Blog 12
Nov 6, 2017
Our Wonderful Lord and Savior
I felt inspired to write some thoughts about our lord and savior Jesus Christ. I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and attended Catholic School during the 1950’s and early ‘60’s. I cannot, to this day remember anything that was taught in their Catechism book and it was part of the daily curriculum.
As part of my upbringing, I was taught that Jesus was God and that Mary was the mother of God and you just didn’t question that. That should be no surprise as the great majority of the Christian world today expresses as its belief that Jesus Christ is God. During those early years I didn’t question it, neither did I care.
It wasn’t until I took a class on the Bible called ‘Power for Abundant Living’ in 1974 that I began to see the truths regarding Jesus Christ from the Scriptures. I learned that Jesus Christ is the subject of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and thus it behooves Christians to pursue an accurate understanding of his life and ministry. Unfortunately, the devil has been inspiring the religious community since the fourth century to make up its own doctrine, unsubstantiated by Scripture, regarding who Jesus Christ is. This has not been difficult for him to do as shown by the vast number of different religions practiced in the world today.
I later read a book in 1974 called ‘Jesus Christ is not God’ which caused a lot of controversy at that time in the Christian world as it shows how the history of the Trinity came to be and how the scriptures clearly show that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and not God.
As the years have moved on, and I’ve grown a bit in my understanding of my lord and savior, Jesus Christ, I am ever so thankful for what he did by his freedom of will and what his life and accomplishments mean to my life as a Christian.
John 3:16 tells us “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
Anybody with eyes to see and ears to hear will understand that God gave His only begotten Son and not Himself. The devil has tricked the leaders of the Christian world for a long time in propounding the teaching that Jesus Christ is God. The devil spirit influence from this teaching carries so heavily that for millions of people around the world, it seems to makes sense.
The original Patriarchs: Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob were not looking for God to literally come in the form of man. They were looking forward to the Christ, the Son of the Highest, who would come in the fullness of time and redeem man from his sinful state. There was a devout man in Luke 2:25-35 named Simeon who came into the temple to see the Child Jesus, and in verses 30-32 it says: ‘For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all the people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”
Simeon knew that the Child Jesus was the Son of God and not God.
John 4:34, reads: “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” That work was the full redemption of mankind, and only a man could do it.
John 5:30 reads: “I can of mine own self do nothing; as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” Jesus Christ was very open and honest about his position as the Son of God.
1 Timothy 2:5 reads: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.’
There are dozens and dozens of verses in the Scriptures that show Jesus Christ’s position and responsibility as the Son of God. He was the man, man’s redeemer who had to experience what we experience on the level of the senses to be the complete savior.
Hebrews 4:15 reads: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
The scriptures tell us in John 4:24 that “God is Spirit…” and Jesus Christ Himself said in Luke 24:39 “…for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
At this point we’ve looked at a number of records in God’s Word that state that Jesus Christ was a man and not God Himself and I think I’m good with that. I think this sharing will culminate with some verses from Romans 5:17 “For if by one man’s offense [Adam] death reigned by one [Adam]; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign on life by one, Jesus Christ.”
Verse 19 “For as by one man’s [Adam] disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One [Jesus Christ] shall many be made righteous.”
I want to share an article presented many years ago by Dr. James A Francis, edited later by Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille:
One Solitary Life
A man was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village. He worked in a carpenter’s shop until he was thirty. And then for a short period of time, he was an itinerant preacher.
He never went to college. He never had a family. He never owned a home. He never held an office. He never wrote a book. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.
While still a young man, the tide of popular religious opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him, another betrayed him. He was turned over to his religious enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross in the midst of two malefactors and two robbers. While he was dying his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth, his seamless robe. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of all columns of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that of all the armies that ever marched, all the navies ever built, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned and all the presidents that ever ruled, plus all the men and women of power who ever lived, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the man of Galilee.
Wasn’t that wonderful? Let’s try to continue to have funglimpses. Thanks for reading! Respectfully submitted! Will Grove