Jesus is the One
Not only does Jesus play the central role in revealing God, he also is the heart and foundation of his Father’s creative and redemptive plans, especially the deliverance of humanity from enslavement to Sin and Death. The true glory of the Creator of all things is found in Jesus alone, and he is the only One who is qualified to interpret His Father. In him, all the promises of God to 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 of Nazareth. Yahweh made all things according to the Logos,
and that “Word” has became “flesh” in him, the one in whom the glory of God resides forevermore. He is the true and
greater Tabernacle of Israel.
[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 well-qualified to “interpret” all that God is and does, which is why anyone who sees the Son “sees the Father” - (John 1:14-18, 14:7).
He 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 him to be God's “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 faithful 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.” He is 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 this Crucified Messiah - (Romans 1:3-4, 16:25, 1 Corinthians 1:24, Colossians
1:26, 2:2, Ephesians 3:8-11).
It is the man from Nazareth who is the very “image of the unseen God,” and from his “face” alone men acquire the “knowledge of the glory of God.” The rituals and regulations of the Torah
were types and “shadows of the coming things,” but Jesus is the “body,”
the substance of what all that they foreshadowed - (2 Corinthians 1:20, 4:4-6, Colossians 1:15, 2:16).
[Photo by Sebastian Knoll on Unsplash] |
In the Book of Revelation, it is the sacrificial “Lamb” who 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” 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, 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.
He was, is, and remains the indispensable heart and center of all God’s plans
and every mystery. All competing claims are lies and counterfeits.
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