About Holy GhostTheEvangel

Who Is Jesus?

The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever

Invited to speak to a Pentecostal congregation recently in a way that I could not refuse. So, pondered on what would be a provocative topic to share with this congregation of expectedly mature Christians. As I struggled with what would be the appropriate approach to say something of interest, relevance and value to such a mature and highly critical audience in this dispensation of distrust of guest speakers. Then, the inspiration came. That I should start from the very beginning of any discussion that I will love to share with any other person. And this popped at me, that we should define who Jesus is. The point being that assumptions can be very misleading.

Then, the outpouring of possibilities just started. Beginning with who He was, and making who He is, especially from the viewpoint of HIs current location the main focus of the message, and then, go on to discuss His return trips to the earth as anchors to the discussion. Therefore, Apostle John becomes our teacher because he is the one who teaches on the person of Jesus Christ. So, I settled on John 1: 1-13 with a lot of help from his three letters under the guidance of The Holy Ghost to keep within message timing.

Location

The chart above helps define the locations of Jesus Christ in the different phases under discussion. There is the portion between creation and His birth. Then, we know that His ascension means we know where He resides currently. Then, talking about the future, we will broach topics like The Rapture of the saints, The second Advent where He physically resides on earth again and His location after The Judgement.

The ‘Was’ Dispensation of Jesus Christ

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone” (John 1:1-4, NLT)

We notice that this reference to the Old Testament events in Genesis is talking about Jesus as some ancient actor in creation. Yet, we know that Jesus Christ resurrected and left the earth as a living being and not someone who remained in the grave. In other words, our use of ‘was’ here does not refer to a Jesus who is late but we are simply giving it a human perspective of history.

The mystery of the God-Man will forever be challenging to explain to the human mind. However, the Bible helps us understand that we should worry less at trying to explain God but engage more in exploiting the power provided by that mystery. Apostle John in this gospel and in his letters confirm to us some details about Jesus Christ that are recorded elsewhere. We must remember that John was one of the disciples whom Jesus took aside to teach scriptural and spiritual mysteries of the parables that He taught in public (Matthew 13, Mark 4). We learn here that Jesus Christ was not only present when the world began, He created everything. We will learn later that all elements subjected themselves to Him (Matthew 14:22-33; Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:13-14; John 21; Luke 5). That is an apparently incontrovertible evidence of His knowledge of their origins.

In creation was a major character of living things, movement. Everything that has life moves. It is a character of living beings. That movement is powered by a force, an energy that propels the being in some direction. That life was breathed into man by Jesus Christ (John 1:3-4). The same Jesus that was embodied in God (John 1:1-2). You may at this time agree that this is getting befuddling. Yet, I put it to you that the confusion begins when you try to separate God, The Father from Jesus Christ instead of focussing on the life produced to guide man (John 1:4). Essentially, the purpose of the light is to direct our footsteps and not to define our Maker (1 John 4:13).

There is just something about human flesh that deceives us into thinking that innovation is the same as creation. Such arrogance takes us beyond the limits to cross the line with God. The great example is the conclave in Babel (Genesis 11). When we confound darkness or challenges of the world overcome them we arrogate the source of our wisdom instead of the light of God illuminating our heart and spirit. The Creator created an avenue for human redemption through the creation of Israel as a people (Genesis 15). Before this time, everyone was simply a descendant of Adam. After this time, a certain tribe of Hebrews called Israelites were created. It is true that Satan has ways of manipulating our humanity to propagate darkness but once man allows light to shine on his agenda, his scheme fails and darkness disappears. Unfortunately, we remain humans. And it is our response to spiritual influences that determines God’s proximity to us and by implication the strength of our light.

In the 21st Century, the star of David is a prominent centerpoint of the Israeli flag. The star of David is a physical but mysterious symbol of Jewish origins scripturally identified as The Star of Jacob. The Jews take pride in it despite the fact that most deny its spiritual inclinations to point to Jesus Christ. The Magi and John The Baptist help us to confirm that Jesus Christ is the Messiah that Moses talked about (Numbers 24:17; Matthew 2 - 3). Moses is not listed as a Messianic prophet but his prophecy links Jesus Christ to Jacob, the source of the The Jews and the latest variety of human beings created by God as we know it.

Therefore, we are talking about the same Jesus Christ who lived with men on earth and who disappeared in plain sight from the presence of other men as being present at the creation of man and the earth. He is yet to be physically counted among men hence. Mysterious maybe but certainly spiritual because we feel His supernatural presence even in the 21st Century. Irrespective of personal opinions, the incidence of healing the lame man by the Beautiful gate reminds us that the supernatural powers manifested by Peter and John were strange to the priests (Acts 3:1-11). Yet, Peter and John were on their way to regular spiritual worship service. They were not priests recognized by the state, yet, they subjected themselves to routine Jewish spiritual culture.

The Holy Ghost demonstrated a move from the traditional worship transition to a new culture called The Church that was emerging not in opposition to godliness but as a testimony to reconciliation to God through redemption. Here we witness a new power related to Jesus but shifting the landscape godliness. The Temple was placed on notice.

In any case, Jesus Christ ascended in plain sight in return to His seat next to God (Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-11). Mysterious but supernaturally effective. So, we know His current location. We are able to reach out to Him at that location in appeasement for intervention through divine grace. In other words, He is not a forgotten historical dignity like many emperors and the rest of them but a living deity actively involved in the affairs of men.

Who Is Jesus Christ?

To know Him today is to recognize His power and His redemptive ability in the graceful offer of salvation from darkness (John 1:4). He is called the Angel of Light because anyone who encounters Him spiritually testifies of an overwhelming light that is intolerant of darkness (John 8:12; John 9:15; Acts 9:3).

That is very symbolic of the level of purity approaching God requires. The distractions of human existence makes attaining such consciousness challenging. However, when a man truly receives the gospel, he obtains the power to become a son of God, and he acquires such a light that confuses evil (Psalm 86:17).

In the times of John The Baptist and Jesus Christ, written documentation was flamboyant. Therefore, documented testimonies of the hyperexcitability of the elements to produce earthquakes, sounds of rushing winds, supernatural opening of doors and eyes or instruction in healing like Ananias being sent to a blinded Saul may sound unusual because they are but cannot be dismissed as hyper-exaggerated. In fact, rather than being debunked by methods known to man other unbelief, archeology tends to confirm these claims.

John The Baptist was clearly as human as the next man. However, he was also a very unusual man. He exercised supernatural powers but he was not a man in the class of Jesus Christ and he confirmed it (Matthew 3, Mark 1; Luke 3). As Apollos makes us realize that as powerful as John The Baptist was, his assignment was to prepare the minds of the Jews for the imminence of Jesus Christ (Acts 18:22). It was important for the Jews to lead the path of redemption to God. Yet, that depended on salvation through redemption of those who accepted the message of Jesus Christ (John 1:6-8). The Jewish culture of penitence through animal sacrifices was to be replaced by the slaying of Jesus Christ. The assimilation and practice of the new culture evidences a new power that directs the feet of men (John 1:9).

Even in the 21st Century Gentile world, this is challenging to accept. Imagine the confusion those who came face to face with cultural dynamo and had to deal with it. The five word statement of faith and surrender to Jesus Christ as the new driver of one’s destiny may appear easy, yet it is intimidating for any man to submit the control of his life to another being. For Jews, who see themselves as interfacing directly with God, the concept of an intermediary must be discomfiting despite the prophecies, warnings and physical manifestations. Even then, documented testimonies confirm that those who submitted became transformed human beings who acquired supernatural translations (Luke 10:20; John 1:12; Acts 3:6).

Therefore, supernatural power is evidence of the reward for the submission of one’s destiny to the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. This is mediated by the transformative power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in ‘born again’ Christians (Acts 2). As heirs of salvation, they are not only promised the ability to do exploits but they perform miracles that testify to the redeeming grace in the Name of Jesus Christ (Acts 13:44).

Jesus ‘To Come’

So, Jesus Christ went to heaven but left The Holy Ghost behind to power the promises of God shared with us by Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:11; Mark 16:17-18; Luke 24:49; Acts 1). Yet, He is coming back in physical manifestation again.

First, we expect Him during the Rapture as He evacuates believers with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). At this time, Jesus Christ is not expected to physically touch the earth. We are told to expect Him to show up in the skies for identity as He evacuates believers from impending socio-economic challenges of the antichrist as the world faces The Tribulation period.

Later on, we will see HIm physically descending on Mount of Olives from where He left off to heaven initially (Zechariah 14:4-9). These events will herald the thousand-year reign christened ‘The Millenial Reign’ (Revelations 20:2-7). The Christians that He took with Him during The Rapture are expected to come back with Him to run the affairs of the world during this time. Further on, with the emergence of a new heaven and a new earth and the Great White Throne judgement, Christians will inherit with Him eternity as presided over by The Father (Revelations 20:11-15). Hopefully, all speculation as to the separation of God into three personalities will be resolved at that time.

Who Are You?

More importantly, where are you in the faith equilibrium? You may not be as lucky as someone like Peter who was bedazzled by the miracles he saw had no choice but to follow Jesus Christ. You may not have had similar opportunities that someone like Andrew had. Andrew’s mind was already prepared by John The Baptist.

Therefore, when John The Baptist confirmed the identity of Jesus Christ, Andrew just abandoned John to follow Christ. You may not also have been lucky like Paul who, being close to the disciples that he monitored and persecuted, determined that whatever they were up to needed to be nipped in the bud until The Holy Ghost overwhelmed him.

Equally, you may not have been lucky as someone like me who thought that there was too much drama from evangelists who were hypnotizing people to dupe them of their money, The Holy Ghost directly challenged me. I have seen young children disillusioned by discovering that the guitar player who accompanies the pastor with background music during the sermon was smoking weed at the back of the church building in his free time. Essentially, we all find ourselves somewhere within the spectrum. Yet, one thing is sure, the power to become a child of God resides in submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In addition, children of God have power to overcome everything on earth (John 1:12-13; Matthew 28:18).

The purpose of the power is to propel us from sin so that we can enjoy the sonship of God. All the back and forth missions of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice is to ensure that we approximate the wisdom and power to approach a pure Father.

We cannot but run into challenging situations including those that make us doubt our faith system. But understanding the cost of our redemption and its purposes can be stabilizing. Irrespective of our situation, that is, whether dead or alive during the Rapture, the harvesting includes every son of God. While newer converts who survive the Tribulation will join us during the Millenial reign, anyone who misses these two harvests will have to spend eternity with Satan. The purity of God excludes them from the new heaven (1 John 3:8).

Irrespective of our status quo ante, that is, however wicked or bad we may have been, power of God, that is The Holy Ghost that mediates our redemption works a propulsion that distances us from the re-submitting to fleshly lusts, blood oaths and magic of the past into a refreshing of God’s original order. Jesus said, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10). He means it and we testify to it.