Monday, June 25, 2012

Jesus, Christ and Lord: Reflecting the Trinity


As we have discussed previously, God is a Triune Being, and the nature of the Trinity is reflected throughout His creation.


Jesus of Nazareth, wholly God yet wholly man as He wrapped Himself in human flesh, is also Christ and Lord (Acts 2:36; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Ephesians 4:5). Jesus walked the earth teaching and preaching His divine wisdom; as Christ He was the perfect sacrifice to reconcile sinful man with holy God; and in His omnipotence He is Lord and Master of all and over all (Acts 10:36; Romans 10:12). These three aspects of God the Son are also described as Prophet, Priest, and King

In His earthly ministry, Jesus was the greatest Prophet of all (Matthew 21:11; Luke 7:16, 24:19; Acts 3:22,23), sent to earth as the Revelation of the Father, with the words of eternal life. His teachings, parables, miracles, and words are recorded forever in God’s Word, which will never pass away. He Himself is called the Word, for He spoke the worlds into existence (John 1:1; Revelation 19:13; I John 1:1).

Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14) after the order of Melchisidec (Hebrews 5:6; 6:20). Because Christ is the Holy One of God (Mark 1:24; Isaiah 49:7; Acts 2:27; 3:14), He exemplifies ultimate perfection as the Priest, the Temple, and the Sacrifice, and deserves to be praised three times as Holy, Holy, Holy (Isaiah 6:3).

As the Priest, Christ is the Minister (Mark 10:45; Romans 15:8, Hebrews 8:2), the Intercessor, constantly interceding on our behalf (Hebrews 1:3).and mediating between us and God the Father (Hebrews 7:25; 1 Timothy 2:5), and the Counselor or Advocate (I John 2:1), representing and defending us when Satan accuses us. Since He rose from the dead, Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the throne of God where He is perfectly positioned to fulfill these three roles, for He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus Christ is All-in-All, and in His self-sufficiency, He is not only the Priest, but the Temple (Revelation 21:22) or Sanctuary (Isaiah 8:14), and He Himself serves as the Veil, the Altar (Hebrews 13:10, and even the Offering (Ephesians 5:2). Just as the veil of the temple separating the Holy of Holies from the people was torn in two at His crucifixion, His torn flesh was the new and living Way  (Hebrews 10:20) allowing sinners to approach Holy God.

Jesus, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 7:9; 13:8), made the perfect sacrifice of His shed blood to be the perfect atonement or propitiation (Romans 3:25) for our sins, once and for all (Hebrews 7:27). He was the offering and sacrifice to God that He would accept as a sweet-smelling savour far better than any incense (Ephesians 5:2).

As Lord of Lords (Revelation 17:14; 19:16), Jesus Christ is the Lord Both of the Dead and Living (Romans 14:9), the Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:5), and the Lord of Peace (II Thessalonians 3:16). The Lord of Hosts (Zecharaiah 14:16) is the King of Glory (Psalm 24:10), the King of Righteousness, and the King of Peace (Hebrews 7:2).

As King of Kings (Revelation 17:14; 19:16), He shall reign forever and eternally (Psalm 29:10; Revelation 11:15). He shall be not only the King of Israel (John 1:49), meaning the King of the Daughter of Zion (John 12:15) or the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2; Mark 15:2; John 19:19), but He is also the King of Saints (Revelation 15:3), meaning of all believers, and King Over All the Earth (Zechariah 14:4,5,9)

As would be expected from the Almighty Lord and King, Jesus will fulfill three roles in His second coming: Warrior, Judge, and Ruler. As Supreme Warrior (Psalm 45:3), He will lead armies of resurrected saints to defeat the enemies of Israel at the battle of Armageddon with the Sword of His Word (Isaiah 55:4; Revelation 19:13), and He will even defeat Satan and death. Jesus Christ as Warrior is all-powerful, fierce, and noble, represented by The Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). He is the Captain of the Host of the Lord (Joshua 5:14) and of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10), and our Leader and Commander (Isaiah 55:4). The Self-Sufficient Warrior is also His own weaponry and armor: the Polished Shaft or arrow (Isaiah 49:2), the Shield (Psalm 84:9), and the Destroying Sceptre (Numbers 24:17) with His mouth the Sword of the Word (Isaiah 49:2).

As the Just One (Acts 7:52; 3:14, 1 Peter 3:18) or perfect and righteous Judge (Acts 17:31; 2 Timothy 4:8), He will fairly bestow rewards to His children, and punishment to souls and to nations who rejected Him (Revelation 19:11).

As Ruler (Micah 5:2), the Lord Jesus will preside over the Millennial Kingdom of perfect peace and harmony (Isaiah 9:6; (Psalm 45:6) as their Governor (Matthew 2:6), Ensign of the People (Isaiah 11:10), or symbol of national power, and Messiah the Prince (Daniel 9:25) and Saviour.(Acts 5:31).He is not only the Prince of all Rulers (the Prince of Princes (Daniel 8:25) and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth (Revelation 1:5)), but He is also the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15) and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

As the Prince of Life and of Peace, He gave us life, maintains our life, and paid our sin debt to redeem us from death to eternal life! Praise God that Jesus Christ and Lord is our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer – as we will discuss in our next post!


