Message 50 - By Leroy Surface
Jesus is “The
Christ!”
Why Does it Matter?
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Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God:
I John
5:1
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Why does it matter what I believe about “The
Christ” as long as I believe that Jesus is the Son of God? This is a question that is in the minds of
many people, and it is one that I hope to answer as simply as possible. First, the apostle Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ….” Notice, specifically, that he says, the “gospel
of Christ.” According to the apostle John, the simplicity of the “gospel” is to “believe that
Jesus IS the Christ.” It was Paul who
feared for the future of the church; even in his day. In II
Corinthians 11:3, he says, “I fear,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your
minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ.” Something has
been lost to modern generations of the church that was common knowledge to
those first believers, many of whom were the students of Peter, Paul, and
John. It was that generation that “turned the world upside down” with the
gospel they preached. It was a simple
gospel, one that simply said, “Jesus of
Nazareth is the Christ whom God has
sent into the world.” They
understood the prophecy of Daniel
9:24-27, which clearly tells of one called “The Messiah” (in the Hebrew language) and “The Christ” (in the Greek).
He would come in a year specified by the prophecy, and the purpose of
His coming would be to “finish the
transgressions, make an end of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, and
bring in everlasting righteousness.” No other scripture in the entire Bible tells
in such simple terms the reason that God sent His Son into the world. Every Jew in the generation in which Jesus
was born clearly understood the prophecy of “The Christ.” They knew the approximate time of his birth,
because the prophecy foretold the exact year that He would make His public
appearance. The night He was born to
Mary in a stable in Bethlehem, the angel of the Lord (Gabriel) appeared to
shepherds in the field, saying, “Fear
not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people. For unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). What wonderful good news this was to the
shepherds. They had heard for all their
lifetime of one called “The Christ” who would come into the world to make an end of sins and bring in everlasting righteousness. They left the fields and hurried to Bethlehem
to see the baby, whom the angel said they would find “wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.” Who could believe such a report? The shepherds were probably mocked when they
said they had found “The Christ.” Who would
believe that a child, born to such a lowly estate as to make his first bed in a
manger where the cattle would feed. Who
could think such foolishness as to believe that this child would one day
fulfill all the prophecies of redemption and restoration for a sin-torn world,
yet that is exactly why this baby was born into this world.
The “gospel
of Christ” is “good tidings of great joy” to everyone
who believes it. The shepherds rejoiced
to hear that Christ had come. Old Simeon rejoiced to see the baby Jesus in
the temple when Joseph and Mary came to “present
Him to the LORD” when He was about forty days old. The Holy Ghost had told Simeon that he would
not die until he had seen “the Lord’s Christ.” He held baby Jesus in his arms and rejoiced, “Let thy servant die in peace, for my eyes
have seen thy salvation.” Thirty
years later, the young man Andrew rejoiced after meeting Jesus. He ran to Peter, crying aloud, “We have found the Messiah,” which is by interpretation, “the Christ.” It was the same for Philip the next day. After meeting Jesus, he ran to Nathaniel,
saying, “We have found Him of whom Moses
in the law, and all the prophets did speak.” It was no different for Peter, James, and
John some six weeks later as Jesus began calling His disciples, simply saying “Follow me.” There was no talk of wages or retirement
plans if they would follow. It did not
matter; they had found “The Christ” and He would make an
end of sins. He would bring in
everlasting righteousness.
Jesus forbade his disciples to tell anyone,
during the three plus years of His ministry, that He was “The Christ” (Matthew 16:20). To do so would have resulted in His death by
stoning, which was commanded by the Law of Moses for heretics. When He was finally condemned to death for
blasphemy, it was because He confessed under oath that He was “The
Christ, the Son of the Blessed” (Mark
14:61-62). After His resurrection,
Jesus commanded His disciples to “go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Everywhere they went, they preached the “gospel of Christ” in its simplicity,
which is “Jesus is the Christ.” The gospel was preached to none but the Jews
for a number of years because of an erroneous belief that it was not for the
Gentiles. Every place they went
preaching the gospel, the Jews already knew about “The Christ” who was to make an end of sins and bring in everlasting
righteousness. The message the apostles
carried to them was simply “Jesus is the Christ.” When Saul of
Tarsus was converted on his journey to Damascus where he had planned to
persecute the believers, he heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him from
heaven. He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” He
heard the answer that instantly transformed his life; “I am Jesus whom thou persecuteth.” Saul’s next question was “What would you have me do, Lord.” Instantly, Saul of Tarsus was changed from a
Jesus hater to a Jesus lover, because he found Jesus to be “The Christ” whom Saul had loved and longed after for all his
lifetime. Three days later, Saul was
filled with the Holy Ghost and immediately went into the synagogues of
Damascus, where he “preached Christ, that He is the Son of God”
(Act 9:20). Verse
twenty two says, “But Saul increased
the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very (the) Christ.”
