Who Is He

And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God.
Revelation 3:14

Titles that are misunderstood, misinterpreted, or misrepresented certainly miss the mark regarding the truth that they were intended to convey. Such is the case in the verse above which is sometimes used by false witnesses to teach that Christ is a created being. Nothing could be further from the truth.

God created atoms and energy. He thought them up. They never existed before, but He brought them into existence. He owns the physical universe. He has the patent.

God is Spirit. He is before the material world and superior to it. Although God can’t be seen, He produced everything that can be, evidently using materials that are also invisible. Our finite minds have real trouble understanding this. For that reason, God manifested Himself in a physical form to reveal Himself to His creation. He is Christ, “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15).

When the Lord presented His credentials to the wishy-washy church in Laodicea, He called Himself the Beginning of the Creation of God. He was trying to impress them with who He was. Jesus is before all things created; He is their Head. The NIV translates this name of Christ as “the ruler of God’s creation.”

It was true that spiritually, the Laodecians weren’t on fire for the Lord, but they weren’t stone cold either. The same can be said about many churches today. And that’s a big problem. How can anyone remain mediocre to the one who is in charge of the whole universe? The fear of God should grip every believer when they realize that one day they’ll have to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, the Beginning of the Creation of God.

 October 1 

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29

Jesus could walk on water and, after His resurrection, He could even go right through a locked door. He fed 5,000 men from a little boy’s lunch box, calmed storms, cured incurable diseases, and raised the dead. With superpowers like that, you’d have expected both D.C. and Marvel to offer Jesus His own comic book series. Christ could have been the quintessential superhero, but He had one problem – marketing.

When Jesus healed the leper, He told the man not to tell anyone. He could have flown, turned rocks into bread, or jumped from tall buildings, but He wouldn’t do any of it. True, Christ fed 5,000 poor people in the desert, but He never advertised this. He could have gotten government subsidies if he fed 5,000 soldiers or bureaucrats. The Son of God lacked a public relations agent.

His power over death and disease could have made Him millions, and when you factor in His ability to bring peace to a troubled heart, He could have had the world come knocking at His door.

In the verses above, Jesus offers rest to the weary and heavy laden. He offers His yoke to pull the load and supports His claims by saying “I am gentle and lowly in heart.” What kind of self-affirmation is this? No modern faith healer or televangelist would ever come across so weak! And there you have the answer: The Savior of the World knew who He was, so He never needed to promote Himself. The miracles He did validated what He said, so that everyone who believed would receive His promises.

In a world full of make-believe superheroes and superpowers, there is still one who can do so much more – and for real – and He is Gentle and Lowly in Heart.

September 30

But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
Acts 3:14-15

After Peter and John healed the lame man at the gate of the temple, a crowd formed, so Peter saw that it was a great opportunity to preach. Only a few months had gone by since Christ’s crucifixion, and the events were on everyone’s minds. Peter clearly placed the guilt of rejecting the Messiah on those temple-goers, noting the irony that they chose a murderer to be granted life, but cursed the Prince of Life to be murdered.

Contrasting Barabbas with Jesus shows both ends of the human spectrum. Matthew called the criminal a “notorious prisoner,” and Mark said he committed “murder and rebellion,” while John just noted he was a “robber.” On the other hand, the Prince of Life was viewed by His enemies as a political threat, and they saw that as much worse than someone who just went around stirring up trouble and killing people.

Our sinful nature can justify any form of deviant behavior. Psychologists have been shocked to discover that most criminals in prison have an extremely high self-esteem. They feel pretty good about themselves and have reasons for doing the terrible things they have done. Others, of course, buy into their lies, so every year really notorious bad guys are acquitted of their crimes, if they have powerful lawyers and a high-profile case.

When the human heart rejects the Savior and justifies its evil deeds, the trial of Jesus occurs all over again with the same results. The guilty are exonerated and the Prince of Life is condemned.

September 29

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a
curse for us (for it is written,“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).
Galatians 3:13

If there is any title of the Lord Jesus that truly belongs in the “Who’da thunk it?” file, it would have to be “Curse.” Stranger yet, this is not a title given to the Savior by His enemies; it’s one that He chose for Himself. But how is it that He who brought blessing into the world has become a Curse?

It all has to do with substitution. We were cursed, so Christ took our place in order to redeem us from the curse of the law.

When the children of Israel came into the promised land, half of the tribes stood on Mount Gerizin and the other half on Mount Ebal. A blessing and a curse were set before the nation. Those on Mt. Gerazin read from Deuteronomy about the blessings that result from obeying God. The people on Mount Ebal listed the terrible things that result from breaking the law; this is the curse of the law.

The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We’re all under the curse of the law and the only way to turn that around is to exchange our curse for His blessing. Christ was sinless, so he gave us his blessing and took on Himself our Curse.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the ground and it produced thorns and thistles. It was no coincidence that on the day of His death, Christ was given a crown of thorns.

In crucifixion, the Savior was lifted up for all to see, and so the curse of Deuteronomy 21:23 fell on Him: “ for he who is hanged is accursed of God.” While Jesus was dying, His critics came to mock Him. They spit on, taunted, and cursed the spotless Lamb of God. Even so, He blessed His enemies by saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). It’s strange, but Christ could not have blessed us if He had not first been made a Curse.

September 28

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of mny waters
and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”
Revelation 19:6-7

Wow! One of the strongest and clearest titles of Christ’s deity often goes unnoticed and therefore unused by a majority of Christians. Perhaps because of laziness or not taking time to understand the context, the casual reader assumes that this name is given to God the Father when the verses clearly demonstrate that it belongs to God the Son.

The timeline falls just before the Millennial Kingdom begins. The Great Tribulation is over; Babylon the great has fallen, and there is great rejoicing in heaven because the King of kings is about to reign. The scene is reminiscent of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem just before His crucifixion. There is a huge multitude shouting praises and alleluias, and the excitement is intense. But this time the crowd is not saying “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.” Instead, they are acknowledging that the Messiah is the Lord God Omnipotent.

The rejoicing moves into the marriage of the Lamb. Here the church, the bride of Christ, has come to share in the celebration of the All-Powerful One’s victory over the devil, the world, and the beast. Millions of saints have suffered persecution, torture, and death throughout the thousands of years of church history. At this point, it all makes sense; truth and justice overcome the forces of evil. Finally, finally, Jesus Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent reigns.

September 26

To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:6*

Falling in love is a beautiful experience. It’s an exhilarating departure from the commonplace and logical into the excitement of emotional highs and the thrill of reaching out to touch someone. Besides, it’s a lot of fun. The marvel of being in love is only surpassed by the wonder of being loved by another.

Apart from being the lover of our souls and the ultimate standard by which all love is measured, Christ is the object of our love – the recipient of our devotion and desire. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We are our Beloved’s and our Beloved is ours. (Song of Solomon 6:3).

Although Christ may not need our love, He wants it and desires it as earnestly as any husband would from his wife. He is jealous and disappointed when other things crowd Him out.

Some people think that they honor Christ by putting Him first in their lives. But that isn’t what He wants at all. It would be like me coming home and telling my wife, “Carol, you’re number one for me, but Alice is number two, Susan is number three and Mary is number four.” She wouldn’t be happy until all the competition for affection was gone.

When Christ is truly our “Beloved,” He will not just be first in our lives; He will be only.

*See also Matthew 12:18; Song of Solomon 1:16, 2:10, 8:14 plus 25 other times in the book.

June 24

He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 8:14

Wichita, Kansas was a wild west town that was settled in the area just north of where the Big and Little Arkansas rivers come together. Like most of Kansas, this area is flat and since it lies between two rivers, the sandy ground is about 40 ft. deep on top of the bed rock. This was great for a pioneer settlement because it meant that the water table wasn’t deep and wells could easily be dug in the soft soil.

The section of the city with these cowboy roots is called Old Town and we own a house there that is now 110 years old. It’s not on any historical register, but it is certainly on the city inspector’s radar for old buildings he wants to keep his eye on. On one such inspection, every house on the block got a notice to repair their sidewalks. Shifting sands under the surface had made them buckle and the city declared them dangerous. They were stones of stumbling and the powers in charge told us to remove them.

