What Jesus taught.
Jesus was a master teacher. Huge crowds swarmed and pressed to hear him speak. His favorite topic was the kingdom of God. In other words, Jesus taught about God’s way of life, or what life is like when God reigns. Jesus often taught in parables, which are like stories. For example, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought the field” (Matthew 13:44). That makes sense. God’s kingdom is like a treasure that is worth so much you would sell everything else to get it.
Jesus’ teaching cuts right to the heart. Watch him tear into pride, self-righteousness, apathy, greed. But then watch him welcome people with infinite compassion. The best known teaching of Jesus has to do with love: “Love your enemies.” His teaching is never easy, but it’s always good. Almost everyone likes the things Jesus taught. Check out the book of Matthew in the Bible if you want some more.

What Jesus did.
Jesus healed people and he cast out demons. These are signs of the kingdom of God, because in God’s kingdom there will be no sickness and no evil. Jesus began to bring God’s kingdom here and now. Does Jesus still heal people today? We believe he does.
Jesus forgave people’s sins. That made people angry, because who can forgive sins besides God? So who was Jesus anyway?

Who Jesus was.
Jesus asked his closest followers, “Who do people say that I am?” They told him that the crowds thought Jesus was a prophet. Then Jesus asked his closest followers, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:27-30). The people who knew him best said, “You are the Messiah [or Christ].” ‘Messiah’ or ‘Christ’ means “anointed one,” the savior that God’s people had long been expecting.
It’s obvious that Jesus was a human being. Based on the things that Jesus did and said, people concluded Jesus was also divine. The book of John says it like this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” The Bible teaches here that Jesus is divine, but that Jesus is distinct from God the Father. the book of John goes on to say that this Word who is God but is distinct form the Father became a human being: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The Word became flesh. Jesus became a human being.

Why Jesus died.
There are several ways to explain why Jesus was put to death. On the human level, Jesus was killed because of jealousy, ignorance, envy, pride, and politics. (These things make for an interesting, exciting story. In the book of Mark they want to kill Jesus by the third chapter!).
But it wasn’t as if Jesus’ death surprised God. Although people did a terribly evil thing by killing the Messiah, God planned for his Son Jesus to die for the salvation of the world. The apostle Peter explained in the book of Acts 2:23, “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead.” Isn't it incredible that God uses even our worst actions to achieve his good plans?

How Jesus rose.
That quote from the book of Acts says, “You put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” But then it goes on to say, “But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” Jesus was not resuscitated, he was resurrected. Jesus was raised by the power of God with a new eternal body. When God raises those who believe in Jesus, they too will have a new eternal body. God will make our bodies and our world new. That is hope!