Who is Jesus Christ?

                        When this question is personalized, it becomes the most important question one will ever be asked or answer.  Who is Jesus Christ to YOU?  Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10, NKJV).  In 1 John 5:11-13 we are told that if we have the son in our life we can KNOW that we have eternal life.  
                   Jesus is the only way for us to live an abundant life here on earth, or receive eternal life in fellowship with God.  Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins so that we could be sinless in the eyes of God.  If we do not receive the free gift of eternal life by experiencing the forgiveness achieved by Jesus, then we will receive the punishment we so justly deserve.   Jesus must become the Lord of our lives.  
         Imagine your life as an automobile—Jesus must be behind the wheel of your life.  The verses below show the attributes of Jesus, but if he has not forgiven your sins, been invited into your life and involved in a personal relationship with you, there is little purpose in reading on.   You can change your life at this very moment.  Admit your sin, repent of it before God.  Believe in the atonement of Jesus on the cross and receive the gift of eternal life which Jesus died to freely give you.  Invite Jesus into your life to live through you and thank him for doing so.

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AS CHRIST'S PASSION BECOMES OURS

                 What is it about The Passion of the Christ that stirs people so deeply? After all, it is just a movie, isn't it? Yet, Mel Gibson's portrait of Christ and His sufferings, for many, has awakened emotions people never knew they had; it resurrects longings many thought were dead.The power of this movie is that it speaks to the very DNA of our spiritual identity as Christians. It does not matter whether we are Lutherans or Catholics, Baptists or Pentecostals, something fundamental about ourselves is being unearthed from antiquity and restored to our souls.
Let me explain.
There is a reason why societies memorialize those who, through their sacrifice or courage, were instrumental in shaping their cultural identity. To forget the legacy of one's forefathers is to actually lose some essence of who we are as a unique people. Thus, we honor our founders and heros by creating memorials to them. We erect statues, name airports and cities after them and even have national holidays in remembrance of their sacrifices and accomplishments.
Yet, the power of our memorials goes beyond the tribute they offer to the past; they actually connect us to our heritage. For what we truly memorialize, we internalize and make a living part of our souls. Thus, each time a succeeding generation honors a national hero, as they appreciate what made their leaders great, the essence of those values is transferred to them.
As our technology advances, our ability to memorialize has taken modern expressions. For African Americans, the book and movie Roots helped define the uniqueness of the black journey in America. While the movie touched and taught people in general, for those of African American descent, it went much deeper: for many, it was a summary season that connected them with the genesis of their own souls. The movie communicated more than information; it brought with it impartation from the generations of Africans who suffered and died in slavery. It said: Here is the great price our forebears paid. We owe it to them to prosper in this land of our affliction.
Roots was not just a movie; it became a memorial.
The Jewish people also have their unique memorials. Established in a number of different cities around the world are Holocaust museums, which are memorials to Jewish suffering. For those of us who are Gentiles, we visit, we are touched and we come away with a better understanding and love for the Jewish people. Seeing the history of their persecution helps us appreciate the passion Jews have for their homeland, Israel. Yet, the images of mass open graves and ovens, of people standing in lines before gas chambers, penetrate much deeper into the soul of a Jew. They see the sufferings of the Holocaust generation and it adds something to their soul, a mandate which rises in their hearts: Never again; never forget!
Such is the nature of memorials: they compel us to remember the sacrifice; they command us to never forget.
Yet, strangely, Christians have not had a memorial dedicated to the sufferings of Christ. Our "Passion plays" and gospel movies are carefully scripted to inspire, but not to offend. We memorialize His life, but not the passions of His death. We know theologically of His sufferings, but we have not truly seen them. In fact, because we know the outcome of the story, even before the scourging and crucifixion scenes are over, our focus shifts ahead to His resurrection.
But in failing to linger, in refusing to gaze steadfastly upon the sorrow and assimilate its staggering cost, we unconsciously cheapen His sacrifice. As we detach ourselves from the price, its impact in us is proportionally diminished.
Just as memorializing the Holocaust continues to serve, even to this day, in defining modern Israel, so The Passion of the Christ brings Christians face-to-face with the cost of our redemption. It cuts us deeply. We, too, are wounded as we see the degree of His wounding; we also are broken by the depth of His brokenness. Sobs can be heard in the theater. Why are we crying? Didn't we know the story? Yes. We knew the facts, but not the ongoing torture, the abandonment and rejection, the injustice or unspeakable pain. The cost is being transferred to us.
The movie rescues Christ's sacrifice from the realm of cerebral information and secures its power in the holy place of our hearts. Yes, the movie wounds us, but it also heals us by letting us see the demonstration of Christ's love for us.
Must we have the violent images? Yes, the unrelenting torture and the merciless cruelty are the backdrop of darkness that contrasts the brightness of Christ's sacrifice for mankind. To leave them out or minimize the account is to subtract from the totality of His gift.
The word holocaust, legitimately used by Jews to describe their sufferings in Nazi death camps, means "a sacrificial offering entirely consumed." It is a biblical term. Christ's sacrifice was exactly this -- a sacrifice entirely consumed for us.
The critics rage, not merely because they are angry, but because they are afraid. The truth of Christ's love is too powerful to allow back into the mainstream of secular life. For years a vocal, but small minority has sought to remove all but the memory of God from society, but even the memory of what Christ did for us is powerful enough to transform the world.
For many Christians, The Passion of the Christ is not just another movie; it is a memorial to His suffering for our sins. In seeing, we remember, and the power of His sacrifice restores our souls.
           By Francis Frangipane

