The Truth About The Christ (continued from www.truthaboutthechrist.com/thetruthaboutthechrist/index.html)
[block quote of Dr.
Cambron's Bible Doctrines
(Zondervan) 60-69, (TheCambronInstitute.org) 46-53]
Chapter 2 - Cambron's Christology.
Christology,
fundamentally, is the doctrine of Christ. Blessed is he who knows Him
as Lord and Saviour.
Sometimes
we are warned that we can preach too much of Christ, in that we may
not emphasize enough the doctrines of God and of the Holy Spirit. Let
us say here, that one cannot preach too much of Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, there is no such thing as jealousy in the Godhead. From
Scripture we can see that God would have us emphasize Christ more
than we do: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might
have the preeminence”
(Col.
1:18).
The names and Titles of Christ
Cambron's
I. NAMES AND TITLES OF CHRIST.
We
believe in the verbal inspiration of the Holy Scripture. That is, we
believe that every single word in the originals is the direct word
chosen by God with which to convey His will to us. Believing thusly,
we attach much importance to the titles and names of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The most well-known name of our Saviour is:
A.
Jesus.
The
name Jesus
is
found in
the Four Gospels 612 times, and it is found in the balance of the New
Testament 71 times. The name Christ alone
is found in the Four Gospels only 56 times, while in the remainder of
the New Testament the name Christ is
found 256 times.
Jesus
is
found before
His
death, burial and resurrection, while
Christ
is
found after.
Jesus
is
the personal name of the Lord. It is His
earthly name, the name under which He was born, lived, and died. It
is the name of His humiliation; of suffering; of sorrow. It is the
name of the One who humbled Himself. The name Jesus,
at
the time of our Lord, was not uncommon,
there were many who were named Jesus. Jesus is
the Greek form for the Hebrew word Joshua, and
both mean “Jehovah our Saviour.” This name, Jesus,
was
the one which was nailed over Him on the
Cross.
Again
we emphasize the fact that the name Jess is
prominent in the Gospels, while the name Christ
is
mentioned more in the Epistles. The name
Jesus
was
more
prominent before
salvation
was made and completed, while the name Christ
is
prominent after
the
work of salvation was finished. A Christian is not a person who
believes in Jesus
—
the
whole world believes there’s a Jesus —
but
a Christian is one who believes in the LORD
46 Jesus Christ. He is Lord! With this knowledge, that a person is
saved by declaring Jesus as Lord (Rom. 10:9, R.V.), and believing
that God hath raised Him from the dead (and we know by I Corinthians
15:1-3 that the Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ as the sinner’s Substitute), we state that
there
is very little “gospel” in the Four Gospels. The
Four Gospels
give very little of the doctrine of salvation for sinners; only in
the last few chapters of each Gospel is the death, burial and
resurrection of Christ recorded. Hence, the name Jesus
is
predominant.
The
Epistles are the writings which bring out so clearly the doctrine of
salvation by grace through faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of
Christ. The Epistles are full of the doctrine of salvation; hence the
emphasis upon the name Christ and
Lord!
Before
Calvary
it is Jesus
which
is
emphasized; after Calvary it is Christ which
is emphasized: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know
assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus,
whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ”
(Acts 2:36); “Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself,
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil.
2:8-11).
This
is interesting to point out: when He was upon this earth (before He
was crucified), He was never called Jesus to His face. It was always
Lord, Master, or Rabbi by His followers: “Ye call me Master
and
Lord: and ye say well; for so I am” (John 13:13);
“Why call ye
me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke
6:46).
The
reason why the name Jesus is
mentioned most in the Gospels (612 times) is that the Gospels
emphasize His humility; the reason why the name Christ
is
mentioned most in the Acts and Epistles is
that these writings emphasize His exaltation! There is a reason why
the name Jesus
is
mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews eight times: the Holy Spirit
would have us know that this Person was a man.
The
institution of the Lord’s Supper is a
perfect illustration of the emphasis on the name Jesus
in
the Gospels, and on the title Christ
in
the Epistles: “As they were eating,
Jesus
took
bread, and
blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said,
Take, eat; this is my body” (Matt. 26:26); “I have
received of
the Lord
that
which
also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus
the
same night in which he was betrayed took
bread” (I Cor. 11:23).
