Hello Mike,

This is interesting to me. Something I was just looking at, but as usual all things in this world have to do with the gospel. In the four gospels I searched the two names – Jesus and Christ.
In Matthew the name Jesus appears 170 times and the name Christ appears 17 times.
In Mark the name Jesus appears 93 times and the name Christ appears 8 times.
In Luke the name Jesus appears 97 times and the name Christ appears 13 times.
In John the name Jesus appears 245 times and the name Christ appears 20 times.
So in the 4 gospels the name Jesus appears a total of 605 times, and the name Christ appears 58 times. In the rest of the New Testament an interesting change takes place.
From Acts through Revelation the name Jesus appears 335 times and the name Christ appears 474 times. It appears that it takes time like “here a little there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept”, but in time the physical man will decrease, and the spirit within will increase.
I appreciate your seeking God.

D____

Hi D____,

Thanks for sharing the fruits of your studies with me. I think you have seen a deep spiritual principle in what you have observed here. Our Savior’s family – His mother, Joseph, and His sisters and brothers, knew Him by His name, ‘Jesus’. Actually that is the English pronunciation of His name which, in the Greek, is pronounced, Iesous, as Strong’s indicates below. But your conclusion is…:

the physical man will decrease and the spirit within will increase.

… and I agree with you that seeing our Savior as “The Christ” is a much more spiritually mature place to be in, than knowing Him only by His name which, in its Hebrew form means ‘Savior’. I think you already are familiar with this verse which makes that point:

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

As you point out, ‘Christ’ is used more in the epistles, Acts and Revelation.
Here are the meanings of both ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christ’. We will consider ‘Jesus’ first.
 
G2424
Ιησους
Ie sous
ee- ay- sooce’
Of Hebrew origin [ H3091]; Jesus (that is, Jehoshua), the name of our Lord and two (three) other Israelites: – Jesus.
Iesous is “of Hebrew origin” and is derived from H3091. Here is H3091.
H3091
   
yeho shu a  yeho shu a
yeh- ho- shoo’- ah, yeh- ho- shoo’- ah
From H3068 and H3467; Jehovah- saved; Jehoshua (that is, Joshua), the Jewish leader: – Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Joshua. Compare H1954, H3442.

So Iesous is really nothing more than the Greek pronunciation of Joshua, and Joshua means “Jehovah saved”.
Now here is what Strong’s reveals about ‘Christ’.

G5547
Χριστος
Christos
khris- tos’
From G5548; anointed, that is, the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus: – Christ.
Together “Jesus Christ” means ‘the Savior who is anointed of God’.

What was such a revelation to me was that “the revelation of Jesus Christ” reveals that there is a doctrine within the New Testament which teaches us that we “fill up… the Christ”. Look at these verses:

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Those two verses of Eph 1 tell us that it is “the church which is His body” which is “the fulness of Him that fills all in all”. In other words, God had the church in mind before He ever created Christ. It is “through our offenses that Christ was delivered up, and it is through our justification that He was raised from the dead.” The King James has the word ” for our…” but the Greek is ‘dia’ and it should be translated as ‘ through‘ and not ‘for’.

Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

That is not to say that the church comes before Christ, because it certainly does not. But the church is what God had planned “before the world began” to fill Christ, who in turn would fill up His Father who will be all in all. Here is how Christ tells us this Truth:

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Knowing the truth of Joh 14:20 is what provoked Paul to tells us:

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

We are in Christ, and Christ is in His Father. Thereby we are “the fulness of Him [ Christ] who fills Him [ the Father] who is all in all.

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Here it is again:

1Co 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he [ the Father] saith all things are put under him [ Christ], it is manifest that he [ the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under him [ Christ].
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him [ Christ], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [ the Father] that put all things under him [ Christ], that God [ the Father] may be all in all.

I repeat, this is all an explanation of these words:

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

The natural man will ask, ‘How can we be in Christ if Christ is in us?’ The man of the spirit has no such questions. He sees clearly that Christ and His Father have both taken up their abode within us, while we have, at the same time, taken up our abode in them.
There is a video from the Dallas conference in 2007 about this doctrine of “the Christ” entitled What is “The Christ”? It is complete with study notes which list all of the verses which contain the phrase “the Christ.” [ For the study notes just click on Study Notes on the list at the right hand side of the web page and scroll down to ‘Various Study Notes’.] “The Christ” appears 19 times in the King James Version, and it most often seems to be referring only to Christ Himself in those 19 entries. But it appears 54 times in the Concordant Version, and it is clear that many of those entries refer to Christ’s body as being Jesus Himself. That is the way Jesus of Nazareth looks upon us, if we really are in Him. Here are His own words to that effect:

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Here is how Rotherham puts that verse:

Act 22:8 And, I, answered- Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me- I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom, thou art persecuting!

What does this tell us? It tells us that our flesh is Christ’s flesh as “Jesus of Nazareth”, and as He is so are we. We are all “in the flesh”, yet we “know no man after the flesh”. Instead we know them all as Christ Himself.

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [ it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [ it] unto me.

John put this doctrine in these words:

1Jn 5:1  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

You and I are “begotten of Him”, and if we deny that, then we are denying that we know Him. We are “His flesh and His bones,” as well as being His “spiritual house”. In other words “we have this treasure in earthen vessels…” and if we deny that Christ came in the same sinful flesh we contend with, then we are denying that He can be in these sinful earthen vessels which we now are. If that is our doctrine, then we are the spirit of antichrist.

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

In spite of all of these verses, many billions of Christians attempt to disassociate Christ from the flesh of Adam, Abraham and King David. Whoever does that is also denying that He lives in their own “vessel of clay” and is believing a doctrine which is that spirit of antichrist”.
Try this spirit and this doctrine, and see whether it is of God.
Again, thanks for sharing your gems of truth with me.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike