We continue looking at various issues that are integral to thinking biblically. There is nothing more central to the way we think as Christians than how we think about Jesus Christ. Christ is part of everything we do, a part of every aspect of our faith, and it is even in our name “Christian,” meaning Christ-like. We are followers of Jesus Christ. He permeates the Word of God. He permeates our lives. We must think biblically about Jesus Christ. The only thing we really know about Christ is what is found in Scriptures. These traditions and all these kinds of things you might see on the history channel are largely legends, myths, and fabrications. What we know about Jesus Christ is found on the pages of holy Scripture. We turn to the Word of God to look at some aspects of His life. I want to look over five different central features concerning Jesus Christ. First, foundationally, is that Jesus Christ is God.
John 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” This is kind of a poetic way of speaking, I suppose. Yet, as we look at it, it is profoundly edifying and truthful. We see here that the “Word” here is the Greek word logos. As we go throughout the context of the passage, it is identifying Jesus Christ. There is no question about that. It says that He was with God, and He was God. That tells us two things. First, our understanding of the Godhead is that there is one God but in Trinitarian form. We have talked about that before and that is also central to our biblical worldview. Jesus Christ is a member of the Trinity. Usually, we call Him the second person of the Trinity, but He also was God. So, He is fully deity, and He has always been with God. Eternal.
Then it says in John 1:3, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being.” When we go back to Genesis 1, we learn that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and now we are informed in John that Jesus Christ was the instrumentality of that creation. So, God did create the heavens and the earth and Jesus Christ was the means by which that creation came about.
In John 1:4 it says, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” We find here that Christ, as He came to be among us, was not only God, and not only Creator, and not only a member of the Trinity, but He also has come to give life. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” He tells us in John 14. He is the One who is the essence of life. He is the One who is the giver of life and apart from Jesus Christ, there is no true life. We are speaking here primarily of the spiritual aspect of life. We are told in Ephesians 2 that we are born dead in our trespasses and sins. Spiritually speaking, we are dead when it comes to our spiritual life. We are separated from God. We are dead. Yet, Jesus Christ is the One who gives life. He is the life, and He has come to give life.
