Category Archives: Christ

“He will save his people from their sins.”

Posted by Dan C. on

The above words were spoken by an angel of the Lord to Joseph concerning Mary, his betrothed. Here is the full context from Matthew 1:18-21:

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Emphasis mine)

Those 7 emphasized words, “he will save his people from their sins” perfectly describe the reason Christ came to this earth. If you are reading this, you might be asking yourself (and me) “What else is new?” After all, we who profess Christ know that Jesus died so that we who believe might have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus was crucified to make our salvation possible.

But is that all there is to this short passage? Is there a deeper meaning to these few words? Let’s break it down and see.

“He will save. . .”

This is the Christ child’s great business in this world. It is He who will save and He alone. This is an emphatic statement. He WILL save, not just make salvation possible. He will save perfectly and completely. Those whom Jesus grants eternal life will never perish (John 10:28). Jesus is God and God cannot fail in any of his purposes.

“He will save his people. . .”

Who are his people? In the first instance they are lost sheep of Israel. In the second instance, they are sheep not of the house of Israel that Jesus claimed were his. (John 10:16).

What are some characteristics of his sheep?

1. They are the ‘believing ones’ of John 3:16 – all those who believe Christ suffered the just punishment and wrath of God for their sins.

2. They were those chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, chosen from the beginning for salvation and appointed unto salvation. (Eph 1; 2 Thess 2:13; Acts 13:48)

3. They are those given as a precious love gift to the Son and who will come to the Son when the Son calls them, never to be cast out (John 6:37, 38).

4. They are those who are unable to come to Christ on their own, but are drawn by the Father to the Son and whom the Son will raise up on the last day (John 6:44, 66).

5. They are those in whom God has begun a work and will bring it to completion (Phil 1:6; Rom 8:29, 30).

“He will save his people from their sins.”

This refers not only to the sins fallen men commit, but also the taint of what is called ‘original’ sin, the sin we are born with as a result of the of the sin of Adam, in whom we all sinned (Rom 5:12), and which makes us ‘by nature’ children of wrath (Eph 2).

This my friends, is why Christ came to this earth – to save his people from their sins. All the rest of what we do during the Christmas season pales in comparison.

The Pope or Christ – Who is the Church’s Head?

Posted by Dan C. on

The fanfare is all over. The speeches to the U.S. Congress and to the U.N.have been given. The Mass was celebrated at Madison Square Garden and in Philadelphia with hundreds of thousands. And now Pope Francis is back at the Vatican after his historical visit to the U.S.

But the question that I would like to consider and that must be asked is: Who is the real Head of the Church – The Pope or Christ?

In his epistle to the Colossians where he highlights the supremacy of Christ, the apostle Paul categorically states in Scripture that Christ is the Head of the Church.

“And he is the head of the body, the church.”

Colossians 1:18

Who is the “he” referring to?

It is referring to the one in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.(Colossians 1:14)

It is referring to the one who is the image of the invisible God.(Colossians 1:15)

It is referring to the one who is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.(Colossians 1:16-17)

It is referring to the one in whom all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell(Colossians 1:19)

It is referring to the one through whom there is reconciliation with God by His death(Colossians 1:20-22)

It is referring to God’s beloved Son!(Colossians 1:13)

Throughout church history, God raised up men to remind us once again that Christ, not the pope, is the head of the church. One such man was Martin Luther.

“I am persuaded that if at this time, St. Peter, in person, should preach all the articles of Holy Scripture, and only deny the pope’s authority, power, and primacy, and say, that the pope is not the head of all Christendom, they would cause him to be hanged.”

Martin Luther(Table Talk)

Another such man was Charles Spurgeon, who declared unequivocally the headship of Christ over His Church in a sermon entitled “The Head of the Church.”

“Of all the dreams whatever deluded men and probably of all blasphemies that were ever uttered, that has never been one which is more absurd and which is more fruitful in all manner of mischief than the idea that the Bishop of Rome can be the head of the church of Jesus Christ. No, these popes die and how could the church live if its head were dead? The true Head ever lives and the church ever liveth in Him.”

Charles Spurgeon

In yet another sermon entitled “Jesus is Lord”, Spurgeon drives the stake home in answering the question of who is the real head of the church.

“It is awful blasphemy for any man on earth to call himself Christ’s vicar and the head of the church, and it is a usurpation of the crown rights of King Jesus for any king or queen to be called the head of the church, for the true Church of Jesus Christ can have no head but Jesus Christ Himself.

Charles Spurgeon

Jesus Christ is the true Head of the Church because it is Christ Himself who loved the Church and gave Himself for her(Ephesians 5:25) Jesus Christ is the true Head of the Church not only because of his loving substitutionary atonement, but also because of His resurrection, conquering death, and because of His exaltation to the right hand of the Father, as head over all!

