Sun, Jul 15th - 1:15PM
Who is Jesus the Christ?
Dear friends, my heart has been heavy for some time. There are folks who do not believe that JESUS is God. I cannot convince them otherwise, nor will I try to do so. But if you are one of those people, I ask you to read and PRAY through this post. The thoughts have been taken from various sources of preachers and teachers who are more "theologically"-inclined than I am! However, we are all called to be ministers and priests of the Word. That Word is Jesus...
JESUS is God, Immanuel “God with us”. Jesus was called Emmanuel, which means God with us (John 1:23).
This is indeed who He was. He was fully human, but at the same time fully divine.
There is no one in history that has been given more names or titles than Jesus Christ. If you've read through the Bible carefully then you know what I mean. Throughout the pages of Holy Writ over 100 names and titles are given to Jesus. And whether He is called "Bright morning star, Wonderful Counselor, the Root of Jesse, the Alpha and the Omega, or the Lamb of God", each of these names and titles is rich with meaning. They all say something significant about who Jesus is.
However, there is no name more significant than "Immanuel". This name, which Matthew refers to in his Gospel (Matthew 1:23), was first given to Jesus by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before His birth (Isaiah 7:14). And this very special name, as Matthew tells us, means "God with us." Jesus Christ is Immanuel, "God with us," and I'd like to share why this is so meaningful. When Paul preached to the pagans of Lystra (in Acts 14) He reminded them that the true God, the Creator, had always been with them, giving them witness of Himself by providing them with rains, fruitful seasons, and giving them food and glad hearts. Thus, God has always been with His creation in the sense that He, who is everywhere, has showered all mankind with blessings -- despite their sin.
But with the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, Immanuel, "God With Us," takes on a whole new meaning. For in the person of baby Jesus, God is "with us" not merely to bless us. Nor is He with us in the sense that He is going to merely work through Jesus to help us, protect us, and guide us. No, for the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay is "God with us" because He is God.
What sent the shepherds back to the fields rejoicing, what made the wise men fall down in wonder in the shadow of that babe, was the gripping realization that they were in the presence of their Creator made man.
God Himself lies in the manger, completely human, completely Divine.
Years later St. John the Evangelist under the inspiration of the Spirit would write the perfect commentary on those events. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; and all things were made through Him and apart from Him nothing was made which was made...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-3, 14).
The true message is one to stagger the imagination: The Second Person of the Trinity, the only begotten Son of the Father, the eternal Word, our Creator wills to clothe Himself in our nature, and to become man, one of us.
But even the sacrificial death of Christ didn't make us friends . . . we still needed the resurrection. When Jesus rose from the dead we saw that the birth, the words, and the actions did come from one who was God in the flesh. The resurrection proved that Jesus was who he said he was. The resurrection opened the door to eternal life for you and me.
In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works of creation. It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space, and fashioned the flowers of the field. "His strength setteth fast the mountains." "The sea is His, and He made it." Ps. 65:6; 95:5. It was He that filled the earth with beauty, and the air with song. And upon all things in earth, and air, and sky, He wrote the message of the Father's love. Nearly two thousand years ago, a voice of mysterious import was heard in heaven, from the throne of God, "Lo, I come." "Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me. . . . Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God." Heb. 10:5-7. In these words is announced the fulfillment of the purpose that had been hidden from eternal ages. Christ was about to visit our world, and to become incarnate. He says, "A body hast Thou prepared Me." By His humanity, Christ touched humanity; by His divinity, He lays hold upon the throne of God. As the Son of man, He gave us an example of obedience; as the Son of God, He gives us power to obey.
It was Christ who from the bush on Mount Horeb spoke to Moses saying, "I Am That I Am. . . . Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you." Ex. 3:14. This was the pledge of Israel's deliverance. So when He came "in the likeness of men," He declared Himself the I Am. The Child of Bethlehem, the meek and lowly Saviour, is God "manifest in the flesh." 1 Tim. 3:16. And to us He says: "I Am the Good Shepherd." "I Am the living Bread." "I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." John 10:11; 6:51; 14:6; Matt. 28:18. I Am the assurance of every promise. I Am; be not afraid. "God with us" is the surety of our deliverance from sin, the assurance of our power to obey the law of heaven.
