The Christ

The "LORD" (also known as Yahweh or Jehovah) God originally created our world to be very good (Genesis 1:31).

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. — Genesis 2:8-9 (ESV)

The LORD GOD commanded:

"You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." — Genesis 2:16-17 (ESV)

Unfortunately God's enemy decided to take his revenge on God's creation by deceiving the woman (1 Timothy 2:14) who then gave the forbidden fruit to her husband (Genesis 3:6), Adam, who chose to rather obey his wife than God (Genesis 3:17).

The penalty (curse) for this sin was pain (Genesis 3:16), hard labour (Genesis 3:17-19), and a limited lifespan (Genesis 3:19) which means death came to all humanity (Romans 5:12). However, as the Prophet Ezekiel recorded God's words:

"For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD." — Ezekiel 18:32 (ESV)

God promised that the "Messiah" (often translated as "Christ") would succeed where Adam failed.

Therefore, through many centuries, prophecies were collected about this expected Christ.

What the Prophets Emphasized

When we compare messianic prophecies, a pattern emerges:

Suffering Prophecies:

  1. Psalm 16:10 - "You will not abandon my soul to Sheol" (resurrection prophecy)
  2. Isaiah 50:6 - "I gave my back to those who strike, my cheeks to those who pull out the beard"
  3. Isaiah 53:3-12 - "Pierced for our transgressions... crushed for our iniquities"
  4. Daniel 9:26 - "Shall be cut off and have nothing"
  5. Zechariah 12:10 - "Him whom they have pierced"

However, most of these suffering/dying prophecies are disputed by Jewish interpreters. For example:

  • Psalm 16 - Jews see this as David speaking about himself, not a messianic prophecy
  • Isaiah 50 and Isaiah 53 - Traditionally understood as referring to the nation of Israel, not an individual Messiah (though some ancient Jewish sources did apply suffering servant passages to the Messiah)
  • Daniel 9:26 - Jews dispute that 'anointed one' refers to THE Messiah; it could be any anointed person (priest/king)
  • Zechariah 12:10 - Refers to a historical figure, not necessarily the Messiah"

Reigning Prophecies

In general most Jews and Christians view these prophecies as messianic:

  1. Genesis 49:10 - "The scepter shall not depart from Judah... until tribute comes to him"
  2. Numbers 24:17 - "A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel"
  3. Isaiah 11:1-10 - "He shall judge the poor... righteousness shall be his belt"
  4. Jeremiah 23:5 - "He shall REIGN as king and deal wisely"
  5. Micah 5:2 - "One who is to be RULER in Israel"
  6. Zechariah 9:9 - "Your KING is coming to you"

Christians but only some Jewish groups view these passages as messianic:

  1. 2 Samuel 7:12-13 - "I will establish the throne of his KINGDOM forever"
  2. Psalm 2:6-8 - "I have set my KING on Zion... I will make the nations your heritage"
  3. Psalm 110:1-4 - "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand'
  4. Isaiah 9:6-7 - "Of the increase of his GOVERNMENT... no end... over his KINGDOM"
  5. Daniel 7:13-14 - "To him was given dominion and glory and a KINGDOM... everlasting dominion"

Psalms of Solomon 17 (a non-canonical Jewish text) describes the Messiah as a conquering warrior-king, which differs from the Christian understanding of Jesus's first coming.

In general, the Jewish people expected the Messiah primarily to rule, not to suffer and die.

The Timing of Jesus's Life

Many speculators point out that Jesus had to be born around 4-6 BC because of various historical reasons ranging from Roman roads, to Pax Romana often citing that God somehow needed these human structures to spread the Gospel.

If Jesus primary goal was to teach "the Gospel of repentance and salvation", why was he not born in this digital age with internet, YouTube, Social Media, AI, which is far more efficient than the Roman structures to spread information? Or why was Jesus not born directly after the flood of Noah or at the tower of Babel when the human population were concentrated in one place?

Some historians say it was during the time when Paganism was at its peak with the most idolatry. However, idolatry was rampant during many other periods in history too. If this was the reason, why did Jesus not live when Canaan's idolatry was at its peak?

Some Christians would typically point out that Jesus needed the Roman cross to pay for sin. However, the Bible states it was the blood that paid for the sin, not the cross.

