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Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Dr. Tony Evans » Tony Evans - Jesus The Christ

Tony Evans - Jesus The Christ


Tony Evans - Jesus The Christ
Tony Evans - Jesus The Christ
TOPICS: Jesus

Our focus today is on Christ. Now, that's not his last name. That is his role or office name. The word "Christ" is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for "Messiah". That's why it says in verse 41, of John 1, "We have found the Messiah, which is translated, 'Christ.'" So when you hear the word "Christ," which is spoken of over 500 times in the New Testament, you are literally hearing the Old Testament word, "Messiah". Now, the word "Messiah," from which we get our Greek word translated in English as "Christ," meant, "Anointed One". That's what "Messiah" means. That's what "Christ" means. It means "Anointed One". The whole Old Testament is written in anticipation of the one to come, called the Messiah. It was called the messianic hope. You can't understand the Old Testament, and the Old Testament will never make full sense unless you understand "the messianic hope," that is, "the anticipation of Messiah".

Generation after generation after generation after generation was looking forward to this promised person that God would send, who would have the anointing to fulfill the purposes of God for not only his people, Israel, but for the whole world, and that person would be the Messiah, which is translated, "Christ". So the whole Old Testament, while not using Jesus's name, anticipates Jesus's person. From Genesis 3:15, that "the woman would have a seed," because no man would be involved, whenever you talk about the birth of a child, you're talking about the seed of a man. But since no man would be involved, because of the virgin birth, he speaks about the seed of a woman. So the Messiah would come through the seed of a woman. God will set up a whole system of sacrifices in anticipation of the coming of Messiah. He would set up a whole festival regime in anticipation of the coming of Messiah. He would make certain promises to Israel and to the whole world that would be filled by the reign of Messiah.

And so, you would see prayers in the Bible, looking forward to the coming of Messiah. You would see sermons in the Bible, how justice would reign at the coming of Messiah. Everything was in anticipation of this one who was to come, who would be the messianic hope, the Messiah, whose name means in Greek, "Christ". So when he says, "We have found him," he is saying, "We have found all that the Old Testament anticipated, all that the Old Testament prophesied, and that was the coming of the Anointed One". One of the things that Scripture says about the coming of the Christ, or the Anointed One, was that he had to come through the lineage of King David.

Now, I know that reading names of who begat who, who begat who, and who begat who, is boring Bible reading, but it is absolutely critical reading, and let me give you one reason why. In 70 A.D., in 70 A.D., the Roman general Titus destroyed the temple and destroyed the city of Jerusalem after the rejection of Christ. There was a major destruction that took place. Inside the temple were the genealogical records of the Jews. So you could go to the temple just like you can go today to a records building, or you can go on ancestry.com, and find out where you're from and where your ancestors are from, and all that. Well, they had that in the temple so a Jew could know which tribe of Israel he came from because he had the records in the temple. But when Titus, the Roman general, destroyed the temple, he destroyed the genealogical records, which is why Jewish people today have trouble locating which ancestry they belong to because the records were destroyed, that is, all the records except one.

The record of Jesus was maintained. It is recorded for us in Matthew chapter 1, in Luke chapter 3, and when God was doing his matchmaking, when he was playing Cupid, he had a man named Joseph meet a woman named Mary. They fell in love, and it just so happens in Matthew 1, that the lineage of Joseph came through the line of David. It just so happens in Luke chapter 3, that the lineage of Mary comes through the line of David. When they came together as husband and wife, even though she was giving birth as a virgin and Joseph was to be his stepfather, once they got married, it meant Jesus was being raised by the lineage of both in one family to satisfy the Old Testament prediction that the Messiah had to come through the Davidic line. So God even knows how to hook folk up in order to fulfill his kingdom purposes.

