Christ Before Bethlehem - pt. 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
We began this year with two messages in preparation for what truly begins today in Col. 2:6-8. The series for the year, as you know, is Rooted and Built Up in Jesus. We looked at:
Rooted In Jesus
I. A Reception Necessary
Ye Must be Born Again - it’s A Gift to be Received
II. A Reasonable Response
Walk in Christ; Walk Consistently; Walk Circumspectly
III. A Rooting Examined
It’s Function: To Anchor
It’s the Foundation: What All Else is Built Upon; Determines the Structure
It’s Fortitude: Lies in It’s: Health; Longevity; Soil; Sustenance
It’s Fuel: It’s the Source that Sustains
Built Up in Jesus
I. Built Up in Jesus
Growing in Jesus; Grounded in Faith; As You’ve Been Guided
II. Living Bountifully in Jesus
Superabounding in Christ; Being Satisfied with Christ
III. Beware of Spoiling
By Human Reasoning; By a Haughty Spirit; Through Heritage with Heretical Foundations
With Understanding that these are Anti-Christ
Today we begin to look at Jesus Christ in the Bible. And while it may seem logical to begin in Matthew chapter 1, what we must understand is that Jesus did not come into existence at his incarnation, but was pre-existent.
So I find it important to consider, before we get to Jesus of the New Testament, we must examine Christ before Bethlehem.
I. Christ, the Founder
I. Christ, the Founder
We're going to examine in a moment Christ as creator, but before then, before what we know as time, we must understand that there was Christ.
Before the World, there was Christ (Joh. 8:58; 2Tim. 1:9; Joh. 1:1)
Christ is Elohim (Joh. 1:1; Heb. 1:8)
Elohim (def) Hebrew word for ‘God’ - It's alliterated nicely.
I want to say emphatically, without question or doubt, that Jesus Christ is God. The Bible is very clear about this.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Jesus is the physical manifestation of the Godhead.
We see allusions to a triune God throughout Scripture:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
We see all three at the Baptism of Christ:
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
See the direct declaration of this as well:
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
The Bible clearly (as anyone need it be) declares that there is but ONE God who manifests Himself in THREE distinct entities: The Father - the unseen God of Heaven, the Son - the physical manifestation of God, and the SPIRIT - the invisible force upon men and the world.
We also want to recognize the fact that Jesus declared himself to be God on multiple occasions:
John 8:58 “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
This, of course, being how God recognized himself to Moses out of the burning bush in Egypt.
Not past, nor present, nor future, but simply ‘is’.
Jesus Christ is Elohim. He is God.
Christ is Eternal (Joh. 1:2; Mic. 5:2)
Not only does it declare that Christ is God, but that he is eternal as well.
John 1:1–2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”
In one of the well known prophecies of Christ, we see it said in: Micah 5:2 “But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
Jesus declares at the beginning of: 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.”
And then at the end: Revelation 22:13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”
We will get into the Incarnation in the future, but it's worth noting here, just after this verse, it says: Revelation 22:16 “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
Before anything ever was, there was Jesus. And if everything should ever cease to exist, there will still be Jesus.
Jesus is Eternal - forever was, and forever will be.
Because of Christ, there was the World
Jesus is Creator of All Things (Joh. 1:3; 10; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:2; Eph. 3:9)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Hebrews 1:1–2 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Everything we see, everything we know, and everything we don't was created by Jesus himself. This is why Joh. 1:10 is so tragic: John 1:10 “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” - (Ill.) As I pondered upon this, I thought of those petulant teenagers that act like they don't know their parents or are ashamed of them. They fail to acknowledge that without their parents, they would not be here. This is the way the world is treating Jesus.
When we think of the Creator and the heavens of earth, it is easy for people to say that God did it. But the Bible is more specific. It wasn't just God but it was Jesus Christ.
Psalm 104 is a beautiful passage of scripture concerning creation. (Read some of Psa. 104)
This that we read here is Jesus Christ! Psalm 104:32 “He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: He toucheth the hills, and they smoke.”
BECAUSE OF CHRIST - there is the world, for He is the Creator and Sustainer of it!
Christ is Outside of Time
Concerning Christ being the Creator, we must now look at Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
In this verse, we see three things come into existence simultaneously: Time, Space and Matter.
Now there's much that could be said about this, and if you're interested, I encourage you to look up a man by the name of Kent Hovind. He has done many debates, he's a scientific teacher, and has some really good information concerning the Biblical creation account and the theory of evolution - But I want to make just one point here:
If God created time, space, and matter, that means he is outside of time. In other words, he is not bound by time. 2,000 years from now is as 2,000 years in the past - He sees it all as one. (Ill.) The man who created the computer is not inside the computer, he is outside of it. It runs at His will and His pleasure, and He has control of its workings.
