Jesus the Lord Messiah

Introduction

The original purpose for man, made in the image and glory of God, was to exercise dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26; Psalm Chapter 8). That ideal is never lost beyond our recovery, for the Psalmist speaks of the “glory” with which man has been (potentially) crowned so that “all things are to be subjected
under his feet” (Psalm 8:5, 6). As the divine plan unfolds it becomes clear that the promised “seed of the woman” who is to reverse the disaster caused by Satan (Genesis. 3:15) will be a descendant of David (2 Samuel 7:13-16). He will call God his  Father (2 Samuel 7:14) and be appointed as God’s Son, the Messiah, to whom God entrusts rulership of the earth (Psalm Chapter 2).

Prior to taking up his royal office, however, the Messiah is to sit at the right hand of the Father and bear the title “lord” (Psalm 110:1). As Son of man, representative man, he will take his place in heaven prior to receiving from God authority to administer a universal empire (Daniel 2:44; 7:14, 27; Acts 3:20, 21). Having at his first coming suffered for the sins of the people (Isaiah Chapter 53; Psalm Chapter 22), he is to come again as God’s firstborn,
the ruler of the kings of the earth (Psalm 89:27), foreshadowed by David who was also chosen from the people (Psalm 89:19, 20).

As the second Moses, the Messiah was to arise in Israel (Deuteronomy 18:18), deriving his ‘Sonship‘ from a supernatural birth from a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:35), and being confirmed as God’s Son through his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4).

As High Priest, the Messiah now serves his people from heaven (Hebrews 8:1) and awaits the time of the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21), when he is destined to be reintroduced into the earth as God’s Appointed King of Kings. At that time, in the new age of the Kingdom, he will rule with the saints (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:28-30; 1 Corinthians 6:2; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:26; 3:21; 5:9-10; 20:4). As Adam heads the original creation of human beings on earth, so Jesus is the created head of the new order of humanity, in whom the ideals of the human race will be fulfilled (Hebrews 2:7).

Within this Messianic framework the person and work of Jesus can be explained in terms understood by the Apostles. Their purpose was to proclaim belief in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God (John 20:31), who is the centre of God’s whole purpose in history (John 1:14).
The Father of Jesus remains the “only true God” of biblical monotheism (John 17:3).

Jesus, the Man and Mediator

The Jesus presented by the Apostles is not “God the Son.” This title appears nowhere in the Bible. Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, whose origin is to be traced to his miraculous conception (Luke 1:35). The one God of the Scriptures remains in the New Testament the one Person revealed in the Old
Testament as the Creator God of Israel. Jesus, “himself human,” mediates between the one God, the Father, and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5). This Jesus can save “to the uttermost” (Hebrews 7:25). Any other Jesus must be avoided as a deceptive counterfeit—and it is all too easy to be “taken in” (2 Corinthians 11:4).

The Christian Creed

Listen to the very clear statement of Paul: “For us there is no God but the one God, the Father” (see 1 Corinthians 8:4-6). That is the Christian creed. Paul has been discussing the fact that in pagan religions there are many so-called gods and lords. But for us Christians belief in more than one God is impossible. Christians should be committed to the creed which Jesus loved (Mark 12:28-34). That creed Paul also referred to in 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, where he contrasted the Christian belief in One God, the Father with the belief in more than one, or many gods in other systems of religion:

Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him;
and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
– 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 NKJV

Paul went on to speak of our belief in “one Lord Messiah, Jesus.” But note that Paul believed that Jesus was the Lord Messiah — certainly not the Lord God!
Luke had used that same phrase, “the Lord Messiah,” in Luke 2:11 (compare Colossians 3:24). Jesus is said to be the Messiah repeatedly in the New Testament. Jesus is not the Lord God. He is the Lord Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ/Messiah.

Psalm 110:1

Psalm 110:1 mentions those two contrasted Lords. One is Yahweh, the Father of Jesus, and the other is the human lord Messiah. David referred to the lord
Messiah as “my lord” (in Psalm 110:1 which should be memorised by every believer) a thousand years before Jesus was born. He called him in Hebrew adoni (pronounced “adonee”). That form of the word “lord,” adoni, occurs 195 times in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and it never once refers to God!

It is the word used to tell us that the person addressed is not God, but a superior human or occasionally an angel.
Peter declared that Jesus was lord in the sense revealed by Psalm 110:1. “God has made Jesus Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). He had just quoted Psalm 110:1 (verses 34-35). Everyone should know that the second “lord” of that verse is not God!

