Mark 8:29
“Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do the people say that I am?”
This is a very popular question these days. Furthermore, it is an unavoidable question that we must all answer. Who was Jesus Christ? Some, still say, just as they did in his day, that he was just one of many prophets. If that is true, then Jesus the Christ was a complete fraud. For He claimed to be much more than just one of many. He claimed to be the one and only savior of the world, the very Son of the one and only living Creator. So, it is not just enough that we answer, who Jesus was historically, but we must also ask ourselves, “Was Jesus Christ who he said he was?”
For some reason this sense of relativism has bleed into our values and belief systems, promoting the thought that there is nothing special…nothing unique…that all things are just common…that there are no “one of kinds”! However, our own bodies tell us something very different. Of the billions of humans alive on the planet today…not one fingerprint is alike…not one footprint ...not one eye retina…not even one voice is exactly alike! Yes, each human on the planet is created as one of kind with a one of a kind DNA, like a blaring message shouting to all humanity that there is such a thing as “JUST ONE”!
Ecclesiastes 7:1 & 8
“A good name is better than being anointed with a precious oil, and better is the day of one’s death, than the day of his birth.”
This text is referring to a ritual done in ancient times, when people would announce publicly the names of their new born babies. These children were often anointed with an expensive perfumed oil. They would then announce these great names upon their children with the belief that they would somehow become a great man, or a great woman, because of this proclamation. However, it is not enough just to be given a great name. Great names are not given at birth…they are won and earned in life! Rewards are not given at the beginning of the race…but at the end! It is not the name that makes the man…but the man that will eventually make the name!!
In the time of Noah, I am sure that there were many Noahs…but there was only one who built the Ark! During the time of King David, there were many Davids…but only one, who as a young boy, slayed a massive warrior giant named Goliath! These men made their names great through great achievement…and through their great faith in a living God!
It was the same during the day of Jesus Christ. The name Jesus is the same as the name Joshua, or as they pronounce it in the Jewish language, Yeshua. During this time period, it was a very popular name to put upon your son. Joshua was a famous hero in Jewish history. His name means, “God is our salvation”. Jesus was born certainly under miraculous circumstances, and certainly with a great procession of prophetic announcements of his coming, many hundreds, and even thousands of years prior to his arrival. However, it was not his birth that made his name great…but rather his achievements in his life, death, and resurrection that made his name truly great…and made this Jesus not just any Jesus…but Jesus the one of a Kind…Jesus the Christ…Jesus the Messiah and Savior of the world!
Philippians 2:5-9
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Jesus the Christ: Who, being in the form of God, and did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of all humanity: … he humbled himself, and became obedient to death…even the death of the cross. For this reason, God Almighty has exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee will bow, and every tongue will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Lord!”
As I stated earlier… It is not the name that makes the man…but the man that will eventually make the name!! And this statement could not be any truer than it is for our Savior, Jesus Christ! No one has ever been able to disprove anything ever written of him, or his life work! Many have vehemently attempted to do so… only to end their search by converting their lives to Him! You cannot stare into the Light long enough…and not get illuminated! Take some time right now! Believe in the Jesus the Christ…the Son of the Living God! The One! The Only! There will never be another like Him! Never!