Who Did Jesus Declare Himself to Be?

Prayer – Lord, You have so many names—some given to You by others…some from the Old Testament…and several just from Your own declaration of Yourself in Revelation. You are my Lord and Savior...the great I Am...the Son of the living God.

But Moses protested to God, "Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?" God answered, "I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain." But Moses protested, "If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' they will ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what should I tell them?" God replied to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you." God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations. Exodus 3:11-15

 

Meditate. Do you know the Lord? By what name do you address Jesus or God?

 

In the letters to the Seven Churches, Jesus describes Himself differently to each group.

 

Name of the church	Description that Jesus used for Himself
Ephesus	The One who hold the seven stars in His right hand. The One who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
Smyrna	The One who is the First and the Last. The One who was dead but is now alive.
Pergamum	The One who has the sharp two-edged sword.
Thyatira	The Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze.
Sardis	The One who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars.
Philadelphia	The One who is holy and true. The One who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open.
Laodicea	The one who is the Amen. The faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's new creation.

 

Do you use one of these names...
to address our Lord?

These are the descriptions that Jesus gives of Himself to the churches. We know that these are not all the churches in the Asia providence or certainly not all the churches in the world, but are representative of the types of churches and the people who are followers of Christ. Note that Jesus didn’t repeat any of His qualities to any of the churches, except the seven stars mentioned to the Ephesus and Sardis churches. Seven is a special number representing deity or completeness. Otherwise, each are distinctly unique. Some of the descriptions deal with His qualities from the beginning of time, as with being the First and the Last, and the beginning of God’s new creation. That could be considered His creation before the beginning of time, since Jesus was already in existence at the beginning (See Genesis 1 and John 1:1). Jesus is Holy and True throughout the Bible and eternity, as well as being the faithful and true witness—to all of mankind. Because He was resurrected from the dead, it is noted that He declared Himself to be dead, but now is alive. That resurrection is what make Him distinctively different from every other religion’s gods, or so I thought, but Jesus resurrection is mimicked in several other religions’ myths including Sumerian, Indian, Norwegian, Greek, Egyptian, and other countries traditions. Google that for yourself.

 

The Word of God, another name for Jesus, describes that word as being alive and powerful, having a sharp two-edged sword (See Hebrews 4:12). Totally exclusive to the book of Revelation is the description of Jesus having eyes like flames of fire. Those would be piercing and certainly unforgettable, as would be the feet of bronze. Can you imagine the reflective glow of His eyes in those bronze boots? Lastly, Jesus is the one we can totally believe in as He holds the key of David that opens and closes whatever He wants. We can trust that He is just as He has described. He is the Amen—so be it.

 

Verse of Salvation ~ And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. John 17:3

 

Friday’s Feast at the King’s Table

Here’s a chili recipe from a dear lady at my church who recently went to be with the Lord. She was such a precious soul with whom I’ve attended church for the past three decades. She had a great sense of humor, good knowledge of the Bible, mission oriented, and was an excellent cook who brought tasty dishes to the church potlucks. I just want to share this recipe with you to honor her.

 

Bobbie’s White Chili

2 cups cooked chicken (or turkey)

1 can chicken broth (no MSG please)

1 medium onion, chopped and sautéed in a little olive oil

1 can Navy Beans (15 oz) or about 1/2 cup dried navy beans, soaked and cooked

1 can Great Northern Beans (15 oz) or about 1/2 cup white beans, soaked and cooked

1 can of green chilies (8 oz)

½ teaspoon each: cayenne pepper (or less if desired), oregano and cumin 

 

Put all the ingredients into a pot, bring to a boil and simmer at least 30 minutes. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt. Some nice corn bread is tasty with this soup, too.

 Knowing the Lord is what life is all about.

Knowing Him is Life.

© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

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