The Most Holy Trinity:
All along the Bible there is Only One God. But, again, all along the Bible, in God there are three persons, the Father, the Son or the Word, and the Holy Spirit. It is the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, the most glorious mystery of God, the greatest treasure revealed by God to humankind.
This is the Immanuel, the Word, the Messiah, in the New Testament:
- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (Jn.1:1-3, 14).
- For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him...and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church... For God was pleased to have all his (God's) fullness dwell in him (Christ Jesus)... making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Col.1:16-20).
The Father is eternal and immutable, without beginning nor end... the Word is also eternal, because God has Word eternally...
The Word, the Son, was not created but eternally begotten of the Father, begotten not made, one in Being with the Father... God always had and has Word!... yes, begotten not made!
The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son: The love of the Father to the Son and the love of the Son to the Father is the Holy Spirit, also eternal and immutable, as the Son and the Father... Yes, God is Love, a family of Love!.
Jesus tells us, he who sees me sees the Father (Jn.14:9), so the best picture of God the Father is Jesus at Bethlehem or at Calvary or as a Carpenter in Nazareth. He (Jesus) is God!
Here are the Five Titles given in Isaiah 9:6:
1- Wonderful: Miraculous, fantastic, magnificent, spectacular... fully God and fully man, the wonder of wonders in the universe and of humankind... for you and for me!.
2- Counsellor:. Lawyer, advocate, defender, adviser, instructor, teacher, trainer, tutor... unto us!... Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Rom.8:34).
3- Mighty God: He is God!, the mighty One, the Only One God: Spirit, who creates, maintains, controls and substances all things (Jn.1:1-3, Col.1.15-17)...
4- The everlasting Father: The eternal Father, because He is the Creator of every human being... and the second creator, because He redeemed every human being since Adam. (Jn.1:1-3, Col.1.15-17).
Indeed 'our Father' all the way. Our parents don't know how to make eyes not hearts nor even a hair!... it is God who created you and me, it is the Immanuel, Jesus, your real Father and mine.
5- Prince of Peace: Heir to throne, ruler, the establisher and overseer of peace. He will establish His throne in peace.
Jesus' death and resurrection made Him not only The Prince of Peace but actually the One who is our peace. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. (Is.53:5)...
5 He will be their peace. (Mic.5:5).
As a King, he creates peace, in his kingdom, he preserves the peace, commands peace. He is our peace, and it is his peace that both keeps the hearts of his people and rules in them. He is not only a peaceable prince, and his reign peaceable, but he is the author and giver of all good, all that peace which is the present and future bliss of his subjects
The title of our Lord distinctly affirms His Deity- "GOD with us. "God would still be with His people and dwell amid His Church, but it would be "GOD manifest in the flesh," and this is the name by which He should be known- "EMMANUEL, GOD with us."
And what is the line of proof? Briefly this. All that belongs to Deity is ascribed to our Lord.
For example- The names and titles of Deity belong to Him. He is emphatically called the "First and the Last " "Who was, and is, and is to come" "The Almighty" "The Everlasting Father" " The Lord of Glory " "The Lord God of the holy prophets" "The only begotten Son of God" "The brightness of His glory, the express image of His person." These, as I have remarked, are not vain-sounding titles, but embody and express His GODHEAD. Had he not a preexistence before He touched the horizon of our earth, had He not subsisted eternally in the divine essence and glorious majesty of the Supreme God, could it with any propriety have been said to Him, "Your throne, O GOD, is forever and ever" "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who is, and was, and is to come" "You are the same, Your years shall not fail" "The same yesterday, today, and forever."
But not the titles only, but the works of Deity, are ascribed to Him. It is said, that "all things were made by Him, and without him was not anything made that was made" that, "by Him all things were created that are in heaven, and that are in the earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things are held together." "He upholds all things by the word of His power" that, "His throne is forever and ever." Surely He who is before the created, must Himself be uncreated; He who is before all beings, must be pre-existent; He who can create, sustain, and govern all worlds and all beings and all things must be the eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, and everlasting Jehovah. And yet all this is ascribed to our blessed Lord.
