The Gospel of Luke - Week 10

A my house isn't the only one with black apparently there's a lot of people out of schools a lot of people off work. So avoid the plague like the plague stay away from it. So I don't know what's interesting about today is why I tried it to try to get my sermons going early in the week and it kind of work through it. Then my family got sick. And so none of that worked and ended up kind of feeling under the gun a little bit. And so it's it's funny because when I started writing this week's sermon I started in one place and then by the time you get around being able to finish writing the sermon I was looking at my introduction and don't you know, this the intro doesn't fit or I ended up now, so I have to rethink my introduction. But what I want to do with with this space before we actually get into the text is I want to remind us. Of what the purpose of Luke's gospel is about right if you were to flip back just a couple of pages from where you're at and Luke 3 and look at Luke 1 and in the first versus what do we we see Luke saying that there have been people who have taken the task of compiling and writing a record of what Jesus did he says that inasmuch as many undertaken to compile a narrative the things that have been accomplished Among Us just as those who from the beginning or eyewitnesses and Ministers of the word have delivered them to us. It seemed good to me. Also having followed all things closely for some time past to write an orderly account for you. Most excellent Theophilus that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught by and when we talked about this many weeks ago when we started this series that the purpose of Luke that the purpose that Luke has in writing all of this down is to a Sure Theophilus, but the things he had been taught were true to give him Surety to give him confidence that what he understood as the truth actually was the truth and so as we are getting into the life of Jesus as we start to move into the ministry of Jesus, then we need to remember that the purpose of this book. The purpose of this part of scripture is Surety its confidence that we can look at this and we can know that it's true and we can trust that it's true and we can rely on it as truth. Even if we don't always understand it and that's important for us today because we're going to be dealing with a sort of tricky doctor and it's not like it's it's it's you got to be super smart to get it's like there's there's a mystery in today's message, right? Are there are some doctrines that are by their nature mysterious. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't explore them. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't seek to understand. It doesn't mean that we should shouldn't work and think and reason to try to grasp what it is that the scripture is revealing about the truth around us, but it does mean that sometimes even with deep thought and good reasoning and Sound Logic and lots of scripture and lots of study. There are things that we just are not going to completely understand that's that's just how it is. I am in today is one of those things really talking about what the doctrinal term is the hypostatic union is this idea hypostasis this same same same person essentially the Union in Jesus between Divinity and Humanity this idea that we find a scripture is that Jesus was fully God and fully man at the same time and they're like you look at that. You're all that make sense. Jesus was God. Jesus was man and then you start to think about that you go. Hold on. What about that or how does that part work or what is what is this mean over here? And so it starts to get murky it starts to get muddy. And so what we want to do today is we're going to look at this passage of scripture. I'm going to see how Luke gives us this this vignette this idea puts this in the place that Jesus is God, but Jesus is also human and then we're going to look and see how that works itself out and what that means for us, okay. okay, so let's read together Luke chapter 3 Starting a verse 21 and yeah, we're going to read the genealogy and I'm going to get all the names going to be a good time. So here is what we find Luke Chapter 321. You can read along in your Bible follow along on the screen. Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove and a voice Came From Heaven. You are my beloved Son with you. I am well pleased Jesus when he began his ministry was about 30 years of age being the Sun as as as was supposed of Joseph the son of Eli the son of map at the son of Levi the scent of Malachi the son of Jenna I the son of Joseph the son of mattathias the son of Amos the Son Of Mayhem the son of s Lee the son of my guy the son of math the son of mattathias the son of Simeon the son of the son of Jodha the son of Joan on the son of Reesha the son of the Ruby Belle the son of shelter Seattle the son of Mary the son of Milky the son of a die the son of cosines am the son of elmadam the son of are the son of Joshua the son of Eleazar the son of joram the son of man that the son of Levi the son of Simeon the son of Judah the son of Joseph the son of Jonah am the son of a like am the son of Melia the son of men are the son of the son of Nathan the son of David the son of Jesse the son of Obed the son of Boaz the son of salla the son of nation the son of a Bennett dab the son of admin the son of Arnold the son of hezron the Sunnah Perez the son of Judah the son of Jacob the son of Isaac the son of Abraham the son of Terah the son of nahor the son of sarek the son of Rhea the son of peleg the son of ever the son of shella the son of Canaan the son of arphaxad the son of Shem the son of Noah the son of lamech the son of Methuselah the son of Enoch the son of Jared the son of mahalalel the son of Cain in the son of Enos the son of Seth the son of Adam the son of God

