“Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
and to day, and for ever” Heb. 13:8
There
is an old saying among us humans “nothing remains the same”. Certainly that is
true when it comes to daily activities, for “to every thing there is a season”
(Eccles. 3:1-8). It is true when it comes to our cities, for everything is either being
built up or torn down. It is true when it comes to our bodies, for they are continually
wearing out, although the young people do not realize this until it is too late. But this
is not true when it comes to Jesus Christ. God says in Malachi 3:6, “I am the Lord, I
change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed”. Jesus the Christ in his
glorified FORM remains the SAME yesterday, and to day, and for ever, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them” (Heb. 7:25).
Recently I determined to undertake a personal
detailed study of the “Life of Christ” and the first question that came to mind
was, “Where do I begin to study one who is eternal” ? John directed the
Revelation of Jesus Christ to the seven churches of Asia, “from him which is, and
which was, and which is to come” (Rev. 1:4, 8). Jesus Christ declared him-self to be
“the beginning and the ending, the first and the last - He that liveth, and was dead;
and behold I am alive for evermore, Amen” (Rev. 1:8, 11, 18). Perhaps this is what
Paul had in mind when he wrote “Jesus Christ the same --- “.
One must be careful with his terminology when
talking about Him (Jesus Christ) being Eternal. As I understand it, divisions have been
caused by disagreement over the use of words more than the principal involved. Sometimes
our minds are incapable of reasoning beyond the limits of our own personal vocabulary.
Therefore I ask that you be charitable with my use of words. I believe my understanding of
the principal is sound, but my vocabulary may be lacking. The Scriptures are clear that
Jesus Christ AS the living Word is eternally THE SAME yesterday, and to day, and forever.
The Living Word, Logos, who is the Truth, does not change and is forever settled in
heaven. Certainly Paul could have had the Eternality of the Living Word in mind when he
said “Jesus Christ the same –“.
We know that Jesus the Christ, as the Living Word
has not always been in the SAME form. John tells us, “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God – And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us –“ (John 1:1, 14). Paul wrote, “Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the FORM OF GOD, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God: --“ (Phil. 2:5-6). Since God is a Spirit (John 4:24), and the Holy
Spirit is a Spirit, and Jesus Christ as the Living Word was in the FORM OF GOD IN THE
BEGINNING, I think it is safe to assume that
Jesus Christ, as the Living Word, was in the form of a
Spirit. “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost: and these three are ONE”.
Jesus the Christ as “God was manifest in the
flesh” (I Tim. 3:16) AND “took upon him the FORM of a servant, and was made in
the likeness of men –“ (Phil. 2:7). Paul wrote, “But when the fullness of
time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal. 4:4-5).
Again, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh” (Rom. 8:1-3). That is, “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he
saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In
burnt offerings and sacrifices thou hast had no pleasure” (Heb. 10:5-6).
Man can not explain the mechanics of the miraculous
virgin birth of Jesus the Christ. Even though some try by offering their vain philosophies
or human reasoning, we hear God say, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa.
55:9). Paul tells us, “his ways are past finding out”. Some will say, with
modern day genetics man knows how to create life in a Test Tube. Answer: Man has not done
anything but Manipulate Life - Only God can create and give life. Mary could not
understand the virgin birth, for she said “How can this be, seeing I know not a
man”. Answer: “The holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest
shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God” (Luke 1:34-35).
God FORMED the first Adam from the “dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
soul” (Gen. 2:7). “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the
Lord from heaven” (I Cor. 15:47). Paul said, “And without controversy great is the mystery
of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh –“.
Jesus himself proclaimed, “I proceeded forth and came from God
–“. At the end of his ministry Jesus prayed, “And now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was” (Jn 17:5). As God manifest in the flesh the life of Jesus the Christ on this
earth lasted about 33 ½ years from his BIRTH to his RESSURRECTION. We are not told much about our Lord’s
childhood, but we are told that he was BORN TO DIE.
There are no less than 226 names attributed to Jesus
the Christ in the Bible. He is also called “Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The
Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, Holy One, Lamb of God, Prince of Life, Lion of
the Tribe of Judah, Root of David, Word of Life, Author and Finisher of Our Faith,
Advocate, The Way, The Truth and The Life, Dayspring, Chief
Shepherd, Bishop of Our Souls, Chief Cornerstone, Righteous Judge, Bread of
Life, Living Water, Light of the World, The Door, Head of the Church, Morning Star, Sun of
Righteousness, The Resurrection and Life, Horn of Salvation, Governor, Alpha and Omega,
The Son of God, Lord of All, and I AM “ just to mention a few other names.
