Jesus Christ

What does the Old Testament say?

The Old Testament tells us many things in many places about the coming of Christ. For the sake of brevity we will look at the book of Isaiah. It has a rich store of prophecy regarding the appearance and ministry of the Christ or Messiah.

What will the Messiah be like? He will be kingly (Isa. 9:6-7, 32:1-3, 42:1-4). He will have wisdom, understanding, power, and knowledge (Isa. 11:2). He will come to those who repent of their sins (Isa. 59:20).

How will He appear on earth? He will be preceded by a messenger (Isa. 40:3). He will be born as a child (Isa. 9:6). He will be divinely conceived and born of a virgin mother (Isa. 7:14). He will be adored by the Magi (Isa. 60:3,6). He will be linked to the family of Jesse (Isa. 11:1). He will be a Galilean (Isa. 9:1).

He will perform miracles such as giving sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, and strength to the lame

(Isa. 35:5,6, 42:7).

He will be rejected by His people (Isa. 6:9-10, 8:14, 29:13) and by all nations and peoples (Isa. 53:1,3, 65:2).

He will be persecuted (Isa. 49:7). He will be insulted and beaten (Isa. 50:6). He will be silent when accused

(Isa. 53:7). He will be crucified with sinners (Isa. 53:12), and buried with the wealthy (Isa. 53:9).

He will be God, or divine (Isa. 25:9, 40:10)

Just this one book of the Bible, Isaiah, gives us a great deal of information about the Messiah. As you can see there is a great deal of specific prophecy regarding the coming of Christ. When Jesus was born the Scriptures had laid out the events of His life from birth to death. This is just one of the reasons we can be sure that Jesus was the Christ of God.

The Old Testament shows the yearning of the chosen people of God for the Messiah. Many waited day by day for His coming. It is said that every woman of David's line hoped to be the one to have the privilege of being mother to the Christ. The Jewish people were united in the hope of the things to come. They could look to the promises of God to their nation and see that they had been kept. At the same time they were often a suffering people, they eagerly watched for God to intervene in their behalf.

In the same way God reaches towards today's hurting people through the now risen Christ. He is still faithful to His promises, and like the Old Testament Jew, we can look back on the faithfulness of God. At the same time we have the most marvelous promise of God to look back on, lets see how God gave us our Savior and Lord.

What does the New Testament say?

Obviously the focus of the entire New Testament is on who Jesus Christ is and how to follow Him. The four gospels specifically deal with His life and ministry. Many of the things told to us in the New Testament are done specifically to show us how the person of Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament prophesies. The book of Luke teaches about Christ's humanity. Matthew focuses more on His kingliness. The book of John concentrates on His spiritual or divine aspects.

Who and what did Jesus say He was? Jesus said that He was God, in John 10:30 He states, "I and the Father are one" thus telling us that He is equal and the same as Jehovah. Jesus not only told His followers this but when the high priest was judging him He said it as well (Matt 26:63,64). This statement condemned Him to death on the cross.

Jesus showed us that He was God through the power He displayed by performing many miracles. By performing the miracles, He showed that He had God's attributes of power over nature (Mark 4:39), control over physical disease (Mark 3:10), and control over the spirit world (Luke 4:35). Most impressively He showed us His power over death (John 11:43,44).

Jesus is omniscient (all knowing) in that He knew what was in our mind before it was said (Mark 2:8, John 2:25). He is also omnipresent in that He was with His followers then 2000 years ago, is now with us, and will be with us "to the very end of the age." (Matt 28:20)

Jesus is the creator of the universe (John 1:3) Jesus was one of the "us's" active at the time of creation (Gen. 1:26). However Christ didn't just create the world and set it off spinning like a top, eventually to have is slow down and fall over. No, He is active even today sustaining the world by His power (Heb. 1:3, Col. 1:16-29). And He doesn't just sustain the natural universe, or the physical world, but also us.

Let us watch Jesus grow up. Jesus being fully God is also fully man. Just as we looked at His divine attributes, let us also look at His human ones. Jesus, although conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born in a physical body in the usual way (Luke 2:6-7). He had a normal body in that He was circumcised (Luke 2:21), He grew up (Luke 2:52), got hungry and thirsty (Luke 4:2 John 19:28), and He got tired (John 4:6), and slept (Matt 8:24). Lastly He bled and died (John 19:34). We also know that Jesus was tempted and had the opportunity to sin, but didn't.

