Message
49 - By Leroy Surface
The
Message of THE CHRIST
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Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is THE CHRIST is born of God.
I John
5:1
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Introduction by: Leroy Surface
Who is “the Christ?” Did He come at the appointed time? If so,
what did He do when He came? Do you know
the answer to these questions? The
answers to these, and many other questions, are given in “…the record…God gave of His Son,” but what is that record. In this message, the writer seeks to reveal
the answer to these questions, and perhaps others you have never considered;
through an in-depth study of the Word of God. Your eternal soul is too precious
to trust to religion, and traditions of men. God speaks very clearly through
the scriptural prophecies, to tell us exactly when “the Christ” would come; and
what He would come into the world to do.
The apostle Paul tells us that the saints at Ephesus “trusted in (the) Christ after they had
heard the word of truth.” Millions
of people today have been rushed into trusting their eternal soul to something
that is not even close to the truth. They have been taught about a Jesus (“another Jesus;” II Corinthians 11:4) who took the “penalty” for our sin, but did not “make an end of sin,” as “the Christ”
of the Bible did and does. Others trust in a
Jesus who only “covers” our sin
so that God can not see it; but again, does not “make an end of sins” as the promised “Messiah,” “the Christ”
of scripture did, and does (Daniel 9:24).
These doctrines I mention are only two of a multitude of deceptions that have
been foisted upon the church by false preachers and teachers since it’s
inception; but recently, these and many others have been revived by those who
are likewise deceived.
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A
Special Note
This could be the most important message I
have ever written. It is the message of
“The Christ;” a message that every child of God must understand if they are to
live and walk free from the bondage of sin.
Jesus said, “Ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free (from sin).” I have preached the message of “The Cross and the Blood” for many years, and have seen many made
free through its message. However, in recent years, another much larger
ministry has actually twisted the message of the cross and the blood into a
message about a “cross” that does not
crucify, and a “blood” that does not
sanctify. I grieved for many months that they had “missed the mark,” yet hoping that they would somehow see their
error. Last December (2011) as I was despairing whether they would ever see, God
opened the eyes of my understanding to the
message of “The Christ,” which is “the record…God gave of His Son”
hundreds of years before Jesus was born to Mary. To those who can believe, the “record
that God gave” removes every question about what Jesus accomplished
when He died on the cross. It is “The message of THE CHRIST.” It is the message to which we will
commit all of our time, energy, and resources, to take to those who are dying
in their sins. LS
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The
Message of THE CHRIST
By
Leroy Surface
That
we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise….
Ephesians 1:12-13
In these two verses we find two
separate groups of people; those who “first
trusted in Christ,” (verse twelve),
and those who “also trusted in Christ,” (verse thirteen). Paul writes this epistle to the Gentiles at
Ephesus who have not only “believed,”
but have also received the baptism with the Holy Ghost “after” they believed. The
purpose of this Epistle is to show that what God has done for those who “first trusted in Christ,” He will do
for those who “also trust in Christ.” The ones who Paul speaks of as those who “first trusted in Christ” are set forth
by the apostle as an example and pattern for what God will do for those in
every generation, who “also trust in
Christ.”
The first
group is made up of those Jews who received the Holy Ghost on the Day of
Pentecost, as recorded in the second
chapter of Acts. It includes
numerous other Jews from many different nations, who also believed upon Jesus
and were filled with the Holy Ghost during that first great revival that began
on the Day of Pentecost, including the apostle Paul himself as one “born out of due time” (I Corinthians 15:8). In the first
eleven verses of Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians, he gives a litany of ten things
that God did in order to have a people whose very existence on this earth would
be “to the praise of His glory;” but
there was only one thing this “special”
group of people did to receive this great honor; they “trusted in Christ!”
They knew who He was, and they understood, by the prophets, why He had
come into the world. Their “trust” was not a “blind trust” however, because most of them had walked with Him for
a large part of His three and a half year ministry. They had heard His teaching and had seen His
wonderful works. They were eye
witnesses, not only of His crucifixion at the hand of the Romans, but of His
resurrection on the third day, by the hand of God. The apostle Paul writes that He was “declared to be the Son of God with power…by
the resurrection from the dead” (Romans
1:4). It is the resurrection from
the dead that proves that Jesus is “the
Christ, the Son of the living God,” just as each of His apostles had
believed Him to be from the beginning.
They “trusted in Him,” and the
rest is history. In their generation,
they “turned the world upside down”
with the gospel of Christ.
The second
group, spoken of in Ephesians 1:13,
is made up of those Gentiles who “also
trusted” in Christ “after” they
heard the “word of truth,” which is
the “gospel of Christ.” My purpose in this message is to point out
that it was only “after” they “heard the
word of truth” that these people “trusted
in Christ.” Many, who call
themselves “believers” today, find it
almost impossible to “trust” in
whatever it is they purport to believe.
When that is the case, it is usually because they do not have a solid
foundation for their faith. In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus speaks of two
men; one, a “wise man” and the other
a “foolish man.” The “wise
man” built his house upon a rock, but the “foolish man” built his house upon the sand. The same storm came against both houses, but
as the parable tells us, “…the rains came
and the winds blew,” and beat upon both houses. The result!
Only the house that was built upon the rock withstood the storm, while
the house that was built on the sand fell, and as Jesus said, “great was the fall of it.” Both of these men believed that their houses
would protect them through the storm, but only one of these men had reason to
trust in the house that he had built.
