THE DOCTRINE (BIBLE TEACHING) OF CHRIST
Christology– The Doctrine (biblical teaching) of Christ
His Names
Jesus = Yeshuah (Heb.) = Joshua = “The Lord is salvation”
Christ = (Ha)Mashiach (Heb.) = Messiah = “Anointed”
Used for Jesus only in Dan. 9:25, 26; John 1:41; 4:25
Emmanuel (Matt. 1:23). Greek is spelled Ἐμμανουήλ
Immanuel (Isa. 7:14). Hebrew is spelled עִמָּ֫נוּאֵ֫ל (. = I = “ee”)
Other References to Jesus
Lord (Matt. 7:21-22; 8:2, 6-8; 14:28-30; Rom. 10:9 (Greek kurios)
Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2)
Son of God (Matt. 16:16; John 10:36: 20:31)
Son of Man (Dan. 7:13; John 5:27)
Son of David (Matt. 1:1; 15:22; 21:9)
“I am” (John 8:58) Greek is ἐγὼ (“I”) εἰμί (“always have been”). It matches the name “I Am” (Hebrew אֶהְיֶה = ʾehyeh) in Ex. 3:14, meaning “to be” or “self-existing” and therefore “covenant keeping.”
“Mighty God” (Hebrew אלגבור = El gibbor [Isaiah 9:6])
“Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6)
His Preexistence (Christ eternally existed before the creation)
“one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2)
“LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die” (Habakkuk 1:12) “In the beginning was the Word…apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1, 3b, 14)
“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began (John 17:5)
“He himself is before all things…” (Colossians 1:17)
His Nature
As Perfect Man (Impeccability = Christ could not have sinned)
“God made him who had no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21)
“He committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22)
“ in him is no sin” (1 John 3:5)
As a Human
His birth (Luke 2:7,11)
His physical growth (Luke 2:52)
His hunger (Matthew 4:2)
His temptation (Matthew 4:3-11; Hebrew 4:15)
His sleeping (Mark 4:38)
His weariness (John 4:6)
His ethnicity (John 4:9)
His weeping John 11:35
His thirst (John 19:28)
His death (John 19:30,33)
His burial (John 19:40-42)
As God
He is called God…
By John (John 1:1; 1 John 5:20)
By Thomas (John 20:28);
By the Father (Hebrews 1:8)
By Paul (1 Timothy 6:15), referring to Him as
a. “Potentate,” all powerful,
b. “King of Kings,” highest ranked in the universe, and
c. “Lord of Lords,” sovereign ruler of the wholE universe.
His Hypostatic Union – Christ is a perfect human ever since His conception and remains perfect deity united in one Person forever.
The Kenosis of Christ (Phil. 2:5-8)
5 “Have this attitude (mindset) in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed (Gk., ηυπαρχηο = “to come forth”) in the form (Gk.,μορφὴν = morphe of God (meaning, Christ was truly God), did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped (“the act of seizing”), 7 but emptied (Gk., ἐκένωσεν from the root κενοω = “kenosis” = an “addition of humanity” [Ryrie])Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Therefore, at conception, Christ added humanity with limitations to His deity.
“both natures are necessary for redemption. As a man, Christ could represent man and died as a man; as God the death of Christ could have infinite value ‘sufficient to provide redemption for the sins of the world’”*
*Paul Enns The Moody Handbook of Theology, p. 239.
His Works
As Co-Creator “…And apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” (John 1:3b)
“ For in him (Christ) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16-17a).
“in these last days (God) has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world” (Heb. 1:2).
As the Sustainer of all things
“in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17b). In Greek “hold together” is συνέστηκεν, meaning “to place together, to set in the same place, to bring or band together.”
Joseph Barber Lightfoot wrote, “He is the principle of cohesion in the universe. He impresses upon creation that unity and solidarity which makes it a cosmos instead of a chaos.”*
* J. B. lightfoot Colossians and Philemon ( Crossway Classic Commentaries Series © 1997), p. 154.
Willian Barclay wrote, “Every law of science and of nature is, in fact, an expression of the thought of God. It is by these laws, and therefore by the mind of God, that the universe hangs together, and does not disintegrate in chaos.”*
Scripture says, “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars” (Gen. 1:16) and “Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun” (Ps. 74:16). Therefore, Jesus designed the cosmos in such a way that it can be recognized by man that God created it in order to make life habitable on earth (Natural revelation).
*Barclay, William. The Letter to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians (Daily Study Bible series. 2nd ed. and reprint ed. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, © 19630), p. 144.
Even atoms in the sun are God’s natural revelation.
Inside an atom is the nucleus containing protons and neutrons (nucleons) which are held together by a strong attractive force (“nuclear force”). A weak nuclear force can cause fusion (combining small atoms) or fission (dividing an atom into smaller particles), both reactions producing energy. Nuclear fusion is what makes the sun shine.*
As the Lord and Son of God While on Earth
He healed many (Matt. 8:1-17)
He calmed the storm (Matthew 8:23-27)
He cast out demons (Matthew 8:28-34; 17:14-20)
He multiplied fish (Matthew 14:13-21; 15:29-38)
He walked on water (Matthew 14:22-27)
He transfigured His appearance (Matthew 17:1-3)
He healed a deaf man (Mark 7:32-36)
He turned water into wine (John 2:1-11)
He healed a paralyzed man (John 5:1-9)
He healed a blind man (John 9:1-7)
He raised the dead (Mark 5:35-43; Luke 7:11-16; John 11:1-44)
He forgave sins (Mark 2:10)
As Savior/Redeemer/Deliverer
Christ died for our sins
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8)
Christ died only once
“The death he died, he died to sin once for all”
(Romans 6:10)
“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures”
(1 Corinthians 15:3b)
Christ rose from the dead
“since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him”
(Romans 6:9)
“he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4)
Jesus will come for those who believe He died and rose again
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus…Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (Thessalonians 4:14, 17a)
Has all the works of Jesus been revealed to us?
NO.
WHY?
“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25).
“Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31).
BLESSINGS!
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