Listen To Most Current
Grace Notes Archive
September 2023 (3)
August 2023 (4)
July 2023 (5)
June 2023 (4)
May 2023 (4)
April 2023 (5)
March 2023 (5)
February 2023 (4)
January 2023 (4)
December 2022 (5)
November 2022 (4)
October 2022 (5)
September 2022 (6)
August 2022 (4)
July 2022 (5)
June 2022 (4)
May 2022 (4)
April 2022 (7)
March 2022 (4)
February 2022 (4)
January 2022 (5)
December 2021 (5)
November 2021 (4)
October 2021 (5)
September 2021 (4)
August 2021 (4)
July 2021 (6)
June 2021 (4)
May 2021 (5)
April 2021 (4)
March 2021 (5)
February 2021 (4)
January 2021 (5)
December 2020 (4)
November 2020 (4)
October 2020 (5)
September 2020 (4)
August 2020 (5)
July 2020 (21)
June 2020 (29)
May 2020 (28)
April 2020 (31)
March 2020 (5)
February 2020 (4)
January 2020 (5)
December 2019 (5)
November 2019 (3)
October 2019 (5)
September 2019 (4)
August 2019 (5)
July 2019 (4)
June 2019 (5)
May 2019 (4)
April 2019 (4)
March 2019 (4)
February 2019 (6)
January 2019 (4)
December 2018 (4)
November 2018 (5)
October 2018 (4)
September 2018 (4)
August 2018 (4)
July 2018 (3)
June 2018 (4)
May 2018 (4)
April 2018 (4)
March 2018 (4)
February 2018 (5)
January 2018 (4)
December 2017 (4)
November 2017 (5)
October 2017 (4)
September 2017 (5)
August 2017 (4)
July 2017 (4)
June 2017 (5)
May 2017 (4)
April 2017 (5)
March 2017 (3)
February 2017 (4)
January 2017 (3)
December 2016 (5)
November 2016 (4)
October 2016 (4)
September 2016 (5)
August 2016 (3)
July 2016 (4)
June 2016 (5)
May 2016 (4)
April 2016 (5)
March 2016 (4)
February 2016 (4)
January 2016 (5)
December 2015 (4)
November 2015 (4)
October 2015 (3)
September 2015 (4)
August 2015 (5)
July 2015 (5)
June 2015 (4)
May 2015 (5)
April 2015 (2)
March 2015 (4)
February 2015 (4)
January 2015 (5)
December 2014 (4)
November 2014 (5)
October 2014 (4)
September 2014 (4)
August 2014 (4)
July 2014 (5)
June 2014 (4)
May 2014 (5)
April 2014 (4)
March 2014 (4)
February 2014 (4)
January 2014 (5)
December 2013 (4)
November 2013 (5)
October 2013 (4)
September 2013 (4)
August 2013 (5)
July 2013 (4)
June 2013 (3)
May 2013 (5)
April 2013 (4)
March 2013 (4)
February 2013 (5)
January 2013 (4)
December 2012 (4)
November 2012 (5)
October 2012 (4)
September 2012 (4)
August 2012 (5)
July 2012 (4)
June 2012 (4)
May 2012 (5)
April 2012 (4)
March 2012 (5)
February 2012 (4)
January 2012 (4)
December 2011 (5)
November 2011 (4)
October 2011 (4)
September 2011 (5)
August 2011 (4)
July 2011 (4)
June 2011 (5)
May 2011 (4)
April 2011 (5)
March 2011 (4)
February 2011 (4)
January 2011 (5)
December 2010 (4)
November 2010 (4)
October 2010 (4)
September 2010 (5)
August 2010 (4)
July 2010 (6)
June 2010 (4)
May 2010 (4)
April 2010 (4)
March 2010 (5)
February 2010 (4)
January 2010 (5)
December 2009 (5)
November 2009 (3)
October 2009 (6)
September 2009 (3)
August 2009 (5)
July 2009 (4)
June 2009 (4)
May 2009 (5)
April 2009 (4)
March 2009 (4)
February 2009 (4)
January 2009 (5)
December 2008 (4)
November 2008 (5)
October 2008 (4)
September 2008 (5)
August 2008 (4)
July 2008 (3)
June 2008 (4)
May 2008 (5)
April 2008 (4)
March 2008 (5)
February 2008 (1)
Grace Notes

Current Articles | Categories | Search | Syndication

WHO ARRIVED ON EARTH FROM HEAVEN?
by Philip Owen

            John concludes his Gospel with these words:  “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written” (21:25).  Those two little words, “I suppose,” indicate that John does not want his readers to think that his words are to be taken hyperbolically.  He might well have made a similar statement regarding the names and titles of the Lord.  Surely, when all the ramifications of the twelve appellations found in the first chapter have been taken into account, a second world could not contain the books that would be written.  And given the fact that the Bible offers more than 250 names for the Lord Jesus, the potential number of volumes is mindboggling.  We conclude this brief survey with these final names.

            9.  The Son of God.  The Apostle John records the testimony of John the Baptist regarding this name:   “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God” (v. 34).  The last Old Testament prophet put his reputation on the line and ultimately gave His life in affirmation of the truth that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.  This name does not suggest something about the generation or the origins of Christ (Who was co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit and has neither beginning nor end) but an expression of His absolute deity, His intimate relationship with the Father with Whom He was one, and a testament to His complete and perfect voluntary submission to the Father.

           10.  The Messiah, Christ.  Andrew brought his brother, Simon Peter, to Jesus, having told him, “We have found the Messiah,” that John explains parenthetically, “translated means Christ” (v. 41).  Jesus was the Messiah, Christ, the anointed of God in the Holy Spirit so that He might fulfill three divinely appointed offices as prophet, priest, and king.  The entire Old Testament was written in order to prepare the way for this Anointed One.  He is the ultimate fulfillment of all that Israel’s prophets had foretold about a coming Kinsman redeemer and King.

           11.  The King of Israel.  It was that King that Nathaniel acknowledged:  “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel” (v. 49).  How remarkable is such a testimony about an anonymous nobody born to a pair of anonymous nobodies!  Nathaniel did not arrive at his conclusion because he knew the lineage of Mary and Joseph to be in the Davidic line, nor because Christ had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, lived in a palace, and retained a large retinue, but simply on the basis of Christ’s miraculous knowledge about Nathaniel before they met for the first time.  Christ’s infinite knowledge, coupled with His august but gentle nature, immediately captured Nathaniel’s heart.  And in simple faith, he acknowledged his King.

           12.  The Son of Man.  John ends this remarkable compendium of names by quoting the Lord  identifying Himself with the name by which He most frequently referred to Himself.  Responding to Nathaniel’s testimony, the Lord said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (v. 51).  How we must marvel at the love, humility, and condescension that name reveals about the Lord, how it expresses the reality that He chose literally to take on human flesh and a human nature and to delight to be so identified.  It is the nature of man to scratch and scramble in order to climb up the social ladder; it was the nature of God in the Person of Christ to descend the ladder from heaven and take on lowly, frail human flesh in order to die and to redeem us from our sins.

            Can you think of a better way to end the old year (or for that matter, begin a new one) than by meditating on some of the names of Christ that He was pleased to give us in order that we might know and understand Him a little better, love Him a little more fully, and serve Him a little more faithfully?  May we do so as we await His appearing in the clouds.

Actions: E-mail | Permalink

Previous Page | Next Page