Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord
Few people would deny that Jesus is pretty central to the Christian Faith. But sometimes, then, people want to reduce the Christian faith to a simplistic “I believe in Jesus” or “I love Jesus” or “I follow Jesus” – but, like we talked about in the initial sermon in this series – in order for those statements to have any meaning, then it’s pretty crucial to have a basic understand of who the Jesus is that I love or follow –
And, if those statements are to have any unifying power for the church – if my loving and following Jesus is going to be able to give me any real unity with the next person who says “I love and follow Jesus”; then we need to be loving and following the same Jesus.
The Creed helps us here. The Creed reminds us that we don’t need to agree on everything to call one another “brother and sister”.
But at the same time, the Creed reminds us that we do need to have a basic agreement about the essential things; it serves to clarify “essential” and “secondary” and it serves to prevent the confusion of those things and the danger that results to the church & it’s witness when we do that.
Jesus is an essential thing. Jesus is to some degree central to the creed.
And all throughout the history of the church, people inside and outside the church have tried to “search for” Jesus’ identity; and “discover” or “rediscover” who Jesus is;
but, sometimes, the Jesus that they find ends up looking suspiciously like them!
He ends up reflecting & affirming the values they bring to the table when they begin the search.
Philip Yancey talks about in one of his books how Jesus ends up having a wax face – which the one on the quest for Jesus shapes and molds the Jesus he’s searching for into the kind of Jesus he wants to find;
But that’s not a real search; a wax Jesus can’t challenge you or change you; because a wax Jesus isn’t the real Jesus.
At the center of the Christian faith is a person – a real person – a real historical person – and if we’re dealing with a real person then that real person can’t be reduced to just a wax figure that we mold into our image and likeness but has to be dealt with on his own terms.
And that’s where the Creed helps us – by showing us what the Church meant when they made that basic profession of faith in Jesus.
“Jesus is Lord” was likely the earliest, most basic, and most essential Christian confession. I think that’s reflected in the Romans passage that was read earlier and I meant that to be representative of many NT passages where we see that basic essential Christian confession: “Jesus is Lord.”
That was something they proclaimed; publicly; which distinguished them from the world and other religious perspectives all around them – often putting them at odds or on the outside and bringing great cost;
and it’s something they proclaimed with their mouths, because they believed in their hearts that Jesus was Lord – proven by his death and resurrection; ruling as Lord in heaven and in their hearts by His spirit.
Christians were those who came to believe in their hearts, and proclaimed with their mouths, that Jesus is Lord – that Jesus is the Lord; and that Jesus is their Lord.
But the Creed helps us by expanding on that – not adding to that basic essential confession, but clarifying for us, what that profession meant for those early Christians, and what it means for us.
1. Jesus Christ
Whenever we say, “Jesus Christ” we’re already making a theological statement – because “Jesus Christ” is in part a name packed with meaning, and in part not a name at all.
Jesus is a name packed with meaning – it tells us something essential about the identity and mission of this man. It means “The Lord Saves”
And if you remember from Matthew ch1 when the angel appears to Joseph, he is told to name the child this because “he will save his people from his sins”.
Right off the bat, the identity of Jesus is packed with meaning. He is the Lord, who is at the same time our savior.
These are the two essential aspects of Jesus identity and mission: he is Lord; he is Savior.
You can’t have him be one without him being the other. If he is your Lord; it’s only because he first came to you in your sin and rescued you; And if he’s rescued you; the only proper response to that, is to bow your life and give your life to him as Lord.
He can’t be your Lord without your humility and repentance that comes when we recognize that he is our savior; and he can’t be your savior without your submission and gratitude and sacrifice that come when we recognize that he is our lord.
It’s in part a name packed with meaning. But at the same time it’s in part not a name at all.
The name that Jesus would have been commonly known as or referred to would have been “Jesus of Nazareth”; or Jesus son of Joseph; but Jesus Christ wasn’t his full name, as if someone would have called him “Mr. Christ” or something.
Because Christ isn’t a last name – it’s not a name at all – it’s a title.
When we say “Jesus Christ”, it’s short-hand for “Jesus the Christ”.
Christ – comes from the greek word “Christos” which means “annointed one”; it’s hebrew counterpart is “Messiah”
And so, when we say “Jesus Christ” we are really saying “Jesus the Christ” or “Jesus the Messiah” which means “Jesus the Anointed One”
And this means that Jesus is the long-awaited and eagerly-desired Messiah, promised in the OT.
