“The Lord Jesus Christ” - Lesson 6, Bible Course

Lesson 6 (NIV) - The Lord Jesus Christ

Note

A Reminder About Some of the Points in Lesson 5

The Lord Jesus Christ

This lesson will consider the Lord Jesus Christ - the centre of the purpose of God.

Jesus was the name given to the little babe born at Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. The name means ’Saviour’ and the name was given as the angel instructed:

’You shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.’ (Matthew 1.21)

’Christ’ is really a title and means ’anointed’, therefore ’Specially chosen’. Jesus was The Christ just as John was spoken of as The Baptist.

God’s Purpose In The Beginning

In the last study it was shown that God planned in the very beginning, in Eden, to provide a Saviour – one who would overcome the power of sin. The study showed that the one who would being such blessing upon the human race would be in the line of Abraham.

Mary recognised that her son was the one promised and in her Song of Rejoicing she sang,

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior... He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever..” (Luke 1.46-47, 54-5)

Other Promises

The prophet Daniel spoke of the time when the Messiah would appear. The prophet Micah wrote of the place of his birth. Matthew records the visit of the Wise Men to Herod. Notice how many times Matthew records that events happen in fulfillment of the words of the Old Testament prophets:

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.” (Micah 5.2)

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us.” (Matthew 1.22-23)

“So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2.14-15)

It was God’s purpose from the beginning to send Jesus and, when the right time came, God’s purpose was put into effect. John wrote;

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1.14).

WHY DID JESUS COME?

A well-known verse quoted before in these studies says;

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3.16)

Jesus was given to the world by God in a very real sense. The angel Gabriel had appeared to Mary to tell her she was to have a son. Mary asked how this was possible, as she was a virgin. The angel replied;

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1.35)

(Jesus was born 4,000 years after creation) This, too, had been the subject of prophecy as Matthew records;

Sacrifice

You may know that in Old Testament times, animals were sacrificed as a continual reminder of the consequence of sin and of a way of deliverance. The man who offered, recognised that death was the result of sin, and sometimes he had to associate himself with the death of the animal as a sign that he recognised this principle

“If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting so that it will be acceptable to the LORD. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.” (Leviticus 1.3-4)

Paul wrote;

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6.23)

In the Letter to the Hebrews, three points about sacrifices are made very clearly:

The sacrifices in Old Testament times provided a reminder of the principle that sin brings death - a principle established in the beginning- “But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.” (Hebrews 10.3).
As the animals had done no wrong, they only represented the teaching, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” (Hebrews 10.1).
The sacrifice of animals could never take away sin. “Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10.4) The Bible makes it clear that what the sacrifice of animals could never do, Jesus was able to by giving his life as a perfect sacrifice: “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10.12)

A New Beginning

The Bible shows that as Adam brought sin and, therefore, death into the world by his disobedience, so Jesus by his perfect life, “brought life and immortality to light.” (2 Timothy 1.10).

Because Jesus lived a perfect life, when he died it was ’impossible’ that he should remain dead God raised him from the dead.

“God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Acts 2.24)

The contrast between the effect of Adam’s disobedience and the effect of the obedience of Jesus is referred to many times:

“Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned - “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5.12, 19, 21).

As we follow the pattern set by Adam, so we can be related to the pattern set by Jesus. We can be related to the life he came to bring:

’For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive.’ (1 Corinthians 15.22).

Faith Needed

Study 4 explained that man naturally is mortal/human and dies and that faith is needed to relate him to the life that God has offered. That study pointed out that this has only been made possible by the work of Jesus:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6.23) So the salvation that God offers is conditional, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish.” (John 3.16). This is why the Son of God was called Jesus: because he will save his people from their sins,” (Matthew 1.21).

The Work Of Jesus Now

After his resurrection Jesus ascended to heaven. At his ascension, two angels declared he would return again: “Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1.11)

Peter said that Jesus would remain in heaven until he ’restores everything’.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” (Acts 3.19- 21)

Jesus will return to fulfil the rest of God’s purpose in him. Meanwhile, He is a mediator - one who is in between God and man. He is described as a High Priest who can intercede for us to the Almighty:

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus...” (1 Timothy 2.5)

The Letter to the Hebrews explains that because Jesus lived his life on earth and was made in every way ’like unto his brethren’ He can understand how we feel and can be sympathetic to our needs:

“For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2.17)

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4.15-16)

Summary

Jesus was born by the action of the Holy Spirit upon the virgin Mary. He was, therefore, the Son of God.
The name ’Jesus’ means ’Saviour’, and it was the purpose of God from the beginning to provide a way of escape from the natural consequences of man’s sin.
The wages of sin is death. The sacrifice of animals provided a regular reminder of this principle, but could never ’take away sin’.
Jesus provided the perfect sacrifice.
Jesus is now in heaven where he is able to be a merciful High Priest because he understands from his own experiences.
God has promised to send Jesus Christ back to the earth to complete His purpose in him when he comes to be King.

Relevant Passages For Bible Reading

Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 2

Luke 1:26-38

Luke 2

John 1:1-14

Romans 5