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Abraham

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HIS NAME — WONDERFUL!..

His Name shall be called Wonderful." So spoke the Old Testament seer, Isaiah, as he looked down the long corridor of the centuries and envisioned the entrance of the Son of God upon the stage of world events. Through the ages there have been many wonderful men, men whose personalities and exploits have fired the world with admiration, but the prophetic finder pointed past them all and singled out the Man Christ Jesus. "His Name shall be called Wonderful." It is not only that He is wonderful but that is His Name.
  The strange paradox which Isaiah predicted was that He whose Name is Wonderful would have no appeal to the average man. They would see "no beauty in Him that [they] should desire Him." but by divine revelation His beauty and glory has dawned upon many hearts and brought them as worshippers to his feet.
  His Name is wonderful because of the Person He is; the everlasting God the one and only Potentate; the Creator and Upholder of all things; coequal with the Father; Jehovah the Saviour; without beginning of years or end of days. Yet the contemplation of those divine attributes cannot tell us all the story of the One whose name is Wonderful. The person who knows Him only as a supreme Being will never catch Isaiah's vision of Him. Isaiah spoke of this One who, being the eternal Potentate, was making a descent from those heights of glory and majesty down to the world which His hands had made.
  Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given (Isa. 9:6).
THE WONDER OF HIS BIRTH
It is when we first get a glimpse by faith of this blessed Person becoming God incarnate', that the wonder of it dawns upon us. His coining had been foretold by inspired prophets tor centuries. Moses had told us what race He would come. Isaiah predicted He would be born of a virgin. Micah told exactly where He would be born in Bethlehem of Judea. Daniel gave us a prophetic clock upon whose face we should read the time of His coming. These things alone serve to set this wonderful Person apart from all others that were ever born into this world. 
As we contemplate the wonder of His birth, in our minds we stand on the darkened hills of Judea, and see a bright star in the heavens. It was His star, travelling across the dark bosom of night to direct the wise men to His birthplace. This is no errant planet wandering by some accident of nature from its appointed path. This was a star set in the heavens, its course planned from creation's birth. Its pace was set by divine accuracy, that it might fulfil its unhurried journey through trackless space to arrive with utmost precision in the eastern sky the very moment these wise men cast their inquiring gaze
heavenward. Its journey of many centuries brought it directly over the humble dwelling where the Christ child lay.
Nor was the star alone in its miraculous mission; while the shepherds were standing among their sheep on the hillside, the angels were proclaiming, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men." The shepherds went to Bethlehem and "saw this thing which had come to pass."
  Never was a baby born like this. The host of heaven was filled with the wonder, yet only a few wise men and shepherds were stirred enough to witness the spectacle. There was no room for Him in the inn. This Babe must be born in the little town of Bethlehem, not in the metropolis of Jerusalem, not wrapped in royal linen or costly garments, but in swaddling clothes and laid in a feeding trough.
  Can this be He to whom Isaiah pointed, saying, "His Name shall be called Wonderful"? Yes, this is He! Had He come like a prince to be born in the palace of the Herods, with royal acclamation and great fanfare, hailed by earth's grand and great ones, then His Name would not have been wonderful. But He who "thought it not robbery to be equal with God...made Himself of no reputation and became in the likeness of men". 
  That is wonderful!

