God Incarnate

Scripture

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Apologetics

1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”

Jude 3 “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

It is important to know what we believe and why we believe it

Today’s topic - God Incarnate

Incarnate - embodied in flesh; God in human form

Jesus is...

Hebrews 1:1–4 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

Son of God

Heir of all things

The world was created through Him

Radiance of the glory of God

The exact imprint of God’s nature

He upholds the universe by the word of His power

The propitiation of our sins

Seated at the right hand of God in majesty

Superior to all and equal with God

Hebrews 2:10 “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.”

For whom and by whom all things exist

Hebrews 12:2 “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The Founder and Perfecter of our faith

Acts 3:14–15 “But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.”

The Holy and Righteous One

The Author of life

Acts 4:11–12 “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””

The Cornerstone

The only name for salvation

Acts 7:52 “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered,”

The Righteous One

1 Corinthians 2:8 “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

Lord of glory

Luke 24:34 “saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!””

The Risen Lord

Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—”

The Redeemer

1 Timothy 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,”

Our Hope

1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

Our Mediator

Hebrews 4:14 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”

Our High Priest

1 Peter 2:24–25 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Our Healer

Our Shepherd

The Overseer of our souls

1 John 3:5 “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”

Perfection

1 John 3:8 “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

Destroyer of evil

1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

Eternal Life

Revelation 1:4–6 “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Who Is, Who Was, and Who Is to Come

Faithful Witness

Firstborn of the dead

Ruler of kings on earth

Him who loves us

Him who freed us

Him who made us a kingdom

Revelation 1:8 ““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””

The Alpha and Omega

The Almighty

Revelation 5:5–6 “And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”

The Lion of the tribe of Judah

The Root of David

The Conqueror

The Lamb who was slain

Revelation 17:14 “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

Lord of lords

King of kings

Revelation 19:11 “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.”

Faithful and True

Judge

John 3:29 “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.”

The Bridegroom

John 1:1–5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The Word of God

Was always with God

Is God

All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made

Life

The light of men

John 1:12–13 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Giver of life

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The only Son from the Father

Full of grace and truth

John 1:16–18 “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

Giver of grace and truth

He who reveals the only God

John 1:29 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

The Lamb of God

John 6:48 “I am the bread of life.”

The Bread of Life

John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

The Light of the world

John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.””

I Am

John 10:9 “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

The Door

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

The Good Shepherd

John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”

The Resurrection

The Life

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The Way

The Truth

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

The Vine

Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”

The Head of the Church

1 Corinthians 15:45 “Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

The Second Adam

Before Creation

The Word of God

Was always with God

Is God

I Am

Who Is, Who Was, and Who Is to Come

The Alpha and Omega

The Almighty

All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made

For whom and by whom all things exist

The world was created through Him

He upholds the universe by the word of His power

Giver of life

The Author of life

Life

The Promised Messiah

From the beginning

Genesis 3:14–15 “The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

An offspring of Eve will bruise the head of the snake, render it harmless, while He will be bruised by the snake and not take away His life. This points to Jesus being born of a woman, passing judgment on the serpent, and setting things right again with man.

Foreshadowing

God would provide a sacrifice and it would be His only Son

Genesis 22:2 “He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.””

Genesis 22:8 “Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.”

Genesis 22:12–14 “He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.””

By the blood of the Lamb of God the people would be saved

Exodus 12:13 “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”

He would be lifted up and offer life to those who believed

Numbers 21:9 “So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”

He would be dead three days and rise again

Jonah 1:17 “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

Prophecy

Prophet

Deuteronomy 18:18–19 “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.”

Priest

Psalm 110:4 “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.””

King

2 Samuel 7:12–13 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

Son of God and Son of Man

Daniel 7:13–14 ““I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31 ““Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,”

Jeremiah 31:33 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Healing in His wings

Malachi 4:2–3 “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.”

“Pleased as man with men to dwell” (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

Luke 2:8–12 “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.””

Luke 2:26–32 “And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.””

John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

2 Peter 1:16–17 “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,””

1 John 1:1–2 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—”

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

We have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father

Full of grace and truth

How now shall we live?

This is what God has done for you

God Almighty, the Lord of hosts, came where you are to bring you life.

God shares His glory with you through Jesus, John 17:22 “The glory that you have given me I have given to them.”

Know God’s love for you

Love God with all that you have