Arthur Fretheim, an Evangelical Covenant pastor who during his career planted six new churches in Minnesota, New Mexico, and Illinois ( the last one when he was 65 years old), said to fellow pastors,
“One thing you learn quickly in church planting is this: All you’ve really got to offer people is Jesus. You don’t have a great choir in the beginning days; you don’t have a youth group; you usually don’t even have a nice building. The only ‘draw’ you’ve got is the Savior. And guess what - that’s enough!”
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, October 9, 2009
100 Biblical Names and Titles of Christ
100 Biblical Names and Titles of Christ
Dan Corner
The whole Bible is filled with references to Jesus in one way or another.
Beyond that, the primary message spread by the Lord Himself and his followers was to go directly to Jesus Himself, place a submissive-obedient faith and trust in him and continue [endure] to the end for salvation. It is very easy to see why we are directed by God to do this after noting the various ways the Lord Jesus is described by his many names and titles. Each refers to yet another important place or position that Jesus holds in God’s plan for man’s salvation.
Please ponder how precious and preeminently important Jesus is for man’s salvation. The truth is: Jesus is the all-sufficient Savior. No other savior is needed besides Him or with Him.
(Please know that the following is just a partial listing of the many Scriptural names and titles of the Lord. There are others not listed here.)
Advocate (1 John 2:1)
Almighty (Rev. 1:8; Mt. 28:18)
Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8; 22:13)
Amen (Rev. 3:14)
Apostle of our Profession (Heb. 3:1)
Atoning Sacrifice for our Sins (1 John 2:2)
Author of Life (Acts 3:15)
Author and Perfecter of our Faith (Heb. 12:2)
Author of Salvation (Heb. 2:10)
Beginning and End (Rev. 22:13)
Blessed and only Ruler (1 Tim. 6:15)
Bread of God (John 6:33)
Bread of Life (John 6:35; 6:48)
Bridegroom (Mt. 9:15)
Capstone (Acts 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:7)
Chief Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20)
Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4)
Christ (1 John 2:22)
Creator (John 1:3)
Deliverer (Rom. 11:26)
Eternal Life (1 John 1:2; 5:20)
Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11)
Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5)
Faithful and True Witness (Rev. 3:14)
First and Last (Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13)
Firstborn From the Dead (Rev. 1:5)
Firstborn over all creation (Col. 1:15)
Gate (John 10:9)
God (John 1:1; 20:28; Heb. 1:8; Rom. 9:5; 2 Pet. 1:1;1 John 5:20; etc.)
Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)
Great Shepherd (Heb. 13:20)
Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14)
Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23)
Heir of all things (Heb. 1:2)
High Priest (Heb. 2:17)
Holy and True (Rev. 3:7)
Holy One (Acts 3:14)
Hope (1 Tim. 1:1)
Hope of Glory (Col. 1:27)
Horn of Salvation (Luke 1:69)
I Am (John 8:58)
Image of God (2 Cor. 4:4)
Immanuel (Mt. 1:23)
Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42)
King Eternal (1 Tim. 1:17)
King of Israel (John 1:49)
King of the Jews (Mt. 27:11)
King of kings (1 Tim 6:15; Rev. 19:16)
King of the Ages (Rev. 15:3)
Lamb (Rev. 13:8)
Lamb of God (John 1:29)
Lamb Without Blemish (1 Pet. 1:19)
Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45)
Life (John 14:6; Col. 3:4)
Light of the World (John 8:12)
Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5)
Living One (Rev. 1:18)
Living Stone (1 Pet. 2:4)
Lord (2 Pet. 2:20)
Lord of All (Acts 10:36)
Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 2:8)
Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16)
Man from Heaven (1 Cor. 15:48)
Master (Lk. 5:5; 8:24; 9:33)
Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15)
Mighty God (Isa. 9:6)
Morning Star (Rev. 22:16)
Offspring of David (Rev. 22:16)
Only Begotten Son of God (John 1:18; 1 John 4:9)
Our Great God and Savior (Titus 2:13)
Our Holiness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Husband (2 Cor. 11:2)
Our Protection (2 Thess. 3:3)
Our Redemption (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Sacrificed Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7)
Power of God (1 Cor. 1:24)
Precious Cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:6)
Prophet (Acts 3:22)
Rabbi (Mt. 26:25)
Resurrection and Life (John 11:25)
Righteous Branch (Jer. 23:5)
Righteous One (Acts 7:52; 1 John 2:1)
Rock (1 Cor. 10:4)
Root of David (Rev. 5:5; 22:16)
Ruler of God’s Creation (Rev. 3:14)
Ruler of the Kings of the Earth (Rev. 1:5)
Savior (Eph. 5:23; Titus 1:4; 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:20)
Son of David (Lk. 18:39)
Son of God (John 1:49; Heb. 4:14)
Son of Man (Mt. 8:20)
Son of the Most High God (Lk. 1:32)
Source of Eternal Salvation for all who obey him (Heb. 5:9)
The One Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5)
The Stone the builders rejected (Acts 4:11)
True Bread (John 6:32)
True Light (John 1:9)
True Vine (John 15:1)
Truth (John 1:14; 14:6)
Way (John 14:6)
Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24)
Word (John 1:1)
Word of God (Rev. 19:13)
Dan Corner
The whole Bible is filled with references to Jesus in one way or another.
Beyond that, the primary message spread by the Lord Himself and his followers was to go directly to Jesus Himself, place a submissive-obedient faith and trust in him and continue [endure] to the end for salvation. It is very easy to see why we are directed by God to do this after noting the various ways the Lord Jesus is described by his many names and titles. Each refers to yet another important place or position that Jesus holds in God’s plan for man’s salvation.
Please ponder how precious and preeminently important Jesus is for man’s salvation. The truth is: Jesus is the all-sufficient Savior. No other savior is needed besides Him or with Him.
(Please know that the following is just a partial listing of the many Scriptural names and titles of the Lord. There are others not listed here.)
