We need something permanent and stable to rely upon. We need something or someone dependable as a rock on which to build our lives if we are to endure with hope. The word of the Lord gives us that unchangeable foundation. "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8)

Hebrews tells us that there is an unchanging word of God, written in Scripture and living in Jesus Christ that we can depend upon from year to year whatever may happen in the world around us and in the circumstances of our own lives. The world may shift beneath us but we can be secure in the knowledge of the unchanging Jesus Christ. We can be sure of the durability of the foundation of Jesus Christ to keep us safe no matter what the future holds for us.

The main building of College House, my undergraduate Hall in the University of Canterbury, was badly damaged in the Christchurch earthquake of 2011 and had to be demolished. The new building is using new technology to make it safe from future earthquakes. Rather than use deep piling they are using a raft foundation with a gravel raft on geotextile (permeable fabrics made of polyester), topped with a concrete slab. The raft is tethered to a rebuilt substation on its own raft, with reinforced concrete beams to prevent the substation sliding if there is another major earthquake. It will have the ability to be both firm and flexible.

Just as we have to find ways to secure our buildings from future stress and strain, we also have to find ways to secure our faith from being damaged or destroyed in the event of a major crisis in our lives. Jesus Christ is that foundation that is the same yesterday and today and forever. He is the center of history. He is the dominant figure in the history of western culture. We date our calendars by his birth. One third of the human race professes to follow Jesus Christ. But which Jesus are we talking about? There are many interpretations of Jesus in the marketplace of ideas and in the different expressions of Christianity. What Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
In the next few weeks I am going to explore the different aspects of Jesus Christ as they are presented in history and in our contemporary life, but today I want to look at the original Jesus as witnessed to us in the pages of the New Testament. There is the same Jesus presented to us from Matthew to Revelation, but each of the 27 books in the New Testament emphasizes one predominant aspect of Jesus. Let me briefly survey what they say about Jesus Christ. Each one supplies a part of the solid foundation that together will secure our faith so that we are not carried away by all sorts of strange teaching and by the calamities of earthly life.

I am going to rely upon John Stott's summary in The Incomparable Christ. He writes that "Jesus Christ is too great and glorious a person to be captured by one author or depicted from one perspective. The Jesus of the Gospels is a portrait with four faces, a diamond with four facets." (p.23) The major feature of Jesus according to Matthew is that he is the fulfillment of the Scriptures of the old covenant. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets and he creates the new Israel. Mark presents Jesus as the Suffering Servant who dies for people's sins as an atoning sacrifice on the Cross. Luke in his Gospel and his Acts of the Apostles presents Jesus the Christ as the Savior of the world. He shows how Jesus is the answer to the yearnings of the Gentile world. John in his Gospel and Letters shows Jesus to be the eternal, creative Word of God who became flesh in the Incarnation.

Paul wrote thirteen letters in the New Testament. Each presents a distinctive aspect of Jesus. Galatians presents Jesus as the Liberator from the condemnation of the law and from slavery to our sinful nature: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" (Gal.5:1). Thessalonians presents Christ as the coming Judge. In Romans and Corinthians Christ is the Savior. In Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians and Philippians Christ is the Supreme Lord of the universe. In Timothy and Titus Christ is the Head of the Church. "Each letter responds to different situations and contributes to a composite picture of Jesus Christ. Paul does not contradict himself. A rich variety of colorful strands is woven in his tapestry of Christ." (Stott, p.66)

James was one of the brothers of Jesus who became a leader in the Jerusalem church. He knew Jesus as well as any. He describes Jesus as our moral teacher and emphasizes our ethical duties of living a holy life. Hebrews presents Jesus as our great High Priest who replaces the Temple worship by his own sacrificial offering for us so that we can come near to God. Peter presents Jesus as the exemplary Sufferer who strengthens us in our own suffering. Revelation shows us the eternal Jesus who is the Bridegroom to all those he loved and redeemed in his Bride the Church.

While there is much variety and diversity in these presentations there is a basic unity. There is one Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday and today and forever. There is no self-contradiction in the portraits we have of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Each contributes to the security of the foundation. No aspect of Jesus Christ is neglected. Each of us have needs which one aspect or another of Jesus addresses. If we want to be anchored in the unchangeableness of Jesus Christ for the coming year we need to prayerfully read about him in the pages of the New Testament, and get to know him in a personal way.

There is a story of a sculptor who sculpted a statue of our Lord. And the people came from great distances to see it -- Jesus Christ in all his strength and tenderness. They would walk all around the stature, trying to grasp its splendor, looking at it now from this angle, now from that. Yet still its grandeur eluded them, until they consulted the sculptor himself. He would invariable reply, "there's only one angle from which this statue can be truly seen. You must kneel." (Stott, p.235)

Jesus Christ can be your firm foundation if you humbly come to him and sincerely present yourself and your needs to him.

Ted's blog is found at www.tedschroder.com SOUL FOOD: DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR THE HUNGRY, Vol.1, January, February and March and his other books are available at Amazon.com