The fact that God is outside of time explains:
How prophecies come true.
How God works all things to good to them that love Him and called according to his purpose.
Christ is Outside of Time
Christ, the Founder
II. Christ Foreordained
II. Christ Foreordained
Foreordained (def) To appoint beforehand; predetermine
Now that we understand that Christ is the Creator and that He is outside of time, we now look at the fact that Jesus was fore-ordained.
That means he was appointed beforehand to do and say the things in which he had done and said.
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Here it says he was foreordained before the foundation of the world that he would give his precious blood as a sacrifice.
Now we need to ponder on this for a moment and consider the ramifications of that statement.
Consider the Ramifications:
Before Creation, was Knowledge:
Before Christ created anything, he understood all things concerning His Creation. Everything that has and will have transpired in the world Christ knew, and he created it with that knowledge.
Now we must understand that even though Christ knew does not mean that Christ caused. (Not to get into a big Calvinism dissertation), God created man with free will, yet He knew that if He did so, what the world would look like afterwards.
Before creation, there was knowledge of man.
Of Man
God created man to have a relationship built on the foundation of voluntary love and adoration. God could have created robots but instead chose to create man with a free will to either love and obey or hate and disobey.
Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”
God created man with the ability to have a relationship with Him.
Genesis 3:8 “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…”
God (Christ) walked with them, enjoyed fellowship with them until their disobedience.
You see, church, true love can never be forced, and forced obedience is not true love. (Ill.) Consider for a moment the story of Jaycee Dugard or Elizabeth Smart: Both of these young girls were kidnapped and forced into a relationship with their abductor. The girls had no choice in the matter. Let me ask you. Is this what love is?
No. What did Jesus say the whole duty of man was? Matthew 22:37–38 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.”
So God created man in his own image for the purpose of having a loving, reciprocal relationship with.
But God knew what man would do with this free will that was given him.
His Choice to Sin
Christ knew before he ever created man that when he gave him free will, he knew what he would choose.
Side note: It's amazing to me, the religion of the law-keepers of Christianity that believe that you must keep this law and that law in order to earn salvation. Adam had one law, and that was to not eat of one particular tree. And he failed that. Listen, if Adam failed one law, you can guarantee that these so-called lawkeepers are failing every one of theirs.
Anyway, Christ knew before He created man that He would choose to sin. He would disobey God and sever the relationship that God so desired to have with him. FOR A HOLY AND JUST GOD CANNOT FELLOWSHIP WITH SINFUL MEN.
Christ created man knowing that he would choose to sin and disobey Him.
God’s Plan of Redemption
Christ also knew, before he ever created man, that if he was to have a relationship with him, it would mean that he would have to be born of woman, brought into the world, be tempted, mocked, beaten, treated spitefully by his very own creation - and ultimately crucified.
Christ created man knowing the plan of redemption that lay before him.
One of Necessity, not Choice
Now, when I say this, I don't mean that Christ was forced to redeem man. He wasn't. He chose to. What I mean is that in order for man to be redeemed, there was no other choice other than Christ's own sacrifice.
Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
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.”
When Christ created everything and created mankind, he knew that man would disobey. And he also knew that in the only hope for man to be saved was if he endured the cross of Calvary.
Christ knew man's only hope was through His sacrifice.
Christ’s Willingness to Pay It
And the amazing thing about our God is that before He ever formed a thing, He was willing to go to that cross and pay that price that you and I might be saved and might be brought into fellowship with Him.
You see, Christ desires to have a loving relationship with man, but our sins have separated us from Him.
But he demonstrated his love toward us. Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
He knew what it would feel like to have his beard plucked and his creation spit at Him and mock Him and treat him cruelly.
He knew what it would feel like, the nails going through his hands and feet.
He knew the shame of hanging naked. Before heaven and earth, before all mankind.
He understood what it would feel like to wear the sins of all mankind upon His Holy being as a garment.
He knew the pain he would feel when His Father turned his back on Him.
HE KNEW ALL THIS AND HE DID IT ANYWAY! He desired fellowship with you and me so much that he was willing to pay that price! What a God we have!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Today we attempted to highlight the truth of some aspects of Jesus which are not as clearly known.
However, in doing so, I believe that we uncovered some amazing truths concerning the fact that his love was so deep for mankind and his desire so deep for fellowship with him that he was willing to pay such a high price to redeem man from his sin.
I ask you today, have you been redeemed?
Do you know how much Christ loves you? How much he desires to save you?
Yet he has given you free will to accept this gift that he offers or reject it. What will you do?
Christian, have you considered much what Christ has done for you? Maybe you need to take this moment, just to say thank you, Lord, for loving me like you do.