Advocate (1 John 2:1)
Almighty (Rev. 1:8; Mt. 28:18)
Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8; 22:13)
Amen (Rev. 3:14)
Apostle of our Profession (Heb. 3:1)
Atoning Sacrifice for our Sins (1 John 2:2)
Author of Life (Acts 3:15)
Author and Perfecter of our Faith (Heb. 12:2)
Author of Salvation (Heb. 2:10)
Beginning and End (Rev. 22:13)
Blessed and only Ruler (1 Tim. 6:15)
Bread of God (John 6:33)
Bread of Life (John 6:35; 6:48)
Bridegroom (Mt. 9:15)
Capstone (Acts 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:7)
Chief Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20)
Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4)
Christ (1 John 2:22)
Creator (John 1:3)
Deliverer (Rom. 11:26)
Eternal Life (1 John 1:2; 5:20)
Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11)
Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5)
Faithful and True Witness (Rev. 3:14)
First and Last (Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13)
Firstborn From the Dead (Rev. 1:5)
Firstborn over all creation (Col. 1:15)
Gate (John 10:9)
God (John 1:1; 20:28; Heb. 1:8; Rom. 9:5; 2 Pet. 1:1;1 John 5:20; etc.)
Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)
Great Shepherd (Heb. 13:20)
Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14)
Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23)
Heir of all things (Heb. 1:2)
High Priest (Heb. 2:17)
Holy and True (Rev. 3:7)
Holy One (Acts 3:14)
Hope (1 Tim. 1:1)
Hope of Glory (Col. 1:27)
Horn of Salvation (Luke 1:69)
I Am (John 8:58)
Image of God (2 Cor. 4:4)
Immanuel (Mt. 1:23)
Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42)
King Eternal (1 Tim. 1:17)
King of Israel (John 1:49)
King of the Jews (Mt. 27:11)
King of kings (1 Tim 6:15; Rev. 19:16)
King of the Ages (Rev. 15:3)
Lamb (Rev. 13:8)
Lamb of God (John 1:29)
Lamb Without Blemish (1 Pet. 1:19)
Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45)
Life (John 14:6; Col. 3:4)
Light of the World (John 8:12)
Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5)
Living One (Rev. 1:18)
Living Stone (1 Pet. 2:4)
Lord (2 Pet. 2:20)
Lord of All (Acts 10:36)
Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 2:8)
Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16)
Man from Heaven (1 Cor. 15:48)
Master (Lk. 5:5; 8:24; 9:33)
Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15)
Mighty God (Isa. 9:6)
Morning Star (Rev. 22:16)
Offspring of David (Rev. 22:16)
Only Begotten Son of God (John 1:18; 1 John 4:9)
Our Great God and Savior (Titus 2:13)
Our Holiness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Husband (2 Cor. 11:2)
Our Protection (2 Thess. 3:3)
Our Redemption (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Sacrificed Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7)
Power of God (1 Cor. 1:24)
Precious Cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:6)
Prophet (Acts 3:22)
Rabbi (Mt. 26:25)
Resurrection and Life (John 11:25)
Righteous Branch (Jer. 23:5)
Righteous One (Acts 7:52; 1 John 2:1)
Rock (1 Cor. 10:4)
Root of David (Rev. 5:5; 22:16)
Ruler of God’s Creation (Rev. 3:14)
Ruler of the Kings of the Earth (Rev. 1:5)
Savior (Eph. 5:23; Titus 1:4; 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:20)
Son of David (Lk. 18:39)
Son of God (John 1:49; Heb. 4:14)
Son of Man (Mt. 8:20)
Son of the Most High God (Lk. 1:32)
Source of Eternal Salvation for all who obey him (Heb. 5:9)
The One Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5)
The Stone the builders rejected (Acts 4:11)
True Bread (John 6:32)
True Light (John 1:9)
True Vine (John 15:1)
Truth (John 1:14; 14:6)
Way (John 14:6)
Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24)
Word (John 1:1)
Word of God (Rev. 19:13)
100 Truths About Jesus (complete!)
100 Truths About Jesus
Source: Click Here
Jesus claimed to be God - John 8:24; 8:56-59 (see Exodus 3:14); John 10:30-33
Jesus is called God - John 1:1,14; 20:28; Col. 2:9; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8
Jesus is the image of the invisible God - Heb. 1:3
Jesus abides forever - Heb. 7:24
Jesus created all things - John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17
Jesus is before all things - John 1:1-3; Col. 1:17;
Jesus is eternal - John 1:1,14; 8:58; Micah 5:1-2
Jesus is honored the same as the Father - John 5:23
Jesus is prayed to - Acts 7:55-60; 1 Cor. 1:2 with Psalm 116:41; (John 14:14)
Jesus is worshipped - Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6
Jesus is omnipresent - Matt. 18:20; 28:20
Jesus is with us always - Matt. 28:20
Jesus is our only mediator between God and ourselves - 1 Tim. 2:5
Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant - Heb. 7:22; 8:6
Jesus said, "I AM the Bread of Life" - John 6:35,41,48,51
Jesus said, "I AM the Door" - John 10:7,9
Jesus said, "I AM the Good Shepherd" - John 10:11,14
Jesus said, "I AM the Way the Truth and The Life" - John 14:6
Jesus said, "I AM the Light of the world" - John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46; Luke 2:32
Jesus said, "I AM the True Vine" - John 15:1,5
Jesus said, "I AM the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:25
Jesus said, "I AM the First and the Last" - Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13
Jesus always lives to make intercession for us - Heb. 7:25
Jesus cleanses from sin - 1 John 1:9
Jesus cleanses us from our sins by His blood - Rev. 1:5; Rom. 5:9
Jesus forgives sins - Matt. 9:1-7; Luke 5:20; 7:48
Jesus saves forever - Matt. 18:11; John 10:28; Heb. 7:25
Jesus discloses Himself to us - John 14:21
Jesus draws all men to Himself - John 12:32
Jesus gives eternal life - John 10:28; 5:40
Jesus resurrects - John 5:39; 6:40,44,54; 11:25-26
Jesus gives joy - John 15:11
Jesus gives peace - John 14:27
Jesus has all authority - Matt. 28:18; John 5:26-27; 17:2; 3:35
Jesus judges - John 5:22,27
