7 Comforting Portraits of Christ Our Savior. We will see…

• Jesus As Our Advocate With The Father (2:1)
• Jesus As Our Propitiation (2:2)
• Jesus As Our Abiding Place (2:6)
• Jesus As Our Anointer (2:20 & 27)
• Jesus As Our Christ and The Son of God
• Jesus as Our Great Promiser
• Jesus As The Coming One

Review

In our study of 1 John 2, we saw that the first portrait of Jesus Christ is as our advocate with God the Father (2:1). We saw that the word advocate is paraklhton (parakleton) which means one who pleads another’s cause before a judge. Jesus Christ is our advocate. He stands at the right hand of God pleading with Him to forgive our sins.

Next we saw that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins (2:2). The Greek word translated propitiation is ilasmov hilasmos which means to appease, satisfaction or covering; the fulfillment of a demand. Jesus Christ took the punishment for the believer’s sin. God is fully satisfied with what Jesus Christ did on the Cross. It fulfilled God’s demand that sin must be punished.

Then we moved on to the portrait of Jesus being our abiding place (2:6). The word abide is a translation of the Greek word menein menein, which means to continue permanently or without intermission, to remain in the same state. It is important to abide in Christ because the life’s blood of the Christian life is Christ! If you do not abide in Christ you cannot produce true fruit in your Christian life.

After that we saw the portrait of Christ as our anointer (20 & 27). The Greek word anoint and unction crisma Chrisma which means "something smeared on; an ointment, salve or balm." It is used here and other placed in the New Testament figuratively of being given the Holy Spirit. When a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, He immediately anoints that person with the Holy Spirit. That is, Christ sends the Holy Spirit to indwell the believer.

Focus

The portrait that we begin with us today is…

• Jesus As Our Christ and The Son of God (2:22-23)

"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. "

I will begin by considering the phrase Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the name as commanded by the angel to be given to the son of Mary (Matthew 1:21). It is the personal name given to the Son of God in the incarnation. The Greek word is ihsouv Iesous, (ee-ay-sooce) which basically means Savior, salvation, (He saves, delivers, makes free, makes safe). It is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament name Joshua, which means Jehovah is our help or Jehovah is our salvation. It is also important to note that the name Jesus indicates the humanity of our Lord. He is called "Jesus the son of Joseph" (John 6:42) and "Jesus of Nazareth" (John 18:7). Hence, Jesus is His human name.

Next we come to Christ. It is a translation of the Greek word Cristov Christos which is the Greek word for the Hebrew ‘Messiah,’ meaning ‘anointed.’ It denotes that our Lord Jesus was anointed, consecrated, set apart and endowed of God the Father to accomplish great redemptive work as Prophet, Priest, and King of His people. Thus, we see that the title Christ (Messiah) indicates the deity of our Lord. The natural question is, what is the significance of the phrase Jesus is the Christ? It means that Jesus Christ is the God man as we read in Colossians 2:9 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The technical term for this is the hypostatic union. Our Lord is fully God and fully man. To be sure this is a comforting view of our Lord. If Jesus were not human, the Son of God, God in the flesh His advocacy would be of little value and His propitiation would be of no benefit. If He were not Divine, we could not draw life from Him and it would be of no value to abide in Him. If He were not God, He could not anoint us with the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the God Man. He is the Son of Man and the Son of God.

What about those who deny this Holy Truth? John says, they are liars! The Greek word is o qeusthv o psyeustes (ho psyoos-tace’) which means the liar, the liar of liars. Denying that Jesus of Nazareth is the God-man, the Christ, the Mediator, the Messiah, and Savior makes a person the greatest of liars; this is a consummate lie, because it opposes the glaring truth, which is clear an indisputable!

There are many liars today that deny that Jesus is the Christ! One of the most popular of our day is Dan Brown. His book, The DaVinci Code "blames Constantine for promoting the divinity of Jesus as a means of consolidating his own power, and claims that Constantine's meddling -- ratified by a "close" vote at the Council of Nicaea -- distorted the New Testament, subverted the influence of Mary Magdalen…." (an article by Patric O’Hannigan; April 28, 2004). The DaVinci Code is still on the bestseller list and those who read and believe its tripe believe the liars lie! There is a long history of liars -- Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, United Pentacostals, non-Messianic Jews, humanists, pagans and more.

That brings us to the next phrase – "He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." Antichrist is a translation of the Greek word anticristov antichristos which means the adversary, antagonist and enemy of the Messiah. In 1 John 2:18 two antichrists are mentioned. In 1 John 2:22, antichrist is not a reference to that prince of defection who aspires to occupy the seat of God and is introduced in the Tribulation as the Antichrist, "the man of sin" (2 Thes. 2:3) or the "Beast." It is a reference to anyone who denies the supernatural and miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, who denies Jesus to be the Messiah, Son of God, and who denies God is the Father of the Lord Jesus; thus he denies the Father and the Son.

At the time John wrote this letter the Jews in general, and the Gnostics in particular, denied the miraculous conception of Jesus. Both taught that Christ was no more than a common man, the son of Joseph and Mary (John 8:41). But the Gnostics held that a Divine person, an Aeon, or an angelical being, dwelt temporarily in him. They rejected all things relative to his miraculous birth and Deity. They were antichrist, adversaries of Christ.

It is only by Jesus Christ, the Son of God that the Father is made known to men. Turn with me to Matthew 11:27 "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." Further, it is only through Christ that we can be reconciled to God. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5:18a "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ…."

Look back at 1 John 2:23 "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." The verse is clear there can be no relationship with God without a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

How about you? What do you believe about Jesus? I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the God-man, the Christ, the Mediator, the Messiah, the Son of God and Savior. What a wonderful and comforting portrait of our Savior.