Understanding God, Myself, and the WorldMuestra

Jesus the Christ

For Christians, Jesus Christ is the centre of our faith. We believe that He is truly the Son of God who has come in the flesh to reveal God’s heart to us. Without Jesus Christ, Christianity itself ceases to exist. 

Not many of us might know or fully understand the significant meaning of the name “Jesus Christ.” The name “Jesus” is probably a fairly easy one for us to understand. “Jesus” is the name that was given to Him at His birth. It is a transliteration of the Hebrew word “Joshua” (or “Yeshua”) which means “salvation.” Thus, the name “Jesus” points us to what Jesus did for us – He saved us through His death on the Cross. He is our Saviour! 

But what does “Christ” mean? Is it Jesus’ surname? “Christ” means the “Anointed One,” or put differently, the King. When we say “Jesus Christ,” we are actually saying “Jesus the King." And when we say that we believe in Jesus Christ, we are actually saying that we believe in Jesus as the King.

In the letter to the Colossians, Paul describes the reign of Christ as absolute and pre-eminent. “Pre-eminent” means that no-one is higher or more important than Jesus. Pre-eminence is an expression of the majesty and kingship of Jesus. 

It is no secret that the early church was persecuted by the Roman emperors. Now, this was a strange phenomenon, because the Roman Empire was very tolerant of various religions, and even integrated different religions with local ideas of the divine where possible. If the Romans were that tolerant of various religions, why then did they brutally persecute and kill Christians? The answer lies in their intolerance of different political ideas. They killed Christians because Christians declared that there was a higher authority than Caesar. Caesar is not king, Jesus is King! Therefore, when we say that we believe in Jesus Christ, we are saying that we give allegiance to Jesus as our King. He is the supreme Ruler over all of our lives.

Now, we are not saying that the Christian faith is primarily political. But we are pointing out that following Jesus has real-life implications. Our faith goes beyond a personal and devotional entity. Our faith plays out in how we live, how we influence our communities and society, and how we see politics.

Are there areas in your life that are not under the rulership of Jesus? Spend some time in prayer where you lay down anything in your life that you have not yet surrendered to Jesus.  Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you.