Jesus is the One
Not only does Jesus play the central role in revealing the nature of God, but he also is the very heart and foundation of his Father’s creative and redemptive efforts, especially the deliverance of humanity from enslavement to Sin and Death. He is the only One in whom the glory of the Creator of all things is seen, and the only One who is qualified to interpret His Father. In the Nazarene, all the promises of God to and for His children find their significance and fulfillment, their “Yea” and “Amen.”
The Gospel of John presents him as the Logos, the revelation of God that “became flesh” in Jesus. Yahweh made all things according to the Logos, and that “Word” has now become “flesh” in the man, Jesus Christ, the One in whom the glory of God now resides forevermore. He is the true and greater Tabernacle.
[Photo by Sebastian Knoll on Unsplash] |
The “Law” was given through Moses, but “Grace and Truth” came to be through the “only born son,” the One who dwells in the “bosom” of the Father, the only One who has seen the God that “no man has seen.” Therefore, only Jesus is qualified to “interpret” all that God is, which is why anyone who sees the Son “sees the Father” - (John 1:14-18, 14:7).
Jesus is the “Ladder” between Earth and the “open heavens” on which angels are “ascending and descending.” He is the only means by which men and women can “come to the Father,” the true and final “Sanctuary” foreshadowed by the old Tabernacle in the wilderness and the later Temple “made-with-hands” in Jerusalem. Wherever he is men and women worship the Father “in spirit and truth”- (John 1:51, 2:17-22, 4:21-24, 14:1-7).
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus declared that he is the One who came to “fulfill the Law and the Prophets,” and so he authoritatively declared the true intent and meaning of the Law - “You have heard it said to them of old… but I declare to you!”
His word settles all disputes and answers all questions, and obedience to it determines whether a man or woman is accepted or rejected by him on the Last Day - (Matthew 5:17-20, 7:21-23).
In the Gospel of Mark, he is the “Beginning of the Good News,” the promised Messiah who “baptizes in the Holy Spirit and fire.” At the Jordan River, the heavens were “rent asunder” and the heavenly voice declared that is was and is the “Beloved Son.” At the Transfiguration, the same voice commanded his disciples - “This is my Beloved Son. Hear him!”
Obedience to him is not optional for his disciple. He is the Messiah of Israel and the only source of the Words of Life - (Mark 1:1-11, 9:7).
MYSTERIES REVEALED
In Paul’s epistles, Jesus is the “Son” who came from the Seed of David, the one “who was distinguished as the Son of God by power, according to a spirit of holiness, through a resurrection of the dead.” It is “through the faith of Jesus Christ,” the One whom God raised from the dead due to his faith obedience, that men and women are reconciled with their Creator – (Romans 1:1-4, 3:21-22).
Indeed, he is “the mystery of God” that was “hidden for ages and generations, but now has been manifested to his saints.” The preaching of “Christ crucified” is the very “power and wisdom of God,” and the One in whom “all His promises find their yea and amen.”
Jesus cannot be known or understood apart from the Cross, and we behold his Father in all His majesty only in the One who was crucified for us - (Romans 1:3-4, 16:25, 1 Corinthians 1:24, Colossians 1:26, 2:2, Ephesians 3:8-11).
The man from Nazareth is the very “image of the unseen God.” It is from his “face” alone that men acquire the “knowledge of the glory of God.” The rituals and regulations of the Torah were but types and “shadows of the coming things,” but Jesus is the “body,” the substance of what they foreshadowed - (2 Corinthians 1:20, 4:4-6, Colossians 1:15, 2:16).
[Cosmos - Photo by Sebastian Knoll on Unsplash] |
In the Book of Revelation, it is the sacrificial “Lamb” who alone is declared “Worthy” to open the “Sealed Scroll.” In doing so, he unveils and executes its contents, a process that began with his arrival before the heavenly “Throne” at the center of the Universe following his death and resurrection, the sure foundation of his sovereignty over all things- (Revelation 1:4-6, 5:6-12).
The process set in motion by his enthronement will consummate in the New Creation at the end of the present evil age, and with the overthrow of the “last enemy, Death” since even now he holds the “Keys to Death and Hades.” He alone “opens and no man shuts.” Not even death can defy him, and he will resurrect his saints when he “arrives” from Heaven in power and glory - (Matthew 24:31, 1 Corinthians 15:20-25, Revelation 1:18-20).
Thus, Jesus “shows us the Father,” fulfills all the promises of God, and executes the redemptive plans of Heaven for humanity and the creation itself. He was, is, and remains the indispensable heart and center of all God’s plans and every mystery.
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