We made it. So there's two things that are going on here, right? We've got to sort of distinct pictures. We have Jesus baptism kind of tying into the the story of John the Baptist there and Luke 3 and then we have the genealogy of Jesus Through Joseph there other genealogies of Jesus. If you go read I think it's in Matthew. You see that the genealogy of Jesus Through Mary and so in the gospels, we have both family sides of Jesus showing that he does. In fact come from the line of David that he doesn't that come from the tribe of Judah it is in fact, all the way to the back to Adam. And so I want to take both of these pieces and I want us to look at both of them sort of separately and then we're going to put them together. So the first thing we're going to look at is Jesus as the son of God. Jesus is the son of God. So look at verses 21 and 22 again. Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him a bodily form like a dove and a voice Came From Heaven. You are my beloved Son with you. I am well pleased. So so Jesus comes down to the Jordan River where John is baptizing people if you if you remember last week, we talked about how John said hard things things that that people weren't used to hearing and this had drawn a crowd of people to come and listen to John and that resulted in them hearing the good news and that resulted in them repenting and being baptized in this was part of what God was doing in preparing the way for the Messiah making the road straight for Jesus's appearance. And so Jesus comes to where John is And he walks his way through the crowd at this point. Nobody knows who he is. Right? No one if they if they weren't related to him would have recognized him is not as if he's coming as some new super star snot like good Bono walked in there like a bottle walked in the room. You might not like you too. But if I walked in the room we go. Hey, that's my No, that's not what's going on here. Nobody knows who Jesus is at this point. That's what he comes to the river and he walks down there and when when John sees him dismiss the stories were in the other gospel when John sees him in in in one of the gospels. He says look the lamb who takes away the sins of the world John recognizes his cousin Jesus as the Christ if you think back to Luke Chapter 2 when we talked about the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth Jesus mother and John's mother when Elizabeth finds out. Mary's pregnant what happens John in the womb is filled with the Holy Spirit and leaps for Joy John's good at recognizing Jesus that he's been doing this a long time since Jesus come and John points about says you've been asking me who the price is right there. That's the guy I'm not even worthy to untie his sandals and Jesus comes down and gets in the water and asks, John to baptize him. If you go read this story in Matthew, we find that that John looks at me says hold on. You should be baptizing me. I shouldn't have anything to do this. You should be baptizing me because you were so much greater than I am. But Jesus looks at him and says we want to we want to obey what God has told us to do it. So you need to baptize me. John baptizes Jesus as it comes out of the water as he's praying a window into heaven opens. Luke uses this phrase. He says the the heavens were opened and this isn't the only place that Luke uses. This Heavens were opened phraseology. You can go read in acts when Steven the the first Christian martyr is killed as they're throwing the rocks at him as they are beating him to death with stones. He looks up and we see the windows. I've haven't we see the heavens being opened and he looks into this opening in heaven and he sees Jesus Seated on the throne. This is the ID here. What what what Luke is telling us is a a space opens into the place where God is this is this is God opening and intruding into our reality.

