing of the Cross
The work that Jesus came to earth to do was coming to a close. Before He even came to this earth, He already knew his beginning and end on earth. When Jesus sat with His disciples at the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples of his journey to Jerusalem, and how He will have to endure many sufferings at the hands of the elders and chief priests, and that He will be put to death. He knew that HE had to fulfill what was written.
According to the Torah, in the book of Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.”
This is a prophecy about Isa Al Masih. The “He” refers to Him. And just as the prophecy states is exactly what happened to Isa Al Masih.
Great Controversy and Salvation
All humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Jesus and the devil regarding the character of Allah, His law, and His sovereignty over the universe. This conflict originated in heaven when a created being, endowed with freedom of choice, in self-exaltation became Satan, also known as the devil, God’s adversary, and led into rebellion a portion of the angels. He introduced the spirit of rebellion into this world when he led Adam and Eve into sin. This human sin resulted in the distortion of the image of Allah in humanity, the disordering of the created world, and its eventual devastation at the time of the global flood, as presented in the historical account of Genesis 1-11. Observed by the whole creation, this world became the arena of the universal conflict, out of which the God of love will ultimately be vindicated. To assist His people in this controversy, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit and the loyal angels to guide, protect, and sustain them in the way of salvation. (Gen. 3; 6-8; Job 1:6-12; Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-18; Rom. 1:19-32; 3:4; 5:12-21; 8:19-22; 1 Cor. 4:9; Heb. 1:14; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 3:6; Rev. 12:4-9.)
[What Is the Consequence of Sin? How Does Sin=Death?
It is written that “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. For some of us who did not grow up with the Bible, this verse seems all together confusing and a little harsh. What if we do good deeds, but still sin, are we still going to die? Does Allah really expect that we will never sin, and that the only way to live is if we never sin? How can that be, we are all born with sin!
But Isa Al Masih has suffered the death that we are all supposed to face when He came to this world and died. With His death came our salvation and eternal life. By virtue of Isa Al Masih, who is innately divine and one with Allah, living a sinless life and dying and bearing our sins, Isa Al Masih paid our ransom to free us from sin, death, and hell. As defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary, A ransom is “a consideration paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from captivity.”
At its core, sin is a rebellion against Allah. Our sins separate us from Allah, the creator and sustainer of life. Life is in Allah, so, when we sin and become separated from Him, we become separated from true life. Hence, we experience death. For example, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they were separated from Allah in a physical and spiritual way. Ellen G. White describes the fall here: “Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden, and an angel with a flaming sword guarded the way to the tree of life, that the disloyal, disobedient pair might not gain access to it and thus immortalize transgression. Mark this point. The Lord did not place in Adam fallen and disobedient the confidence He placed in Adam loyal and true, living by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God….The eyes of Adam and Eve were indeed opened, but to what? To see their own shame and ruin, to realize that the garments of heavenly light that had been their protection were no longer around them as their safeguard. Their eyes were opened to see that nakedness was the fruit of transgression….All who today allow themselves to be used as Satan’s instruments to lead others to disregard the commandments of God are under the curse of God. Our safety lies in a wholehearted belief in a “Thus saith the Lord.” This is the declaration of truth. Those who are led away from the truth from any motive, however great may have been their supposed wisdom and exaltation, and venture in a path of their own choosing, are following a false leader and will be led by him into false paths.” Ellen G. White, Christ Triumphant, Pg. 26.
Furthermore, Allah did not plan or want us to be separated from Him.
“It was not the will of God that the sinless pair should know aught of evil. He had freely given them the good, and had withheld the evil. But, contrary to His command, they had eaten of the forbidden tree, and now they would continue to eat of it—they would have the knowledge of evil—all the days of their life. From that time the race would be afflicted by Satan’s temptations. Instead of the happy labor heretofore appointed them, anxiety and toil were to be their lot. They would be subject to disappointment, grief, and pain, and finally to death.” Patriarchs & Prophets, 58-59.
It is important to understand what the “death” referred to as the consequence of our sin means. Sin does not necessarily result in physical death right away. Rather, it is referring to a spiritual death, like the one that Adam and Eve experienced after their disobedience to Allah. When we are saved by Isa Al Masih, we are rescued from the ultimate spiritual death and brought into spiritual life.
