linda bass

Jesus as the Great Physician resonates with our broken world because, He is the only one able to heal us physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually; making us whole in spirit and body.

In light of all the world's religions, Jesus can be the exclusive Way to God because, the blood He shed for us opened up a "new and living way" to the Father. This offends the world because, our society wants to believe there are many paths to God. However, the Scriptures clearly state that the only way to get to God is through accepting Christ as Savior. Since this is true, we can declare this truth to our generation by assuring them that Jesus is the Path that will lead them to joy in this life, in spite of trials and struggles, as well to eternal joy in the life to come.

The ways the rock images of Christ are attractive to our world is, Christians are like living stones being built into a spiritual house(the church) to be a holy priesthood. The way the rock images of Christ repels people is, they resent His divinity and absolute authority. The reason why is, they are too enamored with their own will to surrender to God's will. The ways I see Jesus as a Rock, Stone, and Foundation in my life are, He keeps me grounded in the faith. He is a sustaining fortress in the midst of conflict. I depend on His strength to help me make it through my Christian walk.

The characteristics of the "Good Shepherd" are 1]He knows all those who are His, 2]He watches over and protects those who are His, 3]He gave His life for us. How this contrasts with the "hired hand" is, the priests and religious leaders were supposed to care for God's people, but they only thought of themselves. We can demonstrate we are "good shepherds" rather than "hired hands" by reaching out and helping those in need.

How Jesus serves(like Boaz) as a Kinsman-Redeemer to us is, He came to earth as a servant to ransom us from the slavery of sin. What the idea of needing ransom implies about our condition is, it is impossible for us to pay what we owe on our sin debt. We have fallen so far into debt that it is impossible for us to ever be able to redeem ourselves. The redemption price that the Father paid for us was, the precious, holy blood of His Son which was shed upon the cross.

What it means to me personally that Jesus is the Friend of Sinners is, He loved me enough to shed His blood on the cross and to take the punishment for my sins that I deserved. How it should affect our relationships with people who are deep in sin is, we need to remember Jesus died for them as well and they also need a Savior.

The purpose of the Lord's Supper is to bring to mind Jesus' broken body; symbolized by the bread, cracker, or wafer, and the blood He shed on the cross for our sin; symbolized by the wine or grape juice. We should partake of the Lord's Supper often because we need to be reminded of what it cost God to redeem us from our sin. My church partakes of the Lord's Supper or communion as we refer to it on the 2nd Sunday of the month and on Good Friday. We partake in what is referred to as open communion. One doesn't have to be a member of the church to partake, but they must have accepted Jesus as Savior. Often it is easy to forget what Jesus has done for us on the cross because, the longer one has been a Christian the easier it becomes to take our salvation for granted.

Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God because, He would become the sacrifice for our sins. The degree that Jesus takes away are sin is, completely. Animal sacrifices could only cover up one's sin. That's why they to be repeated continually. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was once and for all. When we accept Jesus as Savior we are completely forgiven of all our past, present, and future sin. Jesus came to represent me as my sacrifice for sin when I admitted I was a sinner and accepted His blood sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins.

What Jesus' holiness and righteousness demands of our lives as His disciples is, that we be obedient to His commands and live holy lives. The primary characteristic of the sheep vs the goats was, the goats proclaimed Jesus as Lord but, their was no spiritual fruit in their life. The sheep showed their were true believers by reaching out and helping those in need.

The significance of Jesus "I Am" statements is, Jesus is declaring His divinity and oneness with the Father. The "I am" statement that means the most to me personally is, " I am the resurrection and the life" because He conquered death and the grave when He rose again on the third day.

The title "Only Begotten God" signifies Jesus' divinity by proclaiming, "God the one and only who is at His Father's side." We become sons and daughters of God when we are adopted into His family after we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. Jesus was God's Son from eternity. He has always existed and wasn't created like we were. What "only begotten" says about Jesus' status with the Father is, they are equal in divinity. About the costliness of the cross-the separation the Father had to endure, while His Son was dying on the cross for the sin of mankind.

God loved us so much that He was willing to send His Son to suffer and die a brutal death on a cross to save us from eternal punishment in hell. This doesn't make sense to our natural minds because no parent I know would willingly sacrifice their child for anyone, let alone the whole world. The only exception was when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham was willing to obey God because he believed God's promise that he would have many descendants. What this says about God's love for us is, He was willing to pay the ultimate price, the death of His Son, to ransom us from Satan's dark domain.

The way the title Son of God makes Jesus equal to the Father is, Jesus is God and shares in the divine nature. Dealing with the Son is the same as dealing with the father because they are one and the same. I know Jesus the Son of God as my Savior. Yes I love Him because He died for my sins and took the punishment that I deserved.

The chief priests and scribes were angry when the little children referred to Jesus as "son of David" because they were claiming Jesus was the awaited Messiah. The title "Son of David" signifies that Jesus' was a direct descendant of the Davidic line.

My favorite Messianic prophecy is Isaiah 9:6-9. The title that means the most to me is "Mighty God." This is because the Lord is powerful and reigns over creation and man.