The difference in the two houses was not evident to the casual
onlooker. Both may have been beautiful
to the eye, but only one, the “wise”
man’s house, had a foundation that was built on a rock. The other was built on nothing but shifting
sand, which immediately eroded when the floods came.
We should notice how Jesus introduces the “wise man” in this analogy; “…whosoever heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
rock” (Matthew 7:24). In verse
twenty six, He introduces the “foolish
man” in like manner; “And every one
that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.” Once more, it is easy for the casual reader to
believe that the message Jesus brings is for every person to “do” all His saying, and thus “lay” a proper foundation for a house
that will stand in the time of the storm.
Please ask God for understanding of what I am about to say. It is extremely important that we understand
that it is only those who have built on the proper foundation, who can “do” the sayings of Jesus. How then, can those who have never discovered
the “rock,” build their house upon it?
They can never, through their efforts or will power, “do” the sayings of Jesus.
Consider only one of His sayings for a moment: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
If “doing” this saying of
Jesus becomes the criteria for the proper foundation; no one will ever stand in
the storm. Loving our enemies, and
blessing those who curse us, only comes as the result of one who has “found the rock” and built their house
upon it.
Christ;
the Rock
Many people today are trusting in doctrines
that are nothing more than “shifting
sand.” The chorus to a beautiful old
hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking
sand.” In Matthew 16:16, Jesus asked His disciples who they would say that He
is. Peter quickly answers, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then tells Peter that this is a “revelation” from His Father in Heaven,
and adds, “…upon this rock (the revelation that Jesus is “the Christ”) I will build my church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it.” “The
Christ” is indeed the rock and, this Jesus of Nazareth is indeed, “The Christ.” Therefore, the “revelation” Peter received was, “Jesus is ‘The Christ’.”
If I were to ask the question, “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?” the answer I
would receive from almost everyone who bothered to answer would be, “Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God.” Of course that would be a true statement,
but, it is not the “rock” that Jesus built His church
upon. The apostle John makes a very bold
statement in I John 5:1, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is “the Christ” is born of God.”
It is a statement that can stand alone; it needs nothing more to qualify
it. There is, however, one more question
that must be asked of these same people; “What is ‘The Christ,’ according
to the prophecies of the scripture?” It is impossible to believe that Jesus is “the
Christ” if you do not know what “the Christ” is. One might satisfy himself by saying, “Jesus is the Christ,” and “The Christ is Jesus.” That is certainly the depth of many people
today who profess to believe upon Jesus.
They have found absolutely nothing in their “faith” that will keep them in the time of storm. They struggle for a time, to “do” the sayings of Jesus, but
invariably come to a point where they are convinced that Jesus never expected
anyone to actually “do” all the things He says. But what will they
answer in the day that Jesus asks this question of them, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do
not the things which I say?” (Luke
6:46).
Who
is “The Christ?”
There is only one correct answer to that
question. Jesus of Nazareth is “The Christ.” The apostle John declares in his first
epistle, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”
(I John 1:5). What a powerful statement he makes, and it is
an absolute statement. It is not,
however, a statement that is without substance, as many today trust in. Millions of people in the churches have been
lulled to sleep with the teaching that if you believe that Jesus is the Son of
God, you will go to heaven when you die, regardless of the sin that continues
to reign in your heart and life. There
is no substance to such a statement.
They trust the keeping of their eternal soul to a myth. They believe a doctrine that was spawned by
the devil himself (I Timothy 4:1). They are the ones the apostle Paul told
Timothy would come in the latter days, saying, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching
ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (II Timothy 4:3-4).
What
is “THE CHRIST?”
The “substance”
to the statement that “Jesus is The
Christ” is found in the answer to “What is ‘The Christ?” According
to the understanding of those young Jews who “first trusted in Christ” (Ephesians
1:12), the answer is found in the writings of Moses and the prophets. It was only two days after the Holy Ghost
came upon Jesus that the young man Andrew met Jesus. After spending several hours with Him, Andrew
runs to his brother Peter, crying, “We have found the Messias,’ which is, being interpreted, the Christ” (John 1:41). The next day,
Phillip met Jesus, and his response was very much like Andrew’s had been the
day before; “Philip findeth
Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have
found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write…” (John 1:45). Four thousand years before Jesus was born of
Mary, on the same day sin entered into the world through Adam’s disobedience,
God gave the promise of one called “the seed of the woman” who would “bruise the head of the serpent” (Genesis 3:15). This was the first mention of the one who
would come to be known as “The Christ,
the Son of the living God.”
I must confess that it almost sounds
sacrilegious to ask “What is ‘The Christ?” We can understand it better, however, when we
ask the question regarding something we are more familiar with; “Who, or what is the president of the United
States of America? In answer to “what?” The president is the “chief executive officer” of our nation. He is also the “commander in chief” of our military forces. It is the constitution of the United States,
which was drawn up and adopted by the founders of our nation that defines “what” the president is. The answer to “who is the president” will vary according to the identity of the
one who holds the office at the present time.
While
the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying,
What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of
David. He saith unto them, How then doth
David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on
my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his
son?
Matthew 22:41-45
Who is “The
Christ?” The answer is not as simple
as it may seem. Of course the “believer” knows the answer, but only
because we have been taught that He is “Jesus
Christ.” Most of us do not
understand, however, that “Christ” is
not a part of His name, but the designation of what He is. His name is Jesus; He is “The Christ.” The great theologians of Israel did not
comprehend what “The Christ”
was. Jesus asked them, “What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he?” If they had believed
that Jesus was Christ, they would have answered that he was the son of Joseph,
the carpenter. Absurd, some may
say. No!
