| Following Jesus
as the Way means following His example and teaching. He said:
"If you
continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed."
(John 8:31)
Jesus chided the
people of His day who claimed to accept Him as Lord, but
disregarded His teaching.
"And why do
you call me `Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I
say?" (Luke 6:46)
The Bible is the
only dependable source of information about Jesus. Producers of
films and authors of novels take many liberties in dealing with
stories about Him. Many parents and acquaintances who talk to us
about Jesus have never made a serious study of the Bible. Often
preachers and teachers who have studied the Bible for years add
so many of their own opinions and philosophies that we can
scarcely know what is from the Bible and what is not; the fact
that they differ so widely is proof that many are mistaken. It
is essential, therefore, that each of us make his own study of
the original source of truth concerning Jesus.
JESUS
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Bible is
divided into two major divisions: the Old Testament and the New
Testament. The writing of the Old Testament was completed 400
years before Jesus was born, yet it contains many things about
Him.
The Old
Testament provides glimpses of Jesus in a pre-fleshly state.
When God was about to make man, He said to another divine being:
"Let us make man in our image..." (Genesis 1:26)
The New
Testament identifies this divine being as "the Word."
"In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All
things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made that
was made." (John 1:1-3)
The Old
Testament predicts His birth of a virgin.
"...Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
The name
Immanuel means "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). The Old
Testament even predicts the place of His birth in Micah 5:2.
JESUS
IN THE GOSPELS
The New
Testament records the fulfillment of the Old Testament
predictions. John testifies:
"The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth." (John 1:14)
Four writers
give accounts of His life. These accounts are commonly called
the Gospels, a word which means "good news." Each of
the writers seems to emphasize something different about Jesus.
MATTHEW
emphasizes His teaching, especially that concerning the
"Kingdom of heaven."
MARK features
the miracles of Jesus, showing His power.
LUKE seems to
stress the perfect humanity of Jesus without detracting from His
divinity.
JOHN seems to
stress the perfect divinity of Jesus without detracting from His
humanity.
Though
different, the gospels give a perfectly harmonious description
of one person, the greatest of history.
No one can know
JESUS, THE WAY, who has not read these records carefully.
Reading them, we may well be surprised to find how far the real
Jesus differs from the imaginary one who has been created in our
minds by the misinformation so commonly circulated among us.
JESUS
IN ACTS AND THE EPISTLES
The gospels do
not contain all of the teaching of Jesus. They report only the
teaching which He did while on earth. This had to be limited to
what His disciples could comprehend in the short time that He
was with them. Before He left them, He told them of the
arrangement by which He would continue to speak to them:
"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot
bear them now. However, when He, the spirit of truth, has come,
He will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on His
own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and he will
tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of
what is Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:12-14)
The Holy Spirit
came upon them soon after Jesus returned to Heaven.
"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance." (Acts 2:4)
This means that
the preaching and writing of the inspired apostles, which we
find in the remainder of the New Testament, are as much the
teaching of Jesus as what we read in the gospels. The apostle
Paul wrote:
"If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let
him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the
commandments of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 14:37)
NO
OTHER REVELATIONS
The revelation
of Jesus and His teaching in the New Testament is complete. The
writers warned:
"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be
accursed." (Galatians 1:8)
The writer of
the last book of the New Testament gives warning:
"I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy
of this book: if anyone adds to these things, God will add to
him the plagues that are written in this book." (Revelation
22:18)
OLD
OR NEW TESTAMENT?
Though many
things about Jesus are foretold and foreshadowed in the Old
Testament, it is in the New Testament that God speaks to us
through Him.
"God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in
time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days
spoken to us by His Son." (Hebrews 1:1-2)
This means that
we must not go back to the Old Testament to learn how to follow
Jesus, the Way. The law was intended simply to bring men to
Jesus.
"Therefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to
Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has
come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians
3:24-25)
CAN
YOU ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
Using your own
Bible or the quotations in this lesson, please answer the
following questions.
Top
Home
| Service
Times | Where
We Are | What
To Expect | Life
Lessons | Bulletins
& Notices
Current
Projects | Historical
Information | Topical
Bible References | Personal
Study Aids
Other
Sites Of Interest | Contact
Information | Free
Bible Correspondence Course | Ask
The Preacher
Copyright
© 2000 for church of Christ, Oroville, Ca. All rights reserved.
Last revised:
February 22, 2007 . |
