Hey Everyone,
Let me ask you a question – when do you ever hear a Christian Pastor use the language – regularly about Jesus being a Messiah? Is it not interesting that in Christianity, we have made somewhat narrowly the purpose and identity of who He is? What am I talking about (as I feel neck hairs rising)? I believe we have defined our system of belief as mostly a personal relationship of Savior and Lord as it relates to Him (which is true) and as it relates to the church – a King (King of Kings/ Lord of Lords). One title we rarely talk about and use regularly is the Identity of Him as Messiah. Why is that? – Let’s come back to this question in a bit.
When we look at Israel of the Bible – and the Hebrews of the Ancient Near East – we are given a picture – a snapshot, time and again of this enigmatic figure which will come and reset the world in working order. Now, I don’t have the space here to start all the way back in Genesis as to how the plan of God which began there and culminated with the Book of Revelation penned by the Apostle John.
What we should look at is how God repeated himself when bringing Abraham out of UR to initiate his covenant in the earth; how He restated that same promise and covenant to his son Isaac and subsequently to Jacob. When Moses comes onto the scene and finally leads the children of Israel out of Egypt, He begins to deliberate all that was given to him on Mount Sinai. In this process of walking around the mountain for so many years we see bits and pieces, snapshots mind you, that did illuminate this somewhat ambiguous idea of someone that will come and restore mankind to what it was designed to be.
Deuteronomy lays this out in chapters 28 and 29 through what are typically known as the choices of life obedience versus disobedience – life versus death passages, and as a result, we see that there is a plan and mindset that aligns itself with in order for God to complete His work in creation.
So what am I addressing here? The church for many centuries has stood upon the tenants of holiness, the gospel of salvation and grace, and even moved into a place of the Gospel of the Kingdom. What we have not seen from the church is a continuity from which it was originally birthed. Let’s look at the picture of early believers in the book of Acts and let’s look at how the church has saturated the world with the message of the gospel of the Kingdom.
In Acts we see an all-Jewish Apostolic leadership addressing questions like how to build community with the Gentiles that come to Messiah Yeshua; Because Jewish people for centuries have understood that a Messiah was to come and deliver not only Israel but to bring the nations alongside as a sign that he was the Supreme Ruler of the world and the universe. So community had to be built between the people in order for One Messiah to reign
Even in Hebraic blessings most blessings start off with, “Blessed are You oh God, King of the Universe…” this is not terminology consistent with addressing a king of a nation that rules one kingdom. This is Messianic language in Hebrew – this language implies an inherency built into the belief system that one is to come who will establish universal order, rulership, and power and authority from one place, and by one person.
Well, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it? We know Jesus will return and place His foot upon the Mount of Olives, and rule from the new Jerusalem geographically right above the city of Jerusalem where it sits today. This will be a Messianic Kingdom, not simply an earthly one.
The Jewish People understand the role and purpose of a Messiah. Remember the zealots in the Gospels – they thought a Messiah was to come and defeat the Roman Empire. Even Jesus’ own disciples were disappointed He did not set up His Kingdom as they thought it should be.
The Church has yet to grasp that Jesus is not only Messiah to Israel – but He is Messiah of the Nations as well. We have personified Christ for the individual’s relationship and reconciliation with God and that is a paramount tenet of our faith. We have set Jesus as King, of our hearts and minds, and of the Church at large. I believe we are missing something because we do not understand what a Messiah is, and what a Messiah does…
What has yet to become mainstream in the Body of Christ is the idea of a Messiah. In fact, the Church does not see a need for one – we do not understand the term. We relegate it to the purpose of the Jewish People only and I believe we will see in parts two and three of this series that We need a Messiah too – and why it has taken this long. God has a plan…don’t worry it is all there.
The god(s) of this world are being shaken. What you see politically, economically, and socially are the symptoms of inflammation in their ranks. The Spirit of the Living God is about to pour out His Presence and Truth in ways we have never seen. This WILL culminate with the Nations bowing every knee and declaring Yeshua is the Messiah of the World and the Universe.
Part 2 – “What is a Messiah”
