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
