We Believe in Jesus (Part 1)

Introduction

To Jews, He was a false Messiah that led millions of people away from the one true God and one true religion: Judaism.

To Muslims, He was one of the greatest prophets ever sent, but He was not the Son of God and was not crucified.

To Hindus He is simply another god among thousands.

To atheists, agnostics, Buddhists and many other religions He was a good and wise moral teacher.

Jesus is obviously a huge figure in the history of the World, everyone who has ever heard His name has to address Him, everyone who has heard His name has to deal with Him.

The question before us today is the same question posed to Peter by Jesus Himself in the shadow of Caesarea Philippi, named after the Roman Emperor and devoted to the worship of a false God, “Who do you say I am?” What do we believe about Jesus. What are the things about Jesus that we must stand our ground on and refuse to move.

We are in a similar situation as Peter when He was asked this question. We live in the most powerful nation on the Earth and we are told to bow to many different things, and many different Gods. We are often inclined to bow to the USA before we bow to

As Ken said last week, this is why the ancient creeds were written, so that we would have something that unified us. Something that we could all proclaim together without division. Something that grounded us in doctrines that we cannot and must not stray from.

Let’s look at the creed together:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit.

I believe in the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,

I believe in the forgiveness of sins,

I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen,

Our church fathers knew that what we believe about Jesus is vitally important because Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. Jesus is the hero of the Bible. What we believe about Him will define us! So the next several weeks, we will be talking about Jesus. Today we will be we will be covering the first section about Jesus in the creed:

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

So we will be talking about Jesus as: 1) Christ (2) The Son of God and Lord (3) The Word made flesh

Jesus: The Christ

1) Christ is often thought of as the last name of Jesus, but this is not the case. Christ is a title.

Christ is often thought of as the last name of Jesus, but this is not the case. Christ is a title.

The word Christ (Christos) means anointed one and is the same word for Messiah (Mashiach) in the Old Testament Hebrew.

There were many anointed ones in the Bible. There were prophets who were anointed, priests who were anointed, but most of the time the term referred to a king, the king of Israel or Judah.

For instance, David referred to Saul as God’s anointed one in

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6 He said to his men, “I swear before the Lord: I would never do such a thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed. I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.”

But we also see in the Old Testament that God promises to send a great king descended from King David who rule the whole world, who would bring peace to the world and establish the kingdom of God forever.

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10 The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes, and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.

or the staff from between his feet

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until he whose right it is comes,

11 When your time comes to be with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who is one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not remove my faithful love from him as I removed it from the one who was before you. 14 I will appoint him over my house and my kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.’ ”

and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.

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ISRAEL REGATHERED

10 On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will look to him for guidance, and his resting place will be glorious. ....12 He will lift up a banner for the nations and gather the dispersed of Israel; he will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

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6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

a son will be given to us,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

He will be named

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

7 The dominion will be vast,

and its prosperity will never end.

He will reign on the throne of David

and over his kingdom,

to establish and sustain it

with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

will stand as a banner for the peoples.

12 He will lift up a banner for the nations

This coming Christ would be the greatest of all anointed ones, and would set everything right. He would fulfill all of the prophecies given. This is the Christ that the people of God were waiting for.

6 For a child will be born for us,

If you place yourselves in the Israelites shoes for a minute and think about the situations they were in, you can imagine their desperation. They had been overtaken again and again. They had been in exile. They had strayed from the Lord and been punished over and over again. And in Jesus’ day, the Israelites again had been overtaken and were now ruled by Rome. The promised land was occupied and ruled by pagans, people who did not honor God, but instead worshiped many Gods, one of which was their Emperor.

Jesus is the King of Kings

and gather the dispersed of Israel;

The nations will look to him for guidance,

and his resting place will be glorious.

Then Jesus shows up and He was not what they were looking for. The son of a carpenter from a podunk town of Nazareth, who was preaching about the Kingdom of God, repentance, forgiveness, and love. How could this be the Christ? They were waiting for a warrior king who would come take back the land. One who would push back and conquer their enemies. Who would overthrow Caesar and establish the Kingdom of God.

he will collect the scattered of Judah

a son will be given to us,

Brothers and sisters the reason they were so confused, the reason they rejected Jesus

and the government will be on his shoulders.

from the four corners of the earth.

But brothers and sisters, they did not realize who their real enemies were. And their real enemies are the same enemies of all humanity today. Sin and death. Christ did not come to overthrow Rome He came to conquer Sin and death and HE DID! Sin could not sway Him and death could not keep Him. THE GRAVE COULDN’T HOLD THE KING.

What they did not realize is that for God to establish His Kingdom, Christ had to first come live and die as a suffering servant King, and raise as a Victorious King before He could come back as a Warrior King. He had to conquer sin and death so He could build His people, His kingdom, His Church and once He is done building then He will return as the Mighty Warrior King!

He will be named

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Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war with justice. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

We believe that Jesus is THE Christ. He is the promised one. He fulfills all of the prophecies of the Old Testament. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war with justice. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

7 The dominion will be vast,

and its prosperity will never end.

When Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus if He was a King, Jesus answered, “You say so” or “It is as you say.” .

He will reign on the throne of David

37 “You are a king then?” Pilate asked.

As Christians we believe them. Jesus is the Christ.

and over his kingdom,

to establish and sustain it

“You say that I’m a king, I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

But if we can just get honest with ourselves for a minute

with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.

The implication of this in our life is huge. Because Jesus is King, and we are not that means that we are to obey everything that He says. Because Jesus is King that means that He is King of all of our lives, and all of our time, not just Sundays. The problem that we have, especially in American Christianity, is that we want the benefits that comes with knowing Jesus, without having to honor Him as King. We want salvation, without having to live in obedience. We want to live how we want outside of Church. We don’t want to bow the knee. This is a completely foreign concept in the scriptures. We need to be clear, if you not submitted to the Kingship of Christ you are either a lost person, or a Christian in need of repentance. Jesus is not a get out of hell free card, He is King. I’m not saying anyone will ever be perfect, but if you can look at your life and see areas that don’t match up to Scripture and you are not bothered by it there is a problem. If you are living contrary to Christ and you are not actively fighting your sin, then there is a problem.

The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the King, therefore our lives must look like it. And the thing that makes Him distinct and unique from all other kings, prophets, and priests is that He is the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus: The Only Son of God our Lord

This is another place where Jesus has been attacked. There have been many different people throughout history that have tried to attack this doctrine. They want to make Jesus out to be something less than divine, something less than God Himself. They want to say that He was a human and that’s it. He was created like the rest of us. One specific group that stands out in history is a group called Arians. Arians followed the teaching of Arius who said that Jesus was the first and greatest of all of God’s created beings, but not divine. They denied the Trinity. This was the catalyst for one of the biggest church councils in history to come together, the council of Nicea where they condemned the thinking of Arius as heresy and put out the Nicean creed which affirms that Jesus is co-equal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was so much more than just a man. He was not created. Look at what the scriptures say about Him in .

Athiests and Agnostics will say that He was a

There are

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PROLOGUE

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life,, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

Jesus was there in the beginning with God and He was God and all things were created through Him. In Jesus describes Himself as the First and Last, the Alpha and Omega and all throughout the Gospel of John He tells us that He and the Father are one. Listen to what Paul says about Christ in :

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THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Expound on this Scripture

the firstborn over all creation.

16 For everything was created by him,

Because Jesus is coequal

Jesus is part of the Godhead, He is coequal with God. Everything it means to be God, Christ is. Because of this He has a unique authority. Just look at His life, He healed the blind and lame, He told the wind and the waves to stop and they did immediately, He told Lazarus He was not allowed to be dead anymore and He came out of His tomb, and after three days he told death it could no longer keep Him and He rose from the dead. Jesus is God.

in heaven and on earth,

The New Testament uses the phrase Jesus is Lord in some formulation around 300 times. When We say Jesus is Lord we are proclaiming that He is King, He is Master, He is Yahweh the Great I Am, He is Emmanuel God with us, He is El Shaddai, He is the Alpha and Omega, He is the only begotten Son of God who was begotten not made. He did not come into existence He has always existed in communion with the Father and the Spirit, in the Trinity.

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3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at th

Just like there has never

the visible and the invisible,

We cannot compromise on this. This is why we cannot embrace Jehovah Witnesses, who are modern day Arians who believe that Jesus was a created finite being. Brothers and sisters we need to be clear on this, if Jesus is not God, then the Gospel loses its gospel. If Jesus is not God then the Good News loses its good news. Because if Jesus was just another finite created being, just another human, if Jesus was anything less than God Himself He could not atone for the sins of the Church, for the sins of billions of people. If Jesus was anything less than God He could not satisfy the wrath of God toward sin. Only God Himself could overcome sin and death. Only God could ransom us. If Jesus was not God then the Gospel has no power.

