Sijo Chemmannur
Member
“Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence” Hebrew 4:16
"Who do people say that I am?" (Mark 8:27) Jesus asked his disciples. They might have surprised by the sudden intuitiveness of Jesus. Disciples were amazed to see the miracles of Jesus Christ and were happy being around him. But, it was not easy for them to define his persona against the spontaneity of that questioning. They replied Him, saying, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets." Jesus continued with more personal question "But who do you say that I am?" Peter hastily replied to him back saying "You are the Christ."
The word ‘Christ’ originated from the ancient Greek word Christós means ‘anointed’ and is a Syriac translation of ‘Messiah’. Jews do not believe in Jesus as Messiah. They still await the first coming of their savior. On the contrary, Muslims accept Jesus as the Messiah (known as Isa al-Masih), but not as the son of God. They also believe that Jesus is taken to the heaven and will come again at the time of the judgment. Though all the Abrahamic religions believe in Jesus, non-Christian religions do not believe Jesus both as the Messiah and the Son of God. In this context, the question raised by Jesus Christ to his disciples is critical to define a personality of Jesus Christ and to live in Him as Christians.
We believe in the Christian doctrine: ‘Trinity of God’. It defines God as three consubstantial persons or expressions. The Father, the Son of God-Jesus Christ and the helper- Holy Spirit illustrate ‘One God in three persons’. The three persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature". Among them, Jesus Christ is the persona of God in human flesh. He was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary. He was raised-up as a human and He lived like a human. Jesus Christ is the culmination of the progressive revelation of God to human, which was initiated at the Eden Garden. What is the relevance of this human nature of God? How does it important to realize the significance of the ‘God in flesh?’ In Hebrew 4:15, it is written, “For we do not have a high priest, who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.” We do have a God who can empathize with our failures, our inabilities, our sins and our weakness, not only because He is God, but because he was also tempted in every way we are. We have a God who resisted all the sinful temptations and showed us a new path that human can indeed resist the temptations with the help of God. It might not have been easy for Jesus too. Many times we see him withdrew from the crowd, knelt down and prayed (Luke 22:41). Other times he spend the entire night praying to God (Luke 6:12). We can see that on the Mount of Olives, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground (Luke 22:44).
Jesus Christ showed us the paradigm example of how to live in this world of heavy temptations. He fought the fight with sin and gained victory to human. Then, the very urge of every Christian should be to grow unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). He tells us to pray relentlessly (Luke 21:36). “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." After all He has given us the confidence to approach His throne of grace through which we all will be saved. Whatever our sin is or how bad our guilt is keeping us away from the holiness of God, Jesus Christ brought the reconciliation between the God and human (2 Corinthians 5:18).
"Who do people say that I am?" (Mark 8:27) Jesus asked his disciples. They might have surprised by the sudden intuitiveness of Jesus. Disciples were amazed to see the miracles of Jesus Christ and were happy being around him. But, it was not easy for them to define his persona against the spontaneity of that questioning. They replied Him, saying, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets." Jesus continued with more personal question "But who do you say that I am?" Peter hastily replied to him back saying "You are the Christ."
The word ‘Christ’ originated from the ancient Greek word Christós means ‘anointed’ and is a Syriac translation of ‘Messiah’. Jews do not believe in Jesus as Messiah. They still await the first coming of their savior. On the contrary, Muslims accept Jesus as the Messiah (known as Isa al-Masih), but not as the son of God. They also believe that Jesus is taken to the heaven and will come again at the time of the judgment. Though all the Abrahamic religions believe in Jesus, non-Christian religions do not believe Jesus both as the Messiah and the Son of God. In this context, the question raised by Jesus Christ to his disciples is critical to define a personality of Jesus Christ and to live in Him as Christians.
We believe in the Christian doctrine: ‘Trinity of God’. It defines God as three consubstantial persons or expressions. The Father, the Son of God-Jesus Christ and the helper- Holy Spirit illustrate ‘One God in three persons’. The three persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature". Among them, Jesus Christ is the persona of God in human flesh. He was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary. He was raised-up as a human and He lived like a human. Jesus Christ is the culmination of the progressive revelation of God to human, which was initiated at the Eden Garden. What is the relevance of this human nature of God? How does it important to realize the significance of the ‘God in flesh?’ In Hebrew 4:15, it is written, “For we do not have a high priest, who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.” We do have a God who can empathize with our failures, our inabilities, our sins and our weakness, not only because He is God, but because he was also tempted in every way we are. We have a God who resisted all the sinful temptations and showed us a new path that human can indeed resist the temptations with the help of God. It might not have been easy for Jesus too. Many times we see him withdrew from the crowd, knelt down and prayed (Luke 22:41). Other times he spend the entire night praying to God (Luke 6:12). We can see that on the Mount of Olives, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground (Luke 22:44).
Jesus Christ showed us the paradigm example of how to live in this world of heavy temptations. He fought the fight with sin and gained victory to human. Then, the very urge of every Christian should be to grow unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). He tells us to pray relentlessly (Luke 21:36). “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." After all He has given us the confidence to approach His throne of grace through which we all will be saved. Whatever our sin is or how bad our guilt is keeping us away from the holiness of God, Jesus Christ brought the reconciliation between the God and human (2 Corinthians 5:18).
