I Believe that Jesus is the Christ !
I believe that Jesus is the Christ, for just one reason. And that one reason is, the bible. I believe it, because of everything that’s written in the bible. The prophecies, the fulfillment of those prophecies, the miracles, the testimonies; Like this testimony from the apostle John, in 1 John 1, verse 1, and verse 3;
“That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word, of life..”
“That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you also; That you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”
John also wrote this, in John 20, verses 30 & 31; “Many other signs therefore, did Jesus, in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that you may believe, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; And that believing, you may have life in His name.” “Life, by His authority”, and “fellowship with the Father”, because you believe, what’s written in the bible.
There IS no other evidence, besides the bible; BUT, the bible is evidence enough, isn’t it? The bible is all the evidence, and it’s all the proof, that anyone needs, to believe that Jesus IS, in fact, the Christ, the Son of God. But I don’t necessarily want to talk about my belief in the Christ, but rather, I want to talk about, what Christ is.
The Word “Christ”
Think about the word “Christ”, if you would. It isn’t a word to be thrown around lightly. In the new testament, the title of “Christ”, is reserved for one person only; For Jesus. The bible says, in Philippians 2, verses 9 thru 11; “Wherefore God also highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him, the name which is above every name. That in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on the earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ, is Lord, to the glory of the Father.”
Jesus Christ, is Lord! Now there’s a word that puts Jesus exactly where He belongs. Jesus Christ, is LORD! To be the “Lord” is to be, the “Master”! But, the “Master” of what? The “Master”, of everything! “Lord”, denotes absolute right of ownership, of everything, and absolute right of authority, over everything. It all belongs to “Lord, Jesus Christ”, and He has all authority over it. “ALL authority has been given unto ME, in heaven and on earth”, Jesus said, in Mathew 28:18.
Acts 4, verse 12 says; “And in none other, is there salvation; For neither is there any other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
The word “Christ”, means.. “The Anointed One”. “Khris-tos’, is the Greek word. It comes from a root word, pronounced “Kri’o”, which means.. “to rub with oil”. “Oil” is used metaphorically in the bible, to represent God’s blessings. Think of how that correlates to Jesus. Jesus the “anointed One”, has been “rubbed” with “the oil of God”,so to speak; In other words, He has been “rubbed” with “the blessings of God”, which Jesus in turn, has brought down to humanity. Jesus, who walked this earth, was the “embodiment” of the greatest blessing that God could ever give; The blessing of salvation. Jesus Christ, anointed with God’s blessings, for the sake of God’s creation. Jesus the “Christ”, Jesus the “Lord”, Jesus, our “Master”.
When Jesus asked His apostle Peter; “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said; “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” (Mathew 16, verse 16)
When the Ethiopian eunuch, asked Philip, “What hinders me from being baptized?”.. Philip answered and said; “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And the eunuch said; “I believe that Jesus Christ, is the Son of God!” (Acts 8, verses 36 & 37)
When Jesus, went to the home of Mary and Martha, to console them at the passing of their brother Lazarus, Jesus said to Martha; “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes on Me, though he die, yet shall he live. And whoever lives, and believes on Me, shall never die! Do you believe this?”.. Jesus asked. And Martha answered and said; “Yes Lord, I have believed, that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God; Even He that comes into the world.” (John 11, verses 25 thru 27)
The “Messiah”
As you know, the new testament was originally written in Greek. And so Martha is quoted as saying; “Thou art, the Khris’-to.” (the Christ) But you also know that Martha was a Hebrew, as was Jesus; And even though the Jews of that time, knew and used the common Greek language, I would imagine that they must have still spoken quite a bit of Hebrew also. And so, it makes a lot of sense, that Martha might not have actually said; “Thou art the Christ.” Martha may very well have said; “Thou art the Messiah, the Son of God.”
“Messiah” is the Hebrew word, which refers to the coming Savior; The One sent, by God. Do you know what “Messiah” means? It means.. “Anointed”, just like the word “Christ”. “Messiah”, and “Christ”, mean exactly the same thing. “Anointed” by God. Hand-picked, and “rubbed” with the “oil” of God.
Let me read to you from Psalm 132, verses 11 thru 18. In these verses, God talks about His “Messiah”.
“Jehovah hath sworn unto David in truth, and He will not turn from it. Of the fruit of thy body, will I set upon thy throne.” Remember last week, when I talked about the covenant that God made with David? And I said that a part of that covenant, was the promise from God, that David’s “throne” would be established forever. Well that’s the part of the “covenant” that God is talking about here in this passage.
“Of the fruit of thy body, will I set upon thy throne.” Jesus was of the bloodline of David, and it is Jesus the Messiah, that God was promising to “set upon thy throne”. Now here’s the next verse; “If thy sons, will keep My covenant, and My testimony, that I shall teach them, their sons ALSO, shall sit upon thy throne, forevermore.”
God is saying that Jesus Christ would be “The King” over all of Israel, just like David was king, over all of Israel. But Jesus wouldn’t be King, over the “physical” kingdom of Israel; But rather, Christ would be King, over the “spiritual” kingdom of Israel. And along with that promise, God adds this promise; If your offspring will be faithful, and keep My covenant, the covenant that I shall teach them, then their sons shall also “sit upon thy throne”. To “sit upon thy throne”, means to reign, right along with Christ, in His kingdom.
This verse is talking about Christians, reigning with Christ, in His kingdom. And the “covenant, that I shall teach them”, is the new covenant in Christ. The bible tells us, in Jeremiah 31, verse 33; “But this, is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, says Jehovah; I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more, every man his neighbor, and every man is brother, saying: Know Jehovah! For they shall ALL know Me..”