Jesus knows all men - John 16:30; John 21:17
Jesus opens the mind to understand scripture - Luke 24:45
Jesus received honor and glory from the Father - 1 Pet. 1:17
Jesus reveals grace and truth - John 1:17 see John 6:45
Jesus reveals the Father - Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22
Jesus bears witness of Himself - John 8:18; 14:6
Jesus' works bear witness of Himself - John 5:36; 10:25
The Father bears witness of Jesus - John 5:37; 8:18; 1 John 5:9
The Holy Spirit bears witness of Jesus - John 15:26
The multitudes bear witness of Jesus - John 12:17
The Prophets bear witness of Jesus - Acts 10:43
The Scriptures bear witness of Jesus - John 5:39
The Father will honor us if we serve Jesus - John 12:26 see Col. 3:24
The Father wants us to fellowship with Jesus - 1 Cor. 1:9
The Father tells us to listen to Jesus - Luke 9:35; Matt. 17:5
Everyone who's heard & learned from the Father comes to Jesus - John 6:45
We come to Jesus - John 5:50; 6:35,37,45,65; 7:37;
The Father draws us to Jesus - John 6:44
The Law leads us to Christ - Gal. 3:24
Jesus is the Rock - 1 Cor. 10:4
Jesus is the Savior - John 4:42; 1 John 4:14
Jesus is the King - Matt. 2:1-6; Luke 23:3
In Jesus are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge - Col. 2:2-3
In Jesus we have been made complete Col. 2:10
Jesus indwells us - Col. 1:27
Jesus sanctifies - Heb. 2:11
Jesus loves - Eph. 5:25
We sin against Jesus - 1 Cor. 8:12
We receive Jesus - John 1:12; Col. 2:6
Jesus makes many righteous - Rom. 5:19
Jesus sends the Holy Spirit - John 15:26
Jesus offered up Himself - Heb. 7:27; 9:14
Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for all time - Heb. 10:12
The Son of God has given us understanding - 1 John 5:20
Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith - Heb. 12:2
Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession - Heb. 1:3
Jesus is preparing a place for us in heaven - John 14:1-4
Jesus is the Light of the world - Rom. 9:5
Jesus has explained the Father - John 1:18
Jesus was crucified because of weakness - 2 Cor. 13:4
Jesus has overcome the world - John 16:33
Truth is in Jesus - Eph. 4:21
The fruit of righteousness comes through Jesus Christ - Phil. 1:11
Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come - 1 Thess. 1:10
Disciples bear witness of Jesus Christ - John 15:27
Jesus died for us - 1 Thess. 5:10
Jesus died and rose again - 1 Thess. 4:14
Jesus was a ransom for many - Matt. 20:28
The Christian dead have fallen asleep in Jesus - 1 Thess. 4:15
Jesus rendered the devil powerless - Heb. 2:14
Jesus is able to save completely - Heb. 7:25
Jesus came to serve - Matt. 20:28
Jesus came to be a high priest - Heb. 2:17
Jesus came to save - John 3:17; Luke 19:10
Jesus came to preach the kingdom of God - Luke 4:43
Jesus came to bring division - Luke 12:51
Jesus came to do the will of the Father - John 6:38
Jesus came to give the Father's words - John 17:8
Jesus came to testify to the truth - John 18:37
Jesus came to set us free from the Law - Rom. 8:2
Jesus came to die and destroy Satan's power - Heb. 2:14
Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets - Matt. 5:17
Jesus came to give life - John 10:10,28
Jesus came to taste death for everyone - Heb. 2:9
Jesus came to proclaim freedom for believers - Luke 4:18
Source: Click Here
Jesus claimed to be God - John 8:24; 8:56-59 (see Exodus 3:14); John 10:30-33
Jesus is called God - John 1:1,14; 20:28; Col. 2:9; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8
Jesus is the image of the invisible God - Heb. 1:3
Jesus abides forever - Heb. 7:24
Jesus created all things - John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17
Jesus is before all things - John 1:1-3; Col. 1:17;
Jesus is eternal - John 1:1,14; 8:58; Micah 5:1-2
Jesus is honored the same as the Father - John 5:23
Jesus is prayed to - Acts 7:55-60; 1 Cor. 1:2 with Psalm 116:41; (John 14:14)
Jesus is worshipped - Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6
Jesus is omnipresent - Matt. 18:20; 28:20
Jesus is with us always - Matt. 28:20
Jesus is our only mediator between God and ourselves - 1 Tim. 2:5
Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant - Heb. 7:22; 8:6
Jesus said, "I AM the Bread of Life" - John 6:35,41,48,51
Jesus said, "I AM the Door" - John 10:7,9
Jesus said, "I AM the Good Shepherd" - John 10:11,14
Jesus said, "I AM the Way the Truth and The Life" - John 14:6
Jesus said, "I AM the Light of the world" - John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46; Luke 2:32
Jesus said, "I AM the True Vine" - John 15:1,5
Jesus said, "I AM the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:25
Jesus said, "I AM the First and the Last" - Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13
Jesus always lives to make intercession for us - Heb. 7:25
Jesus cleanses from sin - 1 John 1:9
Jesus cleanses us from our sins by His blood - Rev. 1:5; Rom. 5:9
Jesus forgives sins - Matt. 9:1-7; Luke 5:20; 7:48
Jesus saves forever - Matt. 18:11; John 10:28; Heb. 7:25
Jesus discloses Himself to us - John 14:21
Jesus draws all men to Himself - John 12:32
Jesus gives eternal life - John 10:28; 5:40
Jesus resurrects - John 5:39; 6:40,44,54; 11:25-26
Jesus gives joy - John 15:11
Jesus gives peace - John 14:27
Jesus has all authority - Matt. 28:18; John 5:26-27; 17:2; 3:35
Jesus judges - John 5:22,27
Jesus knows all men - John 16:30; John 21:17
Jesus opens the mind to understand scripture - Luke 24:45
Jesus received honor and glory from the Father - 1 Pet. 1:17
Jesus reveals grace and truth - John 1:17 see John 6:45
Jesus reveals the Father - Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22
Jesus bears witness of Himself - John 8:18; 14:6
Jesus' works bear witness of Himself - John 5:36; 10:25
The Father bears witness of Jesus - John 5:37; 8:18; 1 John 5:9