Phillip, who became one of the twelve apostles, announced with great joy
on the first day he met Jesus, “We have
found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). Phillip did not understand at the time that
Jesus was the Son of God. He had found his Messiah, but he yet
believed him to be the son of Joseph the Carpenter.
Jesus never publicly announced that He was “the Christ.” He often taught and questioned the people
about “the Christ” without revealing
that He was “the Christ.” “What do you think of Christ? whose son is
He?” The common thought among the
Jews was that Christ, when he came, would be the son of David, that is, of the lineage
of David, which Jesus in fact was. Jesus
pointed out the fact that David called Christ his Lord, saying, “The LORD said unto my Lord…” (Psalms 110:1). If “the
Christ” was the son of David, why would David call Him Lord? Jesus let it be known by the scriptures that
while “the Christ” would be the “son of man,” He would also be the “Son of God.” He never told them, however, that He was “the Christ.” That was a revelation they could only receive
from God.
Peter was the first to receive the full revelation
of who Jesus is. When Jesus questioned
his disciples, “…whom say ye that I am?,”
Peter quickly answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus
responded to Peter’s answer, saying, “Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). This was a two part revelation to Peter. From his youth, Peter had learned of one
called “The Messiah” (The Christ),
whom God would anoint to “finish the
transgression” and “make an end of
sins” (Daniel 9:24-25). He understood, by revelation from God, that
Jesus is that very Christ. The second
part of Peter’s revelation is that Jesus is “The
Son of the Living God.” Bear with me
while I ask one more question; one which may sound trivial or foolish, but is
so important to understand: “Who is the Son of God?”
The
Record that God Gave
He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because
he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
I John 5:10
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of
man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he
spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Numbers 23:19
I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I
shewed it thee.
Isaiah 48:5
God is not an historian. He does not wait until after something
happens, and then tell us what happened.
Man can only predict, based upon current circumstances what the future will
be, but God foretells the end from the beginning. It is possible for several people to see the
same event, and totally disagree, and that sincerely, about what happened at
the event. If you were to see the “impossible” happen, some would say it
did not happen, because it is “impossible.” With God, however, nothing is “impossible.”
The “event”
I have in mind is the crucifixion of Jesus.
The scribes and Pharisees, along with the chief priests, saw the
execution of a man whom they had condemned as a “blasphemer” and a “deceiver.” Many of the general population saw the
wrongful death of a “good man” who
had done many good things for them. Some
of His disciples decided they were mistaken when they once believed that He was
“The Christ” who was to come; because
the crucifixion convinced them that he was “only”
a “prophet from Nazareth” (Luke 24:19-21). Isn’t it amazing that the one who saw most
clearly on that particular day was a dying thief who said to the dying Jesus, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Almost two
thousand years later, theologians look back to the crucifixion of Christ and
present differing theories about what actually took place on that day.
I have heard it said that Jesus “died on the cross” to show us how much He
loves us. According to this theory, when
we see His great love for us, we will return His love by loving Him and doing
our very best to live in such a way that He will be “pleased” with us. Consider
this; Jesus did not have to die on the cross.
He asked the Father, “If it be
possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew
26:39). He told Peter, “I could pray the Father, and He would send
me more than twelve legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53-54). If Jesus
did not have to suffer the cross, there must be something very great that
compelled Him to do so. Consider this
also; if you really love your children, you would never “kill yourself” to show your great love to them. You would, however, “lay your life down” to save them from certain destruction. Jesus did “lay
His life down for us” (I John 3:16).
The most common theory concerning the cross
of Christ today is that which is called “penal
substitution.” It is the “theory” that Jesus “died on the cross to take the penalty for our sins.” Romans
6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.” This “theory” says that “death”
is the “punishment” for sin; that in
His great love for us, Jesus took the “punishment
(penalty)” for our sins when He “died for us,” and gave us eternal life
as a free gift. The truly sad part about
this theory is that if it is true it leaves us in sin as slaves to sin, but
promises that we will never be “punished”
for our sins. The adherents to this
theory openly profess that they are still sinners, that they “sin every day,” and they will continue
to sin as long as they live in a fleshly body.
If that is true, they will also “die
in their sin,” exactly as Jesus told the unbelieving Jews in John 8:21-24.
Another prominent view about the sufferings
of Christ is that Jesus had to suffer for us so that God could forgive us when
we sin. The older version of this view
is that we who are forgiven should “strive
every day to reach perfection,” which we know we can never reach by
striving. According to this view, since
we are “all human” with human
frailties, we must also always be sinners, but, only sin that we have not
repented of can separate us from God.
The more “liberal version” of
this same view is that God has already forgiven us of all our sins; “past, present, and future,” and there
is no reason for anyone to “repent”
if they have already “believed on Jesus.” The most recent evolution of this “forgiveness theory” is that the only
damning sin is “unbelief.” Building on that basis, some have arrived at
the conclusion that the only “sin” a
believer can commit is to “repent” of
the sins they commit every day. They
confess they are still sinners who sin every day, but to repent of sin is to
commit the sin of unbelief, which is the only unforgivable sin. What blindness! This is the teaching that is filling numerous
“super churches” around the world
with thousands of “believers” who are
perfectly content to “continue in sin,
that grace may abound” (Romans 6:1).
