Removing Some Confusion About Jesus

Removing Some Confusion About Jesus

 

While reviewing some of my earlier posts to this blog, it became apparent to me that I had neglected to note an important factor that has been leading to some confusion about our Lord Jesus.  That factor is the different names / terms used in the Bible that refer to Him.  For some Christians, and other Bible students, the changes in terminology might be playing an unwanted role in limiting their understanding of how He has affected the lives of mankind over thousands of years.  Those years spanned time both long before and since He completed His Earthly Ministry.

There are several reasons why the different terms referring to our Lord Jesus are used. Consider that until He took on human flesh and was born in Bethlehem, He was not called “Jesus”.  My Strong’s Concordance showed that the name “Jesus” is used 981 times in our Bible, and all of them occur in the New Testament. (Matthew 1: 21-23)  The “Strong’s definition” is remarkably brief, and simply says: “the name of our Lord”. (That excludes three references to Joshua and Justus.)

Many Christians still don’t know that Jesus was the Creator of the heaven and the Earth of Genesis 1: 1.  (John 1: 1-3, 9-10;  Colossians 1: 12-8)  Our Lord Jesus’ future identity was hidden from the Old Testament writers, the Nation of Israel as a whole, and others.   That included being hidden from the Enemy from Genesis 3: 14-15.  Remember the perspective that the LORD God (Jesus) gave to Moses, who was told to pass it along to the Nation of Israel. He said: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children for ever;,,,” (Deuteronomy 29: 29)  God keeps secrets.

To hopefully further remove some of the confusion about Jesus in the Bible, I performed a “Google search” for the “Different Names of Jesus” . The result showed lots of perspectives, depending on the source.  (See: https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=E210US105G0&p=different+names+of+jesus )  I do not want to repeat their views. Therefore I encourage you to do your own searches.

On the other hand, I do want to stress the importance of recognizing that our Lord Jesus was identified in the Scripture as God, LORD God, LORD, LORD thy God, Seed of the Woman, Jehovah, (including Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-Shalom), Christ, The Anointed,  Jesus of Nazareth, Immanuel, The Father, The Messiah, Son of God, Son of David, Son of Man, Prophet, Rabbi, Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, The Passover Lamb, The Rock, Lamb of God, Head of the Body of Christ, Savior, , The WORD, The Light, Beloved Son, The Good Shepherd, Lion of Judah, Bread of Life, The True Vine, Advocate, KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS, and by other names / titles. It is by these various names that the Bible traces the history of mankind through Jesus.

In an earlier post I noted that it is not uncommon for those who read the Scripture to have some difficulty interpreting the meaning. Remember how the Resurrected Jesus met two pilgrims who were returning from Jerusalem following the Feast of Passover and His Crucifixion. They were distraught and disappointed because they thought He was their Messiah, and He had been slain.  The Lord opened their eyes by opening their understanding of the Old Testament Scripture that foretold of those events. (Luke 24: 10-35)  The other example was when the disciple Philip was sent by the Holy Spirit to enlighten another pilgrim, the Ethiopian eunuch, by explaining the Scripture of Isaiah Chapter 53, as it related to our Lord Jesus. (Acts 8: 26-35)

From the beginning of our Bible through to the end, the focus is on man’s relationship with Jesus. The Scripture informs us of who we are, how we came to be here during this critical time in the history of mankind, and what the future holds.  Very importantly, the Bible tells us how we as individuals hold our future in our own hands. Believing in Jesus, His love and sacrifice for us is the key to that future being with…or without God. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4; Romans 10: 9-13, Revelation 20: 11-15).

For those who only have regard for the New Testament, where the name “Jesus” appears, they are missing key information about Him. I want to continually remind our Christian colleagues of the guidance provided by the Apostle Paul (the Apostle of the Gentiles).  Two major points to guide us and remove confusion related to the Scriptures are these:

“  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15: 4); and

“¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

¹⁷ That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3: 16-17).

Our Bible is the gift of God to man, through the Holy Spirit.  Given the choices man has faced and made throughout history, we have the choice and opportunity to have faith in and believe what Jesus offers as the path to eternal life.  We should all want to be included in the “Lamb’s Book of Life”. Remember that the story of our relationship with our Lord Jesus began in Genesis Chapter One, not in Bethlehem.

Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson

https://christianityandbiblestudy.blogspot.com