Let's Meet Jesus
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From His Own Mouth
From His Own Mouth
John 5:19–20 (ESV)
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
Today is going to be much more teaching than preaching…but, it’s important…and it is where we are in the text.
We talk about a concept called “Trinity” and immediately there are people who begin by saying that the word never appears in scripture
That’s true. But the Concept is all over the place.
Genesis 1:1–2 (ESV)
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
God, and the Spirit of God…and the word that is used there for God is the Hebrew word elohim. Elohim is a plural word. More than one…which could lead to a problem when we look further in scripture
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
But, the word for Lord is one you have heard a time or two before Yahweh and the word for God here is again elohim…any attempt to put these two words at conflict with each other, is wrong. Yahweh is Elohim and He is at the same time both singular (one) and plural (three)
So, how does this work? This is what the Assemblies of God says in our 16 Fundamental Truths:
Christ taught a distinction of Persons in the Godhead which He expressed in specific terms of relationship, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but that this distinction and relationship, as to its mode is inscrutable and incomprehensible, because unexplained.
That’s what we see in our text. Jesus refers to the Father and the Son…and He makes it clear that HE is the Son.
And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Accordingly, therefore, there is that in the Father which constitutes him the Father and not the Son; there is that in the Son which constitutes Him the Son and not the Father; and there is that in the Holy Spirit which constitutes Him the Holy Spirit and not either the Father or the Son. Wherefore the Father is the Begetter, the Son is the Begotten, and the Holy Spirit is the one proceeding from the Father and the Son. Therefore, because these three persons in the Godhead are in a state of unity, there is but one Lord God Almighty and His name one.
There are things that Jesus did because the Father did them, but there are other things that are only the Father
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Only the Father could give the Son
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Only the Father keeps the timeline for Jesus return
There are things that Jesus Alone does
And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
Jesus is the one who Baptizes with the Holy Spirit
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Jesus intercedes for us (prays, advocates)
There are things that the Holy Spirit alone does
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
The Holy Spirit reminds us what we have been taught and He teaches us (talk about this)
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
The Holy Spirit speaks through us
and
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
The Holy Spirit gives gifts.
There are many more specific things that each member of the Trinity does, this is just a sample to show you
Then, there are things that the Father gives the Son authority for
For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
the ability to give life
We see this several times as Jesus raised the dead…but there is a spiritual aspect to that too…eternal life is in mind when Jesus says this
Judgment
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Jesus is the King
Jesus has the ability to give life and he also has the ability to judge who receives that life…but there is a promise there…look at what Jesus says:
Whoever hears My word and believes the one who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.
So Jesus is not just willy nilly saying “You’re in, you’re out” but He is looking for those who hear His word and believe God…or, as I say almost every week
because, 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.
Remember why John is writing this…that we may believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing we might have life in His name. This is the reason…right here…John might as well have just written Jesus is the Son of God and He is the Messiah and God is triune and Jesus is God…all of it right here.
So now, it’s down to you. Do you believe? Will you believe?