What do you believe about Jesus Christ? That seems like such a silly question to ask a bunch of Baptists. But it is the most important question any man must answer in his life. Jesus thought it an important enough question to put to his disciples.

"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 16:13-16, NIV)

Who a man thinks Christ to be is still a fundamentally important question. Was he a great teacher? Was he an eschatological prophet? Was he a revolutionary? Was he merely a Galilean rabbi? Was he a cosmic spirit guide? Or is he the "only begotton of the Father, full of grace and truth"? (John 1:14)

Just like a good foundation is the key to a solid structure, so the deity of Jesus is foundational to our faith. If we take away the deity of the man called Jesus, we destroy the whole structure of Christianity. That doctrine is built in. It is central. It is foundational to the whole structure.

Who is Jesus Christ?

I. HE WAS A MAN WHO WAS GOD FROM ALL ETERNITY

the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord

Jesus is called the Son of God 40 times throughout the Scriptures

though our Lord never referred to himself as the Messiah or the Christ, he made it obvious to all who listened to him that he had no doubt as to his own identity

in one of many conversations with the religious leaders of his day, Jesus told them

"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:56-58, NIV)

now then, some of you are familiar with that innocuous little title I Am

when Moses asked the voice speaking to him from the burning bush, “Who shall I tell the Hebrew slaves is sending me to them?” the voice responded, ‘Tell them ‘I Am’ has sent you.”

I Am became the personal name for God in the Jewish culture

Jesus was claiming to be Jehovah-God!

the Jews knew exactly what Jesus was asserting about himself and they sought to kill him for it

"For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." (John 5:18, NIV)

if you ever hear some pseudo-intellectual say, “Well, you have to understand, Jesus never claimed to be God,” just dismiss them as the uninformed idiot they are and go your way

A. JESUS WAS TRULY HUMAN

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Ro 1:1-7, ESV)

in this opening statement in his letter to the Christians at Rome, the Apostle Paul asserts that ...

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s long-time Messianic promise that came through the prophets and the holy Scriptures
Jesus is a flesh-and-blood descendent of King David
Jesus is, by declaration of God Himself, the only begotten Son of God, and this is attested to by his miracles, the Holy Spirit and the resurrection
Jesus is Christ the Lord

Jesus, of course, is our Lord’s proper name

growing up, he would have been known to the home-town folks simply as Jesus bar-Joseph, Jesus the son of Joseph
in Matthew and Mark’s Gospels, we have the account of Jesus returning to his home town of Nazereth where he began to teach about the Kingdom of God

the Bible tells us that his former neighbors were both astounded and offended by the things he said

“And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”" (Mt 13:53-56, ESV)

the name Jesus identifies Him as an historical person, not a pious figment of the early church’s imagination

it was a name that was a prediction of his ministry and work

"But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt 1:20-21, ESV)

the name Jesus reminds us of His full humanity

any time Jesus’ humanity is either denied or misconstrued heresy soon follows
to deny his humanity is to nullify his redemptive ministry

without Jesus’ humanity we do not have a sympathetic Mediator
without Jesus’ humanity we do not have a redeemer who perfectly obeyed the law so that he might become a spotless sacrifice for us
without Jesus’ humanity we do not have a bloody sacrifice that covers the sinner’s sin

to misconstrue his humanity is to nullify his divine nature

some will argue that if Jesus was to fully experience humanity, then He had to be like one of us in very way – meaning that He had to have sinned
Jesus was fully human, but there are definitely points of discontinuity between His experience as a human and ours

Jesus never sinned

"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. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:14-16, ESV)

it is precisely because Jesus was without sin that we have confidence to draw near to God throne of grace

Jesus did not have to sin in order to be as fully human as you or I are

ILLUS. Most of you have heard the old adage that, “To err is human.” We’ve forgotten that to err is not human. To err is to be fallen. To err is to be sinful. To err is to do the works of the devil. Erring was not God’s original plan for humans. We’re not more human when we sin; we’re less human. And Jesus is not less human because He doesn’t sin; He’s more human. And one day He’s going to make you more human than you are now.

