Understanding the Doctrine of Christ - Religion Essay Sample

The doctrine of Christ means explicitly that all believers everywhere must express their faith in Jesus Christ and follow various happenings and beliefs about Christianity. This involves understanding the person of Christ, His deity, work, offices and other persons that are the foundations of modern Christianity. This paper will extensively analyze a wide range of aspects that will provide a clear light of the beliefs of Christ.

The Bible informs us of the pre-existence of Jesus Christ before his incarnation. It is believed that the Christ existed as the second person of the triune God before He came to earth as a human being. In the New Testament, several books teach about the existence of Christ through His actions which show that describes personal divine identity in the earth. Specifically, John 17: 5 which says that And now glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with thee is a clear manifestation of His pre-existence. In the book of Micah in the old testament, the Bible teaches us about his appearance and how He predicted to be an eternal ruler of the Christian world. The book of Daniel explains the son of God and the faithful three over 500 years before His appearance as a person (Donini, 1979).

Additionally, Jesus Christ Himself expressed some actions that further prove He pre-existed. On the books of Matthew, Luke, and John, Jesus repeatedly identified Himself as a divine Son of Man and argued that He had powers to rise from dead during sermons to his followers. Another proof is His participation in creation where we read that the world was created by Jesus Christ along with God the Father and God the Spirit. The deity of Jesus Christ is another aspect that proves His pre-existence and eternality. The Bible in some passages categorically states that Jesus is God and further recognized as the Mighty God, Jehovah, Everlasting Father, Immanuel among other names. His character is termed as omnipresent, omnipotent, immutable and omniscient meaning He was a holy person. Furthermore, His disciples claimed that he had powers to heal, forgive sins, and judge living and the dead which is something God can only do (Antonov, Teplyy, Nani & Murphy, 2010). All these actions show that Christ pre-existed.

Jesus is identified as a human being and at the same time divine because of His occupation of three main offices. The Christ occupied the office of Prophet, King, and Priest which had diverse functions during His time. As a prophet, the Christ revealed several information about God, He spoke for God, and communicated to people on the expectation of God to them. In the old testament, Moses and Peter said that God would raise Up a prophet who you shall listen to Him. Additionally, in the book of Luke Jesus identified Himself as a prophet and predicted He was going to die in Jerusalem and claimed that a prophet has no honor in His hometown. He said in Luke 13:33 that Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. (Antonov et al., 2010)

As a king, Jesus was at all times referred to the ruler of the Jews, and He always accepted the title wherever He goes to spread the word of God. The book of Matthew revealed when he stood before a governor to answer if He is the king of Jews and responded that It is as you say. Additionally, Jesus acted like a king who commanded His disciples to move out spreading Gods message. Another office is Christ as a Priest who is seen when Jesus offered sacrifices to God while cleansing Human sins. Hebrews 6:20 says that Jesus became a high priest according to Melchizedek order after He entered as a forerunner for Christians. Jesus acted as a mediator between God and people which is some of His priesthood activities on earth.

The Virgin birth of prophecy is a prediction that was done by Isaiah in Isaiah 7:14. This prophecy occurred during the reign of King Ahaz after they were threatened by a confederation of enemies. God through Isaiah calmed the terrified king and directed him to the house of David as a sign of Gods intervention and promised that a virgin would bear a son who will be named Immanuel. Although Isaiah did not name the lady who will conceive, he emphasized on the name which signified that God is with us to calm the people of Judah. In addition to that, the prophecy aimed at remaining Ahaz and his people that their lives are in Gods hands and should have faith in Him (Bunyan, 2006).

This theology has been recognized as supernatural a signifies the supernatural life of Christ who was conceived supernaturally and mystically resurrected from death. The doctrine of inerrancy meant that the Bible would prove itself without any error in all matters it covered after all facts are known. This is true in this virgin birth prophecy by prophet Isaiah after Jesus Christ was born of a virgin Mary at Bethlehem (Antonov et al., 2010). This doctrine teaches that bible is a well-written document that correctly interprets past historical events and theological truths without any mistakes.