Those who believed rejoiced with great joy, but those who did not
believe sought to kill Saul for bringing the message of “The Christ.” So it was
throughout Paul’s life and ministry in every place he preached Christ.
When Jesus commanded the disciples to “preach the gospel to every creature,”
He told them, “He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.” In Matthew
28:19-20, Jesus tells His disciples to “Go
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even
unto the end of the world. Amen.” To
the Jew, who already knew about “The Christ,” the gospel message was
simply “Jesus is the Christ.” Those who
believed were “saved.” This means that everything “The
Christ” came into the world to do, He did in everyone who trusted in Him.
Transgressions were finished, sin was ended, and they were reconciled to
God, and received everlasting righteousness, because they trusted in Jesus;
that He is “The Christ.” They believed that He was “The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world” (John 1:29). The “sin
of the world” is the sin that entered into the world by Adam’s disobedience
(Romans 5:12). It is by the obedience of “The Christ” to the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8) that sin is taken out
of the heart and nature of everyone that believeth.
The modern church has misunderstood the
words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. Billions of dollars have been spent on a
worldwide church structure which seeks to “make
disciples” of the people. The
disciples of Jesus were indeed students, but they were “learning of Him.” In the
root meaning of the word they were “pupils
of Christ.” Paul refers to this in Ephesians 4:20-21 “But ye
have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have
been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.” He was speaking to Gentile believers that had
never seen or heard Jesus in the days of His flesh, yet they had been “taught by Him.” They were believers.
The modern idea of the word “disciple” plays on the word “discipline” when there is really no
connection between the two. Salvation
and discipline are two different things.
The law was given to discipline the sinner, but grace is given to save
the people from their sin. In Romans 6:13-14, Paul says, “…yield yourselves unto God, as those that
are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for
ye are not under the law, but under grace. Literally translated from the Greek text, Paul
exhorted the people to yield their members to God “…because sin has no dominion
over you, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” When sin continues in the heart and nature of
man, it is impossible for that person to yield their members to God. Even the effort to do so requires much “discipline,” which comes by the
commandments of men. It is the source of
the eternal struggle against sin that is the “hallmark” of most “believers”
today.
When Jesus told His disciples to “teach all nations,” He was speaking
specifically of the Gentile nations, which knew nothing about “The
Christ” as the Jews did.
Preaching the gospel to the Gentiles required instructing them, not
about the law, or rules of conduct, etc, but to teach them about “The
Christ” of prophecy, and that Jesus is “The Christ.” The modern church, with its billions of
dollars spent in “making disciples”
around the world, has failed miserably to tell them about “The Christ” who came to
”finish the transgression, make an end of
sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness”
(Daniel 9:24). This message of “The Christ” is the “simplicity
that is in Christ” which Paul speaks of in II Corinthians 11:3. The
thing Paul most “feared” in this
verse, however, has come upon the church worldwide in our modern age. Those have come who have preached “another
Jesus,” received “another spirit,” and accepted “another
gospel.”
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ. For if he that cometh
preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive
another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have
not accepted….
II
Corinthians 11:3-4
I once believed that the preaching of another
gospel was a phenomenon of the late twentieth century. I believed, as most “believers” do, that those things I learned as a child in Sunday
School and those things I heard shortly after I was saved and filled with the
Holy Ghost in 1958, were absolute truth, and to deviate from those absolutes
would be heresy. When I surrendered to
preach the gospel in 1964, however, the Lord explicitly told me not to study
the writings and doctrines of men, but to study only the scriptures, which I
did with the help of “Strong’s
Concordance with the Greek and Hebrew Lexicons.” I grew up knowing almost nothing about either
John Calvin’s doctrine concerning “bondage
of the will,” or Jacobus Arminius’ doctrine
concerning “freedom of the will.” I
thank God that I knew enough about the scriptures to keep me, before I knew
anything about these and many other “doctrines”
of the modern church.
