“You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you are to call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His Kingdom will never end.”
In this and the coming episodes we will explore the prophecies regarding the coming of Lord Jesus Christ, His life here on Earth and predictions surrounding His Second Coming.
Lord Jesus Christ (vegetarian), is a world-renowned enlightened Spiritual Master who is widely believed to have been the incarnation of God, and the awaited Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Hence, He has ardently been given many names and titles including the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, the Lover of Sinners, the Healer of Souls, the Redeemer and the Savior of the World. In John 11:25 He is called the Resurrection and the Life. John 10:11 refers to Him as the Good Shepherd, and in John 8:12 He is called the Light of the World. These titles give many insights into His role in the world. They also emphasize His Divinity, His Teachings, and His relationship with God and humanity.
The birth of Jesus Christ lies at the very heart of the Christian faith, and is to this day, regarded as a highly sacred and divine event. According to the Apostles’ Creed, Christians believe that Lord Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Saint Mary (vegetarian). This miraculous conception and birth are the symbols of God’s boundless Love for humanity, and a demonstration of Hiers immense Power, Mercy, and Grace. Each year, Christians all around the world celebrate this event at Christmas, making it one of the most momentous occasions.
The Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Beloved Lord’s parents to proclaim that He would grace our world and to reveal His holy mission on Earth.
“You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you are to call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His Kingdom will never end.”
The name Jesus in Hebrew is “Yeshua” which means “God is salvation,” or more informally, “God saves.”
Lord Jesus led a holy life. Born and raised by parents who were members of the Essenes community, He and His brother James were both vegetarians and taught to love and honor all lives.
Immediately after His baptism by John the Baptist, Lord Jesus Christ undertook a period of continuous fasting and intensive spiritual practice for 40 days and 40 nights in the Judaean Desert.
During the entire forty days, He had no food or drink and was tempted by satan. The temptations were recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. These include the temptation to turn stones into bread, to jump off the pinnacle of the temple and be saved by angels, and to worship satan in exchange for power and glory. However, Jesus Christ resisted these temptations and remained faithful to God. Satan then departed and the Angels came and brought nourishment to Lord Jesus Christ. Due to His complete reliance on God and His total commitment to following God’s will, Lord Jesus Christ triumphed over satan during those 40 days. After this time, Lord Jesus returned to Galilee and began His public ministry.
From the age of approximately 30 years old, Lord Jesus Christ spent about three years traveling, preaching and teaching. He traversed the regions of Galilee, Judea, and Samaria, preaching about the Kingdom of God in synagogues, people’s homes and in public places. He often spoke in parables, using everyday examples to convey spiritual truths. His teachings were very compelling, and thousands of people journeyed from great distances to hear Him.
Lord Jesus Christ urged people to repent, and follow His teachings to reach the Kingdom of God. His words still resound to this day in Mark 1:15. “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
In John 18:36, we learn that Lord Jesus Christ taught that the Kingdom of God “is not of this world […] but […] is from another place,” and in Luke 17:20 we are told that it, “does not come with observation [..] For indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you.” In other words, Lord Jesus Christ emphasized that the Kingdom of God is not a physical place or a visible institution on earth. One does not need to go to a specific location or perform specific rituals to experience the Kingdom of God, but rather they need to cultivate a relationship with God through faith and obedience.
Lord Jesus Christ also taught about love, forgiveness, salvation, service, humility, eternal life. These teachings became the central doctrines of Christian beliefs and are recorded in the Gospels of the New Testament.
Jesus Christ taught that love is the greatest Commandment, and that people should love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love their neighbor as themselves. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
He also urged people to forgive others and seek forgiveness from God, as He said in Matthew 6:14; “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Lord Jesus Christ also taught that salvation is a gift of God’s Grace, received through faith in Him. “For my Father’s Will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
And He declared that no one could come to the Father except through Him, saying, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
During His ministry, Jesus Christ performed a variety of miracles, such as healing the sick, feeding 5,000 people by multiplying a few loaves of bread, casting out demons, calming the storm, walking on water, and even raising the dead. The miracles performed by Lord Jesus served as evidence of His divinity as the Son of God, and provided people with a tangible way to witness the power of God’s Love and Mercy. Through His miracles, Jesus Christ showed the world that with God, all things are possible.
Despite all of this, Jesus Christ’s teachings and messages posed a challenge to religious and political authorities of His time. As a result, He was accused of blasphemes and seditions. Despite being innocent of any wrongdoing, He was arrested, tried, and ultimately sentenced to death by crucifixion. Though He foresaw His impending death, Jesus Christ willingly chose to follow God’s Will, undergoing this suffering and sacrificing Himself in order to atone for the sins of humanity.
It is written that after being crucified, Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day and appeared to His disciples over a period of 40 days. During this time, He continued to teach about the Kingdom of God, and commissioned His disciples to spread the gospel to all nations and baptize in the name of Jesus Christ. He then ascended into Heaven, from where He will return to bring salvation to believers when the world comes to an end.
Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) shed light on the special place of the only Son of God, Lord Jesus Christ.
“No matter how many Masters on Earth have been selected to do the work of the Son of God, there’s only one highest. That’s why Jesus said, ‘I am the only Son of God. I am the best. I am the highest. Through me you can go to the Father.’ Remember? (Yes.) Not every Master says that. Don’t mistake humility for honesty. Jesus said that because He knew it. Other Masters dare not. Have you ever seen any Master saying, ‘I am the Son of God. I am the only One’? No! Not the present ones, not the past ones. Rarely, rarely. Some, yes. If it is Jesus’ reincarnation, or before Jesus’ incarnation, or it’s really from the highest Level, like the Ninth Council, then, OK, He can say that. He must know it before He says that. Otherwise, the punishment is heavy. […]
So no matter how many Teachers have been chosen, there’s only one Son, the highest Master of all Masters, working through Them. So you see, most of the Masters, they’re very humble. They say, ‘My Master works through me.’ ‘I’m a slave of my Master,’ and all that. Something like that. […] They always accredit it to Their greater Master. They don’t proclaim that they are God or they are the Son of God, and things like that. Because they know they are not! Not because they’re humble! Please, don’t mistake it. They’re just honest. Maybe they’re humble, also. Because they know what they are, so they're humble, and that is very good. But don’t think Jesus is not humble. You understand me? (Yes.) He was very humble. That’s why He walked bare feet, He endured all these insults, He endured everything. He had to hide, He had to run away from persecution, until He’d been persecuted. That is the humility of a Son of God.”
The birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ were prophesied in several verses in the Old Testament. He fulfilled these prophecies through His life. For instance, it was foretold that the Messiah would suffer and die to atone for the sins of humanity.
“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Jesus Christ not only fulfilled prophecies about His own life, He also made predictions that have been miraculously fulfilled, or are currently being fulfilled. We will explore these prophecies in our next episode.