So "We have found him". Who exactly have you found? "We have found the Anointed One". Now, in the Bible, to receive an anointing was to be elected to an office. So think of the anointing as being like an election. So look at it, they're being dubbed to fulfill an office. So in the Old Testament, Messiah, the Anointed Ones fit in three categories. There were three classifications of people that were anointed. The first classification of an anointed person in the Old Testament, which has to do with the meaning of the word "Messiah," was the prophet. The prophet was the person who spoke for God. You would always hear the prophet say, "Thus saith the Lord". Not only did they speak for God, but they not only forthtold, they also foretold. They foretold the future. So they were predictive in nature. They would say what God said, and then they would declare things that had not happened yet, on behalf of God, to the people. That was, and so they were anointed to be prophet.

The second category of anointing was the priest. Now, the priest would get anointed. There was a whole line of priests. This line of priests would be anointed for the purpose of standing as a mediator between God and men. Men, because men are sinful, could not go directly to God, and God, because he was holy, would not mix up with the sinfulness of men, so God created or anointed a mediator, somebody who would stand between him and the people for the purpose of sacrificing for the forgiveness of sins so that God could have fellowship with the people and bring blessing upon the people by means of this mediator called a priest.

Now, among the priests, there was the chief priest, called the "high priest". He would go into the holy of holies once a year, offer sacrifices for the nation of Israel so that God could bring blessing on the people, and they would not be judged for their sins. That priesthood was anointed. Well, the third category of anointing was the king. The king was anointed for his civil responsibility of ruling over the nation. So he went through an official anointing ceremony to say, "You are elected under God to rule over the nation". And so, each one of those fulfilled a messianic role as human beings, but when Messiah would come, this Messiah would fulfill all three roles in his one person. He would be anointed as prophet, he would be anointed as priest, and he would be anointed as King. That's why, at his baptism, Matthew 3:16, when heaven opened up, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit, the Bible says. "This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased". And that launched him into his tri-fold ministry of being prophet, priest, and King.

Now, every time, and now, stay with me here, you hear the name Christ, you must think the name Messiah. And every time you hear the name Christ, and now you're thinking the word "Messiah," you must now think the word "Anointed One". And every time you hear the word "Christ," now that you're thinking of "Messiah," and now that you know that means "Anointed One," you are to remember he's anointed prophet, priest, and King. He has all three anointings fulfilled in one person. So when you hear the word "Christ," don't think of Jesus's last name. Think of Jesus's as three elected offices, that he possesses all three offices. So now let's walk through the three offices of Messiah, whose name is translated "Christ," to see how those three operate with him. Number one, he is anointed as prophet. He is a spokesperson for God, and he is a proclaimer of the future. Well, now, if Jesus is anointed Messiah as prophet, that means that he speaks as God speaks.

Now, why is that important? Well, all the other prophets said, "Thus saith the Lord". When Jesus comes on the scene, he says, "I say unto you". All the other prophets were simply articulating what God told them to tell them. When Jesus spoke, he spoke with the authority of God. But why wouldn't he? John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". So John 1, says, the reason he could speak with that kind of authority is that it was actually God doing the talking. "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God". Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, it says, "In olden times, God spoke in many ways through many people, but in these last days, God has spoken to us through his Son". So Jesus Christ, in his prophetic role, is the last word on any subject matter. Not only is Jesus anointed as prophet, since "Christ" is the Greek for "Messiah," and "Messiah" means "Anointed," and that word belongs to Christ, he has also been anointed as priest.

1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 5, says that there is one mediator between God and man and that is the man Christ Jesus. He is the in-between person who grabs God and grabs man and hooks the two up. He is our priest. According to Hebrews chapter 2, verses 17 and 19, Jesus Christ is our perfect priest. He stands between us and God, to hook us up together. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me". Jesus says, "I am the root. I am the mechanism. I am the mediator between sinful men and a perfect, holy God". Sinful men can't go up to God. God is pure. He can't mix it up with sin, but the one who bore our sins, Jesus Christ, brings the two together. He is our priest, but not only is he our priest, he is our High Priest.

Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 and 16, says that we have a High Priest, who can be touched with our infirmities, who can be touched with our weakness, and whose throne can bring mercy and grace in time of difficulty. So you not only have a priest, you have the Chief Priest in charge. The Bible says that the priesthood of Jesus, Hebrews 5, verse 10, is a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. It is a permanent priesthood, so it didn't run out. It's still rollin'. It is a permanent priesthood. Now, the author of Hebrews 5:10, says, "I wanna go in to the priesthood of Jesus after the order of Melchizedek, but I can't go into it 'cause you folks are too mule-headed".

"Mule-headed" means "to be stubborn". Mule-headed means you won't listen. So the author of Hebrews says, I'm not gon' go into this deep stuff about the priesthood of Jesus 'cause I know you're not spiritually able to handle it because, if he went into the priesthood of Melchizedek, going all the way back to Genesis, he would explain how this priest was also a king, and how this king, who was also a priest was able to bring victory to Abraham in the most trying situations. If we understood the priesthood of Jesus Christ, we wouldn't be all wiped out by the circumstances of life because we would understand there's somebody between us and God, who can get us to God because he can feel it in a way that the Father can't.

So let me review some theology with you. The Father, God the Father knows everything. God the Father is omniscient in his knowledge. There is no subject of which he is not fully aware, but even though God the Father knows everything about everything, he has not felt everything he knows. In other words, he knows things that he's never experienced. He knows sin, but he's never sinned, so he's never experienced what he already knows about. So the Father is limited in his experience. He's not limited in his knowledge. But because the Father wanted to experience what he already knows, he sent the Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to be a man so that he could experience loneliness, so that he could experience pain, so that he could experience death, so that he could experience rejection. In fact, there is no category in your life where the Anointed Priest has not already experienced that category.

So the Bible says in Hebrews 4, he can sympathize with your weakness. The Father can understand it, but the Son can sympathize with it because the Son went through it. God knows, like a Father, what it's all about, but Jesus has felt the prick, the pain, the "Ow". He's been through it, so he can interpret to the Father what the feeling is of whatever you're going through 'cause, guess what? He's not only a priest, he's a High Priest. And not only is he High Priest 'cause what the midwife does is, she not only comforts, she not only is there, but she is assisting with the delivery. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 4, we have such a High Priest who helps us in times of trouble. He can assist with the circumstance. But let me explain. If you don't understand he's a High Priest and you don't know how to utilize the priesthood, then you don't get the benefits of the anointing.

Now, the third area where Jesus Christ is anointed, because "Christ" is taken from the word "Messiah," "Messiah" means "Anointed One," and the three offices of anointing was prophet, priest, and king, so the third area of anointing is that of king. King. King David was anointed. He was the ruler over Israel. He was the government or the head of the government. The Bible says that, "The government shall rest on his shoulders". The Bible calls Jesus Christ, "King of kings and Lord of lords". Revelation chapter 11, verse 15, says that "The kingdoms of the world come under the kingship of Christ". Ephesians chapter 1, verse 10, says that God's philosophy of history is that, "All things will come under the rulership of Jesus Christ".

Now, with each one of those titles, prophet, priest, and king, comes the anointing. The anointing has to do with his official designation in that area over your life. So if there is any rejection of Christ, you have just rejected the anointing. So you not only lose fellowship with the person of Christ, you lose the ability to benefit from the anointing of Christ. Everybody goes around, talkin' about, "The anointing, the anointing, the anointing". Well, you only experience the anointing, prophet, priest, and king, when those are allowed to operate in your life. So Jesus Christ is the Anointed One in three areas. How do I get this Anointed One to anoint me so that his presence, his Word, his authority, his connecting me between earth and heaven as a priest, his ruling, and overruling in my life and circumstances, work for me?

