Who is Jesus Christ?
Jesu – Joy of Man’s Desiring
Matt 11:25 Jesus spoke: “I praise Thee, O Father Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and the intelligent and didst reveal them to babes.”
Col. 2: 2-3 “…having been knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Can we continue to be as “babes”, as it says above, in order to continue learning from the Lord? So that He may reveal His hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge to us? Or, at least what we can receive at this time in our ongoing spiritual growth? As Paul says, we are to continue growing up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ! (Eph. 4:15) To move from the milk of the Word to the solid food and meat of the Word is our commission, our calling, our purpose, our gift and our joy. Who is the Jesus Christ who is, who was and who is to come? The intention is that you will take these verses, these nuggets, and read them in context in your own bible (at least the whole chapter they are within; if not a few chapters before and after) to further allow the Paraclete, The Helper, The Spirit of Truth (John 14:16-17;26), who will come from God if we ask and pray for its guidance, to help us understand who The Word made flesh is, and build a true relationship with Him, by entering into Him, and knowing Him in Knowledge and in Truth. Surrendering completely to His will for us that we may find Life! Life Abundantly! (John 10:10)
May this short writing guide you to better understand who the Word is, the Light and the Truth, the Light of Life, the Messiah, the One who brings us Life Eternal, the Bread that comes down from heaven from which we will never hunger again; and, fills up a hunger that has always been denied (John 6:51), the Light of the World, he who follows Him shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12), The Vine into whom we are to be grafted as His branches (John 15:1-11), the One from whom flow streams of Living Waters, waters from which we will never thirst again and be healed (John 4:13-14; Rev. 21:6; 22:1). Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace. (Is 9:6-7)
John 1:1-18 John speaks quite succinctly to who Jesus was and is:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was in (original: primacy) the beginning with God.
All things came into being by Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
There was the true light which coming into the world, enlightens every man.
He was in the world and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
He came to His own and those who were His own did not receive Him.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father full of grace and truth.
John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, ‘this was He of whom I said, ’He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me,’
For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God (Son of Man/Son of God/Jesus/the Word/Logos/I AM) who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”
John pretty well sums up Christ Jesus, who is the Logos, who was and is, the creator of our being, and all the heavens and the earth and all that is in them (Heb. 1:1-14; 1:10:12). Jesus Christ is the God Israel knew – The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – and he gave up his Godhood (cf. Phil. 2) and became born of Mary by Holy Spirit to become man, to be our Savior (Lu. 1:26-38; Is. 7:14-16; Matt. 1:18-25; Lu. 1:46-56), our Passover Lamb, and die for our sins and be our Salvation, as His Name, Jesus, expresses (Matt. 1:21.; Rom. 6:1-23; 1Pe. 1:1-4; 9-12; 1John 1:1-10). “ (…of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth” Rev 13:8 see original Greek for proper translation or King James English version. The importance of the Passover Lamb and the Passover will require a separate post to come.)
The two as one God is a Great Mystery. We need the Spirit of the Lord to help us to have eyes to see and ears to hear. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the Father are two that are one. Jesus Christ and the Father are two that are one. They are one and have been one from the beginning, before the world was. The Father is the “unseen God” (the Invisible God – Col. 1:13-14) the one no one knew “except the Son who came down from heaven.” Jesus Christ is the “seen God” the one who revealed Himself to Moses and spoke through the prophets. To reiterate this point, Philippians 2: 5-11 speaks to the divinity of Jesus and His authority before the world was and before he gave up His Godhood, to become man to save us from sin and death, trusting the Father to restore His divinity after His death, and give us life eternal in Him.
“Jesus Christ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,’ (Is. 45:23 the prophet also spoke of this time when Jesus was to come as man and Savior) to those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. “
Jesus Himself spoke of this truth to the Pharisees as it is written in John 8:38 “I speak the things which I have seen with the Father;” Jesus is stating, Himself, He was with the Father in heaven and speaks the Truth he has seen and knows.