THE WONDER OF HIS LIFE
See Him as He grows up. He is a carpenter's boy and his earthly parents arc poor and humble people. He' works as a carpenter also. Think of this One who made the worlds, working with patience and grace for twenty years as a humble carpenter. How the zeal of the Lord must have burned within Him during those long years, yet Ho never was in a hurry. Why should He be? Was He not the First and the Last always?
  Our imagination staggers as we think what it must have been to have a plowshaft or a yoke made by His skillful hand. He would be a master craftsman. His yokes would not bruise the shoulders of the oxen. I wonder if He did not nave this in mind when He said. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me,, My yoke is easy and my burden is light.
  Thirty years He waited in the obscurity of his is native village, unknown and unobserved until He stepped into the public eye. Beginning in Nazareth where He was brought up. He presented himself in the synagogue to the wonderment of the rabbis who handed Him the sacred scroll. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed. He opened blind eves. He delivered the demon- possessed. 
  He raised the crippled. He spoke peace to troubled hearts. The rich and the poor, the Jew and the Gentile, all received blessing from His hand.
How would His people receive such a Visitor to this vale of tears? In Nazareth, they sought to stone Him. In Jerusalem, they tried to cast Him over the brow of the city's hill. The Pharisees spurned Him; the Sadducees mocked Him. Multitudes thronged Him to eat of the bread He gave, and then deserted Him when they were filled. He was hated, cursed, spat upon, mocked, slapped in the face, scourged with a whip. Throngs in the street put their tongues out at Him, drunkards sang their obscene ditties about Him. Children were pushed away when they drew close to His side.
  He was dragged to the Sanhedrin and given a mock trial. A thief and murderer was preferred before Him. A purple robe of mockery was put on Him. A crown of thorns was driven into His head and a heavy cross was laid upon His bleeding shoulders as the bloodthirsty mob led Him up Calvary's hill. "There they crucified Him, and two oth-
ers with Him" What was His response to such hatred and violence against Him He prayed for them, "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do!" Wonderful indeed is He!
  THE WONDER OF HIS DEATH
  Having then suffered ignominy and shame at the hands of ruthless men. He became their sin-bearer, and for three long hours the judgment of a holy God against sin fell on His blessed head. The sun hid its face in abject shame, and the world was plunged into great darkness—a darkness that bespeaks the anguish of the silent Sufferer's soul.
Then, when it seemed as if the blackness of the pit itself had finally enveloped the world 
in eternal night, the voice of the Crucified was heard from the deep darkness, crying, "It 
is finished!" His voice echoed throughout creation's vault and shook the universe to its 
core. Then the Prince of life died. "His Name shall be called Wonderful." In His birth; in 
His life; in His death," His Name is wonderful!
THE WONDER OF HIS RESURRECTION
  Three days and nights pass by and the body of Jesus lay silent in Joseph's new tomb. Then, as the dark shadows of night give way to the rising sun, Mary of Magdala kept lonely and sorrowful vigil in the garden. Suddenly He broke the silence of the tomb and came forth, triumphant from the grave. His Name is wonderful!

  THE WONDER OF HIS COMING AGAIN
  After forty days He ascended the heavens. There he sits today, on the right hand of the majesty on high. Soon His saints will hear His voice for He will "descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God". The dead in Christ will spring forth from the dust of the tomb, the living shall be changed, and caught up together to meet I HIM in the air. Shortly after. He will come forth in power and great glory with His saints to reign, "and every eye shall see Him, and they that pierced Him shall wail because of Him." 
  The gladness of His magnificent kingdom will bring peace and joy to this sad earth. Then Isaiah's prophecy will be fulfilled to the letter. "His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end" (Isa. 9:6-7)."Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other Name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). 
Tom Eastwood

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