I threw this open space the Holy Spirit appears physically. This is kind of a kind of anything because we only see the Holy Spirit doing something like this occasionally. It's not a common think we see it at Pentecost in the upper room when he appears and then their tongues of fire over the heads of of the disciple. We see it here with Jesus that the Holy Spirit comes down and sets on Jesus and appears as a dove, but it doesn't stop there. the father speaks an endless voice from heaven speaks and says you are my beloved Son with you. I am well pleased and in this moment, we see the fullness of God shown in the desert on the bank of the river father Spirit son all present all physically there. In a way that the people who were watching could experience that we can look and we could see Jesus standing in the water. We can look with her eyes and see the spirit in the form of a dove resting on him and we can hear the voice of the father. I'm well pleased with you. In This Moment Jesus is shown to be God. What does the father do the father makes a declaration of his relationship to Jesus? You are my son. With you I am well pleased like this is a thing older guys do this. Typically don't you don't say younger guys do this unless they're really hip but older guys will call younger guys, son. You've heard that before you leave at least experienced it movies where the grizzled old guy calls the you know energetic young guy son. And sometimes they take offense at that or I'm not you're not my daddy, right? This is this is something that that we don't quite get. This is not what Jesus or what God is doing the father isn't looking in Jesus and saying and I recognize you as a younger man.

This is him making this declaration. We are related. You are my son. God himself confirms the words of Gabriel. It look to you don't have to turn them out. I'll just read it to you. But Gabriel is speaking to Mary. Sorry, this is in Luke 1 Gabriel speaking to Mary and Annie sez and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord. God will give to him the Throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And if his kingdom there will be no end Gabriel came to Mary and said Your son that the holy spirit is going to conceive will be the son of the most high and now 30 some-odd years later. We see the father confirming the words of Gabriel to Mary as Jesus comes out of the water. You are my son.

Again, we need to remember that Luke is recounting his event so that the opolis will have Surety about what he's been taught and I know we get to we get to partake in that benefit like the awfulest. The reason this is here is so that we can be sure of what we've been taught. It's not hard if you spent any time in the church to think to all the times that you've been taught that Jesus is God. And sometimes we can take that for granted. We don't quite understand what that means. It's really important. For us to understand that Jesus is God. That's really important. You think Jesus is Ministry doesn't make a lot of sense if he's not God.

A bunch of the things that he says are crazy if he's not got this guy is certifiable if he's not God. We should throw him in the padded cell. Get rid of the key and leaving their forever a bunch of the the things he does are fake if he's not God. A lot of those Miracles that he does or just or just fake the parlor tricks. Like the other magicians that they used to have on TV that they don't have on TV anymore because nobody knows what TV is anymore. Write every watch it like a David Copperfield special. I watch them disappear Diamond Head on Hawaii once.

That's what Jesus is Miracles are if he's not God, they're just tricks. His death is meaningless. But he's not God the Romans were really good at killing Rebellion leaders. They were really good at that something they had to do pretty frequently. And so they had it down to a science you want to lead a rebellion will kill you. We're good at that and so the death of Jesus. Doesn't mean anything if he's not God. Doesn't serve any purpose. His followers are crazy. If he's not God like I want to put this in context we who are sitting here at 2 on Superbowl. Sunday are crazy if Jesus isn't God. This is useless. This is worthless if he's not God.

But thankfully we have Luke's account because the account of Jesus's baptism that Luke puts here that Matthew and Mark put in their gospels. This account of his baptism doesn't leave room for us to not deal with Jesus is definity. We have to we have to deal with it. We have to deal with the fact that a voice speaks from heaven and says you are my son. claims him in relationship We have to say that's true or not true. And if it's not true and we might as well just walk away from all of this, but if it is true. Then there's some things that we have to deal with.