Jesus’ humanity is absolutely essential to His work as a Savior

to say I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord is to confess that Jesus was fully human, but totally sinless

B. JESUS WAS FULLY DIVINE

in his prologue in his letter to the Christians at Rome, the Apostle Paul refers to Jesus Christ four times in the first seven verses

if you are not careful, and many Christians are not, you might think that Christ is Jesus’ surname

it is not!
it is His title

it’s a significant title – it tells us that Jesus is God’s Anointed One, the Messiah, the Savior-King

the apostle John goes even beyond that

he tells us that Jesus was and is the eternal Word

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1, NIV)

if you've got a correctly translated Bible the noun Word should be capitalized

it is a translation of the Greek logos which meant "speaking, a message, or words."
it refers to the communication of one's ideas and thoughts with another
John chose this term because it was familiar to his readers, but he invested it with new meaning
in case you haven't figured it out, the Word is John's reference to the incarnate Son of God

John makes it clear that God the Son is as fully God as is God the Father

Christ did not at some point in time come into existence or begin a relationship with the Father
He was and is eternal

just as with Jesus’ humanity, if His deity is either denied or misconstrued heresy soon follows

ILLUS. About 1680 years ago, a belief had become widespread in the Christian Church, that had never been widespread before. A very articulate theologian names Arius had begun to teach that Jesus was not divine. His teaching was cleverly articulated. He even put his theology to music. It became such a hit tune that people sang it in the churches, and hummed in the market place. There were people literally rioting in the streets of Alexandria, Egypt, chanting this hit Christian song. Though the tune has been lost to history, the lyrics went like this: “There was a time when the Word was not.” It was an affirmation that Jesus was not the eternal Word of God; that He was created being and thus not equal with God. The Church was in a turmoil. A council was called, and a great theologian named Athanasius made his mark in arguing against this teaching. He wrote a book, On the Incarnation. His thesis was simple: If Jesus is not fully divine, then you are still in your sins. If Jesus is not truly the unique, the eternal Son of God, coequal with His Father and the Holy spirit, then our salvation is compromised and lost. Because His divinity is necessary for our salvation. How else can He pay for the sins of the world?

Athanasius was right – the deity of Christ is the hinge on which Christianity turns
when we say, “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son,” we are affirming the fullness of the deity of Jesus Christ, and that’s absolutely essential

C. THE POST MODERN JESUS IS NOT THE JESUS OF THE SCRIPTURES

now, I know what some of you are thinking, “Pastor, you’re talking about a heresy the church faced 1700 years ago. How is this relevant today?”

it’s relevant because old heresies never die – they just periodically reinvent themselves and get slapped with a new name

sometimes the attacks are a frontal assault upon the Christian faith

ILLUS. Dan Brown’s book The Da vinci Code was a popular best seller a few years ago. The book was engaging and intriguing, and for those who love suspense, it was a first-rate thriller. Ron Howard directed the movie version staring Tom Hanks. The book, purportedly based on fact, had Christians around the world asking questions like: “Is Jesus God?” “Is the Bible true?” “Was Jesus married and did he have children?” “Is the church – particularly the Church of Rome – a huge conspiracy that fabricated the divinity of Jesus in order to maintain political control of the Roman Empire?” These were serious questions that real Christians were struggling with.

but frontal assaults upon the Christian faith are easily deflected

Brown’s book, while good fiction, has been totally debunked as credible history

sometimes the attacks are a “fifth-column” assault upon the Christian faith

these are attacks from within the faith by professed believers and biblical scholars

