Understanding Jesus Christ

GSoM Course 102
Understanding Jesus Christ

COURSE OBJECTIVES
One single personality be-straddles the course of history. He existed before time. In the Bible, He was first mentioned on the day of creation as part of the God head. On the day of the fall, He was prophesied as the seed of the woman. While most people of other faiths are not averse to discussions of God as powerful and all sufficient, they immediately bristle with anger when you make mention of Jesus Christ. Why is this so? These questions are critical to the understanding of who Jesus Christ is:
• Who is this Jesus Christ?
• Why did God need to be incarnated in human form
• Why did Jesus come?
• What are the implications of having a proper knowledge of the Biblical and not merely religious Christ?
This course will exposit these dimensions of Jesus Christ that believers need to know since He is the reason for our being and the one to whose vineyard we are called to co-labour:
i) The Pre-existent Christ
ii) The Christ of prophecy spanning what was said of Him from Genesis to Malachi
iii) The Incarnate Christ
iv) The Paschal Lamb - His suffering, crucifixion and death.
v) The risen Jesus and glorified Christ who reigns as king in the hearts of the redeemed so that through them, He exerts and expands the kingdom mandate where He plants them so that they dispense His presence and power where they live, work and have influence.
vi) The Coming King whose return is now imminent to establish the Kingdom in its fullness and thereafter ensure that God is all in all.
What does the Word say of Him in each of these dimensions and how do they affect what we believe, teach or preach?

The course will also sketch an outline of the biblical presentation of Christ in these offices: Creator, Saviour, Redeemer, Justifier, Lord, Empowerer, Model, Shepherd, High Priest and King.

Lesson 1
Who is this Jesus Christ? An Introductory treatise
This is the core question of the ages. In the Old Covenant, the encounter of Moses with YHWH on Mount Sinai produced such a transformative effect that when he came down, they could not behold his face. The people of Israel had to relate to Moses only when a veil covered his face [Exodus 34:27–35]. From that day, the veil beclouded the ability of the people of God to discern Him fully [2 Corinthians 3:13–15]. When therefore that which was prophesied concerning the Seed of the woman who was to redeem humanity from the grip of Satan manifested in the form of a tiny tot at Bethlehem, there was no way they would accept Him as the Messiah. Their reticence had historical and political undertones as well. At the time God was incarnated as the Son, Israel was under Roman rule (The Leg of Iron in Daniel’s epic interpretation of the awesome dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:24–47. This followed earlier captivities to Greece (the Thigh and Belly of Bronze); Medo-Persia (the Chest and Arms of Silver) and Babylon (Head of Gold).

For four hundred years after the book of Malachi, the light had gone out in Israel, the voice of the Lord was not heard and despair had set in over the way they were treated by their Roman oppressors. The people of Israel, in this valley of despair, sensed that YHWH was up to something extraordinary. However, in their normal human mindset, all they were looking up to was a liberator, a political messiah with real political clout who would defeat their oppressors and set up the long promised kingdom which would follow up on the earlier glorious eras enjoyed under David and his son Solomon when Israel was the Crown Jewel of the nations.

When John the Baptist appeared on the scene with his distinctive clothing and powerful sermons, the boldness and authority with which he spoke caused them to believe that he was the man. It was perfectly in order for Israel to flock to John who was of the priestly lineage, whose father was a priest of national renown and who lived an exceptionally out of this world life. Israel even knew of his extraordinary birth and how an angel appeared to his father; how both parents conceived him out of season and how the mouth of Zacharias was only loosed when naming his son [Luke 1: 5-25, Luke 2: 57–80]. True to his mission and assignment however, John plainly told the expectant nation that he was not the one they were waiting for [Matthew 3:1–12]. Their wait was not for long. One day, the heavens opened as John baptised the obscure carpenter of Nazareth, Jesus Christ, while the Father and Holy Spirit affirmed His divinity and mission [Matthew 3:13–17; John 1:29-34].

To suggest that the tot in the crib at Bethlehem was anything more than a mere human was clearly sacrilege and heresy to the men of Israel. When the young Jesus at the age of 12 confounded the learned men with His deep understanding of the real essence of the Torah, not a few people were dazed. It was only Mary and Joseph who were privy to a deep secret: this was no ordinary human. This was the very Son of God who was conceived supernaturally when the Holy Spirit planted Him in the womb of Mary and whose grand assignment was to redeem humanity and set up the Kingdom which had been lost in Adam (Please read the accounts in Luke chapters 1 and 2).

Not leaving the revelation of Jesus to the opinion of men, God supernaturally orchestrated a series of supernatural signs and prophetic fulfilment to attest that this was indeed no ordinary prophet and certainly not a mere mortal. Angels, who were amazed at the extraordinary events they witnessed were dispatched to announce Him [Matthew 1:18–25]. Wise men were also dispatched from the East, following His star to pay homage. Herod quivered in fear as it dawned on him that if indeed this was the promised Son of David, his suzerainty over the Jews was in jeopardy [Matthew 2:1-12]. As he panicked, Herod caused all infants in Jerusalem to be slain, thus fulfilling one of the Messianic prophecies in the book of Jeremiah 31:1; Matthew 2:16–18. The flight of Joseph and Mary with the infant Jesus to Egypt fulfilled another of the Messianic prophecies in Hosea 11:1. When they returned to Israel, concern for safety of the child Jesus was to drive Mary and Joseph to make their home in Nazareth, thus fulfilling another Messianic prophecy [Matthew 2:19–23].
To understand Jesus it is important to review the prophecies concerning him before He was born, and if these prophesy were fulfilled.



..To be continued throughout this week. Please pray for us as we present the central figure of the Kingdom of God! Darkness and its agents are up in arms because He is their Waterloo!