The Son With Us

Intro recap

John 1:1–5 ESV

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 Son was with us from the beginning

John 1:1

So in the beginning, the Son of God, the Word, was with God the Father and was/is also God himself. And in the Son was life that gave life to humankind. Nothing about that sounds lonely does it? It sounds communal and bright.

The Son with us from the beginning

Loneliness - where does it come from? Who were the first lonely people?

It started with sin and separation from God, which we read about in the first book of the Bible and the Old Testament; Genesis. And death came into the world through the sin of Adam and Eve. And Death apart from God is the ultimate loneliness.

Romans 5:12 ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

So the God that was with us in the garden, because of sin, suddenly stops walking around with us and puts us out into the hard, cold world to labor and toil, separated from fellowship with Him. End of story? Not even close! In fact, this all happens within the first 3 chapters of the Bible. The rest of the Bible becomes the story of humankind’s restoration or return to relationship with God.

But those of us who want to follow Jesus and be like Him tend to live in the New Testament, and a lot of times people look at the Old Testament and see a completely different God than the one in the New Testament. They see a God of wrath and wars, and they wonder why He’s so different from Jesus. But it’s the same God.

A lot of times people look at the Old Testament and see a completely different God than the one in the New Testament. They see a God of wrath and wars, and they wonder why He’s so different from Jesus. But it’s the same God. And if you look more closely at the Old Testament, you will see that not only is He the same God, but He was actively involved in saving, protecting, speaking, and living with His people long before He became a man and dwelled among us. This is important, because it can change the way you think about your life. If your life feels more Old Testament than New, then it’s time to start looking for the evidences of Christ’s work in your life. Look around and find the instances where God saved you, interceded for you, or put you on a path. Just like Christ is all over the Old Testament, He is all over your life as well. It’s just that sometimes you don’t realize it. But knowing His hands are all over the entirety of history should be a confirmation that they are all over your life as well. You are a part of the big picture of God; He hasn’t changed His nature in our day. He isn’t acting differently or becoming more distant. He is moving among us and is still sovereign over all. Knowing that He is an actively involved God can either scare you or give you peace, depending on how you live. Either way, it’s time to begin to see the big picture and to stop pretending that He isn’t a God who is pursuing a relationship with you.

The Son was with us through the Old Testament

And if you look more closely at the Old Testament, you will see that not only is He the same God, but the Son of God was actively involved in saving, protecting, speaking, and living with His people long before He became a man and dwelled among us. This is important, because it can change the way you think about your life. If your life feels more Old Testament than New, then it’s time to start looking for the evidences of Christ’s work in your life. Look around and find the instances where God saved you, interceded for you, or put you on a path. Just like Christ is all over the Old Testament, He is all over your life as well. It’s just that sometimes you don’t realize it. But knowing His fingerprints are all over the entirety of history should be a confirmation that they are all over your life as well. You are a part of the story of God; He hasn’t changed His nature in our day. He isn’t acting differently or becoming more distant. He is moving among us and is still sovereign over all. Knowing that He is an actively involved God should either scare you or give you peace, depending on how you live. Either way, it’s time to begin to see the bigger picture and to stop pretending that He isn’t a God who is pursuing a relationship with you.

In fact, way before there was ever a baby named Jesus in a manger, the Son of God was foreshadowed, prophesied, and even appeared before us, with us. I’m talking about...

Christophanies, Prophecies, and Archetypes

Every time you see “the Angel of God” appearing to people in the Old Testament, you are seeing what is called a Christophany, or an appearance of the preincarnate Christ on earth. You can see Him appearing all over the Old Testament, sometimes as a man and sometimes in a burning bush or pillar of cloud, sometimes as an Angel of God, but you see Christophanies happen time and again as evidence that the Son of God has always been with us on earth. Before that First Noel, the Son of God was not some clipboard holding deity standing on the sidelines of human history waiting for the Father to put him in the ballgame. The Son of God was with us throughout human history in the Old Testament.

Rather than going on for hours showing you the evidences of the Son of God from every book of the Old Testament, on your note sheet is a list of a number of instances of the Son coming to earth in the Old Testament, Christophonies, or verses that foreshadow Him coming soon through prophecies (predictions of the future,) or archetypes. Archetypes are noted with an asterisk and a small explanation at the end of the list. An archetype is an imperfect reflection or copy of the original genuine article, which biblically speaking is Jesus. Save this sheet; fold it up in your Bible, take a pic of it and save it to the cloud; just remember that the Bible has Jesus in some way, shape, or form throughout it.

“Why does the Old Testament point forward so many times to the coming of Jesus?”

Excerpt From: Hayley DiMarco & Michael DiMarco. “The Big Picture.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-big-picture/id689423138?mt=11

In the time, it was to give God’s people hope; hope that their loneliness and separation with God would end. In our time, it’s to do the same thing plus see that our God is a promise keeping God of perfectly timed delay.

Reading the Old Testament should never be just about the events and the people themselves. It should always give you insight into God’s desire to have a relationship with His children and the certainty that He would one day give us an eternal sacrifice worthy of cleansing us from everything we have ever done, or ever will do. See, God isn’t watching from afar, but He’s working His will and His way throughout all of history. And He’s making a way for His children to be with Him.

But the Son was not just with us to temporarily mend our loneliness in Christophanies/spirit form, Prophecies, and Archetypes...

The Son was with us in the flesh

John 1:14 ESV

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.

Immanuel - God with us in the flesh.

Immanuel - God with us in the flesh.

But why did the Son arrive in the flesh? Jesus tells us himself in a story found in

Luke 20:9–16 ESV

And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”

Jesus came to remind the tenants of this planet, and God’s chosen people, of their responsibilities, of the rents and offerings they owed, and who really owns it all. Because the Father had sent prophets, priests, and kings to do the same and people eventually tuned them out at best and killed them at worst. And they did the same to His Son. But Jesus was not only the Father’s best messenger, He was also the Father’s best example, best remedy, best savior. He was no archetype or imitation; he was and is the real deal God of the universe. He wasn’t a typical debt collector; he was a financial advisor who also paid every debt we had that separated us from the love of God. He is the cure to eternal loneliness.

So his life and death in the flesh and subsequent resurrection and socialization with the disciples post-death in the flesh demonstrated that Jesus, God, was with us in a form like us. And to do all this, the Son of God gave up more than His life to do it...

For the Son to be with us He did without

He didn’t do without his deity; yes Jesus became 100% human but He was still 100% God but make no mistake, to address our temporary and more importantly our eternal loneliness, the Son of God did without:

He did without position

He did without possessions

2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

He did without privilege

Mark 10:45 ESV

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

1 Peter 5:1–3 ESV

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

1 Peter 5:3 ESV

not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

One of the great privileges I have is to preach and teach the Word of God. God has entrusted me with that with you. Paycheck/AWO/BSL - promise keeping God of perfectly timed delay

The Son was with us in spirit, prophecies, and foreshadowings, more significantly, was with us in the flesh, and He is still with us in spirit until He comes again to finally end our loneliness once and for all!

Until then, beyond reminding yourself that you are not alone, that Jesus is with you, how can you minister to the lonely by being the hands and feet of Jesus? How can you better understand who Jesus is and how he desires you to think and live? An easy answer is through the CHURCH, the sharing of God’s faithfulness in each others’ lives, and the continued study of God’s Word for these reminders.