ILLUS. Since the 19th century, generations of (mostly liberal) biblical scholars have been searching for what they term The Historical Jesus. Their goal was to get past church dogma (like The Apostles’ Creed) and New Testament propaganda to find out who the “real Jesus” was. Their method was to dispense with the biblical material – particularly the Gospels – as unreliable sources of history, and to reconstruct Jesus from secular historical accounts and sociological assumptions based on 1st century cultural norms. Reason, they believe, must always trump revelation. Central to this quest for the historical Jesus is the distinction between what these scholars refer to as the “Jesus of History” vs. the “Christ of Faith.” We’re told by these scholars that The Historical Jesus is not essential to the faith. It should come as no surprise that their “Jesus of History” never turns out to be divine. After 150 years of quest, second quest, new quest, request, and inquest, the “historical Jesus” of liberal scholarship bears little resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible. The Jesus that results from the search for The Historical Jesus never turns out to be the divine Son of God, but merely a Jewish peasant who may have said some interesting things, but we can’t be sure because the Gospels are, after all, unreliable.

these scholars represent the very men that we are warned about in the Scriptures

"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jud 3-4, KJV)
ILLUS. When we fail to heed the clear warnings of the Scriptures we end up with men like Dr. Kirby Godsey down at Mercer University and Clark Pinnock who – though they claim to be Baptists – are wolves in sheep's clothing. The former denies the infallibility of the Scriptures and the divinity of Jesus Christ. The later denies the – well, Clark Pinnock denies so much it's hard to know where to begin. Here are legitimate bible scholars who openly deny most of the foundational truths of the Bible and 2000 years of church orthodoxy.

they represent men who have crept in unnoticed who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ

individual believers, whole congregations and even entire denominations are alike – if they do not contend for the faith they will loose their faith
they are like a car with its front end out of alignment
without a firm hand on the wheel, they will always veer off course
furthermore, they will always veer to the theological left, never to the theological right

to confess I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord is to assert our faith in a supernatural Savior

we know Jesus is a supernatural Savior because we have a supernatural revelation

to a good number of people, that means we are to be discounted as unlearned and ignorant

in a world committed to materialistic naturalism, that is the scandal we must bear
Jesus, the Eternal Son of God, did not leave us any other choice as to his identity

ILLUS. C. S. Lewis wrote in his book, Mere Christianity "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn't be a great moral teacher. He'd either be a lunatic, on the level with a man who says he's a poached egg, or else he'd be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him or kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Jesus Christ was a man who was God from all eternity

"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:" (Phil. 2:6-9, NIV)

II. HE IS GOD WHO BECAME A MAN FOR OUR BENEFIT

"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." (John 1:14, NIV)
ILLUS. Out of the days of the middle ages comes a story that illustrates today's message. It is a parable about a wise and good king who ruled over the land of Persia. This king loved his people very much. He was interested in their lives and how they lived. He wanted to know about their hardships and their trials. To that end, he would often dress in the clothes of a workingman or a beggar. In his various disguises he would go out into the cities and villages of his kingdom. Many times he would enter into the homes of the poor and share meals with them. No one whom he visited ever realized that he was their lord and king. One day, he visited a desperately poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the course food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful and kind words to this very poor man who had opened his home to him. After their meager meal and fellowship the king left. Some days later he visited the poor man again. This time, he came in his regal robes and splendor. During the second visit he disclosed that he was the one with whom the poor man had shared his dingy home and meager meal with. The poor man was astonished. Never had he imagined that the king would ever visit his poor and humble home. The king fully expected the poor man to ask for some gift for favor and was fully prepared to grant it. Instead, the poor man didn't ask for anything. He fell to his knees at the king's feet and said: "You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself. I am forever grateful for that gift!" The story is probably not true, but it illustrates the heart of the this morning’s message: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

Jesus Christ as the Word is the living expression of God's thoughts and intents toward us

it's one thing to say, "I love you"
it's another altogether to "inflesh" our love through personal direct action
that's exactly what God has done through Christ

