What Is Christ? Who Can Be Called Christ?

As for what Christ means, this is a mystery of the truth that we believers in the Lord fail to understand. Although we all know the Lord Jesus was Christ, none of us have understanding of Christ’s essence. We are only able to say that the Lord Jesus was Christ, but we can’t explain its details clearly. So what does Christ mean?

Let’s read two passages of God’s words, and then we’ll understand. “The incarnate God is called Christ, and Christ is the flesh donned by the Spirit of God. This flesh is unlike any man that is of the flesh. This difference is because Christ is not of flesh and blood; He is the incarnation of the Spirit. He has both a normal humanity and a complete divinity. His divinity is not possessed by any man. His normal humanity sustains all His normal activities in the flesh, while His divinity carries out the work of God Himself. Be it His humanity or divinity, both submit to the will of the heavenly Father. The essence of Christ is the Spirit, that is, the divinity. Therefore, His essence is that of God Himself; this essence will not interrupt His own work, and He could not possibly do anything that destroys His own work, nor would He ever utter any words that go against His own will.”

“God become flesh is called Christ, and so the Christ that can give people the truth is called God. There is nothing excessive about this, for He possesses the essence of God, and possesses God’s disposition, and wisdom in His work, that are unattainable by man. Those who call themselves Christ, yet cannot do the work of God, are frauds. Christ is not merely the manifestation of God on earth, but also the particular flesh assumed by God as He carries out and completes His work among man. This flesh cannot be supplanted by just any man, but is a flesh that can adequately bear God’s work on earth, and express the disposition of God, and well represent God, and provide man with life.”

From God’s words, we can see that Christ refers to God’s Spirit becoming clothed in flesh as a common person to bring His word and work on earth and appear to mankind. Which is to say that God in heaven has become man to speak and work among humans to redeem and save them. He has both normal humanity and complete divinity. From the outside, Christ looks like an ordinary and normal person. He has the same rules of life and participates in the same activities as any other normal human, and has normal human feelings. But the essence of Christ is divinity. He can begin a new age and end an old age. He can express God’s disposition and what God has and is. He, according to mankind’s needs, can express the truth to supply and save man, and He can do the work of God Himself. No created being is capable of this.

For example, the Lord Jesus was God incarnate—He was Christ. The Lord Jesus looked like an ordinary, normal man from the outside, but He had a divine essence. He could express the truth, give people the way of repentance, do the work of redeeming all mankind through His crucifixion. He could also perform signs and wonders, such as calming the wind and sea, feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, and bringing the dead back to life. All of the Lord Jesus’ work and words reveal God’s life disposition and what He has and is. These are things that no created being could achieve. All this sufficiently proves that the Lord Jesus was Christ, the incarnate God. Although He had normal humanity, His essence was divine. As such, He was capable of expressing the truth and doing God’s work in God’s identity.

At this point, I believe that you have known what Christ means. Christ is what God in the flesh is called. Christ is the appearance of God, and is God’s Spirit becoming flesh as the Son of man to do God’s own work; He is able to provide people with the truth and life. Only such flesh who has both normal humanity and complete divinity can be called Christ.

Actually, knowing what Christ means is critical for us welcoming the Lord. The Lord Jesus prophesied, “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27). “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12–13). “He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). “For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). “And has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man” (John 5:27). It is prophesied in 1 Peter 4:17, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.” And John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth.”

These prophecies show that the Lord’s return in the last days is His incarnation as the Son of man carrying out His judgment. All references to “Son” or “Son of man” are certainly references to Christ in the flesh. If He were a Spirit, then He could not be called the Son of man. For example, Jehovah God was the Spirit and therefore couldn’t be called the Son of man. The Lord Jesus’ spiritual body after His resurrection was not the body of God incarnate, so He couldn’t be called the Son of man either. Thus, in accordance with the Lord Jesus’ prophecies, we can be absolutely certain that the Lord Jesus must return in the flesh as the Son of man to utter His words and do the work of judgment of the last days. So, if we hear someone testifying that the Lord Jesus has returned in the flesh and that He is expressing truths and doing the work of judgment beginning with God’s house, then we should proactively seek and investigate. This way we’ll be able to welcome the appearance of Christ of the last days.

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