Known Day 3 Christos
John 10:11-18
Revelation 19:11-16
Hebrews 1:1-14
Titles are telling.
Sr. Jr. Sir. Madam. PHD. Mrs. Master. Dr. CEO.
A few simple letters before a name can tell us who is in charge, a person’s qualifications, their relationship status, or their generational rank.
Your name and title matter. When someone misspells or mispronounces your name, a little flag goes up inside, waving around saying, “Hey! You don’t know me.”
More than a few letters, God’s titles and names preserved in Scripture reveal much about His character, His heart, His purposes, and His person.
To skip His name, is to miss out on truly knowing Him.
Christos is Greek for “anointed” and is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew word Mashiach, meaning Messiah. It is also the origin of the English word Christ, which identifies Jesus as the one sent from God to be King and Savior.
From the beginning of Creation in the Old Testament to the glorious return of the Lord Jesus in Revelation, God consistently points us to the Sovereign Savior who would come to earth as the wholly divine, wholly human, Jesus Christ.
Here is God as Christos in action!
Genesis 3:15 is the first foretelling of an Anointed Messiah.
“I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your (Satan) head, and you will strike His heel.”
The Christos.
The Mashiach.
He would conquer sin and death by killing it once and for all.
Psalm 22:16-18 and Isaiah 53:5-6 each prophesy in detail of Jesus’ future death that would pay the sin-debt we owed. (John 20:25, Matthew 27:32-50)
In Noah’s ark we see refuge from God’s holy judgment discovered only in Jesus. (Genesis 6:17-18, 1 Peter 3:18-22)
Joseph pictures Christ as he is unjustly persecuted yet raised to a position of honor. (Genesis 37; Genesis 41:37-45)
Abraham is called to sacrifice his son just as Jesus would be sacrificed on the cross. Isaac even carried the wood for the burnt offering like our savior carried His cross. (Genesis 22:1-14)
Moses, born into poverty, called to intercede on behalf of his people as he leads them by God’s hand out of bondage (Exodus 2:1-10; Exodus 3:4-22), also pictures Jesus.
Every story speaks of the promised coming of Christos.
Through the brilliant lens of Scripture, we come to understand the title of Christos more fully. Jesus is…
Anointed as Savior of the world (Luke 2:11, 1 John 2:2)
Conqueror of sin and death (Isaiah 25:8, John 1:29, John 3:14-15)
Mediator between God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 9:14-15)
The Promised Mashiach of the Old Testament is the Reigning Christos of the New Testament!
It’s breathtaking to see a prophecy fulfilled, let alone hundreds of them in a singular person of Christ, but lest we misunderstand His name, we must remember He is no mere man, no angelic being, no greatly glorified, almost God-man, but the full manifestation of God Almighty in flesh.
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3)
Prior to Jesus’ physical arrival as a baby in Bethlehem, there are many Christophanies (an appearance or non-physical manifestation of Christ). One way we can spot these is through the designation of “the” Angel of the Lord, rather than “an” angel of the Lord as we read Old Testament passages. When reading, look for these distinctions between The Angel of the Lord and other created angels:
1) The angel is identified as divine (Genesis 16:11-14; Exodus 3:1-6)
2) The angel accepts worship (Joshua 5:13-15; Numbers 22:31; Judges 13:19-22)
3) The angel speaks as God (Genesis 16:10; Genesis 22:15-18)
In understanding Christos, we are compelled to rightly respond to His distinct title as Promised Anointed Messiah who fulfilled every prophecy and rules and reigns today at the right hand of God.
We should respond to a Sovereign Savior with
Godly fear or awe,
obedience,
surrender,
deep gratitude and joy,
and adoring worship.
Proverbs 1:7 tells us the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”
Godly fear is a reverence of God’s majesty, perfect righteousness, and sovereign grace.
Obedience is a natural result of godly fear. (Philippians 2:12)
When we witness the majesty of our Lord, we recognize our own littleness; we are humbled that we might become holy as He is holy! (1 Peter 1:15)
In his book, “The Sovereignty of God,” A.W. Pink addresses the attitude of surrender we should all have toward God, “A true recognition of God’s sovereignty will avow God’s perfect right to do with us as He wills.” One unmistakable example of complete surrender to God’s will is found in 1 Samuel 3:11-18 when Samuel tells Eli the high priest that God will strike down his two sons for cursing Him. Eli responds in surrender, “‘He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is good.’”
Deep gratitude and joy is discovered as we intentionally choose worship while exercising our faith. A tested and steadfast faith (James 1:2-4) will give thanks for all things (Ephesians 5:20) and “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).
We should offer adoring worship to the Creator of everything, the One who is sovereign over all, including us! A.W. Pink says it exquisitely once more, “The mere fact that God’s will itself is irresistible and irreversible fills me with fear, but once I realize that God wills only that which is good my heart is made to rejoice.”
When we correctly position our eyes on Christos, our Sovereign Savior, we are removed of our own selves and filled with a reverent fear of the Lord, which leads to complete obedience and surrender, upon which we are able to worship the King with deep gratitude and a joyful soul!
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