© 2012 Laurie Collett



26 comments:

Laurie Collett said...

My apologies for the delay in posting this week. It was all set to go Friday afternoon as usual. But before I could post it, our house took a direct lightning hit from Tropical Storm Debby, and we had no Internet until an hour ago. But Praise God, everyone is fine and now we're up and running. Praying for safety for everyone affected by this storm, which is forecast to hang around until the end of the week.

God bless,
Laurie

Denise said...

Praise God.

Donald Fishgrab said...

As you point out, the Many names applied to Christ all point to the different roles he plays in the universe, It is a blessing to look at these things again.

Frank E. Blasi said...

Dear Laurie,
I'm glad that you are back on the Internet after being struck by lightning. But far more important, you and your loved ones seem to be alive and well. This sort of thing reminds me of what Jesus himself once said - that what is the point in owning the whole world if you lose your soul? Far better to be cut off from the Internet for a while than to end up in hospital!

To the article itself, you were right to portray Jesus Christ as Warrior, Judge and Ruler along with his Saviourhood roles. Often we see a "gentle Jesus, meek and mild." Praise God for these are certainly true of him. But we tend to forget his other atributes. I have heard grown men declare that Jesus Christ was a cissy - cuddling children, but wouldn't have had any clue on how to repair the engine of a broken down car, let alone that of a truck! For Jesus to be our Saviour, he had to be strong, and brave enough to go voluntarily to the Cross - something very few of us so called "brave men" would have ventured to do.
A great post.

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Denise! God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, dfish! Our pastor once said that different people call him Pastor, Mike, son, honey, or Dad, depending on the role he plays in their life. Jesus has an even greater number of names because of His involvement in everything.
May you have a blessed week in Him!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Frank! Yes, we are thankful and blessed to be safe. Even being offline and not having access to phone or TV was a blessing because the silence gave us a greater opportunity to reflect on Him.

You're so right, He is the epitome of strength, power, and being brave. But God willing, next week's post will deal with His kind, nurturing side!

God bless,
Laurie

Anonymous said...

Wait, you were really struck by lightening? do tell! I love all the Scripture here!

Nadwrażliwiec said...

Yes! Jesus is my Lord, Friend, Saviour, King, Doctor and Teacher! He is also God of Abraham, Moses, David, Salomon and prophets like Isaiah. I love this fact, that I know Him as God. Greetings for You :)

Laura said...

Wonderful study, Laurie! I find I want to look up every scripture you cite. These beautiful truths are worth meditating on.

Laurie Collett said...

I was sitting at the computer when a lightning bolt hit our house, frying the wiring bringing Internet, phone and cable TV to the house. It scared me, but no injuries, praise God!
I'm glad you enjoyed the Scripture!
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Zim! Jesus is Everything, and we have the privilege and blessing of knowing Him!
God bless you,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Laura! It blesses me if readers are drawn to the Word.
Love in Him,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Dakota! I'm so blessed that you found my blog, and I'm following you back!
God bless,
Laurie

Shari said...

Thank you for helping us understand the true meaning of who our Father really is. Thank you also for linking up this week.

Blessings~
Shari

Ms. Kathleen said...

What an excellent study on the Trinity. It was an excellent refresher course for me. I'll be sharing this. Have a fabulous day!

http://theemptynestexpress.com

Brian Miller said...

nice...the identity of christ is great to know...as well as the references you have sprinkled in here as well...it gives reassurance and truth...

Jennifer @ JenniferDukesLee.com said...

Well done. Thank you for your thorough look at who God is. What a blessing you.

Laurie Collett said...

Thank you, Shari, for your encouraging words!
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Ms. Kathleen! I'm glad you found it helpful, and thanks so much for sharing it!
Have a blessed weekend!
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Brian! It is such a blessing that God reveals Himself to us through His Word.
God bless,
Laurie

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks, Jennifer, for your kind comment! You are a blessing too!
Love in Him,
Laurie

Mommy Emily said...

i loved realizing how many names Jesus had, when it came to "King." it made me realize how much he gave up when he came down to earth. bless you laurie. xo

Laurie Collett said...

Amen, Emily! It is truly amazing that the King of Kings left His throne to wrap Himself in human flesh, to serve and to save.
God bless you too!
Laurie

HeARTworks said...

This is a whole Bible study- I want to make the time to read the scriptures you cited! You are a blessing! Patsy from
HeARTworks

Laurie Collett said...

Thanks so much, Patsy! It is a great blessing to me to hear that reading this post makes you want to look up the Scripture verses. His Word rewards us every time we read it.
Love in Him,
Laurie