Who Is Jesus Christ?

Introduction:

I would like to give thanks to the under shepherd of this house --------------------------

his entire family and all his staff, Pastors, ministers, lay persons, and members.

Thanks to my wife of 38 years.

I am Minister Ian Yallery and for the next 7 months our resident will be in Mayaro. Our other home base is Stone Mountain GA in Atlanta. We have lived there for approx. 25-30 years.

We are members of the “Berean Christian Church” in Stone Mountain where our pastor is Dr. Kerwin B. Lee is the under shepherd and senior pastor.

We have six children ranging from the ages of 43 - 26.

Five are married the fifth child a son is not. With the exception of one our oldest son they all reside in Atlanta Georgia. The oldest lives in Richmond Virgina.

Four of our children are in the military: 1- Army; 3- Airforce.

We have 7- grand children. 4 boys and three girls.

Jesus Christ.

OT Prophecy.

Around 734 BC: The Lord sends Isaiah to King Ahaz and says to him ask a sign of Me. Fear had overtaken Ahaz because of the mite of the other nations.

Ahaz refused to ask a sign, so God gave a sign to him.

It was the sign of the virgin birth hundreds of years before it occured in 734 BC.

His birth:

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Fulfillment in Jesus:

Matthew 1: 18,22,23.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).

His Birth Place: OT Prophecy.

Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

Micah’s Reason for Hope: The Mountain of the House of the Lord Shall Be Established (4:1–5:15)

The bleak picture of a ploughed and desolate Zion at the end of chapter 3 opens up to the beauty and hope of chapter 4. “In the last days” is a promise for the future, not necessarily a claim about the end of time as we know it. The future promise is a raised Zion with nations streaming to be taught God’s law. This era of universal peace brings instruments of war to an end—swords to plowshares—with humanity enjoying the fruits of their labor and no residual fear. The nation are presented in dual fashion, much like the Nineveh of Jonah and Nahum. Those who stream to Mount Zion to be taught by Israel’s God are like the Nineveh of Jonah. Those who stand against Yahweh, his people, and his anointed king will become the judged Nineveh of Nahum. The era of peace promised in these chapters centers on the coming king, born in Bethlehem and extending the Davidic rule of God’s kingdom to the ends of the earth. This promised royal figure will be Israel’s peace and deliverer.

Fulfillment in Jesus:

Luke 2: 4,6,7

English Standard Version Chapter 2

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Jesus’ Claims Concerning Who He Is.

Mark 14:61-62.

English Standard Version (Chapter 14)

61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

John 8:42 “Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.”

John 5:17-18

English Standard Version (Chapter 5)

17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Jesus Is Equal with God

18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”

What do you believe about those who heard what Jesus said and thought He meant?

John 10: 31-33.

31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

Claims of Equality with God the Father

John 14:7 “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

What did Jesus claim to do?

John 5:22 “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,”

Matthew 9:6 “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

What did Jesus predict?

Mark 9:31 “for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”

they will kill him: foretells Jesus’ death: Isaiah 53:4-6;

4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. [NLT]

Fulfillment: 2 Corinthians 5:21; For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. [NLT]

1 Peter 2:24

New Living Translation Chapter 2

He personally carried our sins

in his body on the cross

so that we can be dead to sin

and live for what is right.

By his wounds

you are healed.

AND The Crucifixion: Ps. 22; Fulfillment: Matthew 27

Jesus’ attributes of an omnipotent God.

Omnipotent means: having great power and influence; all-powerful; God has supreme power and has no limitations.

John 2:24 “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people”

Matthew 8:26–27 ESV

And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

The Truth About His Identity.

Suppose Jesus Christ were not God. If He knew He was not God and that none of these claims were true, what could we conclude about Him? [He was a LIAR].

Suppose Jesus were sincerely wrong. Suppose He sincerely believed all these fantastic claims, even though they were not true. What could be concluded about Him? [He was a LUNATIC]

Why is it important to investigate His claims?

a. His claims were TRUE.

b. He is Lord.

c. you can ACCEPT or REJECT who he claimed to be.

Plan of Salvation:

A- admit to God you are a sinner.(Rom. 3:23)

B- believe that Jesus is the Son of God. (John 3:16)

C- Choose to follow Jesus. (Rom. 10:9-10)