Ian?

Acts 11:26b.  “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Note that they “were called”.  That is, others, not themselves, called them Christians.  Why?  Because they were followers of the teachings of Jesus?  Yes, but not just that.  Those that followed the teachings of Jesus and worshipped in His name were known as followers of the “Way”.  So why call them Christian?

What does the word Christian mean?  It is a composite word made of 2 parts:  ‘Christ’, which is the Anointed One, and the suffix ‘-ian’.  Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines the suffix ‘-ian’ as:

1. “One that is of, or belonging to”.  Which would mean that a Christian is ‘one who is of and belonging to the Anointed One’.  This is how we have generally understood this word.  However, the dictionary goes on to say –

1. or, “Having the characteristics of: resembling”.  This then would indicate that not only were the disciples in Antioch obviously ‘of and belonging to the Anointed One’, but that they also had the ‘characteristics of, and resembled, the Anointed One’.  That is, they were replicas of the Anointed One!  In other words they not only called themselves ‘believers of Jesus’, went to church regularly, had “I love Jesus” pins and “fish” bumper stickers on their donkeys, but they were ‘being Anointed Ones’.

So what is an ‘Anointed One’?  In Luke 4:18 we see that Jesus had been anointed since the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him (see Luke 3:22).  Thus Jesus is anointed of God, by and in the Holy Spirit, to deliver good news to the poor; they being the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed.  Therefore we can say that Jesus has been anointed, but what does this mean to us?

Ephesians 2:15-18,  “He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that He might create in Himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that He might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross and put the hostility to death by it. When the Messiah came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.  For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”  Thus Jesus, by the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, did pay the price for us to be redeemed (reconciled) back to the Father, by us becoming as one body with Him.

Ephesians 5:30-32,  “since we are members of His body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother (the flesh), and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh (spirit). This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ (the Anointed One) and the church (the Anointed body).”  What more is there to say?

Psalm 133:2,  “It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments”.  Here we see that the anointing, the power of God, the Holy Spirit, which has been poured out upon the head (Jesus), runs down over the entire body, even to the hem of the garments (see Matthew 9:20-22).  Therefore can you not see that having been reconciled to the Father and becoming a part of the body of Jesus, that the anointing (the power of God, the Holy Spirit) which was poured out on Him runs down to the very hem of His garments, and must also cover you.  That is, you are covered (immersed, infused in, baptised) with The Anointing of The Anointed One, and are of the same body, of the same flesh, of the same spirit and of the same power as Jesus.  Therefore should we not also be Jesus to the world, that they may come to us and ask, “how can we have this living water?” (John 4:10-11).

Ephesians 1:22-23,  “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”  Again we see that Jesus has been made the head of the Son of God, and that we (the church) are His body.  Note that ALL things (the worldly things especially) have been put under His feet (that is under our feet).

John 13:14-15.  Here we see that Jesus requires us to wash each other’s feet.  Since we are clean already (verse 10) by the blood of the Lamb, we need only have our feet washed when we have been in the world.  But one must ask, “Where have you been walking?”  Obviously the more you walk in the worldly way, the more your feet will get dirty, even to dirtying the anointing which runs down!  For as we walk in this world the dirt drifts up onto our garments and muddies the ointment as seen in Isaiah 57:19-21 (“I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked”).

Have you washed your feet lately?

1. Get clean! Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly”
2. Have peace! Psalm 1:2,  “But his delight is in the law of the Lord”
3. Have Power! Psalm 1:3,  “his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”
4. Be a replica of The Anointed One! Psalm 1:3,  “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season”.

And that fruit is (Galatians 5:22), “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith”.  Become good fruit bearers!  Be good Christ-Ians! Be replicas of Jesus!