The Holy Spirit bears witness of Jesus - John 15:26
The multitudes bear witness of Jesus - John 12:17
The Prophets bear witness of Jesus - Acts 10:43
The Scriptures bear witness of Jesus - John 5:39
The Father will honor us if we serve Jesus - John 12:26 see Col. 3:24
The Father wants us to fellowship with Jesus - 1 Cor. 1:9
The Father tells us to listen to Jesus - Luke 9:35; Matt. 17:5
Everyone who's heard & learned from the Father comes to Jesus - John 6:45
We come to Jesus - John 5:50; 6:35,37,45,65; 7:37;
The Father draws us to Jesus - John 6:44
The Law leads us to Christ - Gal. 3:24
Jesus is the Rock - 1 Cor. 10:4
Jesus is the Savior - John 4:42; 1 John 4:14
Jesus is the King - Matt. 2:1-6; Luke 23:3
In Jesus are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge - Col. 2:2-3
In Jesus we have been made complete Col. 2:10
Jesus indwells us - Col. 1:27
Jesus sanctifies - Heb. 2:11
Jesus loves - Eph. 5:25
We sin against Jesus - 1 Cor. 8:12
We receive Jesus - John 1:12; Col. 2:6
Jesus makes many righteous - Rom. 5:19
Jesus sends the Holy Spirit - John 15:26
Jesus offered up Himself - Heb. 7:27; 9:14
Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for all time - Heb. 10:12
The Son of God has given us understanding - 1 John 5:20
Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith - Heb. 12:2
Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession - Heb. 1:3
Jesus is preparing a place for us in heaven - John 14:1-4
Jesus is the Light of the world - Rom. 9:5
Jesus has explained the Father - John 1:18
Jesus was crucified because of weakness - 2 Cor. 13:4
Jesus has overcome the world - John 16:33
Truth is in Jesus - Eph. 4:21
The fruit of righteousness comes through Jesus Christ - Phil. 1:11
Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come - 1 Thess. 1:10
Disciples bear witness of Jesus Christ - John 15:27
Jesus died for us - 1 Thess. 5:10
Jesus died and rose again - 1 Thess. 4:14
Jesus was a ransom for many - Matt. 20:28
The Christian dead have fallen asleep in Jesus - 1 Thess. 4:15
Jesus rendered the devil powerless - Heb. 2:14
Jesus is able to save completely - Heb. 7:25
Jesus came to serve - Matt. 20:28
Jesus came to be a high priest - Heb. 2:17
Jesus came to save - John 3:17; Luke 19:10
Jesus came to preach the kingdom of God - Luke 4:43
Jesus came to bring division - Luke 12:51
Jesus came to do the will of the Father - John 6:38
Jesus came to give the Father's words - John 17:8
Jesus came to testify to the truth - John 18:37
Jesus came to set us free from the Law - Rom. 8:2
Jesus came to die and destroy Satan's power - Heb. 2:14
Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets - Matt. 5:17
Jesus came to give life - John 10:10,28
Jesus came to taste death for everyone - Heb. 2:9
Jesus came to proclaim freedom for believers - Luke 4:18
Thursday, October 8, 2009
100 TRUTHS ABOUT JESUS (work in progress #10)
01) JC is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)
02) JC accepted worship (Mt 14:33; 28:9)
03) JC wept (John 11:35)
04) JC is the BREAD OF LIFE (John 6:35, 41, 48 & 51)
05) JC holds the universe by the power of His word (Hebrews 1:3)
06) JC as our mediator (1 Tim. 2:5; Hebrews 10:19)
07) JC loves you (Jn 15:12-13)
08) JC is the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6) and Giver of Peace (John 14:27)
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world
gives"
09) JC claimed to be God and He was (Ex 3:14, John 8:24; 56-59; 10:30-33)
10) JC is Called God (John 1:1, 14; Col 2:9; Titus 2:14)
02) JC accepted worship (Mt 14:33; 28:9)
03) JC wept (John 11:35)
04) JC is the BREAD OF LIFE (John 6:35, 41, 48 & 51)
05) JC holds the universe by the power of His word (Hebrews 1:3)
06) JC as our mediator (1 Tim. 2:5; Hebrews 10:19)
07) JC loves you (Jn 15:12-13)
08) JC is the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6) and Giver of Peace (John 14:27)
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world
gives"
09) JC claimed to be God and He was (Ex 3:14, John 8:24; 56-59; 10:30-33)
10) JC is Called God (John 1:1, 14; Col 2:9; Titus 2:14)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Dismisses the miracles, the exclusivity of Christ, and the bodily resurrection as well as the virgin birth.
Can a Christian Deny the Virgin Birth?
Albert Mohler
Author, Speaker, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Attacks upon the virgin birth emerged in the aftermath of the Enlightenment, with some theologians attempting to harmonize the anti-supernaturalism of the modern mind with the church's teaching about Christ. The great quest of liberal theology has been to invent a Jesus who is stripped of all supernatural power, deity, and authority.
The fountainhead of this quest includes figures such as Albert Schweitzer and Rudolf Bultmann. Often considered the most influential New Testament scholar of the twentieth century, Bultmann argued that the New Testament presents a mythological worldview that modern men and women simply cannot accept as real. The virgin birth is simply a part of this mythological structure and Bultmann urged his program of "demythologization" in order to construct a faith liberated from miracles and all vestiges of the supernatural. Jesus was reduced to an enlightened teacher and existentialist model.
In America, the public denial of the virgin birth can be traced to the emergence of Protestant liberalism in the early 20th century. In his famous sermon, "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?," Harry Emerson Fosdick--an unabashed liberal--aimed his attention at "the vexed and mooted question of the virgin birth." Fosdick, preaching from the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church in New York City, allowed that Christians may hold "quite different points of view about a matter like the virgin birth."