A. THE ETERNAL GOD CHOSE TO DWELL AMONG US

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, ..." (John 1:14, NIV)

this verse is a unique and interesting statement

it literally says that Jesus "tabernacled" among us

John's Jewish readers knew immediately that the apostle was referring to the Tent of the Tabernacle which served as the Israelite's temple during their wilderness wanderings

to paraphrase what the apostle John is saying, we could translate the verse as: "The physical presence of God manifested in the person of Jesus Christ pitched His tent among us."

it's as if God moved in next door!
I like that

it tells me that I have a Heavenly Father who took the initiative to come and experience life as I do in order that He might judge me more fairly and provide me with what I need most the opportunity to get to know Him personally

III. JESUS IS A SAVIOR WHO IS LORD OF ALL MEN

"God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Co 1:9, KJV)

one of the popular misconceptions in the church today is that you can take Jesus as your Savior, but treat His Lordship as an option

the Scriptures do not give you that option

ILLUS. "As the earth revolves around the sun, so should our lives also revolve around the Son." Zig Ziglar

the fundamental confession of faith for the Christian in the New Testament, is not “Jesus is Savior”
the fundamental confession of faith for the Christian in the New Testament, is “Jesus is Lord”

"That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." (Ro 10:9-10, NIV)

the confession of the Lordship of Christ is the fundamental Christian confession
and it is a confession that will get you in trouble

ILLUS. In the first century, if you stood in a public gathering and cried out, “Jesus is God!” no one would be upset. But is you shouted, “Jesus is Lord!” you would start a riot. You need to understand: Rome did not persecute Christians because they believed in the deity of Christ or that Jesus was the promised Messiah, or that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. Rome did not kill Christians because thy said Jesus is the only way of salvation. Those were “religious beliefs” that did not threaten the state. But when Christians declared, “Jesus Christ is Lord” they were perceived as making a political statement. They were claiming that Jesus is the primary authority in my life. Rome believed that was treason, because only Caesar had ultimate authority in a man’s life.

living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ must make a difference in the everyday decisions of life

we must be willing to pay the price of discipleship

ILLUS. Jack Eckerd was the founder of the Eckerd Drug chain, the second largest drug chain in America. After months of prayer and testimonies by his good friend Chuck Colson, he finally believed the Gospel and accepted Jesus into his life and was born-again by the Spirit of God. The first thing he did after being born-again was to walk into one of his drugstores. Going down the aisles he saw copies of Playboy and Penthouse. He'd seen them in his stores many times before, but they never bothered him before. Now he saw them with new eyes, with born-again eyes. He knew what had to be done. Although Eckerd was retired from active management, he went back to his office, and he called in his president. He said, "Take Playboy and Penthouse out of my stores." The president said, "You can't mean that, Mr. Eckerd. You make three million dollars a year on those magazines." He said, "Take 'em out of my stores." He remained firm in his objection, and he prevailed. The offensive magazines were removed from all 1700 drugstores. When Chuck Colson asked what motivated him to take this action, Eckerd replied, "God wouldn't let me off the hook!" After that, Eckerd's drugs began to get floods of people coming in to buy things at their stores because they'd taken Playboy and Penthouse out. And so People's and then Revco and then Dart Drug all removed them from their shelves too. Finally, the chairman of 7-11, who sat on Jack Eckerd's board, also gave in and 5,000 7-11 stores removed them too. Now, while this was happening, the Pornography Commission in Washington was debating over what to do about pornography. They were trying to come up with recommendations that the Congress could pass and the President could sign into law. They debated and argued and sweated over proposals that produced a nice report but very little action. While Congress debated, in a period of twelve months, 11,000 retail outlets in America removed Playboy and Penthouse, not because of a presidential commission, not because someone passed a law, but because one man understood what it meant when he confessed “Jesus is Lord”.

Why is it so important that we know the basic doctrines of the Scriptures?"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:2-4, NIV)

I Believe—"Jesus is the Christ, God's Only Son, Our Lord"