Category: Christology

Do you honour Jesus Christ as Lord?

On By DonaldIn Apologetics, Bible Exegesis, ChristologyLeave a comment

What sort of honour do you give to Jesus Christ, and to what extent?

Many people know that He claims to be the Son of God, but this washes over many of them as if it is just another item of news.

Rather, it is so significant that it cannot be ignored and deserves to be investigated.  Jesus said: “The queen of the south shall rise up in the day of judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here” Mat 12:42.

Some people minimise the concept of the Son of God and make out that He is an inferior creation of God, failing to give credit to the full meaning of this term.  Let us listen instead to what Jesus says about Himself:

“The Father judges no man, but He has committed all judgment to the Son, in order that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.  He that honours not the Son honours not the Father Who sent Him” Jn 5:22-23.

The Father has a definite purpose in committing the work of judgment to His Son.  Not only is it an honour to Him Whom men despised as Saviour Isa 53:3, that He should also be appointed Judge, but Jesus tells us that it goes further than this.  It is in order that all men should honour the Son in the same manner as they honour the Father.

Do you do so?  Do you honour the Son in the same manner as you honour God? If not, then Jesus says that you are not even honouring the Father, far less the Son.  “He that honours not the Son honours not the Father Who sent Him” Jn 5:23.

What if people will not do so?  Truly there are many such, who will not do so during their time in this earthly life, but they will be forced to do so at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

“God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” Php 2:9-11.

Now compare this with the Lord’s speech in Isa 45:23 “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear”, quoted by Paul in Rom 14:11 “For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God”, which Paul puts in the context of “for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” Rom 14:10.

Every knee shall bow to Jesus Christ as Lord – either in mercy in this world or at the Day of Judgment.  Which will you choose?

 

 

Seven Testimonies to the Person, life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ

On By DonaldIn Apologetics, Christology1 Comment

The three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, give us three independent accounts of the Person, life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are called synoptic because they are so similar to each other. Why does God’s Holy Spirit give us three similar accounts? There are many reasons, but not least is to demonstrate that the story of the life of Christ is not simply one man’s fantasy story about an imaginary miracle worker, but being separately documented by three independent writers the reality of His Person and work is demonstrated.

The fourth account of the life of Christ is the Gospel written by John.  It is a more theological treatment of His Person and teaching, explaining the meaning of His death and resurrection by Jesus’ close friend and acquaintance, the apostle John. John continues the story after His resurrection with the glorious scenes in the book of Revelation. In his three epistles he gives us the ethos of Christianity – love – as he learned it directly from the lips of Jesus Christ.

The fifth testimony to Christ is by the apostle Paul, who bore testimony to the risen, exalted and glorified Christ by his remarkable conversion on the road to Damascus, recorded by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, both historically and from the lips of Paul himself. Paul’s remarkable conversion from persecutor of Christians to the foremost apostle of Christ confounded his critics, and his faithful and zealous life of Christian service testifies to the reality of the risen Lord. If anyone would know if Christ’s dead body had been stolen, it would be Paul. Instead he preached boldly the resurrection of Christ and the doctrines which flow naturally from so important a fact.

The sixth account is by the prophet Isaiah whose prophecy, written hundreds of years before Jesus was born, describes most vividly and theologically the meaning of Christ’s atoning death – to such an extent that it has been called the fifth Gospel. The account in Isaiah 52:14-53:12 is a graphic account of Christ’s death with a theological explanation of its atoning purpose and achievement.

The seventh testimony is the whole Old Testament record, which foretells and explains the Person, life and work of Christ, showing that the Saviour Whom God would send into this world is both divine and human – the Son of God and the Son of man.

‘Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift’ 2Cor 9:15.

‘For the wages due to sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord’ Rom 6:23.