Defending Jesus Christ

1. Introduction:

We all love a good court case. Some of us just eagerly watched the David Swift trial. We all like to formulate our own opinions regarding the verdict.

Did you know, if you are a Christian, you are to defend, as a defense attorney, Jesus Christ daily? (1 Pet. 3:15)

1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (CSB)

In theological terms, apologetics is defending the faith as a defense lawyer defends his or her client in court.

You and I are commanded that at anytime we should be able to defend what we know to be true about Jesus Christ, not what we think but what we know.

There are many who object to the gospel, but you and I are to defend the Christian faith against those objections.

Personally, I believe apologetics, the ability to defend Christianity, is one of the missing elements in the modern church. Yes, we are quick to proclaim what we believe and think, but what we believe and what we think can be misconstrued as our opinion.

Can you defend Jesus Christ by proclaiming what you know about Jesus Christ?

The reason why I believe defending Christianity is missing in most modern churches is because what you know about Jesus Christ should be defended from the Bible.

Listen! This is very important.

The world does not need to know what you think about Jesus Christ. The world does not need to know what you believe about Jesus Christ. What the world need to know is exactly who Jesus Christ is.

Today, I am going to defend Jesus Christ. I am going to offer an apologia for Jesus Christ and Christianity.

Through my apologia, through my defense, hopefully, some of you will gain some knowledge that will help you mount your own defense of the gospel. My defense of the gospel is based solely on God’s Word, and if you are going to defend the gospel, that defense must come from the Bible.

2. The Word Establishes.

The Bible establishes who Jesus Christ is, and any defense of the gospel against any objection must always be grounded in God’s Word, and not grounded on what someone else says about God’s Word. (Isa. 40:8, John 20:30-31)

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.””

John 20:30–31 “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

When defending Jesus Christ, this is the first question you should ask.

Is the Bible God’s truth?

If the person you are asking does not regard the Bible as a source of absolute truth, you are better off asking for a delay in the proceedings. Any defense of Jesus Christ must be grounded in the truth of God’s Word.

Why must defending Jesus Christ be based on the absolute truth of the Bible?

A. The Bible establishes His deity.

Jesus Christ is God. That is an undeniable truth found in God’s Word. (Col. 1:15, Col. 2:9, Heb. 1:3)

Colossians 1:15 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”

Colossians 2:9 “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Hebrews 1:3 “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

Jesus Christ is God. He has always been God, and He always will be God.

He was in the beginning. (John 1:1, Gen. 1:1, 1 John 1:1)

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

1 John 1:1 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;”

He was the beginning, and He will be the ending. (Rev. 1:8)

Revelation 1:8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

Jesus Christ is God. God is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. They are not three gods. They are one God who exists in three persons. Can I explain how? No, but I can show you in Scripture how all three are the one God. Could you show someone?

Look at Colossians 2:9 again.

Colossians 2:9 “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Him = Jesus Christ. In Him, God is. That is why Jesus Christ could say this.

John 8:58 “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

The I AM who spoke to Moses was Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ is God. He is the Word. He was the Word in the beginning. As the Word, He was with God and was God.

On earth, Jesus Christ was God. He could never cease being God if He ever was God, but while on earth, He humbled Himself which leads to our next defense of the gospel.

B. The Bible establishes His humanity. (Phil. 2:5-8)

Philippians 2:5–8 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

God did not force anything on Jesus. The Word says that Jesus humbled Himself to be made in the likeness of men. (John 17:5)

John 17:5 “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”

Jesus gave up His glory, He humbled Himself, to be man, but He never ceased being God. Jesus is God as Colossians 2:9 says, and Jesus is man as Philippians 2:5-8 says. He was and is God, and He became man and is man to die for mankind.

Let me tell you something that is going to sound cruel, but it is the truth. Jehovah’s Witnesses will die and go to hell because they believe Jesus Christ was created by God, that Jesus is lesser than God. That is wrong. Jesus Christ is God, and Jesus Christ is man.

Jesus Christ, as established by the Bible, faced all the temptations that you and I face; yet He faced them without sinning. (Heb. 4:15)

Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus Christ gave up His glory to be born in a lowly manger in Bethlehem.

If someone ask you why Jesus had to come to earth in that manner, I have two passages for you to explain why. (Gen. 5:3, Rom. 5:12)

Genesis 5:3 “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:”

Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

Adam was created in the image of God as Gen. 1:27 says, but Adam’s children were born with Adam’s nature, in the image of Adam, to sin.

If Jesus Christ had a human father, He would be no different than you and I. He would be in Adam’s likeness as you and I are, but praise God, He is different, and the Word establishes that fact. (Luke 1:34-35, 37)

Luke 1:34–35 “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus, gave Christ His humanity, and the power of God overshadowed her impregnating he with the Son of God. What happened to Mary is very similar to what happened at Creation.

Genesis 1:1–2 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

The Word of God establishes the deity and humanity of Christ.

C. The Bible establishes His purpose. (John 3:16-18, John 14:6)

John 3:16–18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

The Word establishes the absolute fact that the purpose for Jesus on earth was to link man with God.

God and man could never coexist because God is holy, and man is sinful. God is light. Sin puts man in the dark. Where light is, darkness cannot exist. Where darkness is, there is no light. The purpose for Jesus Christ coming to earth as a lowly servant born in a manger was to eliminate what separated man from God, and that is exactly what He did.

Colossians 2:13–14 “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”

Here is the bottom line.

Muhammad said do. Buddha said do. Jim Jones said do. Charles said do. Adolf Hitler said do. Dear friend, Jesus Christ did because you and I cannot do. He made peace between God and me, and that was His purpose as established in the word.

The Word establishes His Deity, His Humanity, and His Purpose.

3. The Witnesses Identify.

In every court case, witnesses are needed to help make the case. The Word gives us several witnesses that identify who Jesus Christ is.

A. The Devil(Demons). Matthew 4:3-4 (John 21:9-10), James 2:19, Mark 5:1-8.

B. A Roman Centurion. (Matt. 27:54)

C. Creation. Romans 1:19-20, Matt. 27:45, Matt. 27:51, Mark 4:35-39, John 6:1-13.

D. Luke. Luke 1:1-4.

E. John the Baptist. (John 1:29).

F. John the Apostle. John 1:1,14, 1 John 1:1-3.

G. Paul. Acts 9:5-6, 1 Cor. 15:8-9

H. The Dead. Matt. 27:52-53, Luke 16:30-31, John 11:32-44.

I. The Heart. (Romans 2:15)

J. The Holy Spirit. (John 14:26, John 15:26).

K. God. (Matt. 3:17, Matt. 17:5).

4. Conclusion.

There are many more witnesses in the New Testament who identify Jesus Christ. There are witnesses from the Old Testament, like Daniel, Abraham, and Jacob, that identify Jesus Christ too.

The point is this.

You should be able to defend Jesus Christ scripturally. I just gave you enough evidence to convince any jury in the world, and what I gave you removes your opinion from the equation. There is irrefutable proof. The proof I presented leads to one conclusion as made by the Roman centurion and by Peter.

Matthew 27:54 “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.”

Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”