THE NEW TESTAMENT AND CHRIST Anyone who reads the New Testament is impressed by the many ways in which Christ can be of great value to each one of us.  The work of our Lord for our salvation is so clearly outlined.  The story of Christ’s coming, his teaching, his life, and his sacrifice, is given in the majestic simplicity that can be found only in the Bible.  God directed the writers of the New Testament as they gave to all men, and to all the generations to come the wonderful story of Jesus. Christ is revealed in so many ways in the New Testament.  He is the babe that was born in Bethlehem.  He is the long expected Messiah, promised by Isaiah the prophet of God.  He is the “seed of Abraham.”  He is the kingly descendant of David.   Above all,  he is the Son of God. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16) Christ came “to seek and save that which was lost.”  (Luke 19:10)  Thus God exalted him to be a Prince and a Saviour.  (Acts 5:31)  In the church of our Lord, he now reigns as “the blessed and only Potentate, the king of  Kings, and the Lord of Lords.”  (1 Timothy 6:15)  God gave him “to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.”  (Eph. 1:22-23)  And, “Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” (Eph. 5:23) More that two hundred descriptive names and titles are given to Christ in the Bible in order to reveal the fullness of his nature and his place in the plan of God for our salvation.  To show us how essential he is to our spiritual well-being, he is described as “the bread of life”, and “the water of life.”   For our care and protection he is revealed as the “good shepherd”  who would lay down his life for his sheep. (John 10:14,15)  In his portrayal of the nature of God, he became “the express image of his person” (Heb.1:3), who so showed God to men that he could say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”  (John 14:9) Christ described himself as the way to heaven, saying “I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  (John 14:6)  Indeed, he is the one who leads us as the teacher come from God, so proven by the works that he did among men, that all men might believe in him.  (John 3:2; 20:30,31; 21:25)  He is the Captain of our salvation who was made perfect through suffering.  (Heb. 2:10)  He is “the author and finisher of our faith.” (Heb. 12: 2)  And he is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”  (John 1:29) And, when our Lord shall return, he shall be the judge of all the nations of earth.  (Matt. 25:31-46)  God has given us the assurance that this day of judgment is coming in that he raised up Christ from the dead.  (Acts 17:31) These passages of scripture should help us to see the many aspects of the life of Christ in his relation to us today.   They should help us understand the importance of knowing more about him, of believing in him, and of obeying his teachings by which he will judge us in that great day of judgment.  (John 12:48) -----Bill Young