Know God through His Word
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Gospel of John 1:28-29 "This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Gospel of John 15:12-13″This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down his life for his friends."
The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, entered time and history through the Incarnation. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1, Romans 1:4), is a gift of love from the Father for the salvation of the world (John 3:16-17), the one who died for all of mankind (2 Corinthians 5:15), our "Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:21).
Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, fulfills Old Testament prophecy. The Lamb of God recalls the Passover Lamb, whose blood was sprinkled on the houses of the Israelites to protect them during the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12). The Messiah as the suffering servant will give his life as an offering for sin (Isaiah 53). The Lamb anticipates the victorious Lamb of the Apocalypse (Revelation 5-7).
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave us the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10), affirmed the Ten Commandments of God (Matthew 5:17-20), and taught us the prayer of hope, the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). Jesus promised the Apostles and his followers that "When I go I will prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you will be also" (John 14:3).
God is love (1 John 4:8)! The mystery of the Cross reveals the open arms of Christ Jesus. The Church Fathers interpreted his open arms to reveal his obedience and glorification of his Father and at the same time reveal his devotion to all of mankind. His open arms of prayer symbolically represent worship and brotherliness, the indivisibility of service to mankind and glorification of God.
Christ revealed to us the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Following his Resurrection, Jesus instructed his Apostles: "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you," that He will be with us to the end (Matthew 28:19f).
Jesus actually identifies himself with the Church in the Acts of the Apostles. Saul was persecuting the Church, consenting to the death of the first martyr Stephen, and laid waste the Church, dragging off men and women and throwing them into prison (Acts 8:1-3). But while going to Damascus, Saul was struck from his horse by a great light, and a voice asked "Why do you persecute me?" Saul asked who spoke: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:4-5). Saul experienced the grace of Conversion, and Paul, as Apostle to the Gentiles, became just as passionate spreading the Christian faith as he was in persecuting the Church.
To read about GOD the SON - Jesus Christ - the Redeemer please click here
To read about GOD the SON - Jesus Christ - the Healer and Deliverer please click here