Men
of the world, the demons of Satan, all addressed Him as Jesus, but
never as Lord. Christian Science, Universalism and Unitarianism
believe in a Jesus, but they claim that He cannot save, for they
state that there is no sin to be saved from. Every false system of
religion has the Lord Jesus Christ as the Object of its attack. Every
false system reasons away sin; and in doing so, the need of a Saviour
is ruled out. It says that Jesus died a needless death; and in doing
that, He did not know what He was doing; in doing that, He must not
have been the Son of God, for God knows all things. Do you not see
that every attack upon the Son of God, Jesus our Lord, whether it be
in regard to His blood, His resurrection, His substitutionary
sacrifice or His second coming, is nothing but a subtle assault upon
the deity
of
Christ. 47
We
do not get our name from Jesus, but from Christ: we are Christians.
Yes,
we know that this name Christian
was
first given to the believers by those who
hated God and His Christ; nevertheless, we are proud to take His dear
name and to bear His reproach.
Never,
remember, did unbelievers call the Saviour Lord, they called Him
Jesus; and never did believers call Him Jesus, with one exception
(and the exception makes the rule): “He said unto them, What
things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus
of
Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in
deed and word before God and all the people: and how the chief
priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and
have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should
have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day
since these things were done” (Luke 24:19-21). These were the
words
of the disappointed disciples — “we
trusted that it had been he” — all
their hopes were shattered when Jesus was crucified. They did not
know the Scriptures, nor had they remembered the Lord’s words
that
He would rise again from the dead, and thus they spoke of Him as a
Lost Cause; and they, here, called Him Jesus.
If
Christ had not risen from the dead, their hopes, and not only theirs,
but ours as well, would have been destroyed; He would have been just
plain Jesus.
“But
now is Christ
risen
from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept”
(I
Cor. 15:20). He is Christ and Lord! Not mere man, but the God-man.
To
believers He is Lord. We should never use adjectives with Him. He is
not the Blessed Jesus, the Sweet Jesus, although He is all that; He
is the Lord Jesus Christ! When we pray, we should pray in
Christ’s
name, not in Jesus’ name.
B.
Christ.
We
have dealt at length with the name Christ as
it is used, but let us add these details:
The
name Christ
means
the
Anointed One. This is the official title
of the Son of God. Whenever we hear the word
“anointed,” remember
how, and under what circumstances, men were anointed. We know that
men were anointed as kings, and prophets, and priests:
“Samuel also
said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his
people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the
words of the LORD” (I Sam. 15:1); “Jehu the Son of
Nimshi shalt
thou anoint to be king over
Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou
anoint to be prophet
in
thy room” (I Kings 19:16); “The LORD spake unto
Moses, saying,
Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing
oil, and
a bullock for the sin offering, and
two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread. . . .
And
he poured of the anointing
oil upon
Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to
sanctify him” (Lev. 8:1, 2, 12).
1.
Christ
Has Been Anointed Prophet. “Moses
truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall
the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethen, like unto me;
him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And
it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that
prophet,
shall
be
destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:22, 23). 48
2.
Christ
Has Been Anointed Priest. “Seeing
then that we have a great high priest, that
is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession. For we have not an high priest
which
cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin” (Heb. 4:14, 15).
3.
Christ
Has Been Anointed King. “Behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son
of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of
his father David: and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom
there
shall be no end” (Luke 1:31-33).
In
the Gospels Christ
is
pictured as King
of
Israel: in the Epistles Christ is
pictured as Head
of
the Church.
C.
Messiah.
“He
first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have
found the Messias
[Messiah],
which is, being interpreted, the Christ” (John 1:41);
“The woman
saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh,
which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all
things”
(John 4:25).
Messiah
is
the Hebrew word with the same meaning as
Christ,
which
is the
“Anointed One.” The Old Testament is full of the Messiah
prediction,
while the New Testament is full
of Christ
fulfillment;
the Old Testament is written in the Hebrew language, while the New
Testament is written in the Greek language.
D.
Lord.
This
is Christ’s title of deity, that of authority. All three
names of
God, as found in the Old Testament, are compounded into that one
name, Lord.
In
the
study of the names of God, we saw that the word
“God” in the
Authorized Version comes from the Hebrew word Elohim,
which
is the office of God; and that the word
“LORD” or “GOD,” comes from the
Hebrew word Jehovah,
which
is the personal name of God; and that
the word “lord,” or “Lord”
(small letters), comes from the
Hebrew word Adonai,
meaning
Master.
