Hey, all. I’m currently taking a college course on the New Testament
online. One of the weekly requirements is a “Student Choice Assignment,” in
which we choose a topic to do an activity on from a list of approved topics,
and then pick an activity to do. You can talk to a friend, write a talk or do
any of a myriad of other things, including write a blog post, which is what
I’ve decided to do. My assignment is to read some passages from the New
Testament and discuss the doctrinal connection between them and then list five
truths about the premortal Christ and five truths about his mortal life. Then I
am to research and write a few sentences about some of the names of the Lord. I want to give a caveat here—I tend not to enjoy these types of assignments too much, so this may come off as a little calloused or uncaring. But here we go.
John 1:1-14 and John 17:1-5 both speak about power and they both make connections
between the premortal Christ and the mortal Christ. For instance, John 1:10
says that Christ “was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the
world knew him not.” The testament that Christ created the world shows his
great power and shows that he existed before the world did, and therefore
before his mortal sojourn. The next verse says “he came unto his own, and his
own received him not.” This is something that seems to happen to Christ
frequently in the New Testament. Many people reject him—people who should be
happy to see him as their Savior.
John 17:1-5 also testifies of Christ’s power and of his
mortal and premortal existence. Verse 2 reads, “As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him.” Christ’s power over all flesh is shown in other sections of the New
Testament as well, in his healing of his disciples and of complete strangers
(from, in some cases, deadly diseases or death itself). Verse 5 of this chapter
shows that Christ existed before his mortality. It reads, “And now, O Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was.”
Five truths about the premortal Christ:
-
He had glory with the father before the world
was created. (John 17:5)
-
All things were made by him, including the
world. (John 1:3, 10)
-
He is the Light that lighteth every man that
cometh into the world. (John 1:9)
-
He is the Word (John 1:1)
-
He was sent by God to Earth (John 17:3)
Five truths about the mortal Christ
-
He came unto his own, and his own received him
not (John 1:11)
-
He was given power over all flesh (John 17:2)
-
He was preceded by John the Baptist, who gave
witness of him (John 1:6-7)
-
Christ glorified the Father while he was on the
Earth (John 17:4)
-
Christ finished the work God gave him to do
(John 17:4)
Names of the Lord (the following information was acquired
either through the Bible Dictionary or through an older LDS institute manual
for the New Testament.
Christ – “Christ” and Messiah are equivalents to each other,
the first in Greek, and the second in Hebrew. Christ was not Jesus’s last name,
but a title given to him that means “The Anointed One.”
Messiah – Means “the anointed,” as “Christ” does. According
to the Bible Dictionary it is “Used as the title of an office,” and “denotes
the King and Deliverer whose coming the Jews were eagerly expecting.”
Jehovah – Means “The Self-existent One” or “The Eternal,”
and, according to ancient Jewish practice, was not to be spoken for fear of
angering God and bringing his wrath. It
Immanuel – Means “God with us,” and can also be spoken “Emmanuel.”
According to the Bible Dictionary, “It signifies that Christ as God will be
born into mortality of a virgin and will be among the people to save and redeem
them.”
The Word – James E. Talmage has written that Christ was the
person who obeyed and carried out the directives of God, including the creation
of the world, and that that is the meaning of this specific name for him—he is
the Word of God because he carries out the word of God.
