His Official Title and Mission.
Memorize
Mat 16:15 "But you, who do you say that I am?" He asked again.
Mat 16:16 "You," replied Simon Peter, "are the Christ, the Son of the ever-living God."
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| Peter's Declaration of Truth |
Last we looked at His Title of Lord = Kurios in the Greek. (Master, Owner and Possessor of All things.
In His outstanding series on the Person of Christ H. Brash Bonsall, Principal of Birmingham Bible Institute UK,says, “When Paul and Later John planted Christianity in Ephesus they did not begin in a vacuum. The Gospel came as a new sound among seven great voices…. which were out to enslave body and soul by offering what they claimed their hearers virtually needed. This did not trouble neither Paul nor John. Both knew the Gospel of Christ to be “the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek”. Romans 1:1
They fearlessly proclaimed the good news that God could meet the need of the whole man here and now and presented a Gospel that fulfilled what the Seven Dives merely promised. The proved their case by taking these empty promises one by one. God’s answer is the same to us today ( in the 21st century - it is not in creed, nor philosophy nor a religion, but in the Person of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Pagan polytheism was met by John’s Presentation of Jesus as the Son of God.
Pagan Philosophy was met by John’s presentation of Jesus as the WORD of God, the logos.
The Mystery Religions was met by the setting forth of Jesus as the Lord or “Kurios”.
The Occult by showing Jesus not as a Medium, but the Mediator or “Mesites”.
Gnosticism was met by considering Jesus as the Son of Man, answering to the “Original Man” and “ Heavenly man” of Gnostic Greek and Oriental philosophy.
Anti Christian Judaism is met by revealing Jesus as the The Christ or Messiah.
Mandaeism that strange religion which persists today had its origins in the cult, the Nasoreans, following John the Baptist. The Proclaim Him as the True Messiah and curse Jesus of Nazareth as a false Messiah. They had a group in Ephesus in John’s day. Tis false drive was met by the presentation of Jesus as “the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world”.
H. Brash Bonsall pps. 21-22.
Now we are looking at Jesus as the Christ (Christos), the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.
The Prophecies of the Old Testament.
Christ is from the Greek form of Messiah in Hebrew, which means literally, “the Anointed One”.
Priests, Prophets and especially Kings were anointed with oil as a Divine Symbol of Consecration to service.
2Sa 1:14 And David said, Why were you not afraid to stretch forth your hand to destroy Jehovah's anointed? (meaning Saul)
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| Consider David. As a young teenager he is anointed by the Prophet to become the next King of Israel. |
Sometimes the symbol of anointing became a spiritual reality so that the person became in a real sense the ‘Anointed of the LORD’’.
1Sa 10:1 And Samuel took a vial of oil and poured on his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because Jehovah has anointed you for a leader over His inheritance?
1Sa 10:6 And the Spirit of Jehovah will come powerfully on you, and you shall prophesy with them, and shall be turned into another man.
Saul was a failure and disobedient to what the Lord told him. David, however, was “a man after God’s own heart”. He was a King who placed God’s will supreme in His life and who regarded himself as God’s Representative. Myer Pearlman p.154.
Most of the Kings of Israel departed sadly from God’s Standard and led Israel into Idolatry.
Against this dark back ground the prophets of israel promised the comin of a king from the House of David, a king even greater than David. Upon should the Spirit of the LORD rest in power never seen before.
Isa 11:1 And a Shoot goes out from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
Isa 11:2 And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.
Isa 11:3 And He is made to breathe in the fear of Jehovah. And He shall not judge according to the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears.
Isa 11:4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and shall decide with uprightness for the meek of the earth. And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on Me; because Jehovah has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Though the Son of David, He would yet be the Son of Jehovah, bearing Divine Names.
Isa 9:6 For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 There is no end of the increase of His government and peace on the throne of David, and on His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on, even forever. The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts will do this.
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| Some of the prophets who told about Jesus Christ were Moses, Jeremiah, Micah, Zechariah, Lehi, and Isaiah. The prophets said Jesus Christ would be born in Bethlehem and Anoited of Jehovah as Messiah / King. |
Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and act wisely, and shall do judgment and justice in the earth.
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is His name by which He shall be called, JEHOVAH, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
This was THE ANOINTED of the LORD, the Messiah from Hebrew (Ha Mashiach), the Christ, and upon Him was centered all the Hopes of israel.
To be continued: the Fulfillment
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