In
the New Testament the word “Lord” comes from the
Greek word
kurios,
which
is
translated in the Authorized Version as Lord, God, Master, and Sir.
This rendering is equivalent to the Old Testament Adonai
—
Master.
And Christ,
the Lord, is our Master: “And, ye masters, do the same things
unto
them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in
heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him” (Eph.
6:9);
“Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and
equal;
knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven” (Col. 4:1).
As
stated above, the title “Lord” also includes
another name for
God, and that is LORD or Jehovah, and we know this by the way it is
used in the New Testament. The New Testament quotes from the Old
Testament Scriptures, using the word “Lord,” while
the Old
Testament word is “LORD,” or
“Jehovah”: “Jesus said unto
him, It is written again, 49 Thou shalt not tempt the Lord [Old
Testament: Jehovah] thy God” (Matt. 4:7). In this verse it is
also
seen that Elohim
(God)
is ascribed to the Lord, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
In
salvation we must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Jehovah, God, and
Master: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord
[Jehovah,
God, Master —
all
three], and shalt believe in thy heart that
God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom.
10:9,
A.R.V.).
If
we have declared Him as Lord (Jehovah, God, Master), then we
recognize Him as the One who owns us, the One who determines our walk
and life, the One who only has the right to us and everything we
possess. We have a great responsibility to Him; His will is to be the
will of our lives: “Be ye not unwise, but understanding what
the
will of the Lord [Jesus Christ: Jehovah, God, Master] is”
(Eph.
5:17). Even in marriage one should abide by the will of the Lord
Jesus Christ: “The wife is bound by the law as long as her
husband
liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married
to whom she will; only in the Lord” (I Cor. 7:39). These
words take
on a deeper meaning as you realize that a Christian should not only
marry another Christian, but that he should do so only if it is
according to the will of the Lord. And after
marriage
the will of the Lord should be
desired: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as
it is
fit in the Lord” (Col. 3:18).
No
man can call Jesus Lord, except
by the Holy Spirit, for the flesh (sin, carnal nature) does not
recognize Christ as Lord: “I give you to understand, that no
man
speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man
can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (I
Cor.
12:3).
E.
Jesus Christ.
This
is another title of the Lord, which is the combination of His
personal name (Jesus) with His official title (Christ). The emphasis
is on the first word — Jesus,
what He was
to
what He
is.
That
is, Jesus,
who once humbled Himself, is now exalted.
F.
Christ Jesus.
The
emphasis is on the first word here also —
Christ,
which means He who was exalted, was once
humbled; “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus:
who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal
with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the
form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:5-8).
G.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
This
is the Lord’s fullest title: “Blessed be the God
and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, 50 who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).
H.
I Am.
This
is an Old Testament title brought forth into the New Testament.
Jehovah appeared unto Moses in the burning bush and commanded that he
should tell Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go from the land of
bondage. “Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the
children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers
hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name?
what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:
and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I
AM hath
sent me unto you” (Ex. 3:13, 14).
The
Lord Jesus called Himself the great I AM when He was in Gethsemane.
As the crowd came with lanterns, torches and weapons, the Lord went
forth to meet them, asking, “Whom seek ye? They answered him,
Jesus
of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am...” (John 18:4, 5).
But,
you may add, the Scriptures say, “I am he,” not
merely, “I am.”
To this we reply, Look at the word “he”; it is in
italics, and
all italicized words have been supplied by the translators and can
therefore be left out. The Lord Jesus actually said, “I
am.” When
the Lord announced that He was the great I am, what did they do?
“As
soon then as he had said unto them, I am, they went backward, and
fell to the ground” (John 18:6). Still another portion of the
Word
bears out the fact that Christ Jesus was the great I Am.
“Jesus
saith unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was,
I am” (John 8:58). “In him dwelleth all the fulness
of the
Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).
I.
The Son of God.
This
is the Lord’s title of personal glory and deity.
“The angel
answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that
holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of
God” (Luke 1:35). “The Jews answered him, We have a
law, and by
our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of
God”
(John 19:7). See also John 5:18.