The Lord Jesus is and always has been a stumbling block to those who reject Him. They find Him offensive, distasteful, politically incorrect, and intolerable. They want Him gone from their sight and their hearing. They’ll use legal action if necessary to remove this nuisance.

Churches and individual Christians are being sued in record numbers, because enemies of the cross of Christ find it profitable to bring those who would desire to live godly to financial ruin. They want anything promoting the Savior removed from the public square. They won’t walk around it, they want Him totally removed, because Christ Jesus is their Stone of Stumbling.

*see also Romans 9:32,33; 1 Peter 2:8

November 4

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
2 Peter 1:19

The lights of the big cities make even basic astronomy difficult to observe. For that reason, modern man knows less about the night sky than the average person did a century ago. One thing, however, is still readily visible even for the least experienced observer – the morning star.

Although three celestial bodies will share the title at different times during the year, a morning star is the last star to be still seen shining as the sun begins to rise. The brightest star in the heavens is Sirius, found in the constellation Canis Major, but in July and August it’s hailed as the morning star. The planets Venus and Mercury also compete for the title at other times during the year.

The Lord Jesus shines in the hearts of believers and that light has gone into very dark places. Its brilliance can be seen through depression and despair. Even during divorce or the loss of a loved one the Savior can be seen. When other points of reference seem to disappear, our Morning Star still shines in His full glory.

Who is this, who comes to meet me,
On the desert way,
As the Morning Star foretelling
God’s unclouded day?
He it is who came to win me,
On the cross of shame;
In His glory well I know Him,
Evermore the same.
                       – Gerhard Tersteegen 1697

*see also Revelation 2:28 and 22:16

November 3

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
John 11:25

Words reveal the soul of a culture or civilization. The more words that you have to describe things, the deeper and more complex a society can be. Both English and ancient Greek has tens of thousands of basic non-technical words, while the language of the jungle Quichua tribe has less than one thousand. Even so, in all of these languages there is a word for “resurrection”. It would seem that rising from the dead is basic to human understanding. 

Ancient Egyptians not only had this concept, but had a god of death, the afterlife, and resurrection (Osiris). Many people recognize Baal as a renowned Canaanite god, but don’t realize that he also was a god of dying and rising again. Greek mythology describes the resurrections of Achilles, Castor, and Hercules and both Eastern and animistic religions have resurrection stories.

This is all made more interesting by the fact that none of these people groups have ever really experienced a real return from death. Jesus Christ is the one and only Resurrection and the life, so apart from Him, everything else is myth or wishful thinking.

Human beings have a spirit; animals don’t. Hardwired into that spiritual consciousness is the desire for eternal life and resurrection from the dead. Apart from the Savior there is no hope or possibility to defeat death, even though billionaires today invest their fortunes trying to do just that.

Simple faith in the only One who died and rose again can guarantee a believer’s victory over sin and death, because Christ promised: “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).

Jesus is alive and well and living within every true believer. The Apostle Paul wanted the reality of the resurrected Christ to affect everything he said and did. His credo was “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). To know the Lord Jesus is to know the Resurrection and the Life. 

November 2

But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
Malachi 4:2

Here is an astronomical title on the order of morning star and dayspring. It makes us look to the heavens to see things we’ve seen many times before and then relate that to the character of Christ.

The sun not only radiates light and warmth, but is the source of life for everything on the green planet. Without the sun, plants would be unable to carry on photosynthesis which produces food for all living things and without global warming, all water would be ice and nothing could survive. Sunshine is so intense that it will sunburn the retinas of anyone who looks directly at it. Light also reveals the colors and patterns of everything in God’s creation.

Jesus Christ is hailed as the Sun of Righteousness. Just as Earth’s star is the source of all light, the Lord is the source of righteousness to a world of sinful men. The Bible declares, “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one’” (Romans 3:10). Even the little goodness we have on our own is gross in the eyes of God: “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

In the Old Testament, God told the city of Jerusalem, “For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns” (Isaiah 62:1). In the New Testament we see the source of that righteousness; “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God — and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Natural sunlight has great therapeutic value. Depression, scabies, and even rickets greatly improve by going outside into bright light. Jesus rises as the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings for a sin-sick world, because He is able to disinfect our human nature by irradiating it with His sinless perfection. That indeed is a glorious Son Rise. 

November 1