Background Context

Initially God called Israel to be "the Kingdom of Priests" (Exodus 19:6) and to be His chosen people to represent Him to the world (Deuteronomy 4:5-8; 1 Peter 2:9-10).

Yet, a few centuries later Israel fell to Babylonian captivity (586 BC) because of their lawlessness and idolatry (2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36). God had to punish them to show to the world that He does not tolerate idolatry (Deuteronomy 29:22-28).

After returning from exile, they rebuilt the temple and re-established the Mosaic covenant (Ezra; Nehemiah). However, over the centuries Judaism went to the other extreme by becoming heavily legalistic (Mark 2:27) and ritualistic, focusing on outward observance of the law rather than inward relationship with God (Matthew 15:7-9) which led to hypocrisy (Matthew 23:23; Mark 7:8-13). This distorted the understanding of God's character. The hypocrisy led to extreme Jewish Factionalism (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots) which further confused the people and caused inward fighting.

The Purpose of Jesus

That is why it was crucial at that point in time for the promised Christ to come and reveal God the Father's true nature.

Jesus came to bear witness to make God known (John 1:18, 17:6-8,26; 1 John 4:9-10; Philippians 2:5-11). His sermons like "the Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5-7), his demonstration of God's character (John 14), and his parables like "the Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-24) must have been revolutionary to the Jewish people who were used to a legalistic approach to religion (Luke 15:25-32). This was the true purpose of the Gospel.

Common Misconceptions

"The Gospel" is often a vague Christian term not well understood by many people. Often people limit "the Gospel" to "repentance and salvation". However, John the Baptist was already preaching it even before Jesus. If Jesus was just another missionary, he would have been redundant and would have had no significant purpose.

Many Christians believe that the Gospel is primarily about "the Crucifixion" which refers to Jesus' suffering and death. However, if Jesus' ONLY purpose was to die as a holy sinless sacrifice, we might wonder:

  1. Why didn't God allow King Herod to kill him as a baby if his blood would accomplish the same sacrificial purpose? (See Matthew 2:13-18 for Herod episode) Instead God intervened by provision (gifts from the Wise Men - Matthew 2:11) to fund the journey, and by supernaturally warning Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15), protecting Jesus until Herod's death (Matthew 2:19-20).
  2. Why did Jesus spend three years teaching, healing, and training disciples if death was his sole mission?

The Gospel of Jesus

While the crucifixion was necessary, it was not the main purpose. Jesus's message was not "I came to suffer and die for your sins" but instead it was recorded:

"From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" — Matthew 4:17 (ESV); Mark 1:15

This was Jesus's first sermon in his public ministry.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus's Gospel centered on the Kingdom:

  • Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Kingdom ethics—how Kingdom citizens live
  • The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13): "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"
  • Parables (Matthew 13): Seven parables, ALL beginning "the kingdom of heaven is like..." including more throughout the Gospels (Matthew 18, Matthew 20, Matthew 22, Matthew 25; Luke 13, Luke 14, Luke 15, and so forth)
  • Post-Resurrection (Acts 1:3): For 40 days after rising, Jesus appeared to his disciples "speaking about the kingdom of God"

When Jesus was questioned by Pontius Pilate:

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world⁠:

to bear witness to the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

— John 18:36-37 (ESV)

Jesus mentioned his "kingdom" 3 times during the dialogue with Pilate. "of this world" is often misunderstood.

Jesus was not saying that he was an alien from another world. "world" could also be translated as "orderly system" according to the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and HELPS Word Studies.

Jesus acknowledged that he was a king, but also made it clear their definitions of "kingdom" were different.

The Truth

Jesus could have hidden somewhere until it was time for his sacrifice, but instead he was sent into "the world" with the purpose "to bear witness to the truth" (Luke 4:43; Mark 1:38).

The Message of Reconciliation

"The truth" is that Jesus was sent by God to reconcile humanity with God (1 Timothy 2:5; Ephesians 2:14-16).

Paul made it clear that the Gospel is the "the message of reconciliation to God":

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. — 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (ESV)

Why do we need to be reconciled with God?

