I sometimes wish I lived in the days Jesus walked the face of the earth. I mostly think it must have been an amazing time for people of that period, whether they were Greeks, Jews or Romans. There must have been some curiosity even as Yeshua grew up; His parents were curious, the teachers in the Synagogues were curious, the Pharisees and Sadducees were curious in their own way, and I suppose His siblings must have been curious about Him. Jesus was different, He was a radical. He said things that no one else was bold enough to say.
My Bible has a record of Jesus as one who was born into a Jewish family in Palestine, the region that is present day Israel.He was born in a manger, a very humble backdrop for the King of Kings; surrounded by sheep, goats, hay and odd smells. Through His ministry, we observe Him traveling through the regions of Galilee, Samaria and Judea. We see Him teaching in synagogues and speaking with compassion to the multitudes that followed Him everywhere He went.
Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God, He preached repentance, He preached love and equality for mankind. The Bible records Him healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, walking on water, turning water into wine at a wedding, and a number of other miracles.
He spoke with authority and was 100 percent passionate about His work on earth. That’s right. Yeshua Jesus Christ had a mission and a purpose on this planet. He wasn’t just twiddling His fingers during the brief 33 years of His earthly existence..He was a worker..a miracle worker most of all. To examine His work on earth, I’d love to examine His names.
Examining the names of God is to walk along a path that is sweet, it is to unravel the essence and character of our beautiful Savior. The names God chooses in the scripture reveals His true nature to us.
In Isaiah 9:6b; “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
In the gospels, we see John writing of Him, John refers to Him as The Word John 1: 1-5a: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John continues to give an account of John the Baptist where he calls Jesus, The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John the Baptist’s disciples actually follow Jesus Christ, and call Him Rabbi or Teacher. They even testify to others who would later on become disciples, that they have found the Messiah.
Throughout the Book of John, we find Jesus saying of Himself, “I am the Bread of Life,” “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” “I am the vine, you are the branches..”I am the good shepherd””I am the door.. and so forth.
Jesus says in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
In 1 John 3:8 we see it mentioned that the reason Christ came was to destroy the works of the devil. “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
What are the works of the devil?
We have to go back to the Garden of Eden to answer this. The Bible has a record in Genesis of God giving to man dominion over everything, it as well has the record of man handing over his dominion to the devil by deception.
By Christ dying on the cross for mankind, was to restore the dominion that was stolen back to mankind. It was to free us from the harassment of the evil one, loose those in captivity. It was to give mankind abundant life here on earth, and eternal life when we depart earth and enter His rest.
Colossians 2: 14-15 sums it up, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;[And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”
Do you believe in Jesus Christ? The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your redeemer, you shall be saved.
The Warrior's boot 