Let me quote you one of my favorite verses, Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ," with Christ, "nevertheless I live, yet not I. It's Christ who lives in me, and the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me". But now that you have an understanding that "Christ" is from "Messiah," and "Messiah" is from "anointing," let me re-quote the verse: "I am crucified with the anointing, nevertheless, not I, it is the anointing, or the Anointed One, that lives in me. So the life which I now live, I live by faith in this Anointed One, who loved me and gave himself for me". 'Cause remember, stay with me now, "Christ" means "Messiah," means "anointed," means prophet, priest, and king. So to have Christ is to have an elected officer operating inside of you. Let's go back. "I am crucified with Christ".

Let me tell you why Paul even says that. Paul is dealing with a racial issue, a racial issue in the church. Peter has become very Jewish. He has segregated himself from the Gentiles, beginning in Galatians 2, verse 11. Paul sees this segregation take place, and he stands before Peter, and he tells Peter, "What you just did with that other race is evil". That's because God has spoken about race, and you don't need 250 years to fix it if you start with the anointing. Jesus says, "What you just did was evil, and what you just did was wrong. In fact, Peter, I don't think you know who you are because what you just did was you put your Jewish heritage in front of your Christian commitment, and whoever you are, if it trumps being a Christian, then it's out of order". He says, "I am crucified with Christ".

Now, that speaks of his union, the union with Christ. I have been co-identified with Christ. I am sync, in sync with him. So he says, "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I've not lost my personality. I've not lost my identity. I've not lost my racial orientation". He says, "I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live". So I'm still being me, but I'm being me in this mixture. I'm still coffee, but I've been changed because I've been unioned with Jesus Christ. He says, "Nevertheless, I live," but then he says, "yet not I, it's Christ who lives in me".

So I have given Christ permission to let his anointing flow through me so that the life that I now live, here it is, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. He says, "Now I don't live my life like the way I used to live my life. I don't drink coffee like the way I used to drink coffee because of the union that has now occurred in my life, the life which I now live, how I now flow is I flow with Christ, that is, the anointing. He is my final Word. He is my mediating priest, and he is my ruler and over-ruler of circumstances in life, which means he is free to flow the anointing in me, to me, through me, for me, and by me, that he can flow".

Now, how do I get the anointing to flow? He says, "I live by faith in the Son of God". What we live is we live by flesh, that is, confidence in ourselves. We talk about our confidence. We brag about our confidence. I'm all that and a bag of chips. I can do this, and I'm all that. No, no, no, no, no, no. Paul says, "The way I get heaven", now, certain things you can do without God, but the way I get heaven to amplify what I do with my hands and with my feet and with my mouth and with my tongue and with my body, the way I get heaven to operate is I don't count on my human ability independently of God.

I tell Jesus Christ, "You've gotta do this through me. You've gotta work this out through me. You've gotta speak this through me. You've gotta handle this through me. You've gotta walk this through me because I may be too weak. I may be too broken. I may be too defeated to be able to deal with this situation, so I'm gon' lean on you". When you get propelled by the anointing workin' through you, you will find your ability to go above and beyond what you ever thought you could do as a human being. Why? Because his name is Christ, and "Christ" is from "Messiah," and "Messiah" means "anointed," and anointed is prophecy. Anointin' is priest, and anointing is king, and if you've accepted Jesus, you already have the anointing.

The whole Old Testament anticipated the coming of Messiah, that is, the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. The apostles made it clear that he is the fulfillment of all of Israel's hopes and dreams. As the Christ, he's the Messiah. He's the Anointed One, the one that the whole Old Testament anticipated to be God's representative on earth to fulfill the promises that God had made to his people. Not only is he available to fulfill Israel's promises, he's available to you in your hurt, your pain, your struggles, and your stresses 'cause he's not only anointed for the nation, he's anointed for all of God's people who will accept him and follow Him. Jesus is not just the Christ. He's also your Christ. So I wanna encourage you to look no further than to Jesus the Christ because he's been anointed to meet you where you are, to heal your hurts, calm your fears, and to bring hope, help, and healing to the deepest parts of your life.
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