Who is the Christ? "To define Him is to confine Him", according E. Stanley Jones, when we’re speaking about God manifested in the flesh. All we can do is explore, using our cute definitions and terms as jump off points while remaining open to His eternal explanations.Its got to begin with Jesus, not Christ (Yes...I am working backwards but give me a chance). You cannot say Christ until you have first said Jesus, the Incarnate One. The Jews were expecting a conquering Christ, the Messiah. [The Amplified Bible always says Christ, followed by Messiah. But that is not really an amplification, rather a minimization because it puts Christ back in a Jewish messianic mold. That mold was broken because it was too small] Was he:
~A Teacher? But greater
~The Greatest of Characters? Yes…but more.
~The Best of Men? Yes…but more.
~The Highest Example, Imago Christi? Yes…but more
~Guide & Inspiration? Yes…but more.
~A Martyr? Yes…but more.
Then Who is He?!!
~He is the Word become flesh
~God become man
~The Eternal manifesting Himself in time
~God simplified
~God approachable
~God lovable
Although we cannot define Him precisely, we can know Him intimately.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep,but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber... I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and outand find pasture.” John 10:1, 9
"Climbs up some other way" depicts a man trying to attempt to be saved by his own effort, his own climbing over the wall. It’s called self-salvation. There are only two ways to try to find God:
Self-salvation: Climbing the ladder step by step to be able to meet God at the top most step of worthiness. (You do this by your own good deeds, by your disciplines, your devotions and meditations, and your attendance to your spiritual duties)
God-centric salvation: God comes down the ladder to us by the Incarnation and meets us, not at the top step of worthiness but at the bottom step as sinners.
For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Matt 9:13
At the bottom step of the ladder we are humble enough to receive salvation as pure gift from God. Salvation is not attained. Salvation is obtained. To climb up any other way is to reject God’s coming for us in favor of our coming to God. That would make us God and thus become robbers and thieves…robbing from God and ourselves.
He gives…we receive. He offers…we accept. We know this because we read, we believe and now let's worship!
-Joseph Cortese