Jesus tells us that no man has seen the Father except the Son who has come down from heaven, Matt. 11:25-30 v.27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” (read in context to receive more)
Again, in John 6:46 “Not that any man has seen the Father except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.”
If no one has seen the Father except the Father’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, then who did Moses see? Let us see what the text says:
Numbers 12: 1-16 The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and spoke to Aaron and Miriam regarding their words against Moses v.6 “Hear now my words; If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. (v.7) Not so with My servant, Moses, he is faithful in all My household; with him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord.” Moses did see the Lord, God.
Moses did see the Lord. in Exodus 3:1-22 v. 14 “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘ I AM has sent me to you.’” continuing in v. 15 “And God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.” (Where in English it reads: The Lord; in Hebrew reads YHWH; a memorial-name is a place holder name for the two as one God: The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the Father; the seen God and the Unseen God – the two as One)
Another revealing word from Jesus is in Matthew 8:12 “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Where do we learn about the Sabbath that the Jews of the time would know what He is speaking of?
Ex. 31:13-17 The Lord speaking to Moses says, “You shall surely observe my Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I AM the Lord who sanctifies you.” (please read full text for greater edification of the import to us all; a separate post will be dedicated to the importance and purpose of the Sabbath; for a glimpse of the import read Heb. 3 & 4)
And what does the New Testament say about the One who sanctifies us? Hebrews 2:11 “For He who sanctifies and he who is sanctified are all from one Father, for this reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren” Jesus also says, “Those who do the will of my Father in heaven are my brothers and sisters and mother.” Matt. 12:50 (please read these scriptures in context for greater edification) Hebrews is affirming here that Jesus is indeed the one who sanctifies us.
So who did Moses see? If Jesus says no man has seen the Father except the Son who came down from heaven who did Moses see? He saw the Son who came down from heaven, The Father’s only begotten Son, the Logos, The Word, the One who created heaven and earth and in Him all things hold together/endure (Col. 1:13-23); and Heb. 1:3 “And He (the Father’s Son) is the radiance of His (The Father’s) glory and the exact representation of His (The Father’s) nature, and upholds all things by the word of His (Jesus the Christ/the Logos/the Father’s Son) power. When He (Jesus) made purification of sins, He (Jesus Christ) sat down at the right hand of the Majesty (The Father) on high;” Jesus, before He gave up His Godhood to become man was the “God Israel knew”, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The two who are one, The Father and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the Father who is the Unseen God (Col 1:15) and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the Seen God, who created all things. This is a great Mystery; otherwise why would the Shema sung in Israel say The Lord our God is one. If He were one why reiterate, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut. 6:4) In Hebrew where English has “ Lord” in small caps, it is “ YHWH” for the memorial-name of the two as one God given to Moses by I AM WHO I AM, who is the Lord of the Sabbath – as Jesus calls himself in Matt. 12:8 “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath”. Just as I AM never works alone, nor does Jesus ever work alone but He and the Father are one. Jesus tells us himself that “the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”(John 5:19) (He is also saying this in reference to healing on the Sabbath. Remember what is quoted here from Exodus 31:13 when the Lord speaks to Moses and tells him to keep Holy the Sabbath day (the 7th Day as God sanctified the 7th day in Gen. 2:2-3), “this will be a sign between me and you and all your generation for all time that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” The word sanctifies 6942 is Qâdâsh and means to make clean, to make holy, to purify, to be consecrated to God. To the Pharisees Jesus says, “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.” (John 8:26). From the Old Testament through the New Testament, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (emphasis added) (Heb. 13:8).
To further illuminate Moses’ relationship with Jesus, we read Jesus’ stinging address to the Pharisees in John 5:39-47, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father, the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” in this address Jesus also chastises them for searching the scriptures for eternal life and denying Him, Jesus Christ, in whom is eternal life. “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me that you may have eternal life (Gr. zōe – life in the spirit and soul).” (John 5:39-40) And, what is eternal life? “that we know Jesus Christ and the one who raises Him from the dead.” (John 5:24; 6:51-58; 17:3)
In case Moses is not enough, to see that Jesus Christ before becoming man was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (in unity with The Father, of course!) 1Peter 1:10-12 tells of the prophets in the Old Testament knowing they were receiving the messages from the Spirit of Christ within them. “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things into which angels long to look.”
