Before the Humble Arrival (I)

“It has been said that Christ is Christianity. False religions can continue without their leaders; cults can arise and their leaders be soon forgotten. But Christ is Christianity. Without Him Christianity has no meaning.”[1]

Unfortunately, in recent years churches and church leadership have swayed in their dedication to understanding who our blessed hope truly is in our daily life. Many claim to be spiritually rich and have almost denied the need for Jesus to be that intimate savior. This has caused a not so subtle issue in the church with spiritual transformation being considered, “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” Revelation 3:17b.  Where we once were emboldened by God many in the church now find themselves to be embarrassed or ashamed to be associated with the Jesus of the Bible. This is regrettable, because the need for Jesus Christ has not changed, we are still in need of Him. This post is not directed at admonishing churches, or even church leadership but rather focusing on who Jesus Christ is. In recent months it has become apparent that the world is starting to pull the attention of the Christian away from Christ.

In the book of Matthew, we see a great example of why we need to keep focused on Jesus and not the world.

“Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘it is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ And He said, ‘Come!’ and Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately, Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying ‘you are certainly God’s Son!’” Matthew 14:22-36. The more we are focused on Jesus Christ, the more we see that this world is nothing to fear at and we should do what Jesus has told us to do.

Nevertheless, there are many today who are focused on only a part of Jesus Christ, and this is unfortunate since Jesus Christ is found throughout all of the Bible. If a true study of God’s Word is reviewed and reflected on you can find Jesus throughout the entire Bible, in all 66 books.

 For the next seven weeks we are going to go over who is Jesus Christ. This study will focus on one of the most skipped aspects of Jesus Christ, we are going to study together the preincarnate Jesus Christ. Do not let the terminology scare you away, all “preincarnate” means is “before incarnated” or “before the virgin birth.” Why should we do this study? Because it is the foundation in everything that a Christian is and holds dear. “An honest person cannot study the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as taught in the Bible and not be impressed with His influence. The years Jesus traveled throughout Galilee and Judea have had a greater impact upon civilization than any other thirty-year period in the history of the world. Jesus taught a limited group for a limited time, yet his teachings have outlived those who taught a lifetime. Though Jesus Christ was not personally engaged in the arts, He has furnished the theme for more poems and songs, paintings and sculptures than any artist in history…An honest student of history cannot deny the earthly life of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the second Person of the Trinity; as such He is equal with God in nature, yet submissive in office. What the Bible says about God, it also maintains about Jesus Christ. Moreover, since God is eternal, Jesus Christ existed before His birth in Bethlehem. The Son of God was born into this world as you or I because He had a human birth. But the Bible also describes His birth, ‘the Word became flesh.’ Jesus Christ existed from eternity past. Since the evidence in the documents overwhelmingly attests to the life and ministry of Jesus on earth, they also attest to His eternal past. Jesus was the Son of God in the Old Testament’ this is the doctrine of preexistence. Jesus Christ has always existed and has no point of beginning. This is the doctrine of eternality. The eternality of Christ means He is not limited by time, has no beginning, and will have no end. The preexistence of Jesus Christ means He existed before His birth in Bethlehem. Because Christ existed before His earthly birth, His eternality gives Him godlike qualities. This concept of preexistence and the proofs of eternality support the proofs of the deity of Christ.”[2]

As Christians we need to understand who our Lord really is and to do this, we need to study the entire Bible to see the full revealed picture of our loving God. This is needed because we are living in the end times which are described as having antichrists and those who would bring false doctrine, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned’ and in their greed they will exploit you with false words’ their judgement from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” 2 Peter 2:1-3. While the Church will not be here for the Tribulation period, the hour of testing which will soon be upon the world, we are told the “truth will be maligned,” thus our need to keep Christ centered is needed even more. So, as we begin this study, keep your Bible open and ready, for we are about to see Jesus as the “I Am” prior to His arrival in a humble manger.

Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming

JL

[1] Michael C. Bere, Bible Doctrines for Today, Pg. 127

[2] Elmer L. Towns, Concise Bible Doctrines, Pg. 117-118.