That the Jewish people expected a Messiah, was undeniable. But, what people expected in & of that Messiah, was maybe not so clear.
3 main strands of Messianic promise in the OT:
1st strand: The King
In the OT, people were anointed with oil to designate them as chosen and appointed to a special task.
And most prominently, the anointed one was the chosen king.
And in the OT, a future King in the lineage of David was promised who would be unlike the kings of Israel who were largely failures and disappointments – and under whom, the people of God disintegrated in every way – primarily, they disintegrated spiritually and met God’s judgement in exile.
But a King would come who was unlike those kings – who would not be a failure and disappointment and under whose reign the people of God would prosper and experience once again his blessing; who would reign forever; who would conquer God’s enemies and the enemies of God’s people; who would lead and guide and shepherd the people of God to their spiritual wellbeing.
A king who would restore all things for the people of God.
Jesus was this long-awaited King. But we see in the gospel accounts that he wasn’t the kind of king that the people expected.
-he resisted their attempts to crown him, because his Kingdom was not of this world – he hadn’t come to establish a political earthly kingdom but to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
-Not only were they mistaken about what kind of King he would be; but they were mistaken about how his kingdom would come.
They thought it would come about immediately in it’s fullness and finality;
though the kingdom of God truly came in Jesus, at the same time as it came, it’s still coming.
In Jesus we already have forgiveness of sins; in Jesus we have adoption as children of God; From Jesus we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and the joy and peace and assurance and strength which flow from that; From Jesus we have the church which is the representation of God in this world and gives us the resources we need in this world to aid us in our weakness.
There’s a lot that we already have possession of through faith; but there’s a lot that by faith we wait for and persevere unto.
Through Jesus we live out the values of the kingdom of God in a sinful world with opposing values that is hostile to the kingdom; we strive to live like Christ in a dark world, but we do so in fallen bodies that still suffer, in a fallen world where injustice and evil are too prevalent, & with imperfect souls that still struggle with sin; we battle in a world where the devil is defeated but still rages as our enemy; we struggle and strive and wait and persevere until the final full coming of the kingdom where all things are made perfect – no more sin, no more suffering or sadness, no more death – and we are made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity. And when the reign of Jesus as Lord is made evident to all people everywhere – such that no one can avoid either confessing to their joy or admitting to their shame that Jesus is Lord – Phil 2:10-11
1st strand: the King
2nd strand: The Suffering Servant
who would suffer as a sacrifice on behalf of his people.
These two strands brought together in Jesus. We see this in his baptism – Psalm 2 & Isaiah 53 – Suffering, then victory.
(1. Jesus Christ)
2. His Only Son
Earlier in the Creed, we talked about God the Father – and the trinitarian implications of that. WE’re not going to review all of that, but what I want to point out here is that:
it’s important to realize that the Son of God didn’t begin to exist when the person Jesus was born.
The second divine person of the trinity always existed – for all eternity – he took on humanity at a certain point in history – but in doing so he didn’t shed or compromise his divinity, but became and remains forevermore the fully divine and fully human person Jesus;
But he always existed as God’s Son – and so this idea of sonship doesn’t imply a beginning of existence, or coming into creation at some point – otherwise, he wouldn’t be fully God – he would be part of creation or some lesser divine being.
“His Only Son” doesn’t imply a beginning of existence, but rather it designates the utterly unique eternal divine relationship the Son has to Father – and so it tells us of his fully divine identity.
He wasn’t just a super spiritual human who attained to a likeness or nearness of divinity; neither was he super angel but not quite God kind of heavenly being. He was fully divine.
And this is essential – because if Jesus wasn’t fully divine – then he can neither be worshiped as Lord nor can he be trusted as Savior.
The OT is clear that salvation is from the Lord. Only God can save – salvation can’t come from human strength, or effort, or insight, or religious performance or ritual or meditation; Only God can save – and if Jesus is merely human – certainly Jesus is fully human – we’ll see that in the creed next week – but if he’s merely human – then he can’t be trusted as savior because he can’t accomplish the salvation that we as dead-in-our sins sinners need.
Jesus isn’t just a teacher who points us along the path whereby we save ourselves. He is savior.
If he’s not fully divine, he can’t be trusted as Savior; if he’s not fully divine, he can’t be worshiped as Lord.
The early church was both unapologetic in it’s worship of Jesus, and uncompromising in its condemnation of idolatry.