As Paul writes to the Ephesians, God is now, through the blood and cross of Christ, making “the two (circumcised and uncircumcised/Jew, Greek, etc.) one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity…Having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; (Eph. 2:16-22)” About this another paper can be written; however, for now, “Jesus is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever” (Heb. 13:8) has the same purpose from before the foundations of the world, throughout the Old and New Testament, to bring all His Creation, from the Patriarchs, prophets, apostles and all the world who can hear His voice, into His big tracks of righteousness, and eternal life in Him, in one body, one Heavenly Temple in God (Rev. 21:22-27). Remember: “… you are the temple of God and the Holy Spirit is within you, (1Cor. 3:16; 2Cor. 5:16-17)”.
Jesus speaks to being the bread of life that will give us eternal life. (John 6:26-58; Is. 55:1-2) “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. For I have come down out of heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” v. 54 “My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink.” “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate, and died, he who eats this bread shall live forever.” ”Truly, truly I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” This reiterates the gift of eternal life now available to us that was not available to those who were delivered from slavery and death in Egypt, who Moses led into the wilderness via the Presence of God.
Many of the people, and the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus’ time did not understand what He meant when He said we must eat His flesh and drink His blood. He is not speaking in literal terms, but in spiritual terms. He is further illustrating how we must abide in Him, fully surrender into Him and receive Him, His Spirit, inside this living tent we call our body, consuming Him, in a sense, as building a relationship with Him day by day that we may grow in knowledge and wisdom, into a mature man. It is the truest meaning of communion with Him.
Consuming Him, absorbing Him, in all the ways we can, through prayer, meditation, reading of His word in Scripture, praying for the Holy Spirit as Paraclete to guide us (John 14:16; John 16:7; 17:19), until– we are at One with Him and the Father in such a way as their Holy Spirit has found a home, an abode, in us, (John 14:23). Here also referencing the Advocate, Paraclete, as “another Paraclete” or Helper (John 14:16), we can also rely on the first Paraclete, Jesus, our Advocate (1 John 2:1-2) guiding us step by step each day all for the glory of God! This is what it means to be “born again” or, “born from above” as it says in the original Greek, when Jesus speaks with Nicodemus, (John 3:3; 1-21) “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again (Gr ‘born from above’) he cannot see the kingdom of God.” We must receive the Spirit of Christ, and to do this we must enter into Him and He into us, we must have that relationship by ‘being still and knowing that He is God’ (Ps. 46:10; Ps 4:4) and then we can receive their Holy Spirit [Father in Son and Son in us] and be born from above (John 14:3,20,21,23; 15:5-11; 17:21,22,23). Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world” to be in service to His will for us; “Feed My lambs, … shepherd My little sheep,.. feed My sheep” (John 21:15-17; cf. 1Peter speaks to ‘feeding little lambs’, and 2Peter is for ‘feeding sheep’ that have moved beyond the milk of the Word; Matt. 24:45 & parable 42-51) being of service to those He has called, those who hear His voice, (John 6:44; 10:25-42), the lost sheep, the remnant, this is our purpose, all to the glory of God. To tend to the widow, the orphan, the sick and the poor (Matt. 25:31-46) is how He mentioned we spend our time on this earth as we walk in this world to be sanctified and purified in order to “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34)
When Jesus uses the metaphor of Him being the door (John 10:1-18; Matt. 7:13-14) through which we must pass into eternal life He is again illuminating His ultimate Divinity which He will return to as One with God, just as He and the Father are one as He walked among us. He is giving us another parable to illustrate the importance of us becoming one with Him even as He and the Father are one –and this is eternal life: “To know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3).” (John 14:1-31 to know Him is to enter into and through Him as one would enter through a door.) Just as Paul spoke to the Colossians, 1:13-14, “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His Love, in whom we have redemption, and the forgiveness of sins. And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.” We can pass into the Light, the Light of the World, and be a light unto the nations. “Let you light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:14-16).” “I AM the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).”