The
Lord Jesus is the
Son
of God. A Christian is a Son
of God. The Lord Jesus is the Son
of God by relation and nature; the Christian is a
Son
of God by regeneration and adoption. The
Lord Jesus has been the Son of
God from all time and eternity; the Christian becomes a
child of
God when he trusts in Christ, the
Lord.
J.
The
Son of Man.
This
seems to be the favorite title of the Lord, the one by which He
called Himself time and again: “Jesus said unto him, Foxes
have
holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not
where to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).
This
is the Millennial title of Christ. Wherever it is recorded, it is
used in connection with 51 the coming kingdom reign of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Even in the Old Testament the same thing holds true. Some may
take issue with this, stating that Ezekiel takes upon himself that
same title, the son of man. However, we refer the reader to the
passages where it is used; there the coming Millennial Kingdom is in
view. For example, in Ezekiel 37 is the prophecy of the Valley of Dry
Bones, the whole house of Israel, which shall come to life again when
the Lord prophecies unto them to return to the Land of Palestine;
that will be the Millennium.
This
is the Lord’s title and not man’s. You are a
son
of man, but He is the
Son
of man.
The
title, the Son of man, is found eighty-eight times in the New
Testament: once in Acts; once in Hebrews; twice in Revelation; and
eighty-four times in the Gospels; not once in the Epistles. The
Epistles concern the Church, not the coming kingdom of the
Millennium. Christ is King of
the Kingdom, but Head
of
the Church. And as the Church is not the Kingdom, therefore, the
Millennial Title (the Son of man) of Christ is not found in the
Epistles to the Churches.
K.
The Son of Abraham.
The
Gospel of Matthew is described as “the book of the generation
of
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt.
1:1).
“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith
not,
And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ” (Gal. 3:16).
The
Messiah (Christ) was to be a Jew. Christ was a Jew, for He was a Son
of Abraham, and thus the Messiah!
L.
The Son of David.
This
is the royal
title of
the Lord Jesus: “When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he
began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on
me” (Mark 10:47).
M.
The
Son of the Highest.
The
title of pre-eminence: “He shall be great, and shall be
called the
Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David” (Luke 1:32).
N.
Second Man.
“Second
Man” indicates that there was one man before Him —
only
one —
and
that man was Adam: “The first man is of the earth, earthy:
the
second
man is
the Lord
from heaven” (I Cor. 15:47).
O.
Last Adam.
“Last
Adam” indicates that there is no man to follow Him. There are
only
two men in the 52 records of God: Adam and Christ. Thus, the world is
divided under these two headships: Adam and Christ. All are of Adam
by the natural birth; only those are of Christ who have experienced
the new birth.
“It
is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam
was
made a quickening spirit” (I Cor.
15:45).
P.
The Word.
“In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God.
The
same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1, 2).
As
spoken words reveal the invisible thoughts of man, so the visible
(living) Word reveals to us the invisible God.
Q.
Emmanuel.
“Behold,
a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they
shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with
us” (Matt. 1:23). As the Scripture tells us, it means
“God with
us.” Remember, the Lord Jesus is Emmanuel —
God
with us; He will never leave nor forsake us
(Heb. 13:5, 6).
R.
Saviour.
“Unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ
the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Not a helper, but a Saviour!
S.
Rabbi.
This
comes from the Hebrew word meaning teacher. “Then Jesus
turned, and
saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto
him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where
dwellest thou?” (John 1:38).
T.
Rabboni.
This
is the same as the word “rabbi,” meaning Teacher,
but comes from
the Chaldean. “Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned
herself, and
saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master” (John
20:16).
U.
Master.
“When
the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your
Master with publicans and sinners?” (Matt. 9:11). The meaning
here
is “Instructor.” The idea of Owner is not here
implied, as in the
word “Lord” (Adonai). The world today recognizes
that Jesus is a
great Master (Instructor), but will not own Him as Lord. The Lord
Jesus is not merely our Instructor: He
is our God, our Jehovah, our Lord! 53 [This
ends the block quote of Dr. Cambron. Dr. Cambron's book, Bible
Doctrines
will, with the permission of the Cambron Institute,
be given in block quotes throughout this effort. The book is readily
available through http://www.thecambroninstitute.org,
and it forms the foundational basis for much of this Systematic
Theology.]
Christ - The I AM
www.truthaboutthechrist.com/thetruthaboutthechrist/iam.html
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