I’ll assure you that there are many more “theories” of man concerning why Jesus
suffered and died on the cross. The
problem is, all of them ignore “the
record that God gave of His Son,” and they all “make God to be a liar,” because they do not believe the record
that God gave. God does not look back to
the cross and give a step-by-step, blow-by-blow account of what Jesus did;
instead, He spoke from the beginning of time, and told what His Son would do.
The
Seed of the Woman
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast
done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of
the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days
of thy life: And I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:14-15
The “record”
that God gave of His Son began the same day Adam disobeyed God, and thus
brought sin into the world. It is in
this text that we find the first promise of redemption for fallen man. Strangely, this “promise” was not given out of “pity”
for Adam and Eve, but out of God’s anger and wrath against the serpent. It was a “promise”
to the serpent that a “seed of the woman”
would “bruise the head of the serpent.” If Eve thought that one of her sons would be
the promised seed, she was certainly disappointed, because her first son was a
murderer who took the life of her second son.
The serpent’s influence (sin) only increased on and over the earth for
the next sixteen hundred years, until God “repented”
(was sorry) that He had even made man (Genesis
6:7). In the great flood He
destroyed every living creature on earth with the exception of righteous Noah,
his wife, his three sons and their wives.
After the flood, man multiplied once more on the face of the earth, but
the “serpent” continued to control
man through the “sin” that is in the
heart and nature of every man that is born of woman. Another seventeen hundred years passed, and a
prophet of God by the name of Isaiah brought forth an amazing prophecy: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). A young woman
who had never been with a man would conceive and give birth to a son. She would call his name “Immanuel,” which means “God
with us.” This “seed of the woman” would of necessity be “the Son of God,” hence, “God
with us.”
It is truly wonderful how God watches over
His “word” to perform it. The “promise”
began with a vague mention of a “seed of
the woman,” which would “bruise the
head of the serpent.” Isaiah’s
prophecy gives a little more insight; the “seed
of the woman” would be “God with us.” Almost two hundred years pass after the time
of Isaiah’s prophecy, and God sends His special messenger, the angel Gabriel,
to tell Daniel the exact year that one called “The Messiah (The Christ)”
would appear in ministry (Daniel 9:25);
to “finish the transgression, make an end
of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting
righteousness” (Daniel 9:24). Time continued to count down for both sin and
the serpent. Their “end” was drawing near.
Gabriel not only told Daniel the very year “the Christ” would appear, but he also told of how he would be “cut off (through His death on the
cross), but not for Himself (but for
the whole world)” exactly three and a
half years later. About five hundred
years passed after Gabriel’s visit with Daniel before God sent him on three more missions to earth, first to
Zechariah the priest to announce the birth of John the Baptist; then to a
virgin in Galilee to reveal God’s plan for her to give birth to the Son of God,
and finally to Joseph, to whom Mary was espoused, to explain Mary’s apparent
pregnancy. About nine months passed
before his next mission, which was to announce the birth of the child to
shepherds in the field. He said to them,
“Unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord” (Luke 2:11).
Christ, the creator of all things was “made flesh (John 1:14),” “prepared a body
(Hebrews 10:5; Psalm 40:6-10),” in the womb of a woman. Consequently, the “Seed of the Woman (Jesus)”
was born of a virgin. He would be
called, Immanuel, meaning “God
with us.” The eternal “Word” was “made flesh” (prepared a human body; John 1:14) for the sole purpose of having a “body” to offer for the sins of fallen man. Hebrews
10:5 says this, “Wherefore when he
cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.” Can you imagine baby Jesus, lying in a
manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, saying those words when He came into the
world? No! That didn’t happen! Instead, it is the eternal Word, “The Christ” of prophecy, who spoke
those words to the Father, saying, “A
body thou hast prepared me.” He
continues in verse seven, saying, “I come to do thy will, O God!” It was the will of God that sent Christ into
the world to suffer at the hands of sinners, shed His “precious” blood, and die on a cross as the “lamb of God” to “take away
the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Did He do it?
He did! He “bruised the head of the serpent.”
Paul tells us in Hebrews 2:14-15 what
Jesus, the Christ, did, and how He did it.
“Forasmuch then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the
same; that through death he
(Jesus) might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
Can you see what we are saying? It was at the cross that the “serpent” succeeded in bruising the “heel
(the fleshly body)” of the seed of the woman, but it was through His death on the
cross that Jesus Christ bruised the head
of the serpent. Paul tells us clearly
that it was, “…through death…He (for
the believer) destroyed the devil (destroy
in this verse is from Strong’s #2673, and means (to be [or render] entirely
idle [useless]…).” It is obvious that the “devil,” the “old serpent,”
is alive and well on planet earth today.
We see his handiwork all around us.
