An amazing ID card
The government plans one day to introduce biometric ID cards for us all. Are you in favour or against? Do you want everyone to know all about you? Probably not. But there’s not the slightest secret about the ID details of the most outstanding person ever.
The record is precise and personal and is openly available in numerous languages. You’ll find it in the Bible and the person concerned is Jesus of Nazareth. As he said of himself, ‘the Scriptures … testify about me’ (John 5:39).
Matthew was one of the writers of the New Testament. His first chapter contains the human ancestry of Jesus. The genealogy ends with a reference to ‘Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ’.
As Tom Ascol explains in his article above, the child Mary bore was identified both as ‘Immanuel’ (meaning ‘God with us’) and as ‘Jesus’ (meaning ‘Saviour’). But his amazing data trail runs all through the Bible and reveals him as the only Saviour of the world.
His extraordinary ID includes many other names that help us understand his character. Eight centuries before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah wrote: ‘For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6).
Government
What kind of ‘government’ was Isaiah talking about? What or who does Christ govern? One answer is ‘everything’ – for we read that he is ‘upholding all things by the word of his power’ (Hebrews 1:3) and that ‘all things were created through him and for him … and in him all things hold together’ (Colossians 1:11).
But not only does he ‘uphold’ the physical cosmos, he also rules the kingdom of God. No one can enter that wonderful kingdom unless God calls them by the gospel and Christ receives them to himself.
But here is the good news. Jesus says, ‘All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out [turn away]’ (John 6:37).
Wonderful Counsellor
Jesus is the best of all counsellors. Those who accept and practise what he says discover that whatever he claims, plans or advises cannot be bettered. He says what is true because he is the embodiment of truth.
His wonderful counsel is the answer to all our ignorance, confusion and failure. He alone knows best and can be trusted. Are you looking for someone to show you God’s way through life and into heaven? Jesus is the answer!
Mighty God and Everlasting Father
Because he is divine, Christ is ‘the Strong-One’ who cannot fail. The spiritual vacuum in your life that makes you insecure or inadequate can be dealt with. Jesus is the answer!
Furthermore, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit constitute a single deity – the triune God. But there is also a relationship between Jesus and his people in which Jesus is their ‘head’ and Father-figure.
John writes, ‘No man has seen God [the Father] at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him’ (John 1:18). And, again, said Jesus, ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father’ (John 14:9).
The best of earthly fathers fail and die, but Jesus Christ is unchangeably and lovingly committed to his ‘children’ for time and eternity. If you need comfort and support, Jesus is the answer!
Prince of peace
Sin is disruptive to the whole of life, but Jesus reconciles sinners to God and to one another. Knowing Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, changes everything. Has sin robbed you of peace? Does your conscience trouble you? Are you afraid of having to face God the Judge? Jesus is the answer!
‘Having made peace by the blood of his cross’ he gives to those who trust him ‘the peace of God that surpasses all under-standing’ (Colossians 1:19; Philippians 4:7).
Yes, Jesus is the answer, whatever our need.
Timothy Alford