Oh but He was God and is God. And His sacrifice for us has the power to save. Our King is not just a man, but He is the God of the universe. This is the essence of the Gospel and it brings us to our final point. While we were enemies of God, who could not get to God, He came down to us. He became one of us in order to redeem us. Jesus is God, who came to us as a man.

whether thrones or dominions

Jesus: The Word made Flesh

or rulers or authorities—

all things have been created through him and for him.

Lets continue in

17 He is before all things,

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6 There was a man sent from God whose name was He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

and by him all things hold together.

18 He is also the head of the body, the church;

9 The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.,

12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

he is the beginning,

10 He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ”) 16 Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, 17 for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.

the firstborn from the dead,

so that he might come to have

The Word Jesus became flesh. This word flesh is a very strong word, meaning basically guts. John was saying that the Word became guts, He became flesh and blood, He became man. He was saying that everything it means to be man, Jesus was. The reason John uses such a strong Word is because there were some who were denying that Jesus came as man. In fact there have been several different groups of people who opposed this idea. Some in church History have said Jesus never really was human, He was just some kind of apparition and others said Jesus was some kind of third being, not fully human or fully God kind of like a cyborg. But John’s Gospel does not allow for this. He is clear that Jesus became flesh and blood, He became Human. clearly shows us that Jesus is truly God and truly man. Whatever it means to be God, Jesus is and whatever it means to be human Jesus is.

first place in everything.

This is another thing that we cannot compromise on, because if Jesus did not come as a human, then He could not redeem humanity. What Jesus did not assume, He did not redeem. Meaning that if Jesus did not come as a human, walk as a human, experience temptation as a human, experience emotion and pain like a human, then He could not have redeemed humanity. makes this clear.

19 For God was pleased to have

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14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. 16 For it is clear that he does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring. 17 Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement, for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

all his fullness dwell in him,

20 and through him to reconcile

He became like us in every way so that He could redeem us in every way. This is why Christ had to come into the world as a baby, because we were babies.

So the Word was made flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary as told and . He came in this way for a few reasons:

everything to himself,

whether things on earth or things in heaven,

To leave no doubt that Jesus’ coming was supernatural

People discount the Virgin Birth because it is impossible, but brothers and sisters God is not limited by the impossibilities of Man.

He is a supernatural God, and has the power to do what is impossible. That’s why Jesus in says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” God is in the business of doing the impossible. Just look at the life of Jesus and you can clearly see that.

Jesus came in this way so that we could see beyond doubt that He was unique.

by making peace

Conceived by the Spirit to show us that He was both God and man.

Just like we see in the , Jesus is truly and truly man.

3. Conceived by the Spirit so that He would be untainted by Adam’s sin.

To be untainted by sin.

through his blood, shed on the cross.,

Conceived by the Spirit so that He would be untainted by Adam’s sin.

a. If you remember in Genesis account of the fall, Eve ate the fruit first,

Scripture shows us that

If you remember in Genesis account of the fall, Eve ate the fruit first, but their eyes were not opened until Adam ate the fruit.

We cannot deny the virgin birth without denying that Scripture is true. We cannot deny the virgin birth without denying that Jesus was the unique Son of God and the Word made flesh.

We cannot

This is because men have the role of head of household, and Adam failed in His role of leading Eve. He was there watching and let her be deceived. And when He took the fruit their eyes were opened.

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

c. (CSB) 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.

(CSB) 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.

DEATH THROUGH ADAM AND LIFE THROUGH CHRIST

So as we close I want us to think about what we just talked about. The God of the Universe, Yahweh came to us. Jesus is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, Creator God, Holy Holy Holy, the Alpha and the Omega, the all powerful God. And He came to us.

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.

While we were enemies of God deserving nothing but His wrath, He came to us and died for us. God could have chosen to Glorify His Holy name by destroying us, by giving us what we deserved but instead He:

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6 who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

as something to be exploited.

7 Instead he emptied himself

by assuming the form of a servant,

taking on the likeness of humanity.

And when he had come as a man,

8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death—

even to death on a cross.

9 For this reason God highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow—

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth—

11 and every tongue will confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

This King Jesus loves us and gave himself for us.

Application:

Maybe someone in here needs to place their faith in Jesus today. Do not wait, Do not tarry one more minute.

Maybe you are realizing that you know the Lord, but have not been submitting to Him as King and you need to repent and work that out with Him today.

Maybe you are in a good place with the Lord and you just need to worship Him and thank Him today.