Our Lord Jesus Christ

There's a phrase Paul used often in his letters, roughly "grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." I want to focus on that last part, OUR Lord Jesus Christ, because its kind of important. In fact it is of the utmost importance, as it goes along with the question of "who is this?" referring to Jesus Christ -- a key question to answer during our time here under the sun.

I heard someone preach on this some time ago and intended to write about it, but largely forgot until prompted further today by the Spirit after having encountered some Jehovah's Witnesses earlier in the day and having ample free time on my hands before I go to bed.

There are many people who claim some knowledge of Jesus Christ. There are many, not as much, who claim to follow Jesus Christ. But there is a difference between the Jesus some follow and the real Jesus. We need to be following the real Jesus, not some imaginary one, so let's review some facts about who Jesus Christ is NOT.

The Lord Jesus Christ is not a created being, Satan's brother, Michael the archangel, just a teacher, just a philosopher, just a spiritual being without a physical body, just a prophet, and so on. The Lord Jesus Christ is not some hippie type dude preaching only peace and love to all, and whatever that means to you is okay. The Lord Jesus Christ did not avoid death on the cross -- but he didn't stay dead either.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, fully God and fully man -- the God-man if you will. He is the only one that can make the perfect justice of God and the perfect mercy of God make any sense -- God himself taking on the form of a man, suffering, and dying on the cross to take our place as a payment for sins, and rising again on the third day. He is the only one that bridges the gap between man and God the Father. No one other than God in the flesh could accomplish such a feat.

If this doesn't describe the Jesus you follow, then you are following a false Jesus. The Bible says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, and we are warned about false Christs and false gospels. For those in Christ, any attention to these Jesus imposters lead us away from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Make sure that you follow the Jesus who loved us so much he gave up his glory in heaven to come to earth, dwell among us, and suffer and die for us. This is the Jesus we know when we say "OUR Lord Jesus Christ."

Grace and peace