Who Is Our Lord Jesus Christ?
The Bible tells us that in the beginning, God created man to
have fellowship with Him. However, man disobeyed God, and there came a gulf
between God and man, for God, though loving and merciful, was also a God of
justice.
The consequence of sin is death, and man would have to die
and suffer eternally in hell. But God loved man and formed a plan that would
see His own Son, Jesus Christ, suffer and pay the price of sin, and forever
bridge the gulf between God and man.
Years before Jesus Christ was born, Isaiah prophesied
regarding His coming.
For unto us a
child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His
shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no
end.
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it
with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6, 7
Jesus lived a sinless and perfect
life on earth for 33 years. When He was 30 years old, He started His ministry,
preaching, teaching, healing and touching the hearts and lives of people
everywhere.
In Luke 7:11-15, there was a widow whose only son had just
died. She had previously lost her husband, and now her son, and in addition to
the emotional trauma, she was left without any financial support. Jesus heard
her weeping in desolation when he passed by. Without needing to be asked, Jesus
raised her dead son from the grave and returned him to his mother.
From this incident, we catch a glimpse of Jesus’ love for man and the infinite
power He wields as the beloved Son of God. He is God and yet man, King and yet
a servant. He is all steel, yet all velvet, almighty God, yet touched by our
infirmities and weaknesses.
Jesus In The Four Gospels
There is so much loveliness to Jesus, and we are always
learning more of Him from the Bible. The four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John, each tell the story of Jesus, albeit from four viewpoints, so that we see
the different facets of Jesus.
Jesus The Messianic King
The book of Matthew starts off with the genealogy of Jesus,
tracing His line back to David and Abraham, both of whom had been told by God
that the Messiah of the Jews would be their descendant, their son. So we see
that Matthew wrote of Jesus, the Messiah, the foretold King of the Jews.
Jesus The Servant
Mark tells of Jesus the servant who, though being almighty
God Himself, was a servant in His life on earth, His death and after His
resurrection.
The book of Mark begins with Jesus working when He begins
His earthly ministry, and ends in the very last verse with Jesus working again:
And they went
out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word
through the accompanying signs.
Mark
And in the preceding verse, Mark spoke of Jesus sitting at
the right hand of God in heaven:
So then, after
the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down
at the right hand of God.
Mark
Jesus The Perfect Man
Another aspect of Jesus is seen
in Luke’s account of His life. It is the only book that describes Jesus’
childhood and how He grew up, in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and
man. Luke also traces Jesus’ genealogy, this time, all the way back to Adam,
the first man created by God.
This establishes that Jesus is
truly a man, but a perfect and sinless man. He was tempted at all points and
yet did not sin. And this perfect man will become the perfect sacrifice to
atone for the sins of the whole world.
In chapter 22, Luke gives the most
moving, detailed, description of Jesus’ prayer at the
Father, if it
is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not Me will, but Yours,
be done.
Mark 24:42
From this, we know that Jesus knew the agony and suffering
that awaits Him at the cross, and was sorrowful, but yet even in pain and
death, He was obedient at all points to God the Father.
Jesus fulfilled God’s holy law to the very letter, and when
He died for us, He took our sin, and we took His righteousness. On the cross,
Jesus was rejected by God so that we will be forever accepted.
Jesus The Divine God
Finally, John paints the picture of Jesus the Son of God. No
genealogy is given, as God has neither beginning nor end. Right from the start
of the first chapter, we are told of His divinity:
In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was
in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him
nothing was made that was made... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth.
John 1:1-3, 14
The book of John is full of Jesus’ declarations of "I
am"; to state some: I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I
am the door, I am the good shepherd, I am the resurrection and the life. It
alludes to God’s declaration to Moses in the desert in Exodus 3:14, "I am
who I am". Moses had asked God for His name, and God’s answer was "I
am". And Jesus, being God too, used "I am".