But we also get a genealogy genealogy. Tsar fun. Let let's be honest. I want you to be honest. We're in church. We're friends, but you be honest with me when you're reading your Bible. And you get to the genealogy part when you start to see the begats or the son of depending on the version that you've got by show of hands. How many of you skip to the end? Yep, that's good. That's that's that's your. Okay good. I'm not going to read it again. Just so you know, you guys can read it for yourself. But the second thing we have to deal with this Jesus as the son of man. Genealogies are incredibly important and it doesn't feel like they're important right because in our culture I'm especially in American culture. We have really grabbed onto this idea that your family doesn't Define you. This is a this is a sort of comes from this idea of rejecting sort of the aristocratic European methodology of inheritance. If your dad was King then guess what you get to be king less, you're a woman and then you're going to probably be married off to somebody else. Sorry. That's how it works. If your dad is a blacksmith then you're probably going to be a blacksmith if he's a farmer you're going to be a farmer and this is a generational thing. Who your family is determines who you are and in in in America, we have largely just rejected. That was at this is not how we're going to do this. I get to determine my own fate I get to be the master of my own future. And so we end up doing wildly different things than our parents and our grandparents and cousins and uncles and aunts. How many of you must be honest. How many of you are either currently in a profession or going into a profession. That's exactly the same as someone else in your family.

See what I mean? We don't we don't work this way, but the Israelites do genealogies are incredibly important to the Israelites and there's a few reasons why one of them is big they show The Inheritance in Israel. If you go read in Exodus and numbers and Deuteronomy went and judge Joshua, especially the green Joshua when the Israelites come into the promised land God gives them inheritance land in that space based on their family. So, you know Judah gets this place over here and Dan get this over here and it's a car over here and got over here and not to lie over here and it becomes really important to know which family you're a part of because if you don't know which family are part of you don't know where you belong anymore. You're not connected to the promised land. So it shows inheritance. It also delineates family history. There are scenes that as a member of a certain tribe you could be proud of and things that if you're a member of a different drive, you probably aren't that proud of but it tells you the story of your family would be like if we were to go back and do you know genealogy related work to determine who we might be related to for instance. I'm related to both Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth.

Take that tells a story. It doesn't have any bearing on me, but it tells a story about something that happened in the past in my family is an interesting story, right? There's some conflict there as it were. But it it delineates family history and in some instances, especially in the Israelite context. It it it mean it it tells you what you get to do. If you're a levite you're going to be a priest. That's how it works. That's what you do. And so it's important for the context of who Luke is writing this to that they and we understand Jesus's family lineage that we get who he is where he came from and Jesus's family line has some important people in it. I don't know if you recognized some of those names as we were going through their names like David the greatest king in Israel God's promise for David was that he would secure his throne forever. Names like Boaz. Remember Boaz Boaz married Ruth who wasn't even Hebrew. She wasn't she wasn't in his like she was a moabite. But God uses her story to further the story of Salvation names like Judah who was one of the fathers of the 12 tribes of Judah was the only try the only son of Israel that received a a Blessing by his father upon his death. His brothers didn't get a blessing. How you see names like Jacob who wrestled with God Isaac who was a promise to Abraham. Abraham who God promised that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him to his offspring would be more numerous than the stars in the sky or the sand on the seashore.

Jesus can trace his lineage all the way back to Adam. And that's pretty impressive that that that's that's that's a pretty impressive thing. But what does it do? It shows us that Jesus was a man and it's really important that we understand that Jesus is a man because if we don't understand that his ministry doesn't make sense. If we don't get this, it doesn't make sense The Temptations that he faces don't mean anything if he's not human if he's not a man if he's just Divine then can he really be tempted? That doesn't mean anything?

The accounts of him being hungry and tired have to be lies. How many of us get hungry and tired how many of you are a little hungry and tired right now? If Jesus didn't experience this then we read about it in the Bible. It has to be a lie. If you wasn't human.

This is a problem. If he's not human his relationship with his friends and his family aren't founded on truth.

And is suffering can't be real. Because God who suffers. And that doesn't make a lot of sense.

Luke's inclusion of Jesus's lineage doesn't leave room for us to not deal with Jesus's Humanity. We have to we have to deal with the humanity of Jesus.