Even with this knowledge, our sins will still result in a type of spiritual “death.” Even though our ransom was paid by Isa Al Masih, and we are spared from suffering the spiritual eternal separation from Allah because of sin, we are not exempt from the natural consequences of a broken relationship with the Allah. When we sin, we experience the symptoms of spiritual death. We may feel guilty, empty, confused, or disconnected from God. Though our sin does not sever our relationship with Allah, our sin does put a barrier between us. For example, thing of a relationship between a husband and wife. If a spouse is unfaithful, or deliberately disobedient, the couples’ relationship is strained. They still love one another and don’t want to feel pain or separation from their spouse, however, their relationship now has to deal with the consequences: mistrust, hurt, a sense of guilt, and the like. The relationship is ultimately can be restored, but the pain comes first.
So it is with us and Allah.
What Is Sin?
When we think of the origin of sin, many of us think about it originating in Eden, with Adam and Eve eating of the tree Allah forbid them from. But the sin problem existed long before Adam and Eve. Sin emerged in Heaven and it was born out of a cherub’s (Lucifer; Satan) desire to be like our most high, Allah.
According to Dictionary.com, sin is: transgression of divine law. The law of love was the foundation of the government of Allah. Allah desires from all of His creatures the service of love, and this love comes from our understanding of His character. Allah does not force anyone to believe in Him, He takes no pleasure in forcing us to obey Him, but rather, He respects us so much that we are given freedom of will to serve our Creator. This is how it was in the beginning…until Lucifer exploited this freedom that Allah gave to us.
Everything that we know and can comprehend was created by Allah. He created the planets, the heavens, the earth, everything in the earth, angels, humans, animals…EVERYTHING! Only Allah holds that power, and by just that basic knowledge, it is sufficient to say that we can NEVER be like Allah.
How Did Isa Al-Masih Defeat the Devil?
When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!” “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!” (Luke 10:17-18)
Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.” (Revelation 12:10-11).
These verses among others give us assurance that the devil, Satan, Shaytan, has been defeated. How has he been defeated is the question, and the answer is compound and will be discussed in other posts. In short, Satan did everything in his power to prevent Jesus from dying on the cross, and he failed. If he had been successful, then none of us would have even a slight chance of ever making it to heaven, or in the presence of Allah. We would have all been Satan’s property until the world comes to an end, and then we would perish with him as well.
In order to understand this concept from the beginning, we will look at what sin is, what the Great Controversy is, and how the devil has been defeated, in future posts.
“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”John 16:7-11 NLT.
His Miracles
Isa Heals Leprosy”
Leprosy was one of the worst diseases to have in the time of Isa Al Masih, about 2000 years ago. It is a disease that perpetually gets worse, affecting your outer skin, to moving into your nerves, to affecting our senses and abilities. People with leprosy used to be outcasted because of their disease. They had to leave their families and were not to associate with anyone. People did not want to go anywhere near lepers because their sight and smell were unbearable.
But then there was a man who saw them as precious as gold, who saw beyond their appearance and odor, and saw a brother that He wanted to help. Jesus reached out and touched the leper.
Now this was not the only miraculous leper story. There was a time when Jesus healed TEN lepers at the same time. All it took was an ounce of faith on their end:
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a] met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11:34-44
Miracles At the Wedding Feast
There were many miracles that Jesus performed while on earth. We are blessed to have some of them in the Holy Scriptures. The miracle at the wedding feast was accounted by John in Chapter 2:
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. (John 2:1-11)
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind[b] said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?” Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.”[c] He said, “I am he.”Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.” John 9:1-11
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. Luke 4:38-39
While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Luke 5:12-15
Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” (Luke 5:18-26)
What all of these verses have in common is this: Jesus has the power to heal and forgive sins. Who, other than Allah, has this power? There is only one, Isa Al Masih. From miraculous conception, to living sinless until His last breath, Isa Al Masih obviously possessed power beyond any human.
It is written in the Quran:
Then will Allah say: “O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show them the clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: ‘This is nothing but evident magic. Al-Maida 5:110.
What does it mean that Isa Al Masih was able to create life, save lives, and forgive sins?
Isa Al Masih was known, whether in the Quran or the Bible to heal the sick and the blind. He even brought the dead back to life. In one example of Jesus healing a leper, the key to the leper’s healing was that he believed that he would be healed by Jesus. All He did was touch the leper and asked that he be cleansed, and the leper was cleansed. Matthew 8:1-3.
Another instance of Jesus healing the sick was when He healed Simon Peter’s mother in law who was suffering from a high fever and would have most likely passed away. Jesus just stood over her and rebuked the fever. She was healed right after. Luke 4:38-39.
He healed many more after the Sabbath sunset, people who were sick with different diseases. He laid His hands on every one of them, and for some of them, demons were rebuked and came out of them, and even the demons that came out proclaimed “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Luke 4: 40-41 NKJV