“that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

Ephesians 1:20-23

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About the Author: Hariton Deligiannides

Pastor Hariton Deligiannides is the head of the elder board at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Born in Greece, Hariton has a love for his culture and language. But his greatest love is the Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him. Married to Meta in 1996, they have 3 children, Isabella, Elizabeth and Zachary. Saved in 1985, Hariton attended Bethlehem Bible Church during his college days at WPI. He graduated Dallas Theological Seminary in 1992. He was on staff with the Navigators from 1993 to 2001, ministering in NY city. Then in 2001 he moved to Boston to church plant with the Southern Baptists. He was ordained to gospel ministry on June 21, 2003. He pastored Compass Community Church from 2001 to 2010. He joined Bethlehem Bible Church in 2010. Hariton‘s passions are theology, expository preaching and discipling men.

Christ the Image of God

Posted by Dan C. on

by Mike Riccardi at The Cripplegate

Exact ImprintThe Old Testament had much to say about the presence of God. Throughout the history of Israel, God’s presence was mediated through fire (Exod 3:6; Deut 5:4), through blazing light (Exod 33:18–23), through visions (Ezek 1:28) and angels (Jdg 6:21–22; cf. 13:21–22), through the temple worship (Pss 27:4; 63:1–2), and even through God’s own Word (1 Sam 3:21). But with the coming of Jesus and the New Covenant era, the glory of God’s presence is now uniquely and supremely manifested “in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). This makes sense, of course, because Christ is the perfect “image of God” (2 Cor 4:4).

This is precisely the testimony of the opening verses of the Book of Hebrews. Though God had revealed Himself by speaking to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days He has spoken finally and decisively in His Son (Heb 1:1). Christ is therefore the radiance of the Father’s glory (1:3)—the manifestation of the very presence of God, the “effulgence of the divine glory,” as one commentator colorfully puts it.

The Son is also described as the exact representation of the Father’s nature (1:3). The word for “nature” there is hupostasis, which the lexicons tell us speaks of the “essential or basic structure/nature of an entity” and thus refers to the Father’s “substantial nature, essence [and] actual being.” And the phrase “exact representation” is a translation of the Greek term charaktēr, which denotes “a stamp or impress, as on a coin or a seal, in which case the seal or die which makes an impression bears the image produced by it, and . . . all the features of the image correspond respectively with those of the instrument producing it” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary, 577). Just as the shape, impressions, and intricacies of a coin reveal precisely the nature of the original die, so does the Son reveal the very essence of God Himself. Anthony Hoekema’s conclusion is inescapable: “It is hard to imagine a stronger figure to convey the thought that Christ is the perfect reproduction of the Father. Every trait, every characteristic, every quality found in the Father is also found in the Son, who is the Father’s exact representation.”

This teaching is borne consistent witness throughout the NT. Though no one has seen the Father at any time, Christ the only begotten God in the bosom of the Father has explained Him (John 1:18). Literally, the Son has exegeted the Father, making known to finite humanity in His own person what was otherwise imperceptible. The glory that humanity beholds in Christ is the “glory of the only begotten from the Father” (John 1:14). Paul tells us that Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), such that, “though God is invisible, in Christ the invisible becomes visible; one who looks at Christ is actually looking at God” (Hoekema, 21). So full is the Father’s revelation of Himself in the Son that Jesus can say to Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), for in Him “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col 2:9).

All of this accords entirely with the parallelism going on in 2 Corinthians 4:4 and 6, which presents as synonymous

(a) the (i) light of the (ii) gospel of the (iii) glory of Christ, (iv) who is the image of God, and
(b) the (i) Light of the (ii) knowledge of the (iii) glory of God (iv) in the face of Christ.

Paul clearly shows that “the glory of Christ” in v. 4 is identical with “the glory of God” in v. 6 by identifying that Christ’s being the image of God is synonymous with the light of God’s glory shining in the face of Christ. Jonathan Edwards comments,

The glory and beauty of the blessed Jehovah, which is most worthy in itself to be the object of our admiration and love, is there exhibited in the most affecting manner that can be conceived of; as it appears shining in all its luster, in the face of an incarnate, infinitely loving, meek, compassionate, dying Redeemer.

Piper’s conclusion captures it well: “there is a glory of the Father and a glory of the Son, but . . . the Father and the Son are so inseparably one in glory and essence that knowing one implies knowing the other” (God is the Gospel, 72). Another writer hits the nail on the head: “When we look at Christ . . . we never have to give ourselves a cautious mental check and think, Oh, but that’s Jesus, not God. Seeing Jesus, we see God.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect embodiment of the very image of God. He is the supreme revelation of the Father—the very radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact representation of His essence. Though God revealed Himself in various ways throughout history, by His great grace we now behold the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God shining in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6). Let us worship Him for this. And beholding His glory, may we be transformed into that very image, from glory to glory (2 Cor 3:18).

Mike originally published a version of this article in April 2013.