That's why we find ourselves in this spot right where we can look at scripture. We can see Jesus Is God you are my son with whom I'm well pleased and we can look at this passage of scripture where Jesus is human years is lineage here. Here's the list of the fathers of the fathers of the father's all the way back. So how do we deal with the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus? What's the time it'll do very well. Say something to give you two mistakes. We make really quick as we as we move through this the first mistake that we make is that we emphasize his Humanity. We overemphasize the humanity of Jesus. Essentially. What we do is we end up making the humanity of Jesus. So opaque that we can no longer see his divinity shining through. He's so human that we can't see God anymore. I miss this comes out in a couple ways one way is this phrase? Right? Jesus was a good teacher. I like Jesus. He was kind and gentle the Bible has some things to say about people who call Jesus a good teacher because there's some things he taught that you look at that. I got not a good teacher.

How about this? Maybe maybe you participated in this I fortunately did not what would Jesus do anybody have bracelets bracelets good get rid of them. Right, when we look at Jesus as only our example, I'm in this situation. What would Jesus do? Well, he turned the water into wine and throw a big party. I'm in trouble.

Jesus is an example. We should look to him as an example for how to behave and how to relate. But if that's all he is we got a problem.

Jesus becomes just like every other man, then he's unable to offer any salvation. More than Moses. Did we might as well just go back to trying to keep the law if he's just a man. Let's all go be Jewish. Toss out your shrimp get rid of your poly. Cotton Blends. Let's go. Because that's the best. Hope of Salvation that we have if Jesus is just a man so we can make that mistake. But there's the opposite mistake we can make to write it we can make the mistake of Jesus emphasize in his Humanity, but we can also make the mistake and emphasizing emphasizing his divinity. We can make him a God that there's no Humanity left. It's possible to become so focused on the goddess of Jesus that his humanness becomes subsumed write it disappears. It becomes invisible and it really this is the other one is kind of silly and dumb. It hurts us. This one's heresy. Okay from a gnostic the Gnostic heresy another not the the gnostics work a group of people that arose in the pick in the fourth Century the 3rd to 4th Century around Palestine. And basically they had these ideas that the material world that we experienced right if you touch the pulpit or the chair in front of you touch the person next to you the material world we Variance is evil all of it. It's all evil. And the spiritual world is good. So these physical things there are problem with the spiritual stuff that the soul inside us that's good. And so the purpose of Salvation under this Gnostic heresy is not to be free from sin. But to be freed from the physical existence, but how you attained Ultimate Experience is getting rid of the physical a later version of this taught that Jesus wore his Humanity like a cloak That he was all Spirits. He was all Divine and he just would throw on the human skin for a. Of time in order to appear like us he was actually like is he just looked like us?

And this is a problem. Because if Jesus is just appearing to look like it's why we bother including a genealogy. Why would it matter? It doesn't how can we trust the Jesus could understand us if he experienced everything just as God. Again, dude, can God get hungry. Does God get tired? Can God suffer?

How can we trust that when we read it in Scripture that we we have a high priest who in every way was tempted like us? How can we trust that if Jesus Is Only God and His funny way to say it, but it's true. Luke doesn't want the opolis to make these mistakes. He doesn't want the awfulest to look at Jesus and go when he was a good dude. I was there was a good guy right there and fall into the mistake of only seeing is Humana also doesn't want the office to look at Jesus go. That's God. And miss his humanity and this is what we need and it's why we have both of these passages here. But the truth is that we see throughout scripture that Jesus was one person with two natures. He was one person with two Natures fully God and fully man. Only read to you Hebrews chapter 2 will be on the screen all so you can write this down to look it up later. Hebrews chapter 2 starting at verse 11 For He Who sanctifies and those were Sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers saying I will tell if your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation. I will sing your praise and again, I will put my trust in him and again behold I and the children God has given me this is the important part right here since there for the children share in Flesh and Blood. He himself likewise partook of the same things that through death. He might destroy the one who has the power of death. That is the devil.