He accepted the fact that many Christians believed the virgin birth to be historically true and theologically significant. Fosdick likened this belief to trust in "a special biological miracle." Nevertheless, Fosdick insisted that others, equally Christian, could disagree with those who believe the virgin birth to be historically true: "But, side by side with them in the evangelical churches is a group of equally loyal and reverent people who would say that the virgin birth is not to be accepted as an historic fact. To believe in the virgin birth as an explanation of great personality is one of the familiar ways in which the ancient world was accustomed to account for unusual superiority."
Fosdick explained that those who deny the virgin birth hold to a specific pattern of reasoning. As he explained, "those first disciples adored Jesus--as we do; when they thought about his coming they were sure that he came specially from God--as we are; this adoration and conviction they associated with God's special influence and intention in his birth--as we do; but they phrased it in terms of a biological miracle that our modern minds cannot use."
Thus, Fosdick divided the church into two camps. Those he labeled as "fundamentalists" believe the virgin birth to be historical fact. The other camp, comprised of "enlightened" Christians who no longer obligate themselves to believe the Bible to be true, discard this "biological" miracle but still consider themselves to be Christians.
More contemporary attacks on the virgin birth of Christ have emerged from figures such as retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong and German New Testament scholar Gerd Luedemann. Luedemann acknowledges that "most Christians in all the churches in the world confess as they recite the Apostles' Creed that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. Now...modern Christians completely discount the historicity of the virgin birth and understand it in a figurative sense." Obviously, the "modern Christians" Luedemann identifies are those who allow the modern secular worldview to establish the frame for reality into which the claims of the Bible must be fitted.
Those doctrines that do not fit easily within the secular frame must be automatically discarded. As might be expected, Luedemann's denial of biblical truth is not limited to the virgin birth. He denies virtually everything the Bible reveals about Jesus Christ. In summarizing his argument, Luedemann states: "The tomb was full and the manger empty." That is to say, Luedemann believes that Jesus was not born of a virgin and that He was not raised from the dead.
Another angle of attack on the virgin birth has come from the group of radical scholars who organize themselves into what is called the "Jesus Seminar." These liberal scholars apply a radical form of interpretation and deny that the New Testament is in any way reliable as a source of knowledge about Jesus. Roman Catholic scholar John Dominic Crossan, a member of the Jesus Seminar, discounts the biblical narratives about the virgin birth as invented theology. He acknowledges that Matthew explicitly traces the virgin birth to Isaiah 7:14. Crossan explains that the author of Matthew simply made this up: "Clearly, somebody went seeking in the Old Testament for a text that could be interpreted as prophesying a virginal conception, even if such was never its original meaning. Somebody had already decided on the transcendental importance of the adult Jesus and sought to retroject that significance on to the conception and birth itself."
Crossan denies that Matthew and Luke can be taken with any historical seriousness, and he understands the biblical doctrine of the virgin birth to be an insurmountable obstacle to modern people as they encounter the New Testament. As with Luedemann, Crossan's denial of the virgin birth is only a hint of what is to come. In Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Crossan presents an account of Jesus that would offend no secularist or atheist. Obviously, Crossan's vision also bears no resemblance to the New Testament.
For others, the rejection of the birth is tied to a specific ideology. In The Illegitimacy of Jesus: A Feminist Theological Interpretation of the Infancy Narratives, Jane Schaberg accuses the church of inventing the doctrine of the virgin birth in order to subordinate women. As she summarizes: "The charge of contemporary feminists, then, is not that the image of the Virgin Mary is unimportant or irrelevant, but that it contributes to and is integral to the oppression of women."
Schaberg states that the conception of Jesus was most likely the result of extra-marital sex or rape. She chooses to emphasize the latter possibility and turns this into a feminist fantasy in which Mary is the heroine who overcomes. Schaberg offers a tragic, but instructive model of what happens when ideology trumps trust in the biblical text. Her most basic agenda is not even concerned with the question of the virgin birth of Christ, but with turning this biblical account into service for the feminist agenda.
Bishop Joseph Sprague of the United Methodist Church offers further evidence of modern heresy. In an address he presented on June 25, 2002 at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, this bishop denied the faith wholesale. Sprague, who serves as Presiding Bishop of the United Methodist Church in northern Illinois, has been called "the most vocally prominent active liberal bishop in Protestantism today." Sprague is proud of this designation and takes it as a compliment: "I really make no apology for that. I don't consider myself a liberal. I consider myself a radical." Sprague lives up to his self-designation.
In his Illiff address, Bishop Sprague claimed that the "myth" of the virgin birth "was not intended as historical fact, but was employed by Matthew and Luke in different ways to appoint poetically the truth about Jesus as experienced in the emerging church." Sprague defined a theological myth as "not false presentation but a valid and quite persuasive literary device employed to point to ultimate truth that can only be insinuated symbolically and never depicted exhaustively." Jesus, Sprague insists, was born to human parents and did not possess "trans-human, supernatural powers."
Thus, Sprague dismisses the miracles, the exclusivity of Christ, and the bodily resurrection as well as the virgin birth. His Christology is explicitly heretical: "Jesus was not born the Christ, rather by the confluence of grace with faith, he became the Christ, God's beloved in whom God was well pleased."
Bishop Sprague was charged with heresy but has twice been cleared of the charge--a clear sign that the mainline Protestant denominations are unwilling to identify as heretics even those who openly teach heresy. The presence of theologians and pastors who deny the virgin birth in the theological seminaries and pulpits of the land is evidence of the sweeping tide of unbelief that marks so many institutions and churches in our time.
Can a true Christian deny the virgin birth? The answer to that question must be a decisive No. Those who deny the virgin birth reject the authority of Scripture, deny the supernatural birth of the Savior, undermine the very foundations of the Gospel, and have no way of explaining the deity of Christ.
Anyone who claims that the virgin birth can be discarded even as the deity of Christ is affirmed is either intellectually dishonest or theological incompetent.
Several years ago, Cecil Sherman--then a Southern Baptist, but later the first coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship--stated: "A teacher who might also be led by the Scripture not to believe in the Virgin Birth should not be fired." Consider the logic of that statement. A Christian can be led by the Bible to deny what the Bible teaches? This kind of logic is what has allowed those who deny the virgin birth to sit comfortably in liberal theological seminaries and to preach their reductionistic Christ from major pulpits.
Christians must face the fact that a denial of the virgin birth is a denial of Jesus as the Christ. The Savior who died for our sins was none other than the baby who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin. The virgin birth does not stand alone as a biblical doctrine, it is an irreducible part of the biblical revelation about the person and work of Jesus Christ. With it, the Gospel stands or falls.
"Everyone admits that the Bible represents Jesus as having been conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. The only question is whether in making that representation the Bible is true or false." So declared J. Gresham Machen in his great work, The Virgin Birth of Christ. As Machen went on to argue, "if the Bible is regarded as being wrong in what it says about the birth of Christ, then obviously the authority of the Bible in any high sense, is gone."
The authority of the Bible is almost completely gone where liberal theology holds its sway. The authority of the Bible is replaced with the secular worldview of the modern age and the postmodern denial of truth itself. The true church stands without apology upon the authority of the Bible and declares that Jesus was indeed "born of a virgin." Though the denial of this doctrine is now tragically common, the historical truth of Christ's birth remains inviolate. No true Christian can deny the virgin birth.
_________________________________
This article is republished by reader request. We will discuss this question on today's edition of The Albert Mohler Program.
Find this article at: http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mohler/11597404/
Albert Mohler
Author, Speaker, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Can a true Christian deny the virgin birth? This question would perplex the vast majority of Christians throughout the centuries, but modern denials of biblical truth make the question tragically significant. Of all biblical doctrines, the doctrine of Christ's virginal conception has often been the specific target of modern denial and attack.
Attacks upon the virgin birth emerged in the aftermath of the Enlightenment, with some theologians attempting to harmonize the anti-supernaturalism of the modern mind with the church's teaching about Christ. The great quest of liberal theology has been to invent a Jesus who is stripped of all supernatural power, deity, and authority.
The fountainhead of this quest includes figures such as Albert Schweitzer and Rudolf Bultmann. Often considered the most influential New Testament scholar of the twentieth century, Bultmann argued that the New Testament presents a mythological worldview that modern men and women simply cannot accept as real. The virgin birth is simply a part of this mythological structure and Bultmann urged his program of "demythologization" in order to construct a faith liberated from miracles and all vestiges of the supernatural. Jesus was reduced to an enlightened teacher and existentialist model.
In America, the public denial of the virgin birth can be traced to the emergence of Protestant liberalism in the early 20th century. In his famous sermon, "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?," Harry Emerson Fosdick--an unabashed liberal--aimed his attention at "the vexed and mooted question of the virgin birth." Fosdick, preaching from the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church in New York City, allowed that Christians may hold "quite different points of view about a matter like the virgin birth."
He accepted the fact that many Christians believed the virgin birth to be historically true and theologically significant. Fosdick likened this belief to trust in "a special biological miracle." Nevertheless, Fosdick insisted that others, equally Christian, could disagree with those who believe the virgin birth to be historically true: "But, side by side with them in the evangelical churches is a group of equally loyal and reverent people who would say that the virgin birth is not to be accepted as an historic fact. To believe in the virgin birth as an explanation of great personality is one of the familiar ways in which the ancient world was accustomed to account for unusual superiority."
Fosdick explained that those who deny the virgin birth hold to a specific pattern of reasoning. As he explained, "those first disciples adored Jesus--as we do; when they thought about his coming they were sure that he came specially from God--as we are; this adoration and conviction they associated with God's special influence and intention in his birth--as we do; but they phrased it in terms of a biological miracle that our modern minds cannot use."
Thus, Fosdick divided the church into two camps. Those he labeled as "fundamentalists" believe the virgin birth to be historical fact. The other camp, comprised of "enlightened" Christians who no longer obligate themselves to believe the Bible to be true, discard this "biological" miracle but still consider themselves to be Christians.
More contemporary attacks on the virgin birth of Christ have emerged from figures such as retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong and German New Testament scholar Gerd Luedemann. Luedemann acknowledges that "most Christians in all the churches in the world confess as they recite the Apostles' Creed that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. Now...modern Christians completely discount the historicity of the virgin birth and understand it in a figurative sense." Obviously, the "modern Christians" Luedemann identifies are those who allow the modern secular worldview to establish the frame for reality into which the claims of the Bible must be fitted.
Those doctrines that do not fit easily within the secular frame must be automatically discarded. As might be expected, Luedemann's denial of biblical truth is not limited to the virgin birth. He denies virtually everything the Bible reveals about Jesus Christ. In summarizing his argument, Luedemann states: "The tomb was full and the manger empty." That is to say, Luedemann believes that Jesus was not born of a virgin and that He was not raised from the dead.
Another angle of attack on the virgin birth has come from the group of radical scholars who organize themselves into what is called the "Jesus Seminar." These liberal scholars apply a radical form of interpretation and deny that the New Testament is in any way reliable as a source of knowledge about Jesus. Roman Catholic scholar John Dominic Crossan, a member of the Jesus Seminar, discounts the biblical narratives about the virgin birth as invented theology. He acknowledges that Matthew explicitly traces the virgin birth to Isaiah 7:14. Crossan explains that the author of Matthew simply made this up: "Clearly, somebody went seeking in the Old Testament for a text that could be interpreted as prophesying a virginal conception, even if such was never its original meaning. Somebody had already decided on the transcendental importance of the adult Jesus and sought to retroject that significance on to the conception and birth itself."
Crossan denies that Matthew and Luke can be taken with any historical seriousness, and he understands the biblical doctrine of the virgin birth to be an insurmountable obstacle to modern people as they encounter the New Testament. As with Luedemann, Crossan's denial of the virgin birth is only a hint of what is to come. In Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Crossan presents an account of Jesus that would offend no secularist or atheist. Obviously, Crossan's vision also bears no resemblance to the New Testament.
For others, the rejection of the birth is tied to a specific ideology. In The Illegitimacy of Jesus: A Feminist Theological Interpretation of the Infancy Narratives, Jane Schaberg accuses the church of inventing the doctrine of the virgin birth in order to subordinate women. As she summarizes: "The charge of contemporary feminists, then, is not that the image of the Virgin Mary is unimportant or irrelevant, but that it contributes to and is integral to the oppression of women."
