Jesus as the Creator

Intro

Alright, by now you guys know what we’ve been doing together. We’ve been in the gospel of Luke, discovering what the Holy Spirit through Luke wants us to see about Jesus.

We’ve covered topics of Jesus’ humanity, his worthiness, his gifts as a preacher…lots of things. But tonight…we are going to talk about Jesus as something that is not immediately apparent, but is absolutely crucial in understanding Jesus.

Instead of me telling you, let’s get into the text first. Just to give you a heads up, tonight is going to be bible heavy…specifically looking at different texts together because I feel this needs to be proven without a doubt.

So let’s start in our first text, the one in the gospel of Luke...

Luke 8:22–25 ESV

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Summary: Jesus and his disciples in a boat. Boat starts sinking, sinking enough that they legit believe they are going to die, so what do they do? They wake Jesus up…who evidently is able to sleep through a storm that causes a boat to sink…they wake jesus up..

And he makes the storm cease.

And we’ll get into the next part in a minute, but I want to stop there for a bit.

There’s three things we are going to be looking at tonight. If you’re taking notes, and you like to have headings or something…here are the questions that would be the heading for each section.

Three questions we will answer tonight based on this passage.

Who Is Jesus?

We’re starting with this question because this is exactly what the disciples ask themselves in this passage. Look back at it.

Luke 8:25 ESV

He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

They’re asking: Who is this guy? We thought we knew him…he’s shown himself to be a great teacher, a great prophet, a healer…but this…this is something completely different. This is something so big…that it makes then evaluate just how they’ve been viewing Jesus in their lives.

You ever have a moment like that? A moment that is so crucial in your life…that you come to Jesus with a certain expectation of who he is, maybe you’ve got him in this box of what he’s able to do or how he likes to do things....you come to him like the disciples come to him...

Master, Master…Jesus Jesus…I need help. And then Jesus turns around and does something that completely changes the what you thought he would or could do in your life…and you’re left wondering…who is this? And if this is who Jesus is…then who have I been worshipping?

I remember this happened to me a little over 6 years ago…right after Brittany and I had lost a baby. I had this expectation of who Jesus was. He was sovereign, in control of everything, able to do anything, has a perfect will.

Therefore, if it’s in his will I need to be okay with. I need to be understanding. I need to just suck it up and move forward knowing it’s in his hands...

And so I came to him with that…Jesus, Jesus…you’re sovereign and in control…show me that…show my wife that. Help us to just keep moving.

And Jesus was like…no.

Yes, you’re right in thinking those things and knowing those things about me....but I’m more than that.

I’m more that just sovereign and in control. I’m more than just my perfect will.

I’m also a comforter. I’m also tender. I’m also loving. I also weep when you weep. I’m also a shepherd to my sheep.

You see, I came to Jesus with a certain expectation…and he showed me something even grander about who he was…and it left me thinking. Who is this? And if this is Jesus? Then who have I been worshipping? Was it Jesus? Yes. But it was a Jesus that I had kept in a box that was smaller than he actually was.

And maybe you haven’t gotten their in your life yet…but I promise you…if you’re a disciple, it’s coming.

Just like it came for the disciples in the boat on this day.

They came to Jesus certainly with the expectation that he could help them…but he blew them away by revealing something even deeper and grander than what they had expected.

And what was that?

Who is Jesus? The answer is. The creator.

And that’s the title of this message. Jesus as the creator.

When I say creator…I mean creator of everything. Like, the creator and controller of creation. And I”m going to walk you through how scripture reveals that...

But first, put yourself in the place of the disciples. Jewish disciples. Meaning…their people, their fathers fathers fathers, had been walking and in relationship with God for a long time.

There’s a of history there…and…a lot of miracles. The jewish were not strangers to miracles being performed.

They had seen healings. Like Sarah being able to have children.

They had seen provision. Like bread dropping from heaven.

They had even seen miracles in which weather and creation was manipulated.

Like Moses parting the red sea, Elijah stopping the rain, the plagues in Egypt..

Yeah..they had seen quite a bit…and because they had seen quite a bit, they immediately saw a difference in what Jesus did here.

Do you see the difference between this miracles and the other ones affecting creation in scripture?

I want to show them to you.

Exodus 14:21 ESV

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Exodus 14:26 ESV

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”

1 Kings 18:36–38 ESV

And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

These are just two examples and if we had more time I would love to show you countless more examples from scripture…but these two will suffice for tonight.

Keep those two examples in mind and look back at our text in Luke.

What’s the difference in the language between the OT references and the NT?

The difference is…Jesus didn’t ask the Lord to do anything. Jesus was told by the Lord to do anything. He didn’t pray and consult him first…he didn’t wait to be told what to do…he didn’t pray and wait for the Lord to calm the sea...

What did he do? He. just. did it.

It says in verse 24

Luke 8:24 ESV

And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.

Jesus woke up. and he rebuked.

Really simple words that make an enormous statement to us…and that statement is…Jesus didn’t have to wait for God to do anything here, he didn’t have to wait for the creator to affect creation…because Jesus is the creator and he is able to affect his own creation.

In that moment he was not just a man pleading to the God of all creation to command it…he was the Son of God commanding the creation that he had made.

The scripture clearly shows the difference using the language, and it was certainly clear enough to the disciples that this was different because it left them wondering...

Who is this that can do that? Because no ordinary prophet can do that…no ordinary prophet has command over creation like that.

Only the Lord could have done that. And if that…if that right there wasn’t enough…there were connection all over scripture like this...

A psalm. Which the disciples would have been familiar with....

Psalm 107:23–29 ESV

Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Sound familiar? A portion of the Jewish scripture…written hundreds and hundreds of years before this moment…sung in synagogues, taught to Jewish children in school...

This portion about the Lord himself saving his people from the raging sea…played out right in front of them.

You better believe they saw Jesus to be the creator. Luke’s writing here shows us that Jesus had authority over nature, just as Yahweh did.

You need to see in this passage. Jesus is the Creator.

But, I don’t to leave you there, just trusting the connection I’m making…just trusting what could be seen as just my interpretation if you only read this passage.

One of our C’s here is being confident in the word of God. Which means, providing for you ways you can trust the word. And trust what is being preached.

So let me provide for you just a bit more proof, in case you needed it… that Jesus is indeed the creator of all things.

Colossians 1:15–16 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

John 1:1–3 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Okay…have I driven my point home sufficiently tonight? That Jesus is the creator? That’s the answer to the disciples question and to our question for tonight. Jesus showed the disciples more than they had expected or anticipated, he showed them something grander and more glorious, he revealed to them a part of his nature that blew their minds…that he was indeed the one who had all authority over creation because he was the one who made creation.

So…now that that question is answered, that that is revealed to us…two questions of application.

What does that mean for my life?

Best place to find that answer is back in the text. Verse 25.

Luke 8:25 ESV

He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Jesus had an expectation of the disciples. And that expectation revolves around two words…two words that Jesus creates to be opposites in this passage.

Faith…and fear.

The disciples were fearing, so Jesus asked where is your faith?

Don’t see it? Matthew makes it more obvious. He records Jesus saying it this way.

Matthew 8:26 ESV

And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

Jesus’ had this expectation that a proper faith in him, a proper understanding that he is literally in control of all and is that powerful and glorious and faithful and all the things he is...

Jesus had an expectation that faith in him, led to less fear of our circumstances.

And so, our application point tonight in response to this passage…pray for an increase of faith in Christ, to combat the fear that a lack of faith brings.

Fear of man, fear of failure, fear of harm, fear of whatever it may be.

Faith fights fear. If you were going to write three words in the margin of your bible. Faith. Fights. Fear.

The best way to increase your faith? Get your eyes in the word to give you a better understanding of Jesus. Because a greater view of Jesus means a greater faith, means less fear.

So we answered, what does that mean for my life?

Last question.

How should I respond now?