If people paid attention to that verse in Psalm 110:1, very frequently quoted by the New Testament writers, there would be no confusion about who God and Jesus are. One is Yahweh, the One God of Israel and the Father of Jesus. The other is the Lord Messiah, addressed not by a title of Deity, but a title of superiority as a human person. 
Jesus used this verse in Psalm 110:1 to make his audience think about who the Messiah is. He invited them to think about how the Messiah could be both the lord of David and the son of David (Matthew 22:41-46). But Jesus was not asking them to think of the Messiah as the God of David! By being the supernaturally begotten son of Mary and of God (Luke 1:35), Jesus was both son and lord of David from birth and ultimately by being raised to the right hand of the Father at the ascension. Peter understood this perfectly. He quoted that precious verse to prove that God had made Jesus Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36). No one imagined that Jesus was God. He was the Messiah!

Five Points To Consider

1. God promised that the future Saviour would be the offspring of the woman. This means of course that ‘this saviour’ was not alive or existing at the time of the prophecy
   (Genesis 3:15).
2.  The Israelites were assured that they would not have to hear the alarming voice of God directly any more. God would graciously “produce for them (raise up) a prophet like Moses taken from among their brethren (fellow Israelites),” and anyone who would not listen and follow that prophet’s words would be cut off from the people (see Deuteronomy 18:15-18). This most important indicator of who the Saviour would be was expressly applied to Jesus by Peter and Stephen
   (Acts 3:20-23; 7:37).
3. In the time of David (roughly 1000 BC) a confirming promise of the yet future Son of God was given. The promise came through Nathan the prophet and it guaranteed this marvellous event: “I [God] will produce for you (raise up) a descendant who will come forth from you, and I will be a Father to him and
   he will be My Son.” God would further grant a permanent Kingdom to that future Son of God
   (2 Samuel 7:12-17).
4. More information about that Son was provided by the all-important “Messianic” Psalm Chapter 2.
   We find here a description of the future Son of God (v. 7). God his Father would empower him for a final military triumph, as he seized power from a hostile world. God would even mock at the feeble attempts of world-summit conferences and confederations of angry nations who would try to resist the Messianic takeover of world government. The picture is one of the most dramatic revelations of the coming Kingdom. And the Kingdom of God was the main subject of the Gospel as Jesus and Paul announced it (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Luke 4:43; Mark 1:14, 15; Acts 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31).
5. Psalm 110:1 supplied further thrilling detail about the status and function of the promised Son/Messiah.
   He would be the lord (small “l” [See RV, RSV, NRSV, NEB]) to represent the Hebrew adoni, which in the Hebrew always (195 times) indicates a human,  a ‘lord’ who is not Deity, that is, not GOD.
   That lord of David, also to be David’s descendant, would be exalted to the stupendous dignity of sitting at the right hand of his GOD and Father *, Yahweh, pending the Son’s final conquest of the world. In that position at the right hand of God he would be a priest to intercede for those who recognised him as the Lord Messiah (Psalm 110:1, 4).
   * (Yes, Jesus has a God! See John 20:17, Revelation 3:2, 12)

You ask, “Who Is Jesus”?
He is the Lord Messiah,
the Future Coming King.
Let us prepare for his Coming!

FAQ – Who Is Jesus Of Nazareth?

Jesus of Nazareth is Yahweh’s Christ, Yahweh’s Messiah, that is, Yahweh’s anointed one.
God has anointed Jesus to be: 

• His Prophet
  (Deuteronomy 18:15-19, Acts 3:18-26)
• His High Priest
  (Hebrews 2:17, 4:14, 5:10, 8:1)
• His chosen king
  (Luke 1:32-33; John 1:49; Psalm 2:6). 

Jesus came into existence by a miracle in a young virgin by the name of Mary (Luke 1:35), therefore, Jesus is literally God’s only begotten human son (Matthew 1:20; Psalm 2:7).

Jesus did not sin by totally relying on God (Hebrews 4:15).
Yet as the Lamb of God, he took upon himself, our sins
(John 1:29, 36; Hebrews 9:14; Romans 5:6-10).

As followers of Christ, we must both trust in God and trust in God’s Christ (John 14:1).

Yet Christ is not  “the holy God.” Rather, he is “the holy one of God”
(Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:27, 13:35).