And the reason, that they shall all know God, is because God Himself, will teach them all. “My covenant, and My testimony, that I shall teach them”, God said.
Now let me finish the passage from Psalm 132; And I’ll begin where I left off, with verse 13; “For Jehovah has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. This is My resting place forever; Here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor, with bread. Her priests also, will I clothe with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There, will I make the Horn of David to bud; I have ordained a lamp, for My Messiah. His enemies, will I clothe with shame; But upon Himself, shall His crown flourish.”
The First Prophecy of the Coming Christ
So that was a wonderful prophecy about God’s Messiah, and His kingdom. But do you remember the very first prophecy in the bible, about the Messiah, about the Christ? It was in Genesis 3, verse 15.
God was actually talking to satan, who God referred to as “the serpent”. Adam and Eve had just sinned, and God was pronouncing His judgment upon them, and upon “the serpent”, for deceiving them. And so, speaking to the devil, God said, in Genesis 3:15; “And I will put enmity between you, and the woman, and between your seed, and her seed. He (the woman’s seed) shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
Who is the woman’s “seed” that God was talking about? I’ll let the bible give you a hint.. The bible says, in Galatians 4, verse 4; “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” Jesus the Christ, born of a woman, in the fullness of time. Who else, could “bruise the head” of Satan? No one else could, because no one else had the power, to overcome the devil. But Jesus did.. The very spirit of evil, overcome, by the very Spirit of God!
But think about the words of Genesis 3:15; “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Haven’t you wondered, what does God mean by that phrase? It’s clearly a figurative phrase; It’s being used here metaphorically. A “metaphor”, is when one thing is used, to describe something else.
In this passage of scripture, beginning with Genesis 3, and verse 1, Satan, (the devil) is being compared to a snake; A slithering, and to most people, a rather repulsive, creature. Verse 1 says; “Now the serpent, was more cunning.. (some versions say, “more crafty”) ..the serpent was more crafty, than any beast of the field, which Jehovah God had made.”
And how do we know that “the serpent” is actually referring to the devil, and NOT, to a literal snake? Because that’s what the bible tells us, in Revelation 12, verse 9; “..The serpent of old, that is called the devil, and satan, the deceiver of the whole world..” That “serpent” referred to in Genesis, it’s the devil; It’s the spirit, of disobedience to God.
Now, be careful with the words of Genesis 3, verse 1. This verse does NOT say, that God “made”, or “created”, satan. This verse only says, that satan, who is being compared to a slithering snake, was more “cunning”, and “crafty”, than any beast of the field, that God DID make. The spirit, that causes man to disobey God, is indeed very “crafty”; It’s the “deceiver of the whole world.”
The “origin”, of the spirit of disobedience to God, lies within the flesh. And when we realize that fact, it becomes so very clear, why flesh and blood, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 15:50) Within the flesh, is the origin of sin, so how could it, inherit the pure and sinless kingdom of God?
Satan is the deceiver of the whole world, and this whole world, is based upon the flesh. And 1 John 2, verse 16 tells us; “For ALL that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vain glory of life (of fleshly life) is NOT of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof; But he that does the will of God, abides forever.” He that “obeys” God, abides forever. But he that disobeys God, he that is driven by the spirit of satan, will “pass away” from spiritual life. Just like the world will pass away, and just like the flesh, from which that spirit originates, will pass away, so shall all the “sons of disobedience” pass away from life.
The “Metaphor”
But let’s get back to that metaphor; “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” How did Jesus the Christ, the Lord and Mater of everything, “bruise the head” of satan? Well, Satan is sin, plain and simple. Disobedience to God is sin! And sin used to have authority, over mankind. Sin used to posses the control over our eternal destiny. But sin doesn’t have that “authority” any longer. Why doesn’t sin have that power, and that authority any longer? Because Jesus took it away! And Jesus replaced that authority, with a higher authority; the authority of the grace of God, which brings us forgiveness of our sins, and the “Promise” of eternal life.
We just talked about this last week, in morning bible class. If you’re missing these bible classes, you’re missing a lot! You’re not gaining anything, but you’re missing out, on a whole lot of bible knowledge, which translates to a better understanding of God’s word, and of God’s will, for you.
“The head” of satan, was the “authority” that satan had, through sin; And Jesus the Christ, the one with ALL authority, “bruised” that authority, and crushed it! He overwhelmed satan, and took away that authority. That word translated as ‘bruised” is only used four times in the bible. But one of those times, is in Psalm 139:11, which says; “Surely the darkeness shall overwhelm me.” And another time is in Job 9:17, which says; “For He breaketh me, with a tempest.”
To “bruise”, and to “break”, and to “overwhelm”, that’s what the Christ did, to the power of satan. He crushed the power and authority of satan, and of sin. Picture a man walking along, and he lifts up his foot, to take another step, and a snake strikes, and latches on to his heel. And the man slams his foot down, and crushes the head of that serpent. That’s the metaphor, of Christ and the devil.
Oh, the devil certainly “bruised the heel” of Jesus. Jesus was physically crucified! He was scourged and crucified. He was “broken” so to speak; But He wasn’t defeated was He? No, instead of being defeated, He was resurrected! Resurrected to “bruise”, and to “break”, the very head, the very authority, of satan.
I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, because of everything that we’ve just looked at from the bible, and because of how perfectly it all fits together, and how it tells us, of God’s plan of salvation.
