I Believe in Jesus Christ

John 1:1 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Messiah

A future deliverer and savior who would rescue his people and usher in a time of prosperity and blessing.

MESSIAH (מָשִׁיַח, mashiyach; “anointed” or “an anointed one”; “messiah”). Rendered into Greek as Χριστός (Christos), cognate to the verb χρίω (chriō, “to anoint”).

Several places in OT where we see glimpses of what is to come.

Genesis 49:1 ESV

Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.

Genesis 49:10 ESV

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

Numbers 24:17 (ESV)

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel...

Spirit of God spoke to the prophet Balaam...

Numbers 24:19 (ESV)

And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion...

Psalm 2:7–9 ESV

I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

the prophet Isaiah speaks quite a bit about the coming Messiah.

Isaiah 42:1 ESV

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

Isaiah 42:4 ESV

He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.

Jesus self-identified as Messiah

John 4:25–26 ESV

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Son

God the Son is the divine person who is the Word spoken by God the Father; he is the perfect image of the Father; he is one in being with the Father, who begat the Son from eternity and in the fullness of time sent the Son to be born in human flesh in order to redeem those the Father has given him.

Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Lexham Survey of Theology God the Son

The Son is the last Adam, the true Word who became flesh, the image of the Father who has become image. He through whom the world was made (John 1:3) is now the mediator of a new covenant (Heb 9:15). The Son, who is begotten of the Father, is the only way of access back to the Father; the Son, from whom the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds, gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church.

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Lord

Stephen Seamands:

The early Christians boldly proclaimed that “Jesus is Lord.” Kurios Christos - through these simple, straightforward words, a group of devout monotheistic Jews dared to transfer to Jesus of Nazareth the divine name and title “Lord” previously reserved exclusively for YAWEH, the God of Israel.

Lord (Kurios) indicates “the unconditional claim of God in face of the whole universe” (Walter Kunneth)

Psalm 110:1 ESV

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Romans 10:8–10 ESV

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

As the one though whom all things were made and are held together, he has absolute power over all created things - cosmic lordship.

“Lord” also indicates moral lordship over the conscience of every human being. He has the right to place morals demands on us.

“Lord” also indicates community lordship. He is King of Israel and head of all believers - the church.

He is Lord of All. Period.

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

COUNCIL OF NICAEA

A gathering of more than three hundred bishops summoned by the Roman emperor Constantine to help settle the church’s teaching on the person of Jesus Christ. It attempted to reconcile biblical passages that differentiate between God the Father and Jesus with the ones that affirm the divinity of Jesus. In the end, all but five bishops affirmed that Jesus was, “God of God and Light of Light” and of the same homoousios , or substance/being of the Father.

Timothy C. Tennent. Foundations of the Christian Faith (Kindle Locations 476-480).