Jesus

In the Beginning

Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.—1 Corinthians 5:7

Tuesday, April 11, is the date for the Memorial this year. It is appropriate that all the Lord’s brethren commemorate his death as he himself requested when, at his last supper, he took the cup and said, “This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:25).

While it is especially a time for considering his death and the meaning of that sacrifice, it is also appropriate to review Jesus’ entire life. It began at the beginning of time since he was the first created being. It stretches into the future to all eternity. Looking at what we are told about him, we see he has had many roles. This issue of The Herald looks at just a few of the parts he has played in God’s great plan of the ages.

The Firstborn of Every Creature examines the different functions of Christ as the Logos in the long period from his creation to his coming to earth as a man. We see him as an assistant in the creation process, a messenger from Jehovah, and as Michael, the great angelic general who defends his chosen people of Israel.

His human life affected many people in different ways. Perspectives of a Miraculous Birth looks at how his birth was viewed by King Herod, the shepherds, the Magi, Joseph, and Mary. The next two articles review two of his activities during his three-and-a-half year ministry: A Man Approved by Miracles and as a master teacher in Two Lessons from the Master.

The most important feature of his earthly ministry was to offer his life as an offset for Adam and the penalty of death that sin inflicted upon the entire human race. It is this death that Christians memorialize every year and is considered in the treatise My Strength and My Redeemer.

Jesus’ death on the cross did not bring an end to his activities to uplift the human race from sin to an eternal life of perfection in a perfect environment. First he calls out a special people to be his bride, the church. Because they inherited sin as descendants of Adam and Eve, How Jesus Comforts describes his role as advocate before the Father. Then, in his kingdom, he will assume yet another office for the world described in Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant.

May this brief review of the life and ministry of God’s only-begotten son, our Lord and our Redeemer, enhance our meditations at this special time of the year.