Schaberg states that the conception of Jesus was most likely the result of extra-marital sex or rape. She chooses to emphasize the latter possibility and turns this into a feminist fantasy in which Mary is the heroine who overcomes. Schaberg offers a tragic, but instructive model of what happens when ideology trumps trust in the biblical text. Her most basic agenda is not even concerned with the question of the virgin birth of Christ, but with turning this biblical account into service for the feminist agenda.
Bishop Joseph Sprague of the United Methodist Church offers further evidence of modern heresy. In an address he presented on June 25, 2002 at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, this bishop denied the faith wholesale. Sprague, who serves as Presiding Bishop of the United Methodist Church in northern Illinois, has been called "the most vocally prominent active liberal bishop in Protestantism today." Sprague is proud of this designation and takes it as a compliment: "I really make no apology for that. I don't consider myself a liberal. I consider myself a radical." Sprague lives up to his self-designation.
In his Illiff address, Bishop Sprague claimed that the "myth" of the virgin birth "was not intended as historical fact, but was employed by Matthew and Luke in different ways to appoint poetically the truth about Jesus as experienced in the emerging church." Sprague defined a theological myth as "not false presentation but a valid and quite persuasive literary device employed to point to ultimate truth that can only be insinuated symbolically and never depicted exhaustively." Jesus, Sprague insists, was born to human parents and did not possess "trans-human, supernatural powers."
Thus, Sprague dismisses the miracles, the exclusivity of Christ, and the bodily resurrection as well as the virgin birth. His Christology is explicitly heretical: "Jesus was not born the Christ, rather by the confluence of grace with faith, he became the Christ, God's beloved in whom God was well pleased."
Bishop Sprague was charged with heresy but has twice been cleared of the charge--a clear sign that the mainline Protestant denominations are unwilling to identify as heretics even those who openly teach heresy. The presence of theologians and pastors who deny the virgin birth in the theological seminaries and pulpits of the land is evidence of the sweeping tide of unbelief that marks so many institutions and churches in our time.
Can a true Christian deny the virgin birth? The answer to that question must be a decisive No. Those who deny the virgin birth reject the authority of Scripture, deny the supernatural birth of the Savior, undermine the very foundations of the Gospel, and have no way of explaining the deity of Christ.
Anyone who claims that the virgin birth can be discarded even as the deity of Christ is affirmed is either intellectually dishonest or theological incompetent.
Several years ago, Cecil Sherman--then a Southern Baptist, but later the first coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship--stated: "A teacher who might also be led by the Scripture not to believe in the Virgin Birth should not be fired." Consider the logic of that statement. A Christian can be led by the Bible to deny what the Bible teaches? This kind of logic is what has allowed those who deny the virgin birth to sit comfortably in liberal theological seminaries and to preach their reductionistic Christ from major pulpits.
Christians must face the fact that a denial of the virgin birth is a denial of Jesus as the Christ. The Savior who died for our sins was none other than the baby who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin. The virgin birth does not stand alone as a biblical doctrine, it is an irreducible part of the biblical revelation about the person and work of Jesus Christ. With it, the Gospel stands or falls.
"Everyone admits that the Bible represents Jesus as having been conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. The only question is whether in making that representation the Bible is true or false." So declared J. Gresham Machen in his great work, The Virgin Birth of Christ. As Machen went on to argue, "if the Bible is regarded as being wrong in what it says about the birth of Christ, then obviously the authority of the Bible in any high sense, is gone."
The authority of the Bible is almost completely gone where liberal theology holds its sway. The authority of the Bible is replaced with the secular worldview of the modern age and the postmodern denial of truth itself. The true church stands without apology upon the authority of the Bible and declares that Jesus was indeed "born of a virgin." Though the denial of this doctrine is now tragically common, the historical truth of Christ's birth remains inviolate. No true Christian can deny the virgin birth.
_________________________________
This article is republished by reader request. We will discuss this question on today's edition of The Albert Mohler Program.
Find this article at: http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mohler/11597404/
In the person of Jesus Christ the unknowable God becomes known
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the supreme Sovereign of the universe.
Colossians 1:15-20 gives seven reasons why Christ is preeminent. These verses are at the heart of the epistle’s main emphasis on the exaltation and preeminence of Christ.
Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God” (v. 15). Jesus is supreme because of His relationship with God the Father. He is the perfect resemblance and representation of God. God is invisible and unknown except by self-revelation. In the person of Jesus Christ the unknowable God becomes known.. The very nature and being of God have been perfectly revealed in Christ. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Everyone who saw Christ, the visible manifestation of the invisible God, has thereby "seen" God indirectly. The apostle John who saw Jesus face to face wrote, “No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son . . . has made Him known” (v. 18). Jesus Christ is the perfect visible representation and manifestation of the “invisible” God (1 Tim. 1:17). Jesus is the perfect image, likeness and glory of His Father. He is “the exact representation” of the Father’s being (Heb. 1:3). The Son is in the “exact likeness” of His Father.
Jesus is supreme over all things because He is “the firstborn over all creation” (Col. 1:15). He preceded the whole creation, and He is Sovereign over all His creation. As Creator He has dignity, supremacy, sovereign power over it. As “firstborn” Jesus is the Messiah-God (Ps. 89:27-29). Jesus Christ was not created, but is the Creator who is Sovereign over all His creation.
Jesus is supreme because “in Him all things were created” (Col. 1:16-17). “All things were created by Him,” and “for Him,” and “in Him they all hold together.” Not only is He the final Cause of creation, but also the conserving Cause that keeps it together. Everything in the universe continues to exist because of Him (Jn. 1:3; Heb. 1:2; Rev. 3:14). Nothing is to be excluded in His supremacy in creation. Christ reigns supreme over all creation, visible and invisible, material and spiritual (Eph. 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Phil. 2:9-10; Col. 2:10, 15; Rom. 8:38-39).
