John 1:14 - And the Word (undiminished deity) became flesh (true humanity), and dwelt among us (the Incarnation), and we (James, Peter, and John) beheld His glory (the visual manifestation of the Uniform of Glory), glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (Bible Doctrine).

In our previous lessons we reviewed the doctrines that relate to TLJC in his first advent when he was incarnated via the virgin birth as celebrated on Christmas.

Christmas is about how God so loved the world that he gave his uniquely born son. It is about how God became human in order to solve the problem of man's of separation from God and man's inability to do anything about it.

Christmas is about what God did to resolve man's problem and how he did it while maintaining his perfect integrity that is composed of his perfect righteousness, his perfect justice and his perfect love.

Christmas is about the person of TLJC. It is about knowing him personally as he is revealed in the Word of God who has existed from eternity. John 1:1;

We started our study with a discussion of the doctrine of the virgin birth that was necessary for there to be no transmission of the OSN and then took up the doctrine of the hypostatic union that explains the mechanics of how undiminished deity and true humanity reside in the person of TLJC and then discussed the doctrine of the kenosis that defines God the Father's protocol for the deity and humanity of TLJC in hypostatic union.

In the context of these doctrines, we are now looking at the names and titles for our Lord Jesus Christ so we can see more clearly what God has done for us through him, so we can more completely understand who TLJC is and what he has done for us and from our knowledge of him have our confidence established in him Heb 12:2;

Both the Old and New Testaments provide us with names and titles for TLJC and it is from these we are given a clearer awareness of Jesus' person, His deity, His humanity, the hypostatic union and His mission as the Messiah, the King of Israel, the Head of the Church, and the Savior of mankind.

In John 8:12; TLJC describes himself as "the light of the world".

In the OT, the light metaphor is linked with salvation in Psa 27:1; with divine revelation in Psa 43:3; Psa 119:130; and with God's presence in Psa 89:15;

Isa 2:5; states that God's people are to walk in the "light of the LORD". In the church age this means believers are to function inside the PPOG.

In John 8:12; where He stated, "I am the light of the world" He goes on to state that, "He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

This means that references the to Jesus as "light" refer primarily to illumination or having the accurate disclosure of information.

In the Church Age this illumination comes from God the Holy Spirit. John 16:12-15;

Without this spiritual illumination it is impossible to comprehend the things of God. 1Cor 2:14-16;

Those who fail to believe in Jesus persist in stumbling around in darkness, for He alone provides not only the correct perspective on our situation on the earth in the kosmic system but he also instructs us on how we are conduct our lives while we reside in it but are not of it. John 3:16-21; John 15:18-19;

Those who respond with faith to the good news about Jesus identity are freed from the realm of darkness to become children of light Eph. 5:8; Col. 1:12;

If believers choose become disciples of TLJC, they can even become lights to people who are of the world. John 8:31-32; Matt 5:13-16; by providing answers for them when they are asked regarding their confident expectation if Divine good. 1Pet 3:15;

John 1:4-9; describes Jesus as the true light. When He entered the world, He revealed reality to all mankind, enabling them to see what had not been clearly disclosed before He arrived.

Jesus' light continues to shine in the darkness of the world, through the gospel message that reveals God's plan for man from eternity past that goes far beyond what occurs on this earth in time.

John 3:19-21 states that the coming of Jesus shed a brilliant light that revealed the depths of God's love for human beings.

Man's reaction to that love demonstrates the reality of our alienation from God because of sin, human good and evil.

Rather than welcome the light that Jesus provides, many people hide from it and place themselves deeper and deeper into spiritual darkness.

Verse 19 says, "This is the basis of God's judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

John 8:12; states that only by following Jesus, the Light of the world, can people be released from their entanglement in the darkness of the slave market of sin and live in the light of eternal life.

