About Jesus    Steve Sweetman

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Jesus -Lord and Christ


"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God ... and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us..." (John 1:1 + 14)  The Word that John spoke about in these verses was Jesus.  Jesus was with God in the beginning of all things.  He became flesh, (a human being like us), and lived and died among us.  He did not stay in the grave, but rose from the dead.  He not only rose from the dead, but ascended into Heaven to be with His Father.(Acts 1:11) 


The question can be asked at this point, "who is Jesus, now that He is in Heaven"?  One of my favourite verses in the Bible is found in Acts 2:36 which says, "therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ".  This verse answers the question that I have just raised.  Jesus, as He sits with God our Father is now both LORD and CHRIST.  What does this mean?  Simply put, Jesus is the Supreme Authority over all that is, and He is the only Saviour for mankind.


Since Jesus is both Lord and Christ, He is central to everything in our universe, whether seen or unseen.   Jesus is the "heir of all things ... He is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His (God's) being, sustaining all things by His powerful word". (Heb. 1:1-4)  These scriptures show us just who Jesus presently is in all of His majestic glory.  He is central to all things.


Paul also tells us that Jesus is presently the one in control of all things, and when the end comes, when all things will be put under His feet, He will hand over the Kingdom to His Father. At that time Jesus Himself will be subject to God.(1 Cor. 15:24-26)  Until that time, it is Jesus that is in the forefront.  You might say that God has stepped back just a bit in order for Jesus to be in the forefront. 


In light of this fact I always wonder why we as Christians use the name, or word God so much more than the name Jesus.  Have you ever noticed this?   We pray to God.  We talk about God, but what about Jesus.  Jesus is the Lord and Christ.  He is our Saviour.   He has been put in the centre of all things by God. 


It is Jesus that distinguishes us from all other religions.   All religions believe in God.  We are the only people who believe in Jesus as Lord and Christ.  My point is, especially in this day when everyone is talking about God, that we should use the name of Jesus in our conversation more than ever.  This will be one of our biggest witnesses in today's world.   We are not merely witnesses of who God is.  Jesus in Acts 1:8 said that we would be witnesses "to Him".  It is clear that we are to go out and live our lives in "the name of Jesus". 


Jesus is God personalized.  By this I mean that Jesus is God yet  in a form that we can understand.  Man cannot understand God in his thinking, but we can begin to understand Jesus since He became a human like us.    When we use His name, speak of Him, others will come to the same understanding as us.  Christians believe in God, but we are different than others.  We go beyond a belief in God by believing in Jesus, the Lord and Christ.  So lets make this known to all around us by using the name of Jesus more than ever.          

 

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