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We take a look at each of these names, titles, appellations, designations. We’ll look at what and who they were, what and who they are now. (For example, does the term “Christ in you” mean a person is living inside you?) Get this understanding and the Bible (especially the Pauline epistles) will become much more understandable, practical and powerful.
LORD
The one referred to as “Lord” in the Old Testament is not the one referred to as “Lord” in the New Testament (except in those cases where the New Testament is referencing the Old). Jesus was not Lord in the Old Testament.
The first time God refers to Himself as Lord is Genesis 2:4, and is specifically used in the context of His relationship with man.
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. Genesis 2:4,7,8
“Lord” means boss, and before God created man in His image, He was creator, but not boss. The name “lord” indicates a give and take relationship, which God never had until He had made man in His image (His image is spirit – John 4:24). Before man, all of creation simply operated according to the “foundation” God had supplied His creation.
According as He has chosen us in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world (kosmos) that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Ephesians 1:4
When the Creator made man in His image, placing within man His spirit, His relationship with that man was as something He had not before been, as far as we know. He became Lord. Thus He worked with man, having given him the ability to act independently.
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die. Genesis 2:15,16
Some people believe God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden so that man would have a choice. Some even believe God did so to test whether man would love and obey Him or not. Crazy ideas! Man had plenty of choices available to him. What to name the animals, what to name his children, when and how to make love to his woman; what to do that day, what to eat, where to go. Are these not choices? Why does choice have to do with a choice between good and evil? Because Adam and Eve ate of that tree, that’s why. They shouldn’t have; life would have stayed simple and beautiful and all good. Instead, here’s what happened:
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; His eternal power and divinity (God-ness); so that they are without excuse; Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations (due to eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Romans 1:19-22
Throughout the Old Testament, the Creator is Lord to man. He dealt with man as Lord through intermediaries (prophets, angels, in dreams, etc., even a burning bush!) because after man lost the spirit of God, he had no way to deal directly with his Lord, God. That changes in the New Testament.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:36
The point at which God the Creator handed the mantel of His Lordship over to Jesus is specified in Ephesians.
And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, Which He worked in Christ, when He raised him from the dead, and set him at His own right hand in the heavenlies, Far above every principality, and authority, and might, and lordship, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come; And has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things for the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:19-23
When God seated Jesus as the Christ at His right hand, that is the point at which Jesus was made Lord over all. The fullness of this Lordship will not come about until the period of time spoken of in the book of Revelation, which begins at the gathering together of the saints. Until then, Jesus’ Lordship is exercised within and toward his body, the church, by means of the working of the holy spirit of God, also known simply as:
CHRIST
“Christ” means “the anointing” or “the anointed one.” The Old Testament word is messiah (maschiach)). An anointing by God indicated the purposeful presence of God toward man. The first time this word was used in the Old Testament is in Genesis:
God speaking to Jacob: I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar (of rock), and where you vowed a vow unto me: Genesis 31:13a
Jacob had built a little pile (pillar) of stones, and poured oil on it, in memory of what God had promised him, which was:
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed; and your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with you, and will keep you in all places where you go, and will bring you again into this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken to you of.
Genesis 28:12-15
The anointing, then, represented to Jacob what God had promised to Jacob at that time, which was 1) free and unlimited access to the spiritual realm; 2) ownership and dominion of the land where he and his seed lived and would ever live; 3) an ever-increasing fruitfulness of offspring; and 4) the continual and unending presence, protection and blessing of God.
All of the above are brought to pass in Christ.
The spirit of the Lord (God) is upon me, because He has anointed (christ-ified) me to preach the gospel to the poor (in spirit); He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of (spiritual) sight to the blind, to send forth in deliverance the broken down, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18,19
It was after being baptized by John, immediately after which the spiritual realm was opened unto him and his Father testified of His pleasure in His son, and then the tempting in the wilderness for 40 days, during which his obedience to his Father was proven, that Jesus was made the Christ, at the very place he had been raised to adulthood. It was then and there that Jesus became the anointed one of God, the Christ, and it was done by “the spirit of the Lord.”