The earthly life of Christ:

Jesus was born of a virgin who was a descendent of David, as was promised in the Old Testament. The virgin birth is hard for us to accept and understand. Why would God want to do such a strange thing? Lets back up a bit and look at why Jesus had to be born at all, why could He have not just appeared and gone about His business?

If God was to appear on earth as a man in the person of Jesus Christ there were three ways it could have been done. The first is that He could have appeared as a grown man, done His work, and left for parts above. The second is that He could have been born in the normal way of two human parents. And thirdly, He could be born of the union of a human mother and the Holy Spirit.

If God had merely appeared as a grown man or occupied a human body He would have been without a human origin. What God had in mind required more than just the Spirit indwelling a person. This had been done many times in the past (Sampson, etc.). The indwelling of a human body by the Spirit does not produce a perfect human, we as Christians are indwelt by the Spirit and are not perfect. We could not continue to exist if Christ came into us and destroyed everything in us that was not holy. At the same time God needed the "second Adam" to be perfect in order to be suitable as a fit sacrifice for our sins (Ro 5:14).

In the same way if God had chosen two human parents to bear the baby Jesus a perfect child would not have resulted. Also this child could not have been fully man and fully God. Being born of a human father would not have identified His human body as the rightful property of His Deity. The agency of the Holy Spirit and the mother Mary establish both His humanity and His Deity. It is easy for us to identify with the baby Jesus in the manger in terms of our human experience. The men and woman that Jesus met when ministering had no doubt that He was like us. He enjoyed their hospitality, and suffered their rejection.

Jesus was born in a manger, in a hotel stable in the town of Bethlehem. They were away from home because of the census that the Romans were taking at the time. When He was eight days old, He was circumcised by the priest at the temple. This was done as a sign of the continuing covenant between God and His people.

When Jesus was 40 days old, His parents took him to be consecrated to the Lord at the temple. This was done for all firstborn male Jewish children. When at the temple a man named Simeon came and acknowledged the baby Jesus as "the Lord's Christ" and the "salvation which you have prepared in the sight of your people" (Luke 2:22-35).

When Jesus was 12 years old He was taken to Jerusalem to be confirmed in the Jewish faith. When the family left to go home Jesus stayed at the temple. There He amazed those who heard His questions and answers. When Mary and Joseph came looking for Him after noticing that he was missing, they scolded Him. He responded by pointing out that He would naturally be found in His Fathers house, about His Father's business but they did not understand.

From this time to the time of His public ministry, the Bible only states that He was obedient to His parents. We must assume that he worked with Joseph in his trade as a carpenter. Jesus was part of a family and had brothers and sisters (Mark 6:3, Matt 12:46, 13:55-56). We can only guess that Jesus' mother Mary was widowed because Joseph is not mentioned later in Jesus' life and John provided for Mary in her later years (John 19:26,27). (Luke 2:52 tells us that He grew in wisdom and stature and was well liked by those around Him as well as by God. If only we could approach that goal!

When Jesus was about 30 years old, He was baptized by his cousin John. John had been prepared and sent ahead of Jesus to prepare Israel to listen to Jesus. When John baptized Jesus, John saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descend from heaven and sit on Jesus. A voice was heard coming from above, it said "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased (Jn. 1:32-34). The baptism of Jesus marked a new phase in His life. From this time forward Jesus went about His spiritual ministry.

The concept of the dual existence and nature of Christ, both God and man is difficult to understand. Perhaps because of this it is one of the most common heresies from the earliest times. Even today many cults claim either that Jesus Christ was not God, or that He was not fully man and therefore did not really die but only appeared to.

The orthodox doctrine of the nature of Christ was clearly stated at the council of Chalcedon in the year AD 451. It said that "in one person, Jesus Christ, there are two natures, a human nature and a divine nature, each in it's completeness and integrity, and that these two natures are organically and indissolubly united, yet so that no third nature is formed thereby." 5

The Deity of Christ:

The deity of Christ is the real stumbling block for many in accepting Christianity as true. It is here that Jews, Moslems, Unitarians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and many others come to grief. It is from misbelief or at least inadequate belief about the incarnation that difficulties at other points of the gospel story usually spring.

Following Christ is more than just following in the footsteps of a great man. To be a Christian means accepting the absolute uniqueness of His person. Jesus is different from any other person who has ever lived.

The earthly ministry of Christ:

After Jesus had been baptized; He was directed by the Spirit to go and fast in the desert. For 40 days He did not eat and was tempted by Satan. When He had shown that he could not be tempted into sinning, angels came and fed Him.

