Light in the Darkness- Part 3

 

Light in the Darkness- Part 3

Uniqueness of Christ (Creator)

God created everything by His word. Word is logos. In the first creation, ‘darkness was upon the face of the deep’ Gen. 1: 2.  God called light into being, so the new creation involves the banishing of spiritual darkness by the light which shines through His Word.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light; Gen. 1: 3. 

Most of the days of creation involve some kind of dividing, some way of making a distinction between one thing and another.  Light is divided from darkness day 1, Gen. 1: 4.

Strong's Hebrew: 1254. בָּרָא (bara') -- Create, shape, form

“Bara” opens Scripture: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The verb appears three times in Genesis 1 (verses 1, 21, 27), marking pivotal creative …[1]

Strong's Greek: 2939. κτίστης (ktistés) -- Creator - Bible Hub

Κτίστης names God as the One who brings things into being that did not previously exist. Not only the origin of matter but the continuing ground of existence is implied. The term therefore …[2]

“ Jesus alone is identified as the Creator-covenant Lord in all of His actions, Character, and work”[3]

         Books of the Bible, Hebrews, Romans, Revelation affirm that Christ is the Co- Creator with God. He is the Creator; hypostatic union with God, and He is completely unique with authority ever present or in the future!

        Consider the Universe: its complexity; the solar system, the atmosphere and the hydrosphere, life, the first man and woman and the marriage, Good and evil; formation of languages, government, culture, nations, and religions. Where do we find the origin?

        Now the foundations of the doctrines of: Sin, the Fall, redemption, justification, Promised Messiah, the personality and the personhood of God; and the Kingdom of God. Where do we find the origin and the information? 

Col.1; Jn. 1:1-3, affirms that all things were created by Jesus and through Jesus at His authority. Everything in the universe exists to bring glory to Jesus. Nothing in the universe can be understood completely apart from Him. Sounds like a crazy concept!!! Any other belief system does not have a Creator of the Universe.

       Jesus transcends time, and space, and He existed when nothing else was yet created. So He is very qualified to be the Creator.

Fulfillment fo the prophecies:

        Jesus fulfilled 300 prophecies which were written long before His birth that would describe him, his ministry and the work he would do. According to the law of scientific mathematical probability, there is only one chance in many trillions, that a man would be born and fulfill all the 340 over prophecies written about His coming as a baby; that is his first coming.

        Deuteronomy tells us that the qualification of a prophet would be that all the prophecies must come true. Even if one of the prophecy is not fulfilled that prophet must be put to death.

And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee; Deut 13: 5.

       Jesus also told us many prophecies which are yet to be fulfilled before His second coming. He was the prophesied Christ in the Old Testament.

Think about this!

           What are the odds of one of us strike by lightning? Almost nil right?(1 in 2 million…an estimate). I remember an incident, where on a rainy day, Joshua/husband was closing the door, and the door was hit by lightning, just on the other side of the door.  Thank you God; and He indeed watches over us!

           Mic. 5: 2; born in Bethlehem. …probability of fulfillment? David was also born there but his birth and reign were different. The King of Kings was born there. Jesus was not born in a highly esteemed place of honour, but in a humble and lowly place. Born in a manger.

         His immaculate conception marks a huge point! (Hypostatic Union). Our brains cannot compute this adequately. This signals something very special and very astonishing. In our fallenness, and as mortal beings, we keep wondering about this mystery of mysteries!!

           Jesus was humble; Phi. 2: 5-7; Obedient; Jn. 4:34; life of prayer; Lk. 6:12; life revealed the Father; Jn. 14. 8-11; sinless; 1 Pet. 2: 22. All these qualities should be admired by a believer to imitate him in our lives. Jesus wanted the will of the Father to be done in His life. He was fully human as well.

          We can clearly see the deity side of Jesus through the miracles, claims, and works he has performed, but what makes Jesus so unique was that he is fully human as well.

         Think about these prophesies fulfilled: Mal. 3:1. Forerunner …..probability of fulfillment?; Zac. 11:13. 30 pieces of silver to buy a potter’s field…..; Many other prophecies, Innocent but silent on trial; Psa. 22: 16; Jesus crucified;  70 A.D The Temple was destroyed.

        As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the One and Only Person who is capable of fulfilling all these prophecies.

Miracles/ Jesus’ earthly life

             Jesus turned water into wine; Jn. 2: 1-11: impossible miracle!; Jesus calm the water and the waves, the storm; Mk. 4. God’s word has ultimate authority. Wind and the waves obeyed Jesus. He demonstrated the love, the power, the authority, with tremendous grace. Jesus walked on water; Mt. 14…He was standing on it. And… is not the frozen water!

            He performed many other miracles like: sight to men, gave food when there was no food; and raised Lazarus.

           He was the Messiah….He was praying always, in the Garden of Gethsemane; Lk. 22. He did miracles, till to the end and showed His love and mercy to humanity.  Jesus even said, if you know me, you have known the Father. His earthly life was marked without sin, and he was marked as one without deceit.

         Our lives are marked by sin. Clutches of Sin reigns in us: what we do not want to think and speak we do.  Like a grip  at least sometimes in our thought process. Don’t we all agree to this? But, JESUS was unable to sin, and is very unique.

“Lord, break the chains that hold me to myself; free me to be Your happy slave—that is, to be the happy foot washer of anyone today… Lord, deliver me from the urge to open my mouth when I should shut it. Give me the wisdom to keep silent where silence is wise. Remind me that not everything needs to be said, and that there are very few things that need to be said by me.” -Elisabeth Elliot. 

 

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[1] Bible Hub https://biblehub.com › hebrewhttps://www.bing.com/search?pglt=299&q=creator+in+hebrew&cvid=d6e92fbe166b4076a37

[2] Bible Hub https://biblehub.com › https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=299&q=Creator+in+Greek&cvid=48019f6f2cba4bfab3bca

[3] Wellum Stephen; Christ Alone- The uniqueness of Jesus as Saviour: What the Reformers Taught---and why it still Matters” (The Five Solas Series) p. 56. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.