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Jesus is God! – Part 4

By Emeritus Prof. Mercy Olumide
09 April 2017   |   3:12 am
Until His second coming, His disciples were to conduct themselves as salt and light in a dark, sinful world (Matt. 5-7). Often, He spoke in parables, helping people to understand by using common things to illustrate spiritual truths.

Emeritus Prof. Mercy Olumide

Until His second coming, His disciples were to conduct themselves as salt and light in a dark, sinful world (Matt. 5-7). Often, He spoke in parables, helping people to understand by using common things to illustrate spiritual truths. Jesus’ mighty works validated His unique and divine nature. He backed up His claims to deity by demonstrating His power over sickness and disease, over nature, and over life and death itself.

One great miracle that demonstrates conclusively His claim to deity is His resurrection from the dead. Death could not hold Him. He rose from the dead and showed Himself alive by many “convincing proofs” (Acts 1:3). Despite rigorous attempts by liberalism to expunge the miracles from the Gospels, it is impossible to eliminate these supernatural elements from Jesus’ life without consequently damaging the credibility of the Gospel records about Him.

Christianity affirms that Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). This view seems intolerant in light of our pluralistic, relativistic age. Yet, given the evidence presented above, one must deal with Jesus Christ either as the Lord God whom He claimed to be or as an imposter, who somehow was deceived as to His own identity. However, one point is unequivocally clear—denying the truth does not in anyway detracts from the eternal truth. The choice is yours to make!

Some religions say Jesus is a prophet, but not God. Is this true?
“For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.” (Acts 3:22)

A prophet. Moses’ prediction in Deut 18:18-19 that He “will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee” was a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. In what way was Jesus like Moses? (1) Moses was anointed by the Spirit (Num 11:17); the Spirit of the Lord was on Jesus to preach the gospel (Luke 4:18-19). (2) God used Moses to initiate the old covenant; Jesus brought in the new covenant. (3) Moses led Israel out of Egypt to Sinai and established the covenant relationship with God; Christ redeemed His people from sin and satanic bondage and established a new, living relationship with God whereby His people might enter the very presence of God. (4) Moses in the OT laws referred to the sacrifice of a lamb to bring redemption; Christ Himself became the Lamb of God to give salvation to all who accept Him. (5) Moses faithfully pointed to the law and the obligation of God’s people to obey its commands in order to receive God’s blessing; Christ pointed to Himself and the Holy Spirit as God’s way of fulfilling His will and receiving God’s blessing and eternal life.

Christ in the Old Testament
Moses is an example of typology. One of the fundamental NT teachings is that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is the fulfilment of the OT. The writer to the Hebrews suggests that Christ is the heir of all that God had spoken through the prophets (Heb 1:1-2). Jesus Himself asserted that He had come to fulfil the Law and the Prophets (Mat 5:17). After His glorious resurrection, He demonstrated to His followers from the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms (i.e., from the three main divisions of the Hebrew OT) that God had long predicted everything that happened to Him (Luke 24:25-27, 44-46). We must recognise that the Messiah fulfilment of an OT passage is often on a higher spiritual plane than the OT event.
Email:mercyolumide2004@yahoo.co.uk
Mobile: +234 803 344 6614; +234 808 123 7987.

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