The miracles of our Lord were equally confirmatory of His divinity. By the exercise of His divine and miraculous power. He healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, strength to the paralyzed, fed thousands with a few loaves and small fishes, controlled the tempest, and exhibited His power over death and the grave, despoiling their laurels, rescuing their prey, bringing back the spirit from Hades and the body from the grave to life and service again.
And did our Lord ever deny His essential deity? Never once! On the contrary, He invariably vindicated the doctrine, boldly acknowledging that He was one with God. Hence He said, "If I do not the works of any father, believe me not. But if I do, though you do not believe, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in Him." "I and the Father are one."
Do we need further proof? Behold Him setting the seal to the truth of his Deity, and manifesting to all that He was the King of kings and Lord of lords, by overcoming Satan, by vanquishing death, by bursting the barriers of the grave, and by ascending triumphantly to heaven, leading captivity captive, and from thence dispensing the blessings of His grace to men, even the rebellious, that God might dwell with them. The doctrine of the Incarnation is the chief corner-stone of our faith. Here reposes the entire fabric of our salvation. This is the key that unlocks the deep mystery of divine love; this the solution to every difficulty that presents itself to the soul in its struggle to be saved. Let your faith simply grasp this truth, and all is safe with your everlasting well-being. Do not pause to sound it with the poor plumb-line of your reason, before you believe it. Wait not to understand, before you receive it. Receive it with the simplicity of a little child, and it will make you happy. It is the great mystery of Godliness. How, then, can you, a finite being, a sinful finite being, be supposed fully to comprehend a truth which touches the very heights, and sounds the very depths of infinity itself; over which angels bend with humility, reverence, and awe? Lay down your reason at the feet of faith, and let faith take her place at the feet of Jesus, and, as I have said, receive the kingdom of God as a little child, and you shall be saved. Deem it not uncharitable when I say, that there is, there can be, no salvation apart from a belief in the doctrine of the Incarnation of God for the salvation of man. In the words of the evangelist, "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved." The path of the soul's travel to glory, commences at the manger, winds round the cross, sweeps past the grave, ascends to, and is lost in, the perfect sight of faith, and the full fruition of hope, and the boundless sea of love circling round the throne of heaven-
"Where sits our Savior, crowned with light, Clothed in a body like our own."
And, O beloved! what an assuring and comforting truth is this- God with us! Now we feel equal to every service, prepared for every trial, armed for every assault. Deity is our shield, Deity is our arm, Deity is our Father and our Friend. We deal with the Divine. Deity has died for us, has atoned for us, has saved us, and will bring us safely to the realms of bliss. "This God is our God, forever and ever, and will be our Father even unto death." Oh, see, my reader, that your hope is built upon nothing more and upon nothing less than Christ. The "Rock of Ages" must be your only foundation if saved. If you stand not in the "righteousness of God" when you appear in His presence, He will say to you, "How did you get in here, not having on the wedding garment?" Once more, let me remind my believing reader that "Emmanuel is God with us." Come, then, and lean upon His omnipotent arm. You have no need which from His infinite supplies cannot be met; no stone of difficulty in your pilgrimage which His might cannot remove; no burden which His arm of power cannot bear, no perplexity which His wisdom cannot guide: in a word, no condition to which Christ our ever present God is not equal. In faith and humility make practical use of your Savior's divinity; and when all that is merely human has failed, broken like a rope of sand, dissolved like a passing vapor; or has pierced your too fondly leaning hand like a shattered reed, then take hold of this precious truth, and say, "My Savior God is with me in all the boundless resources of His Godhead, why then should I fear?" Do we inquire, Show us the Father, and it suffices us? Jesus answers, "He that has seen Me has seen the Father."
Emmanuel, God in Christ: Christ is God!
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Name: Sharon Maxwell