As the Light of the World, Jesus reveals the reality of mankind's depravity and inability while simultaneously revealing magnitude of God's love and provision in TLJC. Rom 5:8; John 3:17; NET note 40

Salvation is only available in the TLJC and the light he provides. John 12:46;

Another title for Jesus is Shepherd.

He is called the "Good Shepherd", the "Great Shepherd" and the "Chief Shepherd".

In John 10:1-18; Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd.

In this passage, Jesus establishes a contrast between a person who is hired to look after the sheep and a good shepherd who loves the sheep.

The hired person is working, because they want to get paid not because they love the sheep.

When the sheep are endangered by the appearance of a wild animal, the hired person runs away to protect himself, but the good shepherd, who genuinely cares for the sheep is willing to lay down his life for them.

It was as the Good Shepherd that Jesus died for us, His sheep, proving that he is the Good Shepherd.

Heb 13:20-21; describes Jesus as the Great Shepherd who provides all that is needed for the sheep to live and advance to maturity in the PPOG.

1Pet 5:4; describes Jesus as the Chief Shepherd. The context refers to pastor-teachers who are under his authority that are rewarded for their obedience to TLJC in the execution of their responsibility to accurately communicate the Word of God.

The context makes it clear that while God provides pastor-teachers to equip believers, Jesus, the Chief Shepherd is actively involved in caring for believers.

He is actively involved and He will appropriately reward those who serve him.

Jesus not only is involved with us, but also He actively supervises, guides, and works through those to whom he has assigned the spiritual gifts of leadership in the local assembly.

1Pet 2:24-25; describes Jesus as the Shepherd and Guardian of the believer's soul.

Peter reminds us that Christ bore our sins in His own body on the cross so that we, "might put off the OSN and live for righteousness" and that we who once strayed and walked according to our own ways in the kosmos by believing have returned to him who watches over and guards our souls.

We see from this that TLJC is personally watching over and personally caring for every believer.

Another title for Jesus is "the head of the church".

The New Testament describes the church as a living organism and Jesus as the living head of His spiritual body in Eph.1:22; Eph 5:23; Col 1:18; Eph 4:15; Col 2:10,19;

As the head of His body, the church, Jesus sustains, protects, guides, and is the source of the church's life.

Jesus Christ as the head of the body refers to the integral relationship between our Lord and each individual member of the royal family. The head and body analogy indicates relationship.

The head and body is an analogy that indicates precedence between the two Christological dispensations, the Hypostatic Union and the Church Age.

It means that all precedence for the Church Age is taken from the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union.

This means that all precedence for the Church Age originates from Christ as the head of the Church, and not from Israel and not from the Mosaic Law.

This means that the analogy of Christ as the head and the royal family as the body emphasizes the life and activity of the Church Age believer as a member of a new spiritual species that one of the results of the baptism of the Spirit at salvation.

The analogy of Christ as the head of the body emphasizes the importance of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, where the believer receives their thought pattern, mental attitude, and motivation from Bible doctrine, that is described in 1Cor 2:16 as the mind or thinking of Christ.

Just as the function of the body is based on the mentality of the soul, the function of the Church Age believer is based on the thinking of TLJC who is the head of the church.

Again, this means that all precedence comes from the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union and not from the dispensation of Israel.

There is only one head to the body, and that head is the Lord Jesus Christ.
All Church Age believers, therefore, have a common life that is based on the PPOG that has been provided for us.

We also have a common purpose, which is to become invisible heroes.

Though we have a common life and a common purpose, there are different functions within the church because there are different spiritual gifts that result in different assignments.

All Church Age believers have eternal life that was received at the moment of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. John 3:16b, "For whosoever believes in Him shall never perish but have eternal life."

The Holy Spirit in regeneration created a human spirit for the imputation of eternal life. This is the same Eternal life that is the life of Jesus Christ.

1John 5:11-13, "And this is the deposition: that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life, but he who does not have the Son of God does not have [eternal] life. These things I have written to you who believe in the person of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life."