By Joseph Ametepe
The Epistle of Jude was described by Origen, one of the early church fathers as: "An Epistle of few lines but full of the mighty words of heavenly grace." The Epistle of Jude was written to believers for the purpose of exhorting and encouraging them to contend for the faith, that is, the body of Christian truth contained in the Scriptures, that was once for all entrusted to them. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Jude exposed apostates and false teachers who secretly slipped in among God's true believing children. In doing so, Jude was guided by the Spirit to point the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, Master and Lord, Judge, and Ruler, who will bring about their ultimate doom and damnation. Also, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Jude presented Jesus Christ as the One who preserves believers and through whom they are brought into God's presence faultless and with great joy. Hallelujah! In other words, Jesus is the Preserver and Perfecter of God's believing people. In Jude, we see Jesus Christ as One who is in control and who will bring history to an end exactly as He has predicted. It is therefore important for us to see Jesus as He is revealed in Jude, Lord, Master, Judge, Preserver, and One who is absolutely in control. "Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus as Lord and know Him better, and make Him known," is our prayer!
Jesus in Jude
- Jesus Christ is the One in whom His chosen servant's will is altogether consumed, and is therefore owned by Him body and soul (Jude 1:1). [Earlier in life, Jude, along with his siblings, had denied Jesus as the Christ of God (John 7:5). But later Jude and his siblings believed in Him, yielding completely their lives to Him.]
- Jesus Christ is the One through whom God the Father initiates and completes salvation, thus preserving believers secure for eternal life (Jude 1:1).
- Jesus Christ is the believers' only Master (Gr. despotes) and Lord (Gr. kurios) (Jude 1:4).
- Jesus Christ, the only Lord and Sovereign is denied by apostates (Jude 1:4).
- Jesus the Lord saves (Jude 1:5).
- Jesus the Lord judges the unbelieving (Jude 1:5).
- Jesus the Lord has kept disobedient and rebellious angels in eternal bonds under darkness for judgment on the great Day (Jude 1:6).
- Jesus the Lord is Victor over the devil (Jude1:9). Hallelujah!
- Jesus Christ the Lord is Judge of all (Jude 1:14-15).
- Jesus Christ the Lord is coming again to judge everyone (Jude 1:14-15).
- Jesus Christ the Lord and Judge is coming again to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly acts which they have done in an ungodly way (Jude 1:15).
- Jesus Christ the Judge and Lord is coming again to judge ungodly sinners of all the harsh words they have spoken against Him (Jude 1:15).
- Jesus Christ is the believers' Lord, who spoke through the apostles to warn believers of the deceptive and destructive work of mockers in the last times (Jude 1:17-18).
- Jesus Christ's Second Coming to provide eternal life in its ultimate form for believers is to be their eager anticipation in life (Jude 1:21).
- Jesus Christ the believers' Lord is full of mercy (Jude 1:21).
- Jesus Christ's imminent return to take His people home to heaven is not an empty promise (Jude 1:21).
- Jesus Christ is able to preserve genuine born again believers from falling to the temptation of apostasy (Jude 1:24).
- Jesus Christ is the Preserver of all God's true Christians (Jude 1:24).
- Jesus Christ is able to present true believers before God's glorious presence without fault and with great joy (Jude 1:24).
- Jesus Christ is the Perfecter of all sincere believers (Jude 1:24).
- Jesus Christ is the One through whom God the Savior's plan of redemption is revealed and perfectly carried out (Jude 1:25).
- Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God "who alone is wise" (Jude 1:25).
- Jesus Christ deserves superlative honor for all He is and all He's done for believers of all ages (Jude 1:25).
- Jesus Christ deserves dignity and splendor as the Supreme King and Ruler of the universe (Jude 1:25).
- Jesus Christ is worthy of sovereign right over all (Jude 1:25).
- Jesus Christ is worthy of power to rule all that His hands have made. Jesus Christ is absolutely in control (Jude 1:25).
- Jesus Christ is the central figure in the Bible. He is the focus of all Scripture. To study the Bible without seeing Jesus as He is revealed in the Word of God and knowing Him in a deeper and more intimate way, is a failure of the purpose of true biblical study. We do not merely study the Bible just to get answers or facts. We study the Bible in order to grow in the grace and true, intimate, real, full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18). As you study the Word, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the Person of Jesus Christ to you. He will be so delighted to do that. This is because His chief work is to glorify Jesus (John 16:14). And what better way to glorify Christ our Lord than to reveal Him to us in our hearts!