Jesus Christ, Savior for All Mankind
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April 08, 2012 |
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The Four Gospels in the Bible depict the life of Jesus, the Savior of all mankind. Each of the following books of the Gospels starts with following verses respectively: "The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1); "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1); and "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1).
In particular, the Gospel of John gives clear explanation on the origin of Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to Israel on this earth as the Savior 2,000 years ago and took the cross even though He had no sin at all. He was buried. But, on the third day He rose again from the dead. Remembering Passion Week of Christ and Easter, Manmin News will examine the origin of Jesus Christ and the providence of human salvation based on Dr. Jaerock Lee's books, The Footsteps of the Lord I & II taken from the Lectures on the Gospel of John.
* The Lord was with God in the beginning
John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Here 'the beginning' is the time before God created heavens and earth; that is, it refers to the time before eternity that cannot be understood with human limitations.
God is perfect and 'He is who He is' as written in Exodus 3:14. He existed before the beginning. In fact, He doesn't need the word 'the beginning' itself. But people think there should be a beginning of everything, so God appointed a certain time as the beginning in a bid to help them understand the concept of 'the beginning' well.
In Genesis 1:1 'the beginning' refers to the time when God created heavens and earth. But why doesn't the Bible say "In the beginning was God" but instead it says "In the beginning was the Word"? It is written in that way to explain God's appearance. God didn't exist in the form of a man from the beginning.
Just as written in 1 John 1:5 saying "God is Light," God contained immeasurable Word in extremely beautiful and crystal clear light and governed the whole universe. The Word was a clear, transparent, soft, and powerful voice that could ring over the whole universe.
God moved over the spacious spiritual realm and controlled the universe by Himself. When a certain point came, He laid out the plan of human cultivation to gain His true children who would share love with Him. It was then that He put on a form as recorded in Genesis 1:26.
God the Origin was the Word that contained the Light before the beginning which was the time beyond human comprehension. But after laying out the plan for human cultivation, He came to exist in the form of God the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit to forever share love and happiness with His true children in the beauty of Heaven. He needed Jesus who would fulfill the duty of the Savior and the Holy Spirit who would complete human cultivation.
God the Trinity refers to God the Father who manages all the process of human cultivation, God the Son who performs the duty of the Savior, and God the Holy Spirit who performs the duty of the Helper. They play different roles but they have the same heart, mind, power, and love. God the Trinity created the spiritual realm and then physical-fleshly realm for human cultivation. So John 1:2-3 says, "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."
* Jesus Christ, God the Son who came to the earth as the Light
In Genesis chapter 1, God created heavens and earth with the Word, and then said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Then, he became a living being as written in Genesis 2:7.
But all men became sinners because of the sin of the first man, Adam. God the Father established Abraham as the forefather of faith and founded a kingdom through King David. In doing so, He opened up the world of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. When the time came, God the Son came to this earth in flesh. And through Him the way of salvation was opened.
Even though Jesus put on the form of a man, He is the Word itself in His origin. So He could heal the sick and revive the dead and He caused the wind and the sea to become calm only with His Words (Mark 4:39). And although He had no sin at all, He suffered crucifixion and death and resurrected so that anyone can receive salvation with belief in Him and possess eternal life and the heavenly kingdom. Jesus who is life itself (John 14:16) came to the earth as the Light and drove away darkness shining the Light in the world. By doing so, He completed the providence of salvation.
The reason God the Son put on the form of man and came to the earth is that He wants to show us God. The only begotten Son of God was named 'Jesus' when He was born on earth. The name of 'Jesus' means 'the One who will save His people from their sins' (Matthew 1:21). But after He was crucified, destroyed the authority of death, and resurrected, He fulfilled the duty of the Savior. So now we have to call Him "Jesus Christ."
After buried, Jesus went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison before He became resurrected. (1 Peter 3:19)
Here, 'the spirits now in prison' refer to not only the sons of Israel who received salvation before Jesus' crucifixion but also the spirits who received salvation through their good conscience and stayed in the upper Sheol which is the waiting place after death. (Refer to Hell).
Jesus shattered the authority of death and became resurrected on the third day of His burial. The resurrected Lord appeared for the first time before Mary Magdalene who was looking for Jesus with tears at His tomb. Then, He met Father God and put on the God-given glory. He also appeared before His disciples. He appeared several times and gave them hope for the resurrection (John chapters 20 and 21).
He testified to His resurrection with many evidences for 40 days and appeared before around 500 brothers as well as His disciples as written in 1 Corinthians 15:6. When He was about to ascend into Heaven, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised in Acts 1:4. He also said in Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
After these words were spoken, the Lord ascended into Heaven from the mount called Olivet. And He sat on the right hand of God the Father. Now He has prayed for us and also prepared the beautiful heavenly kingdom for us believers as recorded in John chapter 14. When the time comes, He will come again on the clouds and God's children will have the Seven-year Wedding Banquet with the Lord, their bridegroom in the air.
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