Who is Jesus Christ for me today?

It's been way too long since I posted anything here and really I should be studying for a test right now but I felt like throwing something out here. And I know my blogs are usually about something with technology but not today. Today I want to think about who Jesus is for me. Today.

So who is Jesus Christ for me today? Because of the time of year, shortly after Easter, my first response to this question is that Jesus Christ is my savior and the reason I know I am forgiven for my sins and that I will live forever in God’s kingdom. Jesus did not just die and rise from the dead around 2000 years ago for my salvation. It is Christ today, as part of the Trinity, who continues to be my Savior. It is because of what He did that humans are able to receive the grace of God and that remains true today as it did when He died. Jesus died EVEN for me. He died and rose again for all of us and for that I thank God daily. In addition, I am blessed to be one of that “us” He died for. Me. He died even for someone like me, a sinner. I see Jesus as my savior and I believe I could not be forgiven my sins nor have a personal relationship with God without Him.

Next, Jesus is also a model for me. I believe that in blessing us by coming to be one of us, truly and fully human, God provided us a model that shows us what we can be, and in fact will be, if we accept the grace provided to us through Christ’s actions. Look at Augustine’s model of sin, which says that we were originally able not to sin, the fall happened and we came to a state of not being able not to sin, and through God's grace we will in His kingdom be in a state of not able to sin. Here is a picture:

Able not to sin ----> Fall -----> Not able not to sin -----> Grace -----> Not able to sin.

(Maybe I do a blog on Augustine and sin later)

I believe that Jesus Christ’s life shows us that, because of Christ’s actions and God’s grace, we can reach that state of not able to sin. I believe that Jesus Christ, being fully human, shows us that we can be perfectly sanctified, and I hope to model my life in that manner. However, as I learned from Dr. Chun in systematic theology, I cannot reach that place of not able to sin alone. That is something that all humanity must do together. But, being a person of faith I resolve and herein state, it must and will start with me. I can continue on the road toward that and try to live a life like Jesus Christ led in order to experience a kind of preview of what that life will be like in God's Kingdom.

I think that both of those statements go together and are combined in my belief that Jesus resurrection shows what will happen to us all. I also believe, although admittedly I am not well educated enough yet to make this argument on my own, that it does not matter whether that resurrection was physical or not. I believe that some theologians have made the point that the resurrection did in fact happen to the body of Jesus, but I am not convinced that it matters whether this was a physical event or something more like other theologians say in that it was Jesus Spirit that was resurected. I believe with all my heart that what we can say historically is that something dramatic happened that transformed Jesus’ disciples, that took these people who ran and hid when he was arrested and killed and CHANGED THEIR LIVES on that third day so that they came out of hiding, rejoicing and spreading the Word. And I believe that we can say that what happened to cause this transformation happened to Jesus. But exactly what that event was is somewhat open. For me, it does not matter because whatever happened to those disciples, it also happens to me and I know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is alive and helping me to learn to be more like him.

Shalom,
Tim