the all-inclusive Christ in Matthew: Christ is the Son of Man, the Baptizer, and the light of life!

What an all-inclusive Christ we have! In every book of the Bible, in every chapter, and even in every verse you can see Christ – He is all-inclusive! This morning we enjoyed three more aspects of Christ in the gospel of Matthew – Christ as the Son of Man, Christ as the Baptizer, and Christ as the light of life shining in the darkness.

O, what a Christ! This One is our life, and this One is our very person! He wants us to experience Him and enjoy Him in all these aspects until we become one with Him and even become Him in what He is!

• Christ is the Son of Man (Matt. 8:20; 11:19; 13:37; 16:13). God created man in His image and likeness so that man may express Him and represent Him with His dominion over everything and everyone on the earth. The first man fell, but in Psalm 8 we see that, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! – when man has dominion over the earth for God, God’s name is excellent on the earth! The Lord Jesus as the second man fulfilled God’s purpose in creating man: He expressed God fully and He had dominion for God! Christ is the man who brings in God’s dominion to the earth and makes God’s name excellent on earth! And when He was on the earth, even though the people or Satan tempted Him to stand on the ground of being the Son of God, the Lord Jesus always stood as a man – He is the Son of Man! Christ “stood as a man, a successful man, a victorious man, a man that could withstand any hardship, defeat, opposition, and attack” (Life-study of Matthew).
• Christ is the Baptizer (Matt. 3:1). John the Baptist baptized people unto repentance (Matt. 3:11), but he was there to introduce the real Baptizer, the One who will baptize people with the Holy Spirit and with fire! The Lord’s baptism in the Holy Spirit – which is based on His redemption on the cross – initiated the kingdom of the heavens and brought His believers into the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 3:12). The Lord’s baptism in fire – which is based on His judgement – will conclude the kingdom of the heavens, putting the unbelievers into the lake of fire. Christ’s baptism in the Holy Spirit brings us into the kingdom of the heavens, and His baptism with fire judges those who didn’t believe into Him – into the lake of fire! Wow, Christ is really the Baptizer!
• Christ is the light of life which shines into the darkness of death (Matt. 4:12-16). When the Lord Jesus started His ministry for the kingdom of the heavens, He didn’t come with “power and authority”, and He wasn’t a mighty One; rather, He came as a light shining in the darkness. He made no display of Himself – He just walked on the seashore and enlightened and attracted His disciples to Himself. Christ was the great magnet, drawing His seekers to Himself, and He was the great light, shining over people in darkness and in death. As He shined over the people, they were captured and attracted to Him – they immediately forsook their boats, their nets, their jobs, and even their families, and they followed Him! This is how Christ established the kingdom of the heavens – by coming as a great light shining in the darkness!

Yesterday we saw that Christ is the son of David and the son of Abraham, He is the Christ, the son of the living God, and He is the heavenly King! Today we enjoyed three more aspects – Christ as the Son of Man, Christ as the Baptizer, and Christ as the light of life.

What a wonderful Christ! Rightfully the songs praise Him, our tongues speak of Him, and this blog writes about Him. We just love Him and we enjoy Him! Lord Jesus, we love You! [sharing inspired from the life-study of the gospel of Matthew (by brother Witness Lee) as quoted in the Morning Revival on The Crucial Elements of the Bible]

Lord Jesus, we love You! Thank You for being the Son of Man – the One who fulfills God’s purpose in creating man. You fully express God and You have dominion over everything for God. How excellent is God’s name in the whole earth when Christ is expressed! Lord, we love You as the Baptizer! You have baptized us with the Holy Spirit and You are continually baptizing us in the Spirit! Lord Jesus, how we love You as the great light shining in darkness. Dispel any darkness in us, Lord!