Study 3 Objective: To discuss who Jesus Christ is, and why He is central to the faith of the believer
gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “The Father has sent the Son as Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14).
Jesus is Lord and King Throughout the New Testament Jesus Christ is referred to as Lord. The message of the angel to the shepherds at the birth of Christ was this: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The commission to John the Baptist was to “prepare the way of the Lord” (Mark 1:1-4; John 3:1-6). In opening remarks in various letters Paul, James, Peter and John allude to “the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:2-3; 2 Corinthians 2:2; Ephesians 1:2; James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:3; 2 John 3; etc). The idea of Lord implies sovereignty over all aspects of the believer’s faith and spiritual life. Revelation 19:16 reminds us that the Word of God, Jesus Christ, is “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”. Modern theologian Michael Jinkins puts it this way in his book Invitation to Theology: “His claim on us is absolute and comprehensive. We belong to the Lord, Jesus Christ, utterly and completely, body and soul, in life and in death". Reflection: What is the position of Jesus in relation to other biblical figures? If Jesus is the Son of God, our Lord and King, what authority does he have over our faith? |
Jesus is the prophesied Messiah, the Saviour
In Daniel 9:25 God explains that the Messiah, the Prince, will come to deliver His people. Messiah, in Hebrew, means “the anointed one”. Andrew, an early follower of Jesus, realized that in Jesus he and the other disciples had “found the Messiah”, which, taken from the Greek translation, is rendered in English as “the Christ” (John 1:41). Many Old Testament prophecies spoke of this Deliverer to come. In his account of the story of Christ, Matthew details frequently how those prophecies concerning the Messiah had their fulfillment in the life and ministry of the Son of God, who, in becoming flesh, was conceived miraculously of the Holy Spirit in a virgin called Mary, and was called Jesus, meaning Saviour: “so all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet” (Matthew 1:22). Jesus said “all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44). He had to fulfill the messianic predictions. The other Gospel writers testify that Jesus is the Christ (Mark 8:29; Luke 2:11, 4:41, 9:20; John 6:69, 11:27, 20:31). The early Christians taught that “the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:23). In other words, that Jesus “is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world” (John 4:42). Jesus is returning in mercy and judgment For the Christian all of history leads to and flows away from the events of the life of Christ. The story of his life is central to our faith. |