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Luke 4:20, 21
So this anointing represented the four attributes I listed above: 1) free spiritual access; 2) re-established dominion over the earth; 3) ever-increasing fruitfulness; and 4) eternal protection, blessing and presence of God. And these four attributes are established by Christ as realities in this world, by means of that same “spirit of the Lord” which made Jesus the Christ.
Lest you think that Christ and the Holy Spirit (holy spirit) are two different spirits, please take a look at Ephesians 4.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called n one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one spirit. You can not say there are two. If you say “One Lord” means there is another, then I will say that “One God and Father” (Who is “in you all”) means there are three spirits (or even four!) in man, and that is foolishness, because Ephesians 4:4 says there is only one spirit. The one spirit which dwells within us is from out of the Father, God. He dwells within us by means of His holy spirit, also referred to as Christ. These different names for the one spirit within us are simply different facets of that one spirit. I am a father, brother, son, boss, friend and husband, but I am not 6 different people; rather, I relate to people in those 6 different ways (among others).
So today the term “Christ” does not not so much reference a man (depending on context), as the working of God which began in Jesus and now continues in those who have believed on his name. Christ is the working of God which will (re) establish all His original and true desire toward man-in-His-image. You will see these exact attributes of His original desire established toward man in Genesis:
So God created man in His image, in the image of God created He him (free and unlimited spiritual access); male and female created He them. And God blessed them (the blessing of God), and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth (fruitfulness of offspring), and subdue it; and have dominion (dominion) over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. Genesis 1:27,28
When the Bible speaks of “Christ in you,” it’s not talking about a man in us, but rather the working of God’s holy spirit (sanctifying spirit) within us, working to re-establish this original desire of God for and toward man. Thus is it also known as “Christ in you.”
But you have an anointing (christ) from the holy One (Jesus), and you know all things (of the spirit, whatever the christ has revealed within). But the anointing (christ) which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing (christ) teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in it. I John 2:20,27
We know of God and and of heavenly things only what the spirit of God within, the anointing, Christ, reveals of itself within us. We can only walk in the reality of the spirit as and to the degree the spirit reveals itself within us.
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27
JESUS
Jesus was (and is) a man. He was and is “the son of man,” the physically born being and the means by which God would bring about the re-establishment of His original spiritual intent. Jesus, as a man, chose to believe and obey all his Father told him.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ (anointed), Jesus; I Timothy 2:5
“Christ’ was not Jesus’ last name. He was actually known as “Jesus of Nazareth,” and for further delineation from others as “son of Joseph.” Whenever the Bible refers to Jesus as “Christ,” it is referring to his anointing by the spirit of God to the task of re-establishing the original and true purpose of God toward man.
(Jesus, the man, is not in us. Jesus does not dwell in any other human being, for Jesus himself is a man. Nowhere in the entire Bible is the term “Jesus in you” or “Jesus in us” found. I once asked a Bible teacher, immediately after his teaching, why he used the term, “Jesus in you” when it was nowhere to be found in the Bible. His answer? “Well, that’s just a term we use.” That was such an odd answer, since a part of his teaching was, “We have to stick with the Word of God.”)
“Christ in you” is that same anointing of the holy spirit of God within you. That Christ in you is a “person” only to the degree that it belongs to Jesus, who freely shares it with the world, to be received by anyone who chooses to believe unto him, Jesus, as being the Christ. It is then powerfully manifested through those lives which have received it by means of a continuous subjection to Jesus’ lordship.
Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear (from me), that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come (which will be true in the future). He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father has are mine; therefore said I that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.
John 16:13-15
Jesus is the man, born of a woman. As a man, Jesus was guided by the anointing of God (making him the Anointed One – Christ) to re-establish God’s original and true intent for man and all His creation. Jesus exercised his free will in always choosing to obey his Father, God. As a man, he became obedient unto the death of the cross, and was raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God (position of authority and power), making him Lord over all creation. As Lord, he has sent this same anointing spirit (Christ) into the world to be received as a gift by and to be a benefit to those who accept it and continue to choose to walk in it.
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