We see his works increasingly manifested in the world, for he is “the god of this world.” Let me tell you, however, about a place where
there is no devil. It’s called, the “Kingdom
of Christ.” Do you believe there is
a “devil” in Christ? No! He
is absolutely destroyed for all those who “abide
in Christ.” John tells us this in I John 3:5-9, “And ye know that he was
manifested to take away our sins; and in
him is no sin. (Therefore) Whosoever
abideth in him sinneth not:
whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he
that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he (Christ) is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for
the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy ([Strong’s #3089, meaning to
loosen] us from) the works of the devil. Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he
cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
How wonderful these words are; yet humanly impossible to
believe. John greatly simplifies these
words in I John 5:1, where he tells
us, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” Do you believe that Jesus is “The Christ?” Do you have the “creator of all things” dwelling in your heart by faith, and living
His life through you? Do you see the
promise that Gabriel gave to Daniel, that “the
Messiah (the Christ)” would make
reconciliation for iniquity and make an end of sins? If you truly believe that Jesus is “the Christ” who Gabriel promised would
come to “make an end of sins;” and,
that He is the “Lamb of God” who died to “take
away the sin of the world;” and, that He is the “Seed of the woman”
who “bruised the head of the serpent”
(and, that He destroyed [stilled] the devil for every person who can,
and will, believe it), then you are truly “born
of God.” Everything He (“the Christ”) accomplished at the cross,
He has also accomplished in you.
Therefore, child of God, rejoice, and be glad, because “The Christ” has come to you.
The
Record of “The Lamb”
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My
father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the
wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Genesis 22:7-8
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw
it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years
old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
John 8:56-58
Genesis
22:1-18 gives the record
of the day of Abraham’s greatest test.
It also gives the record of the day of his greatest joy. For Abraham, it was the “Day of Christ,” the day that God provided Himself a lamb for a
sacrifice. In verse two, God tells Abraham to go to the land of Moriah and offer
his son Isaac in the place God would show him.
Abraham took Isaac, along with two servants and his donkey, and traveled
three days until he could see the place of sacrifice in the distance. From that point, he and Isaac finished the
journey alone, with Isaac carrying the wood for the sacrifice and Abraham
carrying the fire in his censor. As they
climbed into the mountain of sacrifice, Isaac questioned his father; “I see the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering” (verse seven). Abraham answered in faith toward God, saying,
“My son, God will provide Himself a
lamb…” (verse eight). They continued up the mountain until they
reached the place of sacrifice, and verse
nine says, “Abraham built an altar
there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the
altar upon the wood.” In this one
verse we see two amazing things. First, we see a man who loves God,
believes God, and trusts God with the life of his much beloved son who he held
dearer that life itself. We are told in Hebrews 11:17-19, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac…accounting that
God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from
whence also he received him in a figure.”
The second
amazing thing we see in verse nine
is a son that is willing to be offered.
Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born. When we see Isaac carrying the wood for the
sacrifice up the mountain, we know that he must be a strong young man at least
sixteen years of age. Incredibly, Jewish
tradition says that Isaac was actually thirty seven years old. Regardless of who is correct concerning
Isaac’s age, Abraham could not have forced him in this situation; there had to
be both a willing father and
a willing son. When Abraham lifted the knife to plunge it
into Isaac’s heart, the angel of the Lord called to him, “Abraham, Abraham!”
Abraham immediately answered, and God said, “Lay
not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know
that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me” (Genesis 22:12). When Abraham lifted up his eyes, he saw a ram
caught in a thicket, and he offered the ram in the place of his son Isaac. Oh how they rejoiced that day as the ram was
offered and Isaac went free.
Abraham called the name of that place “Jehovah-jirah,”
which means “The Lord will provide.” We are told that Abraham placed that
inscription before the altar, and hundreds of years later pilgrims would see
the altar and say “In the mount of the
LORD it shall be seen.” The
inscription, “Jehovah-jirah”
standing beside the altar of sacrifice means “The Lord will provide Himself a lamb for a sacrifice.” It was a promise of Christ at Calvary. It was on the same day of Abraham’s sacrifice
that God gave His covenant of blessing to Abraham, saying, “By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done
this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I
will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
the heaven, and as the sand which is
upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast
obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:16-18). In that Abraham had not withheld his only
beloved son from God, God would not withhold His only begotten Son from the
cross. A little over nineteen hundred
years later, John the Baptist introduced God’s only begotten Son, Jesus, to the
nation of Israel, saying, “Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
The
Record of “THE CHRIST”
Angels announced to shepherds in the field,
the same night Jesus was born of Mary in Bethlehem, “…unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). How could it have possibly meant anything to
the shepherds, that “Christ the Lord”
had been born? They had never heard of
Joseph or Mary. The name “Jesus” meant absolutely nothing to
them, but when they heard that “Christ”
was born, they went rejoicing to the stable to worship Him.
When the wise men came from the east,
asking “Where is he that is born King of
the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2), King
Herod was troubled and gathered the chief priests and scribes together, and “…demanded of them where Christ should be born” (Matthew 2:4). How did Herod
know to call the chief priests and scribes for information on the place of a
child’s birth? And, how did he know
that, that particular baby was one who would be called “the Christ?”
When baby Jesus was only eight days old, He
was taken to the temple in Jerusalem to be circumcised. It was there that they met Simeon, an old man
of God to whom God had revealed “…that he
should not see death, before he had seen the
Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26). When he saw the baby Jesus in the temple, he
took Him in his arms and prayed, “Lord,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (Luke 2:29-30). The name Mary, Joseph, or Jesus could not
have meant anything to Simeon. So what
could he possibly know about “the Lord’s
Christ?”
Thirty years later, only two days after the
Holy Ghost came upon Jesus at John’s baptism, the young man Andrew met Jesus
for the first time, and ran to Peter, rejoicing, “We have found the Messiah, which is, by interpretation, the Christ”
(John 1:41). Again, Andrew had never heard of Jesus of
Nazareth until two days before. What was
the source of the great joy and excitement Andrew experienced over meeting
Jesus? The answer in each of these
cases; the nation of Israel had been expecting the arrival of one called “The Christ” for over five hundred
years. They knew the exact year that He
would appear in ministry, and they knew exactly what His mission would be when
He came. It is “the record that God gave of His Son,” and it is found in Daniel 9:24-27.
