Monday, February 11, 2008

Statement of Faith #3-The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ

Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #3-The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare:His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His substitutionary work on the cross, His bodily resurrection from the dead, His exaltation to the right hand of God.

The deity, or kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ is another important belief to all Christian religions. According to the Bible, Jesus was born of a virgin(Matt. 1:23 and Luke 1:31-35), lived a sinless life (1Peter 2:22), and performed miracles (Acts 2:22 as well as many specific instances in the gospels). Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. He came to the earth to show us not just who He is but to provide a bridge for the gap that man has created between himself and God through sin. It is because of His sinless life that He was able to do his work on the cross(2 Cor. 5:21)and after He died he was physically resurrected(Matt. 28:6 and Luke 24:39). After appearing to many He was then exalted or raised to the right hand of God(Acts 2:32, 33, Phil. 2:9-10 and Hebrews 1:3)

There are many who do not believe that Jesus is God or that He was only a good man or a prophet at best. When one reads the Old Testament there are dozens of prophecies about the coming Messiah. The prophecies include the circumstances surrounding His birth, where He would be from, the family line He would be from and even how He would die. It is possible for a person to fulfill one or two of these specific prophecies through coincidence but the possibilities of fulfilling more drop dramatically. Here is one site that explains it more thoroughly. According to many experts, the odds of Jesus fulfilling only eight of these prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power or 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000! There were over 300 prophecies about the Messiah that Jesus Christ fulfilled. How can one even compute the odds of that!

Lord-this word indicates His position as King and supreme authority in our lives
Jesus-His name, we are acknowledging that He was fully man
Christ-this indicates His function as savior of mankind, we are acknowledging that He is fully God

2 Peter 3:18 "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."

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