Jesus the Christ

OK, so most folks are probably aware that Christ was NOT his last name. The angel Gabriel told both Mary and Joseph to call him Jesus. Matthew said that the OT prophesied he would be called Immanuel, but nobody else in the NT ever used it. So we have Jesus (God Saves) and Christ (the Anointed One). But some gospel writers put it together in referring to him, and Paul and Peter used it frequently. Nowadays it's plastered everywhere, and some hotheads have formalized it by adding an H in the middle in their swearing. All are constant reminders of this household name that is well known worldwide by saints and enemies alike.

He's depicted as the holy babe of a vengeful God, the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins, the second person of the Trinity and our spiritual guide. I believe in him because I'm taking him at his word. Now I realize that someone long ago wrote that he said those things; as best we can tell, he never wrote anything. But I stand on my faith in him for two reasons: 1) I've never been so impressed with anyone's words, written or spoken, as I have this carpenter-prophet who boldly claimed to be the actual son of God; and 2) I have this unexplainable stirring within me (No, it wasn't the taco salad.) that won't let me go and says to me, "This is my son; listen to him."

So then if he's God's son, and I'm God's child by virtue of being created, that makes him my brother. How great is that? And coming straight from a perfect God, he had to be a perfect son. How many of us can boast of a perfect sibling? I'm an only child, but I hear that some siblings claim perfection, and that can be annoying. I think I was created perfect, but some bad stuff stuck to me on the way. Jesus was like teflon; nothing stuck to him. Another cool big brother trait.

He came back to life after his execution to prove to us that death is not the end, but a glorious rebirth. This gives tremendous hope to those who still fear the other side of the grave. I've been at death's door three times, and was given peace on each occasion --- ready to go, ready to stay.

Jesus said that God said that he could pass out some commands, like love God, love your neighbor, keep the spiritual laws that are already written on your hearts. That's fine by me, because I know that Jesus is not trying to pull authority away from his father. Instead he came to tell us and show us what his father was really like. I must and will serve anyone who can pull that off. But nobody else can even come close.
STEVE