Seventy
weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and
to bring in everlasting righteousness,
and to seal up the vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that
from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be
seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and
the wall, even in troublous times. And
after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah
be cut off, but not for himself: and
the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end
of the war desolations are determined.
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the
midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and
for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even
until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Daniel 9:24-27
This is the “record” that God gave of “The
Christ.” It is a record of such
importance that it was not given to Daniel in a dream or vision. It did not come to him through a “word of knowledge” or a “prophetic utterance.” This prophecy of “The Christ” is so important that God sent Gabriel, His messenger
angel to deliver it personally to
Daniel.
In brief, the prophecy speaks of “seventy weeks” of years, which were a
common reckoning of time in the Hebrew calendar. For our understanding, the duration of the
prophecy would be four hundred and ninety years, which would begin when a “decree” was given to “restore and build” Jerusalem. That decree was given by King Artaxerxes of
the Medes in the year 457 B.C. Exactly
483 years after the decree was given, one called “The Messiah, the Prince” would appear. His “mission”
would be to accomplish six things before the end of the 490 years. The year “The
Messiah” was to appear in ministry was 26 A.D., which was the same year
that Jesus was baptized by John and the Holy Ghost came upon Him. (Note: A correction in the calendar places
the birth of Jesus at around 4 B.C. probably near the end of September) The
last seven years of the prophecy, which is commonly called “the seventieth week of Daniel,” began in the year 26 A.D. Jesus was baptized by John and anointed with
the Holy Ghost a little over six months into that year, based on the Hebrew
calendar. The prophecy goes so far as to
tell us how “The Messiah” will
fulfill His mission. He will be “cut off, but not for Himself,” which
speaks of Christ dying for the sins of the world. It even tells the exact year the Messiah
would die on the cross. “In the midst of the week (after three
and a half years) He shall cause the
sacrifice and the oblation to cease…,” which Christ did when He gave His
own body and blood as a propitiation for our sins. This final “sacrifice,” which was “the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10), was
offered in the very beginning of the year 30 A.D. according to the Hebrew
calendar, exactly when the “record God
gave” said it would be. Jesus Christ
was “The Lamb of God” which was
offered to “take away the sin of the
world” (John 1:29).
The “record
God gave of His Son” not only gave an exact timetable for the events before
they happened, but told precisely what the Messiah would accomplish through His
death on the cross. I will list them for
simplification. He would…
1. finish the transgression
2. make
an end of sins
3. make
reconciliation for iniquity
4. bring
in everlasting righteousness
5.
seal
up the vision and prophecy
6. anoint
the most Holy
This is the record God gave to Daniel for
the children of Israel. This is the
reason the angel of God announced the birth of Jesus as being the birth of “a saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Gabriel had told Joseph to “call His name Jesus, for He will save His
people from their sins.” Oh, what a
savior, Oh, what joy; the Christ has come.
The last of the six promises was the first to be fulfilled when the Holy
Ghost came upon Jesus at John’s baptism; the “Most Holy” was anointed for the mission which, at that time, lay
ahead of Him. In His sacrificial death
and glorious resurrection He would “seal
up the vision and prophecy.” The
apostle John was an eye witness of everything that happened to Jesus in His
sufferings on the cross. In John 19:28, John writes, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things
were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.” Every prophecy of the sufferings of Christ
was fulfilled when Jesus gave His life for the sin of the world. There was nothing left undone for the
redemption and reconciliation of fallen man.
Sin had come into the world through Adam’s disobedience (Romans 5:12), and it was “taken away” by the obedience of “The Christ” to the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8; Romans 5:19).
Believing
in Jesus
For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.
John 3:16
What does it mean to “believe in Jesus?” Is it true that if you simply believe in the historic fact of his
life and ministry on earth, you “will not
perish, but have everlasting life?”
Do you have a guarantee of heaven when you die as long as you believe that Jesus is the Son of
God? If these things are not true, then
what must I believe to be saved? What
does it really mean to “believe in
Jesus?” The apostle John tells us
what it means in a very few words; “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God” (I John
5:1). “Whew!” What a sigh of relief! “Preacher,
you mean that I really am going to heaven if I believe in Jesus Christ. Great!
I’ve ‘believed in him’ all my life.”
Stop. That is not what the
apostle said. Listen to his words again;
“whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” It is very simple if you understand who, and what, “The Christ” is.
The Jews in the generation of Jesus
understood much about “The Christ”
from the prophecies of the scriptures.
In Romans 3:1, Paul asks the
question, “What advantage then hath the
Jew?” He answers in verse two, “Much (in) every way:
chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” Moses and the prophets spoke (and wrote) the
words of God to the children of Israel as the Holy Ghost moved upon them (II Peter 1:21). These words, which were recorded in the
scriptures, are filled with mentions of a redeemer to come, variously called; “The seed of the woman,” “Immanuel,” “The
Messiah,” “Wonderful,” “The Branch,” “The Servant,” etc. Jesus said to the Jews, “(Ye) Search the scriptures;
for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of
me. And ye will not come to me, that ye
might have life” (John 5:39-40). The Jews did search the scriptures. They knew the wonderful promises of
redemption that were in them. They
believed the words of Isaiah which said, “the
redeemer shall come to Zion” (Isaiah
59:20). They loved the promise of “The Christ (The Messiah)” in Daniel 9:24, who would come to “finish
the transgression and make an end of sins.”
