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Concerning Christ |
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We believers are called Christians because we are men and woman of Christ. Christ is the most wonderful Person in the universe, and we are joyfully called by His name. Christ is eternally God. In eternity past, before creation, He was God; He is God now; and He will be God forever. And yet one day He became a man, our Lord Jesus. Hence, Christ is both the complete God and the perfect man. Without abandoning His divinity, He was conceived in the womb of a human virgin, was born as a baby, lived a human life on earth, and died a vicarious and all-inclusive death on the cross, thereby accomplishing our redemption. He did not remain in death. After three days He resurrected to become a life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45b). The power of His divinity swallowed up death, and His humanity was resurrected and glorified. Today He is both our Redeemer and our life. He has ascended to the heavens and is in glory, ever yet fully God but still fully man. As such, Christ is now the Author of our salvation and the Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 2:10; 12:2). He is seated in the heavens, carrying out His heavenly ministry and accomplishing God's economy (Acts 5:31; Hebrews 8:1-2). We look to His imminent return, when He will come back with the kingdom of God and reign over the earth in the millennium (Revelation 1:7; 11:15; 20:6). |