As Jesus speaks of being the Good Shepard (John 10:11-18), and the door of the sheep, and the Light of the world, He is warning of the Adversary and the adversaries broadcast as the Prince of the Air to those who do not believe Jesus, or the Father. This also means those who teach what they believe to be the word of God that is “full of robbery”; mixing the profane with the sacred (Matt. 12:36-37); teaching the traditions of men more than the Word of God (John 5:44), this is what Jesus means when he warns us of “the leaven of the Pharisees” (Matt 16:6). But if we walk through Jesus as the door, we are transferred into His Kingdom of eternal life, with access to His unfathomable knowledge and wisdom (Rom. 11:33; cf. Col. 2:2-3) – if we ask in His name, seek and knock, He will answer (Matt. 7:7-12; John 16:26-28). As James says, “Flee form the devil and He will flee from you; draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to you.” It is that simple if we believe. (James 4:7-8; John 10:1-38; 9)
If we do not enter into Jesus Christ and know Him, if we are not born from above with His Holy Spirit within us and we use His name, remember what He says in Matthew 7:21-23.
Jesus comes to John the Baptist to be baptized. Why? If He is God why come down to be baptized? When Jesus came to John and was baptized so that all righteousness could be fulfilled (Ps 40:7-8), “the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God, descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, and behold a voice out of the heavens saying, ‘This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased,’” (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34). More specifically, Psalm 2:7 reads, “Thou are My Son Today I have begotten Thee,” (emphasis added). This is the moment, ‘Today,’ the Father’s spirit could enter into this world, as Jesus was a clean and pure vessel for the Father’s Spirit. At that moment, Jesus, the man, was born from above with the Father’s Holy Spirit, unavailable to man until this time.
This is also the importance of the virgin birth, Jesus being born of a virgin, Mary, so that Jesus was not consigned to the disobedience passed to us all through the seed of Adam. (Is 7:14) “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (def. God is with us). He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.” Hence, there was no male seed, no spirit of disobedience, or “original sin” in Jesus. Therefore, this is the first time we as humans could receive the Spirit of the Father, the Living God, via Jesus, to receive life, eternal life. This is the first time in history that we could receive eternal life because Jesus came, received the Father’s spirit, died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, nailed our certificate of indebtedness to the cross (Col 2:14), rose from the dead (John 17:5), and sat down at the right hand of the Father having His full divinity restored to Him (Matt. 28: 1-9;16-20; Mark 16:6; Lu. 24: 4-8; 36-49; John 20: 13-18; 20-31; 21:14;24-25), so that we may dwell in Him and He in us and we may have eternal life with Them, The Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb (Rev. 21:22; Rev.s 21 & 22) in the New Jerusalem, the New Heaven and New Earth.
Hence, Jesus can give us eternal life if we die in Him we can also be resurrected in Him by the Father. “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the son also gives life to whom He wishes.” (John 5:21) The Father gives eternal life, the Son can give life to our Spirit so we may be alive before we die (John 5:24; Rom. 8:9-11). In addition, If we love Him and walk in His ways, He will send us the Paraclete, which He told His disciples He would send – the Helper, the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth to help us discern all things. (cf. John 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:7,13)
Jesus asserts His deity in John 10:22-38 during the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem as He walked in the temple (emphasis added). “I and the Father are One” v. 30, “Do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming.’ Because I said, ‘I AM the Son of God?’” v.36. When we see Jesus walking in the temple during the Feast of Dedication He is showing us a shadow of what is to come: “And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:22-23) The Father and Son unified, the Son who is our Passover Lamb, are the temple and they are the glory of the temple and the Lamb is the lamp/Light.
