We happen to be called Christians for a reason. Nearly two thousand years ago, a man named Jesus was born in a village called Bethlehem, in a nation called Judea, modern day Israel. He was the Jewish Messiah, which in the Greek language was translated Christ. People who followed after Him received the name “Christians,” Christ followers.
Jesus, the Christ was and is many things. He was a teacher unsurpassed in history. Even those who do not believe on Him still recognize the power and vitality of His teaching, just as the people of His day did. He backed up His teaching with miracles. The Bible records such miracles as the blind seeing, the lame walking, and the dead being raised to life. He walked on water, stopped powerful storms with just a word, and fed well over five thousand people with a couple loaves of bread and a few fish.
The attention He received and the teaching He gave stirred up problems with the religious leaders of His day. They felt their position in society was threatened. Jesus challenged their religiosity, calling them hypocrites. Eventually they got so upset, they had Him crucified, a terrible, cruel, torturous death.
What they did not realize was that Jesus’ death was God’s plan. Back at the beginning of creation, our ancestors rebelled against God – that is what sin is. Every human since has carried on that rebellion. Punishment for rebellion is death. But we had not rebelled simply against a human king, we had rebelled against the God of the universe, our Creator. Since everyone joined the rebellion, then all deserved eternal punishment.
To take our punishment on Himself, the Son of God had to become a man. So He became a man, Jesus, and died on a cross to take our deserved death and God’s judgment on Himself. Three days later, God raised Him from the dead. He restored to Him His glory as the eternal Son of God. That is why He is the Lord Jesus Christ. The title, Jesus indicates He is the human savior. Lord means He is God, and Christ is the title that means He is now ascended into heaven as the God man, our Savior.
The Good News is that by faith, you can receive forgiveness for your sins and the new life of a Christian. If you want to know more contact us here at Metropolitan.