The author of Hebrews is telling us that Jesus wants to call us his brothers and since we partake of flesh and blood. heated to

but the one who sanctifies I means god. Is only God can make things. Holy the one who sanctifies took on parts book in the flesh and blood just like us. fully God fully man And this is where this doctrine of the hypostatic Union comes from this idea that God expressed. Through the Incarnation in Jesus is one person who is fully God and fully man. One person two Natures. Now, we need be careful definition of this right because it's it's good to say one person to Nature's fully God fully man. We need some Nuance hear this cuz this to get us in trouble. So I want to read from you from the at the chalcedony and Creed. You should go read this. It's it's really good, But I'm just going to read a relevant section here from the Caledonian Creed. I'll listen to this beautiful sums it up nicely there for following the holy father's we all with one Accord teach men to acknowledge one in the same son our Lord Jesus Christ at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood truly God and truly man consisting also of a reasonable soul and body of one substance with the father as regards his godhead and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood Like Us in All respects apartments in as regards his godhead begotten of the father before all ages but yet as regards his manhood begotten for us men and for our salvation of Mary the Virgin the god-bearer one in the same Christ sun-lord only-begotten recognized into Nature's without confusion without change without division without separation. The distinction of Nature's being in no way an old by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and substance. That's that's the hypostasis. Not as part of her separated into two persons, but one and the same sun and only begotten God the word Lord Jesus Christ, even if the profits from the earliest time, I spoke of him and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us and the Creed of the fathers has handed down to us. What what is what is that definition doesn't really isn't the beautiful definition, isn't it? It's very clear and what they're trying to say. What what does this tell us? It tells us that Jesus is consubstantial. He has the same substance of the father. He is God, but he's also of the same substance of us. He is human at both of these things are expressed. And completely in Jesus. It's not as if he's got sort of part of God over here and sort of part of man over here, but he is fully at all times both God and man And this definition gives us four things that we have to grasp about the nature of Jesus. This is we're wrapping up here hanging. Hang with me. Just just real quicker. These are the four things that we have to know. We have to recognize about the nature of Jesus. And this is what I want you to get today a clearer picture of who Jesus is a more defined understanding of Jesus. What are these four things the first one without confusion? There's no mixing in Jesus. There's no yellow plus blue equals green. It's not God plus man equals something that's not either of those we can't fall into that trap at the gator. There is in a blending of the godhead and Humanity in Christ. They are without confusion the second thing without change in taking on Humanity it in incarnating. There was no substantial change to his divinity it we see this sometimes expressed in in these ideas that that Jesus suppress his divinity in order to inhabit Humanity, but he wasn't fully God in order that he could become fully man. And that's wrong. That's not what we see in scripture. That's not what happened. There was no change to his divine. In the Incarnation his divinity took on the human attributes without changing. Trees without confusions without change. The third thing is he's without division. There's there's no split in Jesus right there. This isn't this isn't a a multiple personality thing right? He's not walking in the door like oh, this is God Jesus and then 10 minutes later. You're talking to him as we switch to human Jesus. Where did I miss that? That's not how it works. He's not half man and half God. That's not how he works. There's no division. There. It is. Fully God expressed at the same time as fully man. I remember there's some mystery pieces here. We don't quite understand how that's going to work. But that's what it is. There's no Division and lastly without separation.

The union of the human and the Divine in Jesus is complete its its total. There's no place where he's human and not God and no place where he's God and not human he is both fully and completely.

Why is this important?

It's important because there never was before nor will there ever be again? Someone like Jesus?

He is utterly unique among all possible objects of worship. utterly unique his birth Life Ministry death resurrection and ascension all irrevocably point to this truth. the he's man, he's also God.

And the more fully we understand Jesus.

The more fully we can live in the light of his grace.