Jesus Christ is supreme because He is head of His church (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23). Paul has in mind the invisible body of Christ into which every believer was baptized by the Holy Spirit when he believed in Christ as his Savior (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:15; 3:4-5; Col. 1:26).
Jesus is supreme because He is “the firstborn from among the dead” (Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5). Christ rose from the dead never to die again (1 Cor. 15:20). His resurrection marked His triumph and supremacy over death forever. Jesus “was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). He lives for all eternity “on the basis of the power of an indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16). Because He lives He is given preeminence and supremacy over all creation. He is exalted over all creation by God the Father “to the highest place” and has been given “the name that is above every name . . . to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). There is no name like the name of Jesus. He is the Sovereign God of all because He rose from the dead.
Moreover, He is supreme because “all the fullness dwells in Him” (Col. 1:19). “All the fullness of the Father pleased to dwell in Him.” In Christ Jesus God in all His fullness was pleased to take up His bode. The Divine nature in all its fullness dwells in Christ. Phillips translates, “It was in Him that the full nature of God chose to live.” Another way of saying it is, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (2:9). “Fullness” means “completeness.” Paul says the full and complete deity dwells, abides permanently, and supremely in Jesus Christ. He is the absolute and perfect God.
Jesus Christ is also supreme because we have peace with God through His blood (Col. 1:19-23). He has reconciled “all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (v. 20). Jesus is supreme because He is the Reconciler. Through Him God reconciles sinful man to Himself. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10). We have received reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Peace has been made through His blood. We were alienated, strangers, cut off from God, and the blood of Jesus has reconciled us to the Father. Our reconciliation is appropriated through faith in Christ. God is not reconciled to us; we are reconciled to Him by Jesus Christ.
Such preeminence and supreme exaltation of Jesus Christ should cause us to spontaneously break forth in praise, adoration and worship of our great Savior from now throughout eternity.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
(c) 2006 Message by Wil Pounds. Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author's written consent.
* Scriptures used by permission. Unless otherwise noted “Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
* Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
* Disclaimer: To the best of our knowledge all of the books and articles on Abide in Christ are believed to be in public domain in the United States unless otherwise noted and can be freely used.
Jesus Christ is the supreme Sovereign of the universe.
Colossians 1:15-20 gives seven reasons why Christ is preeminent. These verses are at the heart of the epistle’s main emphasis on the exaltation and preeminence of Christ.
Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God” (v. 15). Jesus is supreme because of His relationship with God the Father. He is the perfect resemblance and representation of God. God is invisible and unknown except by self-revelation. In the person of Jesus Christ the unknowable God becomes known.. The very nature and being of God have been perfectly revealed in Christ. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Everyone who saw Christ, the visible manifestation of the invisible God, has thereby "seen" God indirectly. The apostle John who saw Jesus face to face wrote, “No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son . . . has made Him known” (v. 18). Jesus Christ is the perfect visible representation and manifestation of the “invisible” God (1 Tim. 1:17). Jesus is the perfect image, likeness and glory of His Father. He is “the exact representation” of the Father’s being (Heb. 1:3). The Son is in the “exact likeness” of His Father.
Jesus is supreme over all things because He is “the firstborn over all creation” (Col. 1:15). He preceded the whole creation, and He is Sovereign over all His creation. As Creator He has dignity, supremacy, sovereign power over it. As “firstborn” Jesus is the Messiah-God (Ps. 89:27-29). Jesus Christ was not created, but is the Creator who is Sovereign over all His creation.
Jesus is supreme because “in Him all things were created” (Col. 1:16-17). “All things were created by Him,” and “for Him,” and “in Him they all hold together.” Not only is He the final Cause of creation, but also the conserving Cause that keeps it together. Everything in the universe continues to exist because of Him (Jn. 1:3; Heb. 1:2; Rev. 3:14). Nothing is to be excluded in His supremacy in creation. Christ reigns supreme over all creation, visible and invisible, material and spiritual (Eph. 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Phil. 2:9-10; Col. 2:10, 15; Rom. 8:38-39).
Jesus Christ is supreme because He is head of His church (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23). Paul has in mind the invisible body of Christ into which every believer was baptized by the Holy Spirit when he believed in Christ as his Savior (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:15; 3:4-5; Col. 1:26).
Jesus is supreme because He is “the firstborn from among the dead” (Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5). Christ rose from the dead never to die again (1 Cor. 15:20). His resurrection marked His triumph and supremacy over death forever. Jesus “was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). He lives for all eternity “on the basis of the power of an indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16). Because He lives He is given preeminence and supremacy over all creation. He is exalted over all creation by God the Father “to the highest place” and has been given “the name that is above every name . . . to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). There is no name like the name of Jesus. He is the Sovereign God of all because He rose from the dead.
Moreover, He is supreme because “all the fullness dwells in Him” (Col. 1:19). “All the fullness of the Father pleased to dwell in Him.” In Christ Jesus God in all His fullness was pleased to take up His bode. The Divine nature in all its fullness dwells in Christ. Phillips translates, “It was in Him that the full nature of God chose to live.” Another way of saying it is, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (2:9). “Fullness” means “completeness.” Paul says the full and complete deity dwells, abides permanently, and supremely in Jesus Christ. He is the absolute and perfect God.
Jesus Christ is also supreme because we have peace with God through His blood (Col. 1:19-23). He has reconciled “all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (v. 20). Jesus is supreme because He is the Reconciler. Through Him God reconciles sinful man to Himself. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10). We have received reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Peace has been made through His blood. We were alienated, strangers, cut off from God, and the blood of Jesus has reconciled us to the Father. Our reconciliation is appropriated through faith in Christ. God is not reconciled to us; we are reconciled to Him by Jesus Christ.
Such preeminence and supreme exaltation of Jesus Christ should cause us to spontaneously break forth in praise, adoration and worship of our great Savior from now throughout eternity.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
(c) 2006 Message by Wil Pounds. Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author's written consent.
* Scriptures used by permission. Unless otherwise noted “Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
* Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
* Disclaimer: To the best of our knowledge all of the books and articles on Abide in Christ are believed to be in public domain in the United States unless otherwise noted and can be freely used.
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