“Living in God”
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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 would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would 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 and 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.
These words by CS Lewis have long been looked too as a logical framework to a clear response to the assertion that Jesus was a good moral teacher but not God statement. This belief is not possible, yet it continues to be asserted by many today. You can call Him a demonic fool or you can call him Lord, but there is nothing else… he never gave us that option. But of course, what is logic, but that irritating thing that that gets in the way of our right to believe whatever we feel like believing in. And the data shows it. Recent studies show that most people in our country believe this. In the recent 2020 release of the state of theology study done by ligonier, we see where we are in our culture.
“The Bible and the historic creeds of the Christian church plainly declare that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man. But critics have often said that Jesus was a great teacher and nothing more. The State of Theology survey now reveals that a majority of adults in the United States hold this view.”
The statement - “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.” 52% agree and 36% disagree.
- No matter what you believe about whether the US was founded as a Christian nation or not. We know now that majority of Americans are not Christians. But Shane we are a Christian nation… not anymore. And what is more… our citizens are now illogical and inconsistent. This option was never given… it is not there. We are given multiple choice options, but the answer we are checking is not even an option. We are picking C when that answer is not even on the paper. But the fact remains if you do not believe that Jesus is God then you are not in God and God is not with you. Now don’t get me twisted here… this is a serious problem, but there is something that study found that is way worse than this. This belief is being affirmed by people in the church.
“It may be unsurprising that the majority of the general U.S. population rejects the deity of Christ, but now almost a third of evangelicals agree that He was merely a great teacher.”
30% of evangelicals polled said that they agreed! How is this possible? A third of evangelicals defined as “a worldwide trans-denominational movement within Protestant Christianity that maintains the belief that the essence of the Gospel consists of the doctrine of salvation by grace alone, solely through faith in Jesus. Evangelicals believe in the centrality of the conversion or "born again" experience in receiving salvation, in the authority of the Bible as God's revelation to humanity, and in spreading the Christian message.”
How is it possible that now one third of us now do not believe that Jesus was God? How is it possible that a third of us are now not only wrong but illogical and inconsistent in our beliefs and how we believe? Why is this a problem… how are we supposed to believe if we don’t know how to believe. But Shane I am a christian, not if you believe that you are not. And this is not my opinion, it is scripture. Let’s take a look.
All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
The grass withers the flower fades but the Word of our God stands forever.
The Son of God
The Life in God
The first thing we will explore today is the biblical answer the the question, Was Jesus the Son of God. Lastly, we will look at the life in God, but more specifically, how much he loves us is seen again by the beauty of this thing called the Gospel… the greatest good news ever told.
Thesis: Though sin, the pattern of this world, and the false teachers cause us to minimize the importance of the truth of the divinity of Christ that so many in our culture no longer believe it, it is the truth of Scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit that will cause His people to rise up and declare that Jesus is the son of God showing the world that God is in us and we are in Him.
I. The Son of God
- Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God.
A. And so here we go with another test of assurance. How do you know that you are in God and and God is with you? You truly love others, evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit is in you, and now… you believe and declare that Jesus is the Son of God.
Dr. Simon Kistemacker - Who are the people of the world Jesus has come to save? They are the ones who acknowledge the divine sonship of Jesus. In fact, only if the believer confesses that “Jesus is the Son of God” will God live in him and he in God. By themselves, these words are simple enough.
B. True the words are simple enough. Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God. Life is the result. Life more abundant kind of life
But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
C. But how is it that we come to know this. The scriptures reveal this to us. Clearly!!! Oh but Shane clearly? There are many groups and critics throughout all history to say that Jesus never said he was God in the scriptures. The scriptures make it abundantly clear.
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.
D. But wait a minute Shane … Ok so John, Paul and Peter said he was God, but Jesus never made that claim. So if you are saying that Jesus never said… Everybody look at me I am God. Just incase you are wondering I am God. But get this… he did say it, but it was done in even more powerful ways. He did it in ways that links him to the Old Testament and sets them in the context of the Old Testament flow of narrative. With striking realities.
The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!”
E. The Jewish leaders recognized at once that he was not speaking in riddles or uttering nonsense: when he said, “I am,” he was repeating the very words God used when he identified himself to Moses as “I am who I am” (Ex. 3:14). Jesus was claiming for himself the title “I am,” by which God designates himself as the eternal existing One, the God who is the source of his own existence and who always has been and always will be. When the Jews heard this unusual, emphatic, solemn statement, they knew that he was claiming to be God. “So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple”
At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.
F. They would not be trying to stone Him if he was not claiming to be God and speaking a bunch of gibberish. But it was not even spreaking… how bout showing.
Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.
Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.
G. Showing is a great way to establish a truth. What would be a more powerful demonstration of a truth. For Charlie to say that he is a great golfer or him to win the club championship. For Don to say he’s a great fisherman or to catch a 25 inch rainbow trout. For a christian to say that they believe in Christ or for them to display it in suffering? Or better yet… what I personally believe to be the greatest demonstration of Jesus declaring that He is God, the Son of God.
When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”
H. Did you hear that? Only God can forgive sins.
Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.”
But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, “That’s blasphemy! Does he think he’s God?”
I. He is declaring this truth by His actions. These actions speak louder than words. Jesus is declaring that He is the Son of the living God. And many would agree.
The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
J. And what John is making clear today is how all who believe and declare that Jesus is the Son of God will have life in God and God in them.
K. And this is the wonderful good news that we have to hear today.
II. The Life in God
- How much did the living God loves us.
A. He loved us so much that He gave us the Son of God to be an offering. But why did we need life? Are we all not living now?
B. We are all dead in our sins.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
C. Again, why were we dead? Because of our sins. All of the times we have transgressed or broken the moral laws of God in our lives we sinned. Any of the ten commandments we have broken is a sin and is punishable by death. The wages of sin is death. And you know .... we are all guilty of it.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous—
not even one.
Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins.
For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.
D. As you can see, we are in a pretty bad situation. But because of the Lords great love, he made a way for us to be saved. To have life in Christ.
E. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures… The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance…If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.
F. Salvation is here. We know that the Lord loves us with an incredible love and we know by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Son of God. So now we know that we are in God and God is in us.
