In the first installment, we learned that it has been said that there are some 200 names and titles of Christ found in the Bible, and we started reviewing some of these. We now continue with some more descriptions of Jesus.
- The “I AM”
We understand that Jesus was the God of the Old Testament. In Exodus 3:13, we read: “Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is His name?” what shall I say to them?’” In verse 14 is a telling piece of information: “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’”
In the New Testament, in John 8:58-59, we read: “Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’ Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”
In our booklet, “Do You Know the Jesus of the Bible?,” we read the following on page 5:
“When Jesus said, ‘I AM,’ rather than, ‘I WAS,’ the Jews understood that He identified Himself as God—as ‘Yahweh,’ the ‘I AM’ or Eternal of the Old Testament. That is why they ‘took up stones to throw at Him’ (verse 59).
“The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown commentary adds the following thoughts:
“‘Before Abraham was, I am’ — The words rendered ‘was’ and ‘am’ are quite different. The one clause means, ‘Abraham was brought into being’; the other, ‘I exist.’ The statement therefore is not that Christ came into existence before Abraham did… but that He never came into being at all, but existed before Abraham had a being; in other words, existed before creation, or eternally… In that sense the Jews plainly understood Him, since ‘then took they up stones to cast at Him,’ just as they had before done when they saw that He made Himself equal with God [John 5:18].’”
For further information, reading this booklet would be helpful, and also please see our Q&A: https://www.globalchurchofgod.co.uk/was-jesus-christ-the-god-of-the-old-testament/.
- The Son of God
Jesus was and is the Son of God. We read in John 3:16-17 some of the most famous words in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
We read further, in John 10:36-38: “…do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.’”
There are many other Scriptures that confirm that Jesus was and is the Son of God. Matthew 3:17 reads: “And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Luke 3:22 also confirms this fact: “… and a voice came from heaven which said:, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.’” Also, Romans 1:3-4: “…concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
Jesus Christ was always the Son of God, but this passage explains to us that after His death as a human being, He was resurrected as the powerful Son of God—the Spirit being who He had been before He became the Son of Man.
Even a quick glance at a Bible Concordance will reveal many other references to Jesus being the Son of God.
- Immanuel
In Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, they state the following under the heading “Immanuel”: ‘God (is) with us’. A symbolic name given to the child who was announced to Ahaz and the people of Judah as the sign that God would give them deliverance from their enemies. Matthew applies it similarly to Jesus the Messiah.”
Wikipedia has this to say about Ahaz: “Ahaz was 20 when he became king of Judah and reigned for 16 years. Ahaz is portrayed as an evil king in the Second Book of Kings (2 Kings 16:2). The Gospel of Matthew lists Ahaz of Judah in the genealogy of Jesus. He is also mentioned in Isaiah 7 and Isaiah 14:28.”
We further read at https://www.associationcovenantpeople.org/the-sign-given-to-king-ahaz/:
“But God nevertheless gave Ahaz this sign, so strangely different from anything that might have been expected, ‘Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,’ That is ‘God with us’. The birth of Jesus was still 742 years away. How could this be a sign of victory for King Ahaz? Yet the name ‘Emmanuel’ ‘God with us’, was a prophecy for that day and for all time, so far as the peoples were concerned, and the prophecy came true both for the immediate deliverance of Jerusalem and later for the birth of Emmanuel the Redeemer of the nation and Saviour of His people.”
In Isaiah 7:14, we read:
“Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
We see in the book of Matthew that Jesus’ birth would be the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Matthew 1:23 states: “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’”
A further Scripture in Isaiah 8:8 is instructive: “He will pass through Judah, He will overflow and pass over, He will reach up to the neck; And the stretching out of his wings Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.”
The Matthew Poole’s Commentary observes:
“Of thy land, O Immanuel; of the land of Judah, so called because the Messiah, who is called by God himself Immanuel, Isaiah 7:14, should certainly be born, and live, and die there. And this is added emphatically for the consolation of God’s people, to assure them, that notwithstanding this dreadful scourge, yet God would make a difference between Israel and Judah; and whereas Israel should be so broken by the Assyrian, that they should not be a people, as was threatened, Isaiah 7:8, Judah should be restored and preserved, for the sake of the Messiah, to be the place of his birth and ministry, according to that famous prophecy, Genesis 49:10.”
While the House of Israel never returned to the Promised Land and became known as the “lost ten tribes” (even though they have been identified in our time), the House of Judah did return to the Promised Land.
- Redeemer
We read in Isaiah 44:24: “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: ‘I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself…’”
The Hebrew word for redeem is “gaal” which is to “free by avenging and repaying.” Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible explains: “Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer… These are the words of the Son of God, of Christ, the Redeemer of his people; and the following show him to be the mighty God, and so able to redeem them, and therefore was appointed to this work, and undertook it.”
There are a number of references in the book of Isaiah about our Redeemer, one of which is chapter 54:5 which reads: “For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.”
As an interesting observation, please note that in the Hebrew, the words for “your Maker” and “your husband” are in the plural, showing again that God the Father made everything through Jesus Christ.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers comments as follows: “‘The “Redeemer’ in this context suggests the idea of the next of kin (such, e.g., as Boaz was to Ruth), taking on himself the kinsman’s duty of protection (Ruth 4:4-6).”
We read in the heading to Job 19, in the New King James Bible, that “Job Trusts in His Redeemer.” Verse 25 is a very well-known verse: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth…” As Jesus Christ was the God of the Old Testament who dealt directly with the people, it would have been Him with whom Job was interacting.
- The Christ
Quoting from Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, the comments under “Christ” reads as follows: “The official appellation of the long promised and long expected Saviour, denoting his kingly authority and mediatorial position as the ‘Servant of the Lord.’”
“Jesus” [meaning, “the Lord Is Salvation” or “the Lord saves”] was His common name among men during His lifetime as a human being, and He is generally so called in the Gospels, while “the Christ” or “Jesus Christ” is generally used in the Epistles. The meaning of “Christ” is the “anointed one” or “the chosen one.” There are hundreds of references in the New Testament to Christ and Christ Jesus, and we will review just a few of these.
In Wikipedia, under the heading “Christ – title,” is the following information:
“Christ, used by Christians as both a name and a title, unambiguously refers to Jesus. It is also used as a title in the reciprocal use ‘Christ Jesus’, meaning ‘the Messiah Jesus’, and independently as ‘the Christ’. The Pauline epistles… often refer to Jesus as ‘Christ Jesus’ or ‘Christ’…”
The word “Messiah”—derived from the Hebrew Mashiach—means, the “anointed one “ or the “chosen one.” Therefore, the expression “Christ Jesus,” in using “Christ” first, teaches us that “Christ,” the “Messiah”—the chosen one or the anointed one by God the Father—is THE One—the ONLY One—through whom we can have salvation, reflected by the name “Jesus.” So, the Creator, the Word, the “I Am,” the Son of God and the Redeemer is the CHOSEN and ANOINTED One who saves us—through whom we can have salvation.
Continuing with Wikipedia:
“Christians believe that Jesus is the messiah foretold in the Hebrew Bible… Jesus was usually referred to as ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ or ‘Jesus, son of [Jospeh.]’… Jesus came to be called ‘Jesus Christ’ (meaning ‘Jesus the Khristós’, i.e. ‘Jesus the Messiah’ or ‘Jesus the Anointed’ by Christians, who believe that his crucifixion and resurrection fulfill the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.”
In Matthew 16, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (verse 13). It was interesting to hear the answers: “So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets’” (verse 14). “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven’” (verses 15-17). The revelation was from the Father.
Jesus also forecasted that there would be imposters. In Matthew 24:4-5, we read that He was answering questions about the sign of the times and the end of the age: “And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many.’” This is specifically speaking about the time now but it is fair to say that there have been false christs down through the ages. In verses 23-24, the same theme is reiterated by Jesus: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
Many have come and will come saying that they believe in Jesus and that Jesus was the Christ—even though their belief is mostly in a false Jesus, not the Jesus of the Bible (compare 2 Corinthians 11:4)—but then there are those who claim that they themselves are Jesus. The Bible foretells of a coming apostasy or a falling away from the Truth and of the revelation or manifestation of a religious figure—the man of sin—who will sit in the Temple of God, claiming to be God (compare 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). It appears that he will claim that he is Christ who has returned.
We can’t say that we haven’t been warned. There is only one person who has this Name and that is the Jesus Christ of the Bible.
(To be continued)
Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)