Most of the church today is founded on
religious foundations that were laid by various different men during the period
of the reformation, which was less than five hundred years ago. I do not question the sincerity of the
reformers as they tried to correct the doctrinal errors which had come into the
church through almost twelve hundred years of Roman Catholic rule. Theologians during that time period believed
there were three equal sources of truth; they were “philosophy, nature, and the scriptures.” With such a frame of mind, the apostles
actually had no more influence on them than Socrates, and they could “write off” the entire heathen world
because they were “without excuse” if
they could see the sun, moon, and stars, as well as the grass and the
trees. The “truth” that Jesus said “will
make you free” is not to be found in the writings of any of the
reformers. These were great men who are
not to be belittled. They were giants
among men with their vast knowledge and understanding, but there is no
indication that any one of them ever understood the “truth” of the gospel. In
fact, to find that truth, we can go only to the scriptures. Jesus told the Jews in His day, “(You) 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). There can be
no question that the reformers searched the scriptures, but I present that they
repeatedly came to the wrong conclusions, because they never found “The
Christ” in the scriptures. I
confess that I am not a “scholar” on
religious history, but I cannot find a single person among the great
theologians of history, since the days of the apostles, that have told of “The
Christ” who came to “make an end
of sins” and “bring in everlasting
righteousness.” It is equally
important to tell that, in His death on the cross, He fulfilled every “vision and prophecy (Daniel 9:24);” of redemption; of restoration; and of His resurrection on the
third day. It is finished! The apostle John spoke of that which was
common knowledge to the saints in his generation, saying, “And ye know that he was manifested
to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth
not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him” (I John 3:5-6). “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 (undo) the works of the devil” (I
John 3:8).
The apostle Paul warned of another gospel that would come. It has been in the churches for hundreds of
years. It is a “gospel” that tells of a “Jesus”
who died on the cross to “take the
penalty for our sins.” The Apostle
John does not believe that “gospel” nor preach that “Jesus.” For John says, and it is in the scriptures
for all to see, that He was “manifested to take away our sins.” John the Baptist introduced Him as “The
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
There is yet another “gospel” that tells of a
“Jesus”
who came to “cover” our sins with
either “his blood” or “his righteousness,” so that God cannot
see them. I do not doubt the sincerity
of those who teach such things, but they are sincerely wrong. They tell the people that we are all still
sinners, even though “Jesus” has come
into our hearts; and, that we will always be sinners as long as we live in a
flesh and blood body. This “teaching” is not something that is “unique” to our generation; it has
dominated religious thought for at least five hundred years, and is presently
taught by the preeminent theologians of our day. There is one problem, however; they are also
wrong. Jesus told some Jews in John 8:21, “I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins.” Are you
still “in your sins?” You may be
one that seeks Him continually, but have you believed a “gospel” that does something less than take sin out of your heart
and nature? Do you continue to struggle
to please God, but find yourself condemned by the secrets of your heart? As long as you trust in a “gospel” that tells about a “Jesus” who only “took the penalty” for your sins and “covers them” with his “grace”
and “blood,” you will continue to
struggle with sin, though you “seek Him
daily.” Jesus explained His saying
to the Jews in John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall
die in your sins: for if ye believe not
that I am he,
ye shall die in your sins.” What must I do to be saved from my sins, so
that I will have them no more? Believe
that Jesus is He! Those Jews understood exactly what Jesus was
telling them, even though they pretended ignorance, seeking to ensnare Him in His
words. Every Jew was looking for,
longing for, and seeking the appearance of “The Christ.” They knew that “The Christ” would make
an end to sins and bring everlasting righteousness, but they refused to accept
even the possibility that Jesus was their Christ. There is no other way to be “made free from sin;” whether it’s the “guilt of sin,” the “power of sin,” or the “presence
of sin,” except to believe that Jesus is “The Christ.”
Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God:
I John
5:1
Message 50 - By Leroy Surface - Jesus is “THE CHRIST!”
Why Does it matter?
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