Another doctrine concerns why Christ became a man and the reason why He emptied Himself. The book of Hebrews wrote that Jesus became a man for a sole purpose to offer himself to die for our sins and come on our side when facing temptation. In this case, Jesus did not come as an angel but rather a man to save men (human beings) who desired to inherit His salvation. By being in person, he could fulfill His promise to offer himself on the cross to prevent Gods wrath on human sins. Christ emptied himself to be a regular being despite knowing He was an eternal God and possessed divine attributes (Antonov et al., 2010). He did this to teach people about being humble and to interact freely with his followers through sermons without being highly regarded.

The doctrine of two natures of Jesus showed how He perfectly acted as both human and divine. Jesus as God is seen by expressing attributes of God, and He was believed to be close to God. He is also recognized as a man by being born and mingled among people. He coped well with nature without His true form being identified by His followers. The reason for incarnation is to make himself of no reputation, be a servant, have the likeness of men, and to humble Himself. He also personified Himself to offer himself die on the cross to save humanity from sins (Bunyan, 2006).

According to canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified on the cross during the 1st century and has remained a historical event. Pontius Pilate ordered Jesus to be arrested, judged and sentenced to be tormented and lastly crucified by the Romans. He was undressed and crucified on the cross between two thieves until he died in few hours. While being on the cross, the soldiers wrote a sign on His cross in a foreign language which read King of the Jews and worshiped him (Donini, 1979). After His death, they buried Him in a unique tomb which was heavily guarded. There were supernatural events and statements made by Jesus during and after He died.

On the cross, Jesus uttered several words before He died. He prayed to God to forgive His oppressors because they did not know what they do and said that I would be with you in paradise today. He went on and said that My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?. He proceeded by saying that I am thirst and all is finished before finishing by uttering that Into your hands, I commit my spirit.

His death made some of the Christian models to be termed as substitutionary atonement. These are people who viewed Jesus as dying as a substitute of others who are sinners. The book of Romans states that a person who a person who believes Jesus died for their sins will live with Him and have eternal life. The scriptures used the term redemption Agorazo to mean that Christ died to bail out Christians from sin and used the word Exagorazo to demystify the fact that Jesus paid the ultimate price by undergoing vicarious death for the sake of humanity. They further used the word Lutroo which have similar meanings with Exagorazo and Agorazo which meant delivering people from sins (Antonov et al., 2010).

According to the Bible, the resurrection of Jesus is believed to have risen again on the third day after death. During his resurrection, a powerful earthquake was heard on a Sunday morning which left the guards traumatized. Mary Magdalene and another Mary found the open tomb and explained to Peter and John of the happenings (Bunyan, 2006). Later, Jesus appeared to them and told them that he has risen making them inform other disciples. Jesus also then appeared to his apostles and disciples and advised them to spread Gods message. This resurrection is essential to Christians because it proved that he had accomplished His promise and it was the turn of Christians to remain holy without making sins.

In few days, Jesus ascended from earth into the presence of God and thus created a feast of the ascension which is celebrated every Easter. His ascension meant that he went to prepare a place for Christians and signaled the end of His earthly ministry. It also signified His success in spreading Gods message and indicated His return to take believers to eternal glory. Another event currently observed is Christs intercession where Christians have promoted His advocacy right from His Last Supper with disciples. Christians need to be serious with advocacy by speaking for those who cannot speak and judge righteously while defending the rights of the needy and poor. Christians meditate the Christ in the form of daily prayers and aiming at strengthening their relationship and love for God (Donini, 1979).

References

Antonov, V. V., Teplyy, A., Nani, H., & Murphy, K. (2010). Anatomy of God. . New Atlanteans, Bancroft.

Bunyan, J. (2006). A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification, by Faith in Jesus Christ. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

Donini, A. (1979). The Origin of Christianity (from beginning to Justinian). . Politizdat, Moscow.