insight
The word Yahweh was so sacred that devout Jews
wouldn’t even pronounce it. Many take the word to
mean “un-derived existence” or “he who is”, based
on the “I am” statement of Exodus 3:14. It was God’s
response to Moses when he asked for God’s name.
Jesus clearly claimed to be the God of the Old
Testament revelation, not merely an anointed prophet
of God, emanation, a tool in the hand of God or even
the King of Israel.
God, the devil or madman
C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, “I am here
trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish
things that people often say about him: ‘I’m ready
to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t
accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing
we must not say. A man who was merely a man and
said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a
great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic –
on a level with the man who says he is a poached
egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell.”
Either Jesus is everything he claims to be, or he
is nothing he claims to be. We can either reject his
words as a false claim of a madman, the words of
a demon-possessed, like some Pharisees framed
them, or accept them as divine revelation of his
true nature.
And if Jesus is God, he carries absolute authority;
he doesn’t present to us merely an opinion or
theological perspective. If Jesus is God, then we
should worship, obey and long to know him.
Two natures in one person
If we accept that the man Jesus is also God, we
must ask: how is it possible that he is both God and
man, two natures in one person? It is an issue that
has troubled theologians for centuries. The simple
Here are just some of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled:
1 The Messiah will be born of a woman (Genesis 3:15; cf. Galatians 4:4)
2 He will be of the seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3; 22:18; cf. Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:16)
3 He will come from the line of Isaac (Genesis 17:19; 21:12; cf. Matthew 1:2; Hebrews 11:17–19)
4 He will be a descendant of Jacob (Numbers 24:17; cf. Luke 3:34)
5 He will be of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10; cf. Luke 3:23–33; Hebrews 7:14)
6 He will be of the line of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1; cf. Luke 3:32)
7 He will be of the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12; Jeremiah 23:5; cf. Matthew 1:1)
8 His birthplace will be Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; cf. Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4–6)
9 He will be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; cf. Matthew 1:21–23)
10 He will be anointed by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2; cf. Matthew 3:16–17)
11 He will be heralded by a messenger of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1; cf. Matthew 3:1–2)
12 He will be a prophet to his people (Deuteronomy 18:15–18; cf. Acts 3:22–23)
13 He will be a priest (Psalm 110:4; cf. Hebrews 5:6–10)
14 He will be a king (Psalm 2:6; cf. Matthew 21:5)
15 He will have a ministry of miracles (Isaiah 35:5–6; cf. Matthew 9:35)
16 He will minister in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1–2; cf. Matthew 4:12–16)
8 Revival Times May 2017