Forgiveness

Humanity was created for a relationship with God, but sin entered the world and caused a separation between God and humanity (Genesis 3; Isaiah 59:2). This is not possible as long as sin separates us from God.

Therefore, forgiveness of sin is essential (Matthew 1:21; Luke 24:47; Acts 10:43; 1 John 1:9), that is why Jesus demonstrated that he had the authority to forgive sin (Mark 2:5-12).

Why do we need forgiveness?

Salvation

Without forgiveness descendants of Adam, which is all of humanity, would be judged (Isaiah 11:1-5; Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:22-30; Acts 10:42; 2 Corinthians 5:10) and condemned to death and destruction (Romans 5:12-21; 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15) because that is the result of sin.

That is why all lost sinners (Matthew 1:21; Luke 19:10; John 3:16-17; Acts 4:12; Colossians 2:11-15) need salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Romans 10:9-10) and that is why Jesus is still interceding for us (Romans 8:34).

God is a righteous and fair judge. He cannot bend the rules of justice to permit sin to go unpunished (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 89:14; Romans 3:5-6).

Therefore, a new blood covenant was needed (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:20). Since God is Spirit (John 4:24), He had to use the blood of the Son of Man to pay the debt of our sin.

Why does God even bother to do this?

Adoption

God wants to save all of us (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9)

  • Because God is patient (2 Peter 3:9)
  • Because God is merciful (Ephesians 2:4-5)

This will allow those who are saved to live forever (John 10:10, 14:6; Romans 6:23; 1 John 5:11-13) because God wants to adopt us as his children (Romans 8:15)

Why does God want to adopt us?

Purpose

God loves us (John 3:16) and He wants to restore the relationship that was broken by sin (Romans 5:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19) so that He can restore our original purpose that we were created for which is to expand the Kingdom of God in partnership with Him.

That is why:

  • Jesus ministry was based on expanding the Kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17, 10:7; Mark 1:15; Luke 4:43; 9:2-6)
  • Jesus trained disciples with the truth (Matthew 7:28-29, 28:19-20; Luke 4:22; John 7:46)
  • Jesus demonstrated love and service to his disciples
  • Jesus sent disciples to act in his authority to continue his work (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 10:1; Acts 1:8) to be witnesses to the lost

Why does the Kingdom of God need to be expanded?

Love

  • So that more people may get to know and love each other (God's creation) (John 13:34-35)
  • So that more people may get to know and love God (John 17:3)

Glory

So that this Kingdom will glorify God (John 17:1-5).

That is why it is called "The Kingdom of God".

The King

Any kingdom needs a king. Daniel prophesied that the Kingdom of God would have a human king:

"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. — Daniel 7:13-14 (ESV)

Jesus is not a weak suffering victim on a cross that seeks our pity. He voluntarily sacrificed himself to establish the Kingdom of God. That is why he is the only candidate worthy to be the king and that is why God resurrected and exalted him and that is why we should honor and serve him.

The Gospel is not about feeling sorry about our sins, but instead it is a call to turn from sinning to joyfully serve the king.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. — Romans 14:17-18 (ESV)

Matthew witnessed that Jesus fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy:

This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

"Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" — Zechariah 9:9

— Matthew 21:4-5 (ESV)

And Matthew witnessed that Jesus said:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." — Matthew 28:18 (ESV)

Peter witnessed:

This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

— Acts 2:32-36 (ESV)

Why Follow Jesus?

Evidence leads somewhere. If Jesus is who he claimed, the response isn't mere intellectual agreement but personal commitment.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. — John 10:27-28 (ESV)

It is simply not good enough to know about Jesus. We need to follow him by continuing the work that he had started:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

— Matthew 25:31-46 (ESV)

The King promised:

Reconciliation

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." — John 14:6 (ESV)

Forgiveness

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." — Matthew 26:27-28 (ESV)

Salvation

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." — John 10:10 (ESV)

Adoption

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in me, and I in You, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent me. The glory that You have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and You in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent me and loved them even as You loved me. — John 17:20-23 (ESV)

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. — Matthew 6:9 (ESV)

Purpose

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses." — Acts 1:8 (ESV)

Next Steps

Jesus himself asked his disciples:

"Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15)

The question remains.

Who is Jesus to YOU?

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