Topic one: Jesus Christ-Why this name?
Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word that means Savior. We see this explained in Matthew 1:20 and 21 as verse 20 says “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
The name Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah which means anointed and also refers to Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. (See Daniel 9:25-26) (In NT see also John 1:41; 4:25 and Acts 2:36) A note while we are talking about these names; while Jesus refers particularly to the Lord’s humanity and incarnation by which He became a man to die for our sins, Christ refers particularly to the Lord’s deity as the Son of God.
All three of these names are meaningful and have a purpose. The Greek language was dominant in that region at that time and the Hebrew was the mother tongue of the Jewish people. It is important to understand all three names or titles that were used to indicate who Jesus was. We will look further into the importance of this doctrine in the next post.
Topic two: Importance of this doctrine.
Why is this doctrine important to a Baptist believer? Let us go to the Bible for answer to some questions.
- Jesus is the _________, the _________, and the _________. (See John 14:6) Answers below for each of the questions.
- Jesus is the only way to get to the _________. (John 14:6)
- There is no other _________ for mankind. (Acts 4:12)
- Jesus holds us in his _________. (John 10:28)
- Jesus is in the _________ hand. (John 10:29)
- Jesus is __________________ John 10: 30 & 33)
- Now if Jesus is not who he says he is then we are _________. (1 Corinthians 15:13 & 14)
These seven basic fill in the blank questions lay a foundation for Jesus and His interaction with the Father and us as believers. If you cannot agree with these questions, then you have a very unsure answer to where you will spend eternity. These scripture references give us what Jesus taught about himself and what the apostles taught, including Paul. Without these answers, Baptist doctrine is weak and shaky at best.
The next several topics will cover further aspects of who Jesus is and what He came to do. Much of these topics will come from both Old and New Testament scriptures. They are not the intellectual musings of some human being, but from the inspired word of God.
Answers: 1. way, truth, life. 2. Father. 3. Salvation. 4. Hand. 5. Father’s. 6. God. 7. Without resurrection of the dead.