He then left the desert and proclaimed in the temple publicly that He was to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. After this He went and called the first disciples. The first to be called were Simon Peter, and his brother Andrew. Then Jesus traveled in the area and both taught and healed the people, which He encountered. Many of the people were glad to receive both the healing and the teaching but the civic and religious leadership didn't like what was happening.

Jesus did not side step issues in order to be a people pleaser. He was not a yes man, or even a very comfortable person to be around. He continually challenged both His friends and enemies. One of the things that made many dislike Jesus was that they could not appropriate His power for their goals.

Many people began to hear of Jesus' power and wisdom. As He traveled, thousands of people would follow him into sometimes-remote areas. Two of His most famous miracles were His feeding of these crowds. It is plain to see that Jesus cared a great deal for all those who were around Him. Likewise, He cares for us now as well.

After about three years of public ministry, Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. He was received by cheering crowds. Many expected Him to form a new government and throw out the Romans. When he told them that His kingdom was not of this world they became disillusioned. At the same time those who had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo began to plot in earnest to kill Him.

The event of Christ's death is central to the Christian church and faith. Jesus death on the cross is both the foundation of our salvation and a powerful example of obedience and love. The resurrection of Jesus after His death on the cross is the single most important event in history. It proclaimed not just His victory over death, but ours also.

The present activity of Christ:

What do we know about the present activities of Christ? First we know that all authority on heaven and earth has been given to Christ (Matt 28:18). This means that Jesus is the active sustainer of the universe. You can thank Him that everything doesn't just fly into bits. As the active force in creation, He willed the universe into existence. Now the force of His will keeps the natural laws, which we call physics, chemistry, and biology etc in effect.

Secondly, Jesus is the head of His Church (Eph. 1:22, Col. 1:18). The Church is the body of Christ because all saved persons are saved into Christ. In John 16:13 we are told that the Spirit teaches what He hears. The Spirit is present in heaven before Christ to hear the many things Christ has yet to tell us (John 16:12-15). Christ has the power to take us, the many, and form us into one body of many members, the Church.

Thirdly, Jesus is the giver of Spiritual gifts through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Christ has both called and equipped us for the service of the Church and worship of Him. While some gifts are universal in nature, some are given only to certain people (Rom. 12:3-8, I Cor. 12:4-11). Christ has a plan for each one of us according to His purpose (Phil. 2:13, Eph. 2:10, Jn. 10:10). We should not reject what God has given us the ability to do. We need to recognize that often the reasons for the way He has equipped us are not apparent to us.

Fourthly, Jesus intercedes for us, this He began to do before He left earth (John 17:1-26). This means that Jesus is praying for you now, today. Because He is all-powerful He is able to turn His attention to all of us individually. He will continue this ministry as long as any of His people are on earth (John 17:20). David gave this present ministry of Christ to us in the twenty-third Psalm. It is because He continually has us in His mind, that our salvation is secure if we are born again to Christ.

Fifthly, Jesus is our advocate before the judgment throne of God. If it were not for the advocacy of Christ in heaven our sin, as Christians would destroy the fellowship we have with God. What is necessary on our part is to be sorry for and confess our sin to Him (1 John 1:9). Jesus pleads our cause before God, and the sufficiency of His death pays the penalty that is rightfully ours.

Sixthly, Christ is building. He has gone ahead of us into heaven and is preparing a place for us to reside (John 14:1-3). Jesus has taken personal interest in our future abode!

Seventhly, Jesus is expecting to return for us. He is preparing to return at a time known only to the Father (Mark 13:32). We do not know when this time will occur, but there will be enough time to gather the harvest.

The Future Activities of Christ:

To go into depth about the second advent of Christ is beyond the scope of this text. However we know that Christ will return to earth as a physical presence to do several things. He will come for His redeemed to take us to be with Him in heaven. He will come to form an earthly kingdom, which will last one thousand years. For this reason it is often called the millennial kingdom because a millennium is one thousand years. Jesus will also cast Satan and his legions as well as those who are not saved in Christ into the pit of Hell where they will be tormented for all eternity.

Let me just say that knowing some things about Jesus is not the same as Knowing Jesus. If you feel that you don't know him, ask someone to help you. Christ may have equipped them to share Christ with you. If you know someone who wants to know about Jesus, but does not know Him personally, perhaps Jesus has put you in their life to share what a faith in Christ is. If you don't know what to do, pray, and lead them to someone who can help them. Then allow Christ to equip you to be a part in his body, the Christian church.