When we confess

“and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord,”

we naturally think of Jesus’ life, which is the basis of our Christian faith.  These words are the center of the Creed and the heart of our knowledge of God.

Believing in a god is not at all unique to Christians, but believing in God as He is revealed in Jesus Christ is unique.  Faith in Jesus Christ is what gives our religion its distinctive shape and flavor.  Faith in Him is something we do in obedience to the command of both the Father (1 John 3:23 and the Son (John 14:1)

The Name of Jesus Christ

The name Jesus is a translation of the Hebrew name Yeshua, which means “God is Savior” or “God is Deliverer.”  Joseph and Mary gave that name to Jesus in obedience to the angel’s command:  “You shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).  Just as His name explains, Jesus is our salvation.  Through Him, we enjoy fellowship with the Father, we are redeemed from bondage to sin, and our eternity in heaven is secure.

Jesus is also called “Christ.”  This is a name derived from the Greek word meaning “anointed.”  Christ is also the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew title “Messiah”, which describes Jesus as the servant of God who is set apart for the high purpose of redemption.  He is the One promised long ago to the patriarchs and to the prophets.

Jesus declared that He was the Messiah, the Anointed One.  Inside the synagogue of His own home town, He recited the words of Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

He assured His listeners that these words were being fulfilled in their very presence, before their very eyes (Luke 4:18-21; see also Isaiah 61:1)

The Beginnings of Christianity

The combination of Hebrew and Greek in the name of Jesus Christ describes His universal significance to all people.  He came for both Jews and Gentiles alike.

The coming of Messiah was something God willed from before the worlds were made.  It happened in fulfillment of God’s  covenant promises to His people at a time when all things were ready and the world was ripe. (Galatians 4:4)

The Misunderstood Messiah

Though Jesus, God carried out His plans to redeem mankind.  He is the very One who found no room in the inn at His birth, and who found no reception in the house of Israel during His years of public ministry.  Yet Jesus was God’s anointed Deliverer.

At the time of his coming, many Israelites misunderstood what kind of Messiah they were waiting for.  Many Jews expected a national hero, a king, and a great warrior.  Others expected a supernatural messenger of the world’s end.  In Jesus they got someone Who was all these things and none of these things.  What they got was Isaiah’s suffering servant – a Messiah who conquered by dying, healed our anguishes with His own, and preached about the Kingdom of God.

Jesus frequently tried to distance Himself from the faulty views many people had about Him.  As God’s anointed One, Jesus knew better than His followers just what His work entailed.

Only a small group of belivers understood that He had a difficult path.  None could bear to think He would face the humiliation of the Cross.

God’s intention for His Anointed One was global.  God’s purpose always was to gather all things together in Christ.  He is the One under whose authority all things shall be placed and by whome all things, even now, hold together (Hebrews 1:13,; Colosians 1:17).

Jesus is Our Lord

Calling Jesus “our Lord” is the very essence of the Christian faith because it connects us both to Him and to His will.  Even the angels proclaimed him “Lord” on the first Christmas (Luke 2:11).  Paul and his colleagues also declared it when they were dragged before the authorities (Acts 17:7).  When we call Christ our Lord, we acknowledge our duty to revere Him and obey Him.  We willingly shape our lives around His will because we know He has the right to rule us – and we have the privilege to obey.

The earliest Christians were faced with a profound and far-reaching decision: choosing between “Christ is Lord” or “Caesar is Lord”.  Paul regularly taught that someone other than Caesar was Lord – Jesus Christ.  Paul seems to have understood that when we declare Jesus as Lord, it frees us from being bound to any earthly master.  It was a lesson Paul never forgot.  Even in old age, when he was imprisoned for his faith, he called Christ the “King of kings and the Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15).

“Lord” was used even in the Old Testament to describe the Supreme God (Genesis 15:7; Exodus 6:2).  Jesus rightly owned and accepted the title:

 “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am” (John 13:13).

Christ is Lord of the world.  Every part of human life is under His dominion – including our minds, our hearts and our consciences.  He is Lord of all.  He holds sway over the whole universe.  Christ is not simply my Lord, or even the Christian Lord.  He is not eve the greatest Lord among many lesser lords.  He is the one Lord.

Nowhere can one find a hiding place or Christ-free refuge (1 Corinthians 8:6).  Though the world does not yet confess that awesome fact, someday it will (Philippians 2:9-11). Before Him every knee one day will bow.