Every morning I get an email with a “Word of the Day” from Merriam-Webster. A lot of the time I am familiar with the word, but occasionally I get one I’ve never seen before. Thursday’s was such — “defenestration.” It was defined as 1) a throwing of a person or thing out of a window, and 2) a unusually swift dismissal or expulsion (as from a political party or office).
I like big words and to expand my vocabulary, but somehow, I don’t think I’d ever describe throwing something out of my window as “defenestration.” I’d probably just say something like … “I threw it out the window!”
There are a lot of big words in Christian theology. I’m partial to propitiation, soteriology, and theophany myself. We are going to be studying three of the biggest words and their meaning this morning in Sunday service. They are, Lord, Jesus, Christ. If you want big words with big meaning for your life, these three words are the biggest!
When we call Jesus Lord, we join Thomas in his declaration after the resurrection of Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” That declaration is a recognition of His Deity. It is also an acknowledgement of our submission to Him. [John 20:28]
When we say the name Jesus, we are using the name given Him by the angel. (Yeshua in the Hebrew, Iesous in the Greek, and Jesus in the English.) One day, at the name given Him by the angel, every knee shall bow and every tongue acknowledge that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. [Philippians 2:10-11]
And finally, He is the Christ. Christ is from the Greek word Christos, meaning anointed one or chosen one. It is the equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah, and is a title signifying that Jesus was sent from God to be King and Deliverer. He is the one who fulfills all the Old Testament prophecies, the Chosen Savior who came to rescue God’s fallen creation. And He is the King of kings who coming back again.
You want big words? They don’t come any bigger than Lord, Jesus, Christ. Amen.