By the scriptures they knew what
He would be, where He would be born,
when He would come in ministry, and what He would do. They understood everything except “how” He would do it. They taught these wonderful promises to the
people from generation to generation.
They knew that they lived in the generation of His appearing, in fact,
the very year of His coming had arrived, but when He appeared, they would have
nothing to do with Him. He was rejected
of men (Isaiah 53:3). They did not believe that this Jesus was the
Messiah that God had promised to come.
Jesus said to them, “You search
the scriptures, seeking for eternal life.
The scriptures tell you about me, but you will not come to me, that you
might have life.” John tells us, “He came unto his own, and his own received
him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe
on his name” (John 1:11-12).
What
the “Believers” Believed
Peter leads the way with his revelation
from the Father; “Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God.” In these
words, it is clear that Peter understood that Jesus was the one, for whom the
entire nation of Israel had longed for over five hundred years. As “The
Christ,” He was the one who would “make
an end of sins” and “bring in
everlasting righteousness.” As “the Son of the living God” who was “born of a woman,” Peter understood that
Jesus was “the seed of the woman”
that God had promised would “bruise the
head of the serpent.” He was “The Redeemer” that Isaiah had said
would “come to Zion” (Isaiah 59:20). Peter understood that Jesus was the
fulfillment of every promise of redemption that God had given throughout the
ages of time.
Martha’s faith was tested when her brother
Lazarus died. She, along with her sister
Mary, had sent word for Jesus to come as soon as they knew the danger Lazarus
was in. Jesus purposely waited until He
knew that Lazarus was dead before starting His journey to Bethany; the home of
Lazarus and his two sisters. When He
arrived, Martha was very disappointed, because Lazarus had already been buried
four days. She said to Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not
have died.” Jesus said, “Lazarus shall rise again.” Martha responded, “I know that he will rise in the last day at the resurrection.” At this, Jesus told her something He had
never said before to anyone; “I am the resurrection and the life: he
that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26). Martha answered with her “statement of faith;” “Yea, Lord: I
believe that thou art THE CHRIST, the Son of God, which should come into
the world” (John 11:27). “Believing
in Jesus” is to believe that He is “The
Christ” who came into the world to “make
an end of sins” (Daniel 9:24-25). It is to believe that He is “the Son of God” who came to “destroy (loosen us from; make us free
from) the works of the devil” (which
is sin; I John 3:8).
The sixth
chapter of John begins with the miracle of feeding the five thousand with
five loaves and two fishes. The next
day, Jesus and His disciples were on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, when
the multitude from the previous day found Him, wanting more bread and
fish. Jesus knew what they wanted Him to
do for them, and began to speak clearly to them concerning who He is. He said, “I
am the bread of life…” (John 6:35);
“I came down from heaven…” (John 6:38); “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him”
(John 6:44); “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I
will raise him up at the last day” (John
6:54); “As the living Father hath
sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by
me” (John 6:57). Jesus spoke these amazing sayings to those
Jews who followed Him, only for the loaves and fishes, but His own disciples
overheard his words. In verse sixty, we read, “Many
therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard
saying; who can hear it?” Jesus then
turned to his disciples and said, “Doth
this offend you? What and if ye shall
see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth;
the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit,
and they are life. But there are some of
you that believe not” (John 6:61-64). The rest of the story is told in verses sixty-six through sixty-nine: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also
go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the
words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living
God” (John 6:66-69). “For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him (believes that He is The Christ) should not perish, but have everlasting
life” (John 3:16).
This is what it means to “believe
in Jesus.”
He
That Believeth Not…
Go
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that believeth not
shall be damned.
Mark 16:15-16
Preach the gospel to every creature! Tell them that Jesus is “the Christ” who came
into the world to make an end of sins.
Tell them that He is the Son of God who came to destroy the works of the
devil. Assure them that His mission was
accomplished through His death on the cross, and that God proved it to all men
when He raised Jesus from the dead the third day. Tell them that they can go free from sin;
that they need no longer to be slaves to sin that dwells in their heart and
nature. Good news! Glad tidings of great joy! The Christ has come! The seed of the woman has bruised the head of
the serpent! Jesus has destroyed the
devil! The victory has been won and God has given it to us through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Tell these things in
no uncertain terms to the lost souls in the world. Do not require anything of them but to
believe the truth and trust in Him who died for us. Jesus says that those who believe it “shall be saved,” and those who “believe it not, shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). How horrible that people, who Jesus died for,
will be damned; some because they refuse to believe the truth, and some because
they have never heard the truth. Listen
to what Jesus says to the unbelieving Jews in His day.
I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins:
whither I go, ye cannot come.
John 8:21
It is hard to accept that anyone, could
both “seek Him” and “die in their sins,” but that is exactly
what Jesus told the Jews they would do.
In fact, they have never ceased, since that day, to “seek” for their Messiah to come.
There is a “wall” in the old
city of Jerusalem called “The Wailing
Wall.” It is the only part of the
temple complex that remained after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Since June, 1967, many Jews go to the Wailing
Wall every day, praying to God to send the Messiah. They believe that when he comes he will take
evil out of the world and usher in an era of peace on earth. It is an amazing fact that the Jew
understands the mission of “The Christ”
better than the modern church does. A
good friend of mine, a devout Jew, told me years ago that if Jesus had been his
Messiah, He would have “made an end of
sins.” Recently I heard a Rabbi
debate the issue on TV. His final point
was, “Jesus could not have been the
Messiah. If he had been the Messiah, he
would have taken evil out of the world.” Their faith concerning “The Christ (The Messiah)”
is correct. However, they do not
understand the words of Jesus to the Pharisees, where He says, “The kingdom of God is within you.” It is “within”
the one who “trusts in Him” that
sin is “taken away.” Jesus is “The
Christ,” and He did “make an end of
sins” in the heart and nature of everyone who trusts in Him, because He is “The Christ.”
Dying
in Sin
And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from
above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die
in your sins: for if ye believe not that
I am “he” (“The Christ”), ye
shall die in your sins.
John 8:23-24
Millions of people gather in churches every
Sunday to worship Jesus. They have
confessed Him with their mouth and believed in their heart that God raised Him
from the dead; but they are still “dying
in their sins.” This fact cannot be
denied, because they also “confess with their
mouths” that they are still sinners; and in fact, they sin every day, and
will be sinners as long as they live in a body of flesh. They, along with the unbelieving Jews, are
condemned to die in their sins. This is
what it really means to “be damned” if
they “believe not;” they are “condemned” to “die in their sins” because they do not believe that Jesus is “the
Christ” whose mission on earth was to take away their sin. Those who refuse to believe the truth are
damned because they believe a lie (II Thessalonians
2:12). They will be condemned by
Christ in the Day of Judgment as a “worker
of iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23)
because they have not believed that Jesus of Nazareth is “The Christ” who came into the world specifically to “make an end of sins,” and that He did
so through His death on the cross.
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from
me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men.
Matthew 15:8-9
In
the Beginning…was Christ
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him
was not anything made that was made.
John 1:1-3
In three
different places in the book of Revelation, Jesus introduces Himself,
saying, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end….” A fourth
place He calls Himself “…the Amen,
the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation
3:14). Christ is eternal. He existed eternally with God, the
Father, as one whom the apostle John calls “The
Word” (John 1:1-2). Some
four thousand years after “time” began
(because of the entrance of sin; brought on by the fall of mankind through the
disobedience of Adam), He (the eternal “Word”)
was born of His mother Mary, into a physical body. When John speaks of “The Word,” he is speaking of
Christ. He uses the Greek word “logos,” which gives us a beautiful
description of “what” Christ is. While it is true, according to Strong’s Greek
dictionary, that the Greek word “logos”
can refer to “something said” or a “topic of conversation” whenever it is
preceded with the article “the,” it
is always understood to say, “The Divine
Expression.” Christ is “The Divine Expression of God.” He is eternally existent with God, and He is God; meaning that He is everything
that God is. Thus, He can tell Philip, “…Have
I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that
hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the
Father?” (John 14:7-9). John tells us that Christ was “with God,” that He “was God,” and that He was “in
the beginning with God.” God has
never expressed Himself except through Christ.
Even in creation, the apostle John tells us that “All things were made by Him; and without him was not anything made
that was made” (John 1:3). God does nothing except He does it “through Christ.” Most astounding of all, as he tells us in verse three, “All things were made by Him (Christ; The Word); and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which
we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have
handled, of the Word of life;
I John 1:1
Genesis
1:1, John 1:1, and I John 1:1
all speak of the same “beginning,” which
takes us back to the creation of the universe, and He who was there before any “thing” was created. In I
John 1:1, the phrase “That which was
from the beginning,” is more properly understood to say “He
who was from the beginning.” In
the first chapter of his gospel,
John introduces Him as “The Word.” In John
1:10 we read that, “He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” John continues in verse fourteen, “…and the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14). It is “the Word made flesh” that John
introduces in his epistle. The “Word” is Christ; the “Word made flesh” is Jesus Christ, “…whom we have heard, whom we have seen with
our eyes, whom we have looked upon, and our hand have handled.” John makes the connection for us that Jesus
of Nazareth, who was born of Mary and lived among us for about thirty three and
a half years, is also the eternal Christ who was “in the beginning,” and by whom “all
things were made, that were made.” God has proven that Jesus is “The Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16)” by His resurrection
from the dead (Romans 1:4).
When Christ dwells in His people (Galatians 2:20), He is not the baby
Jesus in a manger, or the twelve year old Jesus confounding the lawyers in the
Temple. Living in His people, He is
Christ, the creator of all things;
He is Christ, the seed, who bruised
the head of the serpent; He is Christ, the
Messiah, who made an end of sins; He is Christ, the Son, who destroyed the works of the devil, and He is Christ, the Lamb, which took away the sin of
the world. Do you believe that Jesus is “The Christ?” Do you believe that He did everything God
sent Him to do? If so, you are born of
God. You are a new creature, and Christ
lives in you. Oh Rejoice! The Christ has come. He has “made an end of sins” and “brought in everlasting righteousness”
for you. He is “the Lamb” that God provided to “take
away your sin,” and you have it no more.
Rejoice in Christ Jesus! He is “the seed of the woman” who “bruised the head of the serpent;” the “Son of God” who “destroyed (stilled) the
works of the devil.” He did it all
at the cross for all who trust in Him.
Do you believe? Then let the
rejoicing begin.
Message 49 - By Leroy Surface - The Message
of “THE CHRIST”
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