And, do you see what putting both those things together means? That the early church didn’t equate worshiping Jesus alongside of God the Father and as equal to God the Father, with idolatry.
You see if Jesus isn’t fully God – then he can’t be worshiped, and if he was worshiped that would be idolatrous worship.
But if he can be worshiped without that worship being idolatrous; then he is no less than fully divine.
(Jesus Christ, His Only Son)
3. Our Lord
Lord, is the personal name of God in the OT.
In fact it’s hard to read much of the OT without coming across the name LORD in all caps – and that’s not for emphasis – that’s because when you find LORD in all caps in the OT, the Hebrew word behind that is the personal name of God.
Judaism had a strong desire to give reverence to God’s name – after all, the 3rd commandment: “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord” – and so they believed that the easiest way to not misuse it was to not say it at all;
and so when reading the OT – when they came to the divine name – they would instead read “adonai” – which was a special form of the word “Lord” – used exclusively in place of God’s name.
And so what came to be written in the Hebrew Bible is the consonants of the divine name with the vowels of adonai; And readers would say “adonai or Lord;
and in fact, the name Jehovah actually comes from a misunderstanding in which Christians read the consonants and vowels together, resulting in a mash-up name – but it’s not really correct.
And so in your Old Testament – when you find the word LORD in all capital letters – that is translating the divine name YHWH – which we don’t really know how to pronounce – and replacing it with the name LORD.
When the Old Testament was translated into Greek, Kyrios – “Lord” – was used to translate the divine name.
And the NT writers used that very same word when they when they called Jesus Lord – the very same Lord as the God of the OT.
The name used to refer to God is now Jesus’ name.
Because he is the one with all power & all authority.
And that he has the same right to lordship over us as God himself; and that we owe to him all allegiance as our Lord as we owe to God himself.
In fact, this passage of Philippins – is a allusion to Isaiah 45:23 –
Where God says that before him every knee would bow, and every tongue would swear;
and now the apostle Paul says that all knees will bow before Jesus’ name, and every tongue would confess him, as Lord.
Jesus is the Lord. the Only Lord. The rightful lord of all – whether they recognize his lordship or not – the only one that all people everywhere can find salvation and life in and through.
Jesus is the Lord. But when we profess the Creed we profess our belief not just in Jesus the lord but in Jesus our Lord.
And recognizing his lordship over us is pledging our ultimate allegiance to him – placing him above all else in our lives – putting all things in life under his lordship.
It means getting rid of the categories of things in our lives where Jesus is allowed; and where he isn’t.
It means following where he leads and obeying where he commands.
It means that no political power in this world is ultimate; nor is it worthy of your ultimate allegiance.
Caesar – the Roman Emperor – took on the title LORD – but Christians wouldn’t call him that – because they understood that the title of lordship implied loyalty and allegiance.
And though they sought to be good citizens – they refused to give ultimate allegiance to Caesar. They refused to give any worship to him – because that was exclusively reserved for Jesus.
It means that no other person has ultimate authority over you; and that you don’t have ultimate authority over any other person – only Jesus does.
And any place of authority you may find yourself in, you are underneath the authority of the real Lord and accountable to him.
Lord, means 3 things:
Lord means that he has all power; he is above all and so can do all things – nothing is impossible for God.
Lord means that he has all authority: not just might, but right to command all things and expect our obedience to his word.
Lord means that he is present to bless and to curse. His lordship is not distant, or absent; but God is present as Lord everywhere – in your life and mine – whether we recognized his presence and respond rightly or not.
Maybe that sounds scary.
Maybe the idea of someone with all power and all authority sounds like a cosmic bully or a reckless dangerous dictator.
But not when we see, that the way Jesus exercises his Lordship, is through love.
(reread Phil 2)
He didn’t cease to be God; but in his humiliation on this earth, we see that he didn’t insist on his rights and prerogatives as God but he gave them up for a time; he gave himself – he became a servant; he sacrificed himself even to death on a cross for undeserving sinners – so that we could know and learn, to trust him.
Because a Lord who has all authority – and who uses that authority to serve and give his life for the good and salvation of those under his authority – can always be trusted. we can always know that he will work all things for the good of those who love him. We can exalt him to the highest place; we can become living sacrifices for him knowing that in him we find all; and in giving all for him we lose nothing and are never forsaken.
We find joy in giving Jesus the highest place; we find freedom in bowing our lives before him. We find life, in giving our lives to him.