And Jesus himself speaks to His divinity and Oneness with the Father in John 14-17 as He further reveals Himself to His disciples “speaking plainly”. And praying to the Father, His Father, to be restored with the glory He once had with Him. John 17:5 “And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. “
To re-emphasis this important revelation, Jesus reveals to us all how He is the door to the Father. As we enter into Him, Christ, He will enter into us and as the Spirit of Christ is in us so the Spirit of the Father will now be in us (Rom. 8:9-11). And, He gives us a covenant stipulation: If we Love Him and keep His commandments and walk in His ways (John 14:6). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:21; 23; 15:6-16). If we can open our heart to receive Christ’s love, we can, and will, rejoice in the love that is so abundantly being poured out upon us by our Creator. Then we can love Him and by His Grace keep His commandments; then, His promises to us will be made manifest (i.e., whatever you ask in My name will be given to you; all treasure of wisdom and knowledge is within Him; I give you My Peace, My Joy so your joy may be made full, life eternal in Him…to name a few)
Gal. 5:1 “It was for freedom Christ set us free;” Not that we are free to sin (Rom. 6:11) and free to break the Law, the commandments. For Jesus tells us, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter of stroke shall pass away from the Law until all is accomplished (Matt 5:17-18)” “We are free from slavery to sin and death by His Grace and resurrection, if we abide in Him. Through death Christ rendered powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; Christ delivers those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives (Heb. 2:15).” Jesus tells us, “You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free!” Jesus Christ is the Truth, hence, it was for freedom Christ set us free. “His yoke is easy and His burden is light” (Matt 11:30).
Col. 3:1-17 “In Christ there is no distinction between Jew or Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, there is neither male nor female, but Christ is all and in all – one in the body of Christ” (Gal 3:28). We are all one in the body of Christ if we Love Him and keep His commandments and walk in His Ways. He has been guiding us all along, from Genesis to Revelation, into His tracks of righteousness (Ps. 23) so we may walk in Him and not in the path of iniquity. This world can so cleverly tempt us away from our Creator and His Love. This is why we must know and understand who Jesus Christ was, is and is to come (Heb. 13:8; Rev. 1:4). If we do not understand His words coming through the prophets in the Old Testament how can we really be taught by Him into His paths of righteousness where we will not fear, for we will have His Peace, His Love and His joy and our joy will be made full; we will never hunger or thirst and we will gain eternal life. He and the Father are one; and He does what the Father wishes. As we really know Jesus the Christ, we, too, can do what the Father wishes and Live – now – and forever!
2Pe. 3:14-18 “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men you fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity, Amen.”! Peter is warning us not to give our power away to men, but to walk in Him who has called us. Do not seek in the scriptures and the writing of men for eternal life as the Pharisees did when Jesus chastised them for not knowing the one who they had been reading about in the scriptures. In Christ is our eternal life. The scriptures are a guide to building our relationship with Christ and the Father and to walk in their tracks of righteousness. A guide to “Awake sleeper and rise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you! (Eph. 5:14)” to be born from above and live as a spiritual man, not as one who is “fleshy” as Paul writes (1Cor. 3:1-3). “Do you not know you are a temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells within you (1Cor 3:16; 2Cor 5:16-17)?” Remember that Jesus tells us to seek and we will find, knock and keep knocking and the door will open, ask and it shall be given; (Matt 7:7-8) if our heart is circumcised, and with belief have faith, and in faith have hope to take action in love to serve His will for us.
Is. 32:1-20 Tells of the Coming of Christ at the time of the end, to reign for 1000 years, and after, those who keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 20:6), who wash their robes and repent of their sins (Rev 22:14) will be taken into the Heavenly Jerusalem where Jesus/the Lamb will be the Light of the Heavenly Temple (Rev 21:23), King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev 19:16). The reality is shown in Rev 19-22 when Jesus Christ returns as He told His disciples and the Prophets of old. The whole of Revelation is the final cleansing of iniquity from the heavens and the earth so that we can be one with The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb who are the temple in the Heavenly Jerusalem – “And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it for the glory of God has illumined it and its lamp is the Lamb.”