To to get this to to get to this point where we can understand you. We have to see his Humanity. We have to see him born in manger. We have to see him as a 12 year old boy, we have to see him being obedient in baptism. But we also have to see his divinity. We have to look at him and we have to be able to see the father saying this is my son. You are my son in whom I am. Well pleased. We have to see him speaking to the storm and calming the wind and the waves with the word. We have to see him healing the deaf and the Blind and the sick we have to see him forgiving sins to the consternation of the religious Elite. And we have to see him coming again.

John the Apostle, John Jesus closest friend at the end of his wife was exiled to an island in the Mediterranean. Amy has this vision in a cave on the island of Patmos and he has this vision. Here's a voice.

This is what the voice says to him.

I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying right what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches to episodes in to Smyrna and pergamum the thyatira and Sardis in the Philadelphia and allowed to see her. And then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the lamp stands one like a son of man. One like a human a person. Clothes with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest the hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow his eyes were like a flame of fire tickets feet like burnished bronze refined in the furnace and his voice was like the Roar of many Waters in his right hand. He held Seven Stars Inn from his mouth, sharp two-edged sword and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

He saw Jesus.

Clearly divine right? You can't look that go. That's that's not God.

But one like the son of man.

human

We're going to fully understand Jesus. We have to get both these things with the wrestle with it. I'm not telling you it's going to be easier not telling you this is all yeah sure. You're going to get this by the fourth quarter. Going to wrestle with this because this has implications what you believe about. Jesus is going to determine how you act and how you think and how you believe in the kinds of things you engage in the way you do things.

8 aw Tozer says what you believe about God reveals the most important thing about you. I'll paraphrase and say what you believe about Jesus is the most important thing about you. Do you fall into one of those two categories? He's only God and miss. So much because you're not seeing his Humanity if you fall into the other side say he's only a man. and miss so much because you don't see his divinity. You see Jesus only makes sense. If he's fully God and fully man. There is no other option. This is the only way this works.

Do you believe?

Father we thank you for your word. We thank you that your son came and took on human flesh part took in Flesh and Blood like us that he didn't. Didn't change who he was to do this, but there was no there was no substantial change to his character. In order to become like us so that he could experience the things that we experience. So she could suffer. Father as we look at the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, it only makes sense if he is both God and man.

Only God could atone for the sin of humanity.

But only man could die. So we see in Christ. fullness of both

completely expressed perfectly

so that when we look at him. We we don't find a distant capricious fickle God.

But we see. I got who understands I got it was experienced pain and suffering and hunger. It's fear and loss.

When we look at Jesus, we don't see just a good guy.

with no power I know Authority.

We see the second person of the godhead eternally existing. sharing in our state

We are so thankful father. I asked day that you would challenge our hearts in these spaces where we don't believe.

rightly about Jesus

where we focus too much on his Humanity at the expense of his divinity. Please forgive us when we focus too much on his divinity at the expense of his Humanity. Please forgive us right our minds right our thinking change our hearts. Help us to know the real Jesus.

Not some invention of our own minds. or Distortion from somebody else's we want to experience relationship with Jesus as he is who he is.

fully God and fully man

hmmm

and then we're going to take communion like we always do and as you take communion today, what should I remember? This doesn't make any sense if Jesus isn't both God and man. It just doesn't it doesn't make any sense that we would remember some guy that the Romans killed. It doesn't make any sense that we would look to this for help from a God who play acted. his suffering but this only makes sense if we look at it as a remembrance of The God Who partook in our Flesh and Blood to atone for our sin.

This makes sense. If we look at it and remember Jesus who was human who shared bread with his friends who shared wine with his friends on the last meal. He would eat on Earth. I said do this in remembrance of me when you eat the bread when you drink the cup you Proclaim my death until I come again. remember sharing the grace that comes in the broken body and the shed blood of Christ.

Going to pray and then when you're ready come forward take the bread pick up. remember Jesus Who died for you and is risen again?