But his BIRTH NAME, predetermined by God his Father
and announced by the angel Gabriel who was sent to Joseph and Mary, was JESUS (Jehovah is
Saviour). “And she shall bring forth a
son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their
sins”. The name Jesus is synonymous with Emmanuel, which being interpreted is
“God with us” (Matt. 1:18-21). His name is Jesus but his Title is CHRIST meaning the
Anointed One or Messiah. When he was born, the angel of the Lord proclaimed to the
Shepherds, “For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord”. The shepherds found the BABE wrapped in swaddling clothes (Ezek.
16:4) and lying in a manger (Luke 2:7, 12). When Jesus was eight (8) days old he was
circumcised and NAMED Jesus (Luke 2:27). When the forty (40) days of Mary’s purification were
finished (Luke 2:28 with Lev. 12:2-4) they took Jesus to the
Temple in
Jerusalem to present him unto
the Lord. There he was blessed by Simeon, for “it was revealed unto him by the Holy
Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke
2:26-32). Following that,
Joseph and Mary returned “into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth”.
Baby Jesus did not remain a Baby. The wise men, who
were Gentiles, came from the East to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews”
(Matt. 2:2, Isa. 60:1-5). They wanted to know “where Christ should be born”.
They were too late to find Jesus “wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger” in Bethlehem, the city of David.
Joseph and Mary were back in
Nazareth. Jesus was about a
year old when the wise men came “into the house” and “saw the young child
with Mary his mother (Matt. 2:8-14). No less than six (6) times in this passage is Jesus
referred to as a “young child”. He was no longer a “BABE lying in a
manger”. He was the Christ child. We know almost nothing about his childhood, except
that when he was a boy of twelve (12), he was found “in the temple, sitting in the
midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions” (Luke 2:41-46).
When asked WHY, he answered, “How is that
ye sought me ? Wist (know, understand) ye not that I must be about my Father’s
business ?” (Luke 2:49).
Just as Mary did not remain a virgin (Mark 6:3),
Jesus did not remain a boy. He grew up to become a man. The scriptures are silent about
his boyhood, except to say, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour
with God and man” (Luke 2:52). We learn no more about Jesus the Christ until he is about
thirty (30) years old, at which time he walked sixty (60) miles “form Galilee to
Jordan, unto John, to be baptized of him” (Matt. 3:13-17, Luke 3:21-23). The age of thirty (30) was the time
that the Priest could begin his service “in the tabernacle of the congregation, about
the most holy things” (Num. 4:1-4). Scripture then turns our attention to the Christ,
the Son of man, the Son of God.
The prophetic
term for Christ, the Messiah, is “the Son of man”. Daniel “saw in the night
vision, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to
the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve
him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14). This term
“Son of man” is used throughout the prophecies of Ezekiel to speak of the
Christ, the Messiah.
Andrew, the brother of Peter, heard John the Baptist
preaching, and followed Jesus. He then went to Simon Peter and said, “We have found
the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, THE CHRIST” (John 1:41). Nathanael said to
this SAME JESUS, “Rabbi, thou art the Son
of God; thou art the King of Israel” (John 1:49). Jesus once asked his disciples, “Whom do men say, that I
the Son of man am ?”. After getting various answers of what others thought, he
asked, “But whom say ye that I am ?”. Peter replied, “Thou art THE CHRIST,
THE SON of THE LIVING GOD”. Jesus pointed out to Peter that THIS TRUTH did not come
by “flesh and blood” but had been revealed unto him by his Father. After this, Jesus told his disciples, “that
they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ” (Matt. 16:13-20). Again, he charged
his disciples, “Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from
the dead” (Matt. 17:1-9).
Jesus the Christ came to die for the sins of his
people, BUT he did not remain dead. Following his death on the 14th of Nisan, a
Wednesday evening, before 6 PM, He was laid in a borrowed tomb, which they tried to seal for
the Devil’s benefit. The next day was the High Sabbath, the first day of the Feast of
Unleaven Bread. After three days and nights, He was resurrected by the Spirit of God just
before sundown on Saturday, the regular Sabbath day. Jesus had told them he would be in
the grave for three days and three nights (72 hours - no more, no less). It was still
dark, “Early in the morning” when the women came to the tomb on the “First
Day of The Week” to anoint the body, They found the stone rolled away and the tomb
empty. Jesus had come forth from the grave victorious over sin, death and hell, and had
ascended into heaven, into the true Tabernacle of God, to present him-self the ONE
sacrifice that perfects forever them (the elect) that are sanctified.
“When he had by himself purged our sins, (he) sat down on the right hand of
the Majesty on high” to begin his eternal reign over his kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14, Heb. 1:3, 8-13). Paul wrote, “and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, -- and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Phil.
2:8-11). “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). “Jesus
Christ, the same, yesterday, and to day, and for ever”.