Is 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will be rest on His shoulders; (this is the spiritual, heavenly government for Jesus tells us Himself “My kingdom is not of this world”(John 18:36) (meaning the physical world) “And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Here these epithets of the Lord written in Isaiah are illuminated in the New Testament:
“Wonderful Counselor”- In Him we have an Advocate (1John 2:1-6). The word “Advocate” in Greek is Paracletos – meaning one called alongside to help. Just as Jesus spoke to His disciples about another Paracletos, the Helper, the Spirit of Truth in John 16:7, here He is revealing to us that He, Himself, is another Helper, Paracletos who is with the Father. But what is the stipulation that we read in 1John 1:1-6:
“And if anyone sins we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
As is written at the beginning of this paper, in Jesus Christ is the treasury of all wisdom and knowledge. What better counsel is there than this? However, time and time again, Jesus himself reveals that there is this stipulation that we keep His commandments and walk in His ways – this is what shows that we Love Him, that He is us and we in Him, and can, therefore, “put on the Mind of Christ”. That we “lay aside the old self (man), which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self (man), which is in the likeness of God and has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (See Eph. 4:11-32; Rom. 12:2)
If we are obedient to God, we can receive His treasury of wisdom and knowledge, if we ask in His Name, Jesus Christ, of the Father; “If we love Him and keep His commandments and walk in His ways.” John 15:7-8 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. (v. 8) By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” This is what it means to “put on the mind of Christ,” “the helmet of salvation” (Is. 59:17; Eph. 6:17; Hosea 6:5) – this is why He is our Wonderful Counselor.
“Mighty God” – Exodus 6:2-3 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord (YHWH); and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as God Almighty (El Shaddai), but by My name, Lord, (YHWH) I did not make Myself known to them.”
In Jesus’ own words to John in Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (El Shaddai).”
As we look at the original Hebrew in the above scriptures we see that God is revealing to Moses what He did not reveal to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is revealing to Moses that He is the “seen God” who is one with the “unseen or invisible God” (Col 1:13-14). This is what is meant by the “memorial-name” of YHWH when we see “Lord” in small caps in the English translation; it is representing the Two as One God – the seen God who revealed himself and the invisible God (Col 1:13-14), the Father.
In addition, we are seeing here El Shaddai (the Almighty, Almighty God) Himself revealing one of His names to Moses, then again to Isaiah as He spoke to the prophets, and finally to John the Revelator in Revelation 1:8.
“Eternal Father” –
Because He is the One who created all things, He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (Rev 22:13 & 21:6-7) “I will be his God and he will be My son.” Meaning Jesus the Christ when He returns and all enemies are placed under His feet, the heavens and the earth have passed away and new heaven and earth are created – the Heavenly Jerusalem – then He/Christ the Alpha and Omega, God who is One with The God will call us His son – This being those of us who endure in keeping His commandments and the testimony of Jesus.
“Eternal Father” – In Him is Eternal Life (John 17:2-3)
v.2 “Thou gavest Him (Jesus Christ) authority over all mankind that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.
v.3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee (The Father), the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent.”
Heb. 2:13 “Behold, I and the children God has given Me.” (& Is. 8:17-18)
“Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24)*
“Prince of Peace” – John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, not let it be fearful.”
Refer back to Eph. 2:16-22; as he creates us as one in His body He creates peace.
And to further perfect that Peace in us Jesus tells His disciples in John 15:10-11:
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
Is. 9:7 “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. “
Ps 2:11-12 “Kiss the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way. For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge Him!” David in the Psalms reveals again the knowledge of the two as one God, the Father and the Son, whom we must kiss, receive His breath, His Spirit so that we do not perish.
Jesus Christ is this and so much more. This is only a mere beginning on who Christ Jesus was, is and who is to come. But if you kiss the Son (receive His breath of life) and take refuge in Him (Ps. 40:4), He will reveal Himself to you in ways no words could express.
Go in the Peace of Christ and bear fruits all to the glory of God!