SF525 - WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT CHRIST (John 1 1-2)
SF525
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT CHRIST
John 1:1 - 2, 14
INTRODUCTION
“No other single individual has impacted the history of the world ... more than Jesus of Nazareth. This humble son of a carpenter lived most of His life in obscurity spending little more than three years in the public lime light as a popular teacher.” E. Towns
He never traveled more than a few miles from His home. Yet His impact has been felt worldwide.
He never wrote any books. Yet His book is the best selling of all time.
He never founded any schools or hospitals. Yet millions have been educated and healed in His name.
He never sat upon any man made throne. Yet He is known as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
He never attended military school. Yet He commands the greatest army ever assembled and has never and will never lose a battle.
He died penniless. Yet His riches are untold.
Who is this one of which I speak?
Jesus Christ the Second Person of the God-head!
1A. WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT HIS DEITY (John 1:1-2)
1B. Jesus Is Eternally God (1a)
In time - “In the beginning”
Before time was Christ existed as part of the godhead.
In type - “the Word”
Jesus was the full and final revelation of God!
In transcendence - “was”
Imperfect tense verb - expresses a continuous state, not a completed past.
It refers to the mode of existence that transcends time.
2B. Jesus Is Equally God (1b)
(Deuteronomy 6:4) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Equal in person
“With God” = face to face; This expressed equality.
Equal in position
No drop in deity between God and Christ
3B. Jesus Is Essentially God (1c-2)
In His nature, person and personality.
(Colossians 1:15) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
(John 14:9) Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
2A. WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT HIS HUMANITY (John 1:14; Philippians 2:5-7)
1B. His Virgin Birth
The nature of His virgin birth
(Isaiah 7:14) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
The necessity of His virgin birth
(Genesis 3:15) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
He shared all of man’s experiences except the sin nature.
2B. His Virtuous Life
“dwelling” = carries the idea of pitching a tent.
He was tempted but yeilded to sin
(Hebrews 4:15)... we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are‑‑yet was without sin.
He was tried but never committed sin
(1 Peter 2:22) "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."
(1 John 3:5) But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
3A. WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT HIS MINISTRY (Philippians 2:8-11)
1B. His Vicarious Death (8)
(1 John 2:2) He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
2B. His Victorious Resurrection (9a)
(Acts 2:24) But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
(1 Corinthians 15:20‑21) But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. {21} For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
3B. His Vital Intercession
(Romans 8:34) Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died‑‑more than that, who was raised to life‑‑is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
(Hebrews 7:25) Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
4B. His Visible Return (9b-11)
(Acts 1:11) "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
APPLICATION
No Middle Ground
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level of a 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 abut His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity