Mark H Dillon
Colorado Christian University
10 February, 2015
Author Note Final was prepared for “Early Christian Literature” HUM-114A-ON152; Professor Carol Forseth
Abstract “The New Testament is a lesson in life. Learn from their mistakes. Model their successes. Listen to their instruction. Follow the Jesus who called both them and you.” A Survey of the New Testament, Gundry, Robert H., defines that The New Testament is worthy of a lifetime of study, as it answers the most significant questions people have asked. What is the purpose of life? Is there any real hope? What is God like? Can I be freed from guilt and sin? Jesus Christ is the only answer to those questions. He is the key to God's New Covenant, the central theme of the New Testament. In order to fully appreciate that New Covenant, you must explore the lives and times of Christ and the New Testament writers. Having studied under Professor Carol Foseth, proposed is what I gained in the past 5 weeks. Through the Blessings of God, the Salvation of our Lord and Savior and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, blessings to each and everyone and may you “have an ear to hear” what is being said that we all may live an eternal life in joyfulness with our Father.
I. The Names and Titles of Jesus
1. The exact image of God:
(Hebrews 1:3); radiance = effulgence or flood of resplendent light. The Apostle Paul indicates the exact representation of God’s essence or nature. This expression is a strong assertion of the deity of Christ. Also in this verse, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The picture of Christ being seated indicates the finished character of His once for all sacrifice for sin, and the right hand indicates the place of honor in which He occupies. (John 14:9) Further states that “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) “In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they may not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Over The Prophets: “Christ is better than the Old Testament prophets because He is the Son of God, the heir of the universe, the creator, the exact representation of divine nature, the sustainer of the world” (Gundry, 2003, p 505).
2. The Word of God: (John 1:1); in the beginning before time began, Christ was already in existence with God. This is what is meant by the term “pre-existent Christ” in which is further defined in Genesis 1:1 and 1 John 1:1. Word in Greek is logos. Logos means word, thought, concept, and the word or wisdom of God is often personified (Psalm 33:6; Proverbs 8). In the Targums, it was the designation of God. “The Old Testament existed in three linguistic forms for Jews of the first century: the original Hebrew, the Septugint (a Greek translation), and the Targums (oral paraphrases into Aramaic that were beginning to be written down)” (Gundry, 2003, p 80). The Apostle John indicates that to the Greek mind it expressed the ideas of reason and creative control. Revelation is the keynote idea in the logos concept. Here it is applied to Jesus, who is all that God is and the expression of Him. “And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God” (Revelation 19:13).
3. The Rock: (1 Corinthians 10:4); from a spiritual rock in which provided water as in (Exodus 17:1-9; Numbers 20:1-13). (Isaiah 28:16); Messiah is a foundation stone in His atonement, a tested stone in His temptations, and a costly cornerstone in His relationship to His people. Since the rock is mentioned 79 times in the Old Testament and 4 times in the New Testament, there are different meanings for different settings. The spiritual rock that followed them: “There was a Jewish tradition that the Rock-a fragment broken off from the rock smitten by Moses-followed the Israelites through their journey” (Unknown, 2011), and the Apostle Paul, for the purpose of illustration, adopts