What Jesus Has done
For You
According to Luke 4:16-20, Jesus, at the start of His
earthly ministry, went into the synagogue in
"The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel
to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to
the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who
are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Isaiah 61:1-2
At the above line, Jesus closed the book and did not read on
to finish the verse, which continues with "and the day of vengeance of our
God". This shows that today, Jesus came to emphasize grace and goodness.
The law was given by Moses, but grace came by our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
second and last Adam, who, by His sacrifice, nailed our sins to the cross, and
gave us righteousness and peace everlasting.
No one can truly fathom the pain and suffering Jesus
experienced on the cross to redeem us. It was a divine exchange: we took His
good and He took our bad. Totally unfair, but that was how much Jesus loved us.
John 16:13-15 – the Holy Spirit has all the wealth of the Father and The Son
invested in Him. He has the key to the storehouse – what is the shape of the
key? The cross. The key to the storehouse is found in Isaiah 53:6 – “We all,
like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord
has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” All the evil / rebellion of us was
placed on Jesus that all the good of Jesus might be available to me!
Isaiah 53 lists this exchange.
|
On the cross, Jesus |
So
that we might |
|
was punished |
be
forgiven (verses 4-5) |
|
was wounded |
be
healed (verse 5) |
|
was made sin for us with our sinfulness |
be
made righteous with His righteousness
(verse 10) |
|
died our death |
share
His life (verse 10) |
|
was made a curse |
might
receive the blessing (verse 12 &
Galatians |
|
endured our poverty |
receive
His abundance (verse 12 & 2
Corinthians 9:8) |
|
endured our shame |
share
His glory (verse 3b & Matthew
27:35-36) |
|
endured our rejection |
have
His acceptance (verse 6; Matthew
27:45-51 & Ephesians 1:3-6) |
|
was cut off by death |
be
joined to God eternally (verses 7-9) |
|
Our old man was crucified |
That
the new man might become alive in us (Romans 6:6) |
On the cross, God laid on Jesus the sin and filth of the
whole world, and the wrath and judgment of God came upon Jesus like no other
man has ever suffered or will ever suffer.
For three hours, darkness covered the earth while Jesus
experienced pain and torment that was unimaginably hideous and vile when He
took on His own body our sin and sicknesses. When Jesus died, God tore the
heavy veil in the temple that separated man and God, thus signifying man’s
eternal acceptance into His presence.
Having exhausted His wrath, God raised Jesus from the dead
and He now sits at the right of God in heaven as our High Priest. The precious
blood of Christ, once shed, forever settles the need for judgment of sin on
man.
Now we have a permanent right standing with God, and
complete access to Him to bring all our requests, big or small. He loves us
with an everlasting love and we are forever His children, beloved by Him.
How Does The Cross
Apply To You
All said and done, what we’ve described in the previous
sections will have no consequence in your life if you do not choose to accept
Jesus Christ personally.
God has done everything for you: you can be saved from sin
and hell, and instead have joy, peace, health, a prosperous life, acceptance,
love, and all good things in life. He is only waiting for you to take the first
step towards Him.
To receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, say this prayer
and mean it from your heart:
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me and dying for me
on the cross. Your precious blood washes me clean of every sin. You are my
Lord, my Saviour and my God now and forever. I believe that You rose from the
dead, and that You are alive today. God, You are my Father and I am Your child
because of Jesus. Thank You for filling my heart with Your peace and joy.
In Jesus' name, amen.
The Ultimate Question
We deal with a lot of issues in life, some big and some
small. But there is only one Ultimate Question ...
If you were to die tonight ...
As much as we push it out to the distant future, hide it
away in hospitals, or simply ignore the thought, death will surely come.
The Bible declares, "... it is appointed for men to
die once..."; (Hebrews
then what?
Now that's a question people try to ignore... or at least
postpone. Please don't be like the fellow who planned to address it at the
eleventh hour, then died unexpectedly at
The Bible verse just quoted goes on to provide an answer:
"... it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes
judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)
So what's your answer?