This Is My Son The Chosen One

Theme: This is My Son, the Chosen One

Text: Gen. 15:1-12, 17-18; Phil. 3:17-21, 4:1; Lk. 13:31-35

The first thing we usually know about a person is his or her name. We all know the significance of names in our culture and everyone here automatically receives a name that depicts the day on which that person was born. This is one of the things that make Ghanaians unique as everyone knows the day of his or her birth. Bible names also have meanings and the many names and titles given to Jesus Christ reveal who He is. His most common names are ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christ’. Jesus is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Yeshua meaning ‘He shall save’. This was the reason why Jesus came to earth. He came to save because sinful man could not save himself from sin and its consequences. This is because no matter how good we may appear to be we cannot get rid of the sinful nature inherited from Adam and Eve. Only Jesus could do that. He did not come to help people save themselves but to be their Saviour from the power and penalty of sin. Christ is the Greek word that means ‘the Anointed One’ or ‘the Chosen One’. Christ is actually a title rather than a name. The Hebrew word for Christ is the Messiah, God’s Anointed One. Jesus is also known by the title ‘Son of God’ and ‘Son of Man’ and this draws attention to the fact that Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man at the same time. Jesus Christ would not allow anything stand in His way and prevent Him from doing the will of His Father and this is the reason why the Father could say of His Son “This is my Son, the Chosen One”.

Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the chosen One - the anointed One. He is the source of the anointing and the purpose of the anointing is to reveal God. It is the revelations we have about God that leads to a special relationship with Him. Jesus Christ, the anointed One received the Holy Spirit without measure and makes this also available to us. The anointing is part of the operation of the Holy Spirit when it operates without measure. It results from a deep, inward and personal infilling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus constantly demonstrated this anointing in His life and ministry by transforming lives - healing the sick, setting the captives free and giving hope to the hopeless. God desires the anointing to do the same thing in our lives today. It not only brings God to us but also brings us to God and makes God’s holiness, love and power available to us. The anointing brings a new dimension of reality and depth to the Christian experience as it removes burdens and destroys yokes. It is this reality that glorifies God and makes us focus on Him no matter our situation and gives us the right perspective to life. The anointing also reveals God’s word and will and is accompanied by the power to fulfil it through the Holy Spirit. God is a God of power and purpose and there is a purpose for our creation. It is to glorify God and we can only do this in His power and in His way. It is a humbling experience to realise that God desires to fill us with His power.

The anointing is God’s special gift to his servants to equip them for service. The anointing makes the impossible possible and I daresay that it was the anointing on Abraham and Sarah that made it possible for Isaac to be born in spite of the advanced ages of Abraham and Sarah and the fact that Sarah had long passed the age of having children. Abraham and Sarah were anointed as they had a divine role to play in preparing the world for the Messiah. The Virgin Mary was definitely anointed. How else could the miracle of her conception take place leading to the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? And as the name ‘Messiah’ implies Jesus was anointed to fulfil His divine destiny. Each one of us needs the anointing to serve God fully as it is the anointing that brings us into the presence and will of God. This is only possible when we allow the Holy Spirit without measure into our lives. Christ wants to anoint us so that we experience the reality of His power in our lives. It is this reality that will make us want to glorify God at all times, in all places and in all situations. He makes the Holy Spirit and the anointing available to us when we accept Him as our personal Saviour and Lord and through Him transforms our bodies to be like His glorious body.