Sermon Tone Analysis

III. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: His preexistence and deity (John 1:1-3), incarnation by virgin birth (John 1:14; Matt 1:18-23), sinless life (Heb 4:15), substitutionary death (II Cor 5:21), bodily resurrection (Luke 24:36-43),ascension into heaven and present

ministry (Heb 4:14-16), and coming again (Acts1:11).

[Further Scriptural evidence of his pre-existence as God the Son is found in John 8:58; His deity, John 20:28 & I John 5:20; and His coming again John 14:3.]

Who is Jesus?

He is the most important and controversial person in human history.

Kondratiy Selivanov (c.

1730s–1832), the founder and leader of the Skoptsy sect in the Russian Empire.[1]Ann Lee (1736–1784), the founder and leader of the Shakers.

Lee's followers referred to her as "Mother", believing that she was the female incarnation of Christ on Earth.[2]

19th century

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

John Nichols Thom (1799–1838), a Cornish tax rebel who claimed to be the "saviour of the world" and the reincarnation of Jesus Christ in 1834.

He was killed by British soldiers at the Battle of Bossenden Wood, on 31 May 1838 in Kent, England.[3]

Arnold Potter (1804–1872), Schismatic Latter Day Saint leader; he claimed the spirit of Jesus Christ entered into his body and he became "Potter Christ" Son of the living God.

He died in an attempt to "ascend into heaven" by jumping off a cliff.

His body was later retrieved and buried by his followers.[4]

Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892), born Shiite, adopted Bábism later in 1844,[5] he claimed to be the prophesied fulfillment and Promised One of major religions including Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

He founded the Baháʼí Faith in 1863.[6]

The Baháʼís believe that the fulfillment of the prophecies of the second coming of Jesus, as well as the prophecies of the 5th Buddha Maitreya and many other religious prophecies, were begun by the Báb in 1844 and then by Bahá'u'lláh.

They commonly compare the fulfillment of Christian prophecies to Jesus' fulfillment of Jewish prophecies, where in both cases people were expecting the literal fulfillment of apocalyptic statements.[7]

William W. Davies (1833–1906), leader of a Latter Day Saint schismatic group called the Kingdom of Heaven located in Walla Walla, Washington from 1867 to 1881.

He taught his followers that he was the archangel Michael, who had previously lived as the biblical Adam, Abraham, and David.

When his son Arthur was born on 11 February 1868, Davies declared that the infant was the reincarnated Jesus Christ.[8][9]

When Davies's second son, David, was born in 1869, he was declared to be God the Father.[8]

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India (1835–1908), claimed to be the awaited Mahdi as well as the Second Coming and likeness of Jesus, the promised Messiah at the end of time.

He claimed to be Jesus in the metaphorical sense; in character.

He founded the Ahmadiyya Movement in 1889, envisioning it to be the rejuvenation of Islam, and claimed to be commissioned by God for the reformation of mankind.

Cyrus Teed (1839–1908), American physician, claimed to be the incarnation of Jesus Christ and to have obtained knowledge regarding the Hollow Earth theory, presenting a cosmological model having the Earth as an inverted sphere and the remaining universe located within it.[10]

Carl Browne (1849–1914), American activist and leader of the Coxey's Army protest movement, claimed to be the partial reincarnation of Jesus.[11]

Jim Jones (1931–1978), founder of Peoples Temple, which started off as an offshoot of a mainstream Protestant sect before becoming a personality cult as time went on.

He claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus, Akhenaten, the Buddha, Vladimir Lenin and Father Divine in the 1970s.[24]

He organized a mass murder suicide at Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978.[25]

He shot himself after the murders were done.

Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997), an American who posted a Usenet message declaring, "I, Jesus—Son of God—acknowledge on this date of September 25/26, 1995: ..."[26] Applewhite and his Heaven's Gate religious group committed mass suicide on March 26, 1997 to rendezvous with what they thought was a spaceship hiding behind Comet Hale–Bopp.[27]

Charles Manson (1934–2017), American criminal, cult leader, and songwriter.[28]

Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), believed by members of the Unification Church to be the Messiah and the Second Coming of Christ, fulfilling Jesus' unfinished mission.

Church members ("Unificationists") consider Sun Myung Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, to be the True Parents of humankind as the restored Adam and Eve.[22][23]

There are many cooks, crazies, and criminals who claim to be Jesus, but who is Jesus really?

The only source of accurate information about Jesus can be found in the Bible.

1.

He is God

A. He Is Eternal

i.

The Word (Jesus) was already existing prior to the “ {beginning} .”

{this testifies to Christ’s pre-existence before the Creation}

ii.

The fact that the Word was “ {with} ” God shows a distinction from God the

Father.

{Jesus is the Second Person of the Triune Godhead}

iii.

The fact that the “Word was God” indicates that Jesus is fully {God} .

B. He is the Creator

iv.

The statement that “all things came into being by Him” reveals Jesus Himself is the {Creator} God.

{cf Col 1:16-17, Jesus is the uncreated Creator}

C.

He Accepted Worship

{Thomas calls Jesus ‘my God’ (o` qeo,j mou).

This is a strong proof text for the deity of Christ.

Jesus not only approved of what Thomas said, but encourages everyone to believe the same thing that Thomas did.}

c.

According to John 20:30-31, why did the Apostle John write his gospel?

i.

The main purpose of John’s entire Gospel is to demonstrate Christ’s {deity} .

ii. John wrote to persuade people to imitate {Thomas} , who called Jesus “my Lord and my God.” {Jesus speaks of those who will not see Him and will yet believe, and John immediately tells us that he recorded the events in his gospel so that we may believe in just this way, imitating Thomas in his confession of faith.}

Conclusion: We believe in Christ’s preexistence and deity.

2. Jesus Said He Was God

A. Claim of Pre-Existence

a. Jesus claimed His own {pre-existence} as God the Son in John 8:58.

{Note the response of the Jews in v59, they understood his claim.

Jesus could have said, “Before the universe, I Am” (Jn 17:5, 24)}

B. Claim of Deity

b.

Jesus clearly identified Himself as {God} : John 5:18-23

See also John 10:30 {Again, note the response of the Jews in v31}

Conclusion: We trust this further Scriptural evidence of his pre-existence as God the Son.

2. He was a Man

A. He Has Flesh

a. John 1:14 declares that the pre-existing Word became {flesh} .

i. Incarnation means ‘to be clothed in flesh’ (Heb.

2:14).

B. Born of a Virgin

3. Jesus w as born from a {virgin} : Matthew 1:18-23

ii.

Jesus is not only fully {God} , He is also fully {man} .

b. How do we explain the idea expressed in Phil.

2:5-8 that Jesus “emptied” Himself?

i. Jesus temporarily laid aside His {glory} so He could become a Servant to us.

ii.

During His incarnation, Jesus set aside the independent use of His attributes of greatness and only exercised them in submission to His Father.

{self-imposed limitations: Jesus decided to not know some things, cf Mt 24:36} Conclusion: We believe in Christ’s incarnation by virgin birth.

C.

He Is Sinless

He lived a perfect, {sinless} life: Hebrews 4:15

a.

This is one of the essential reasons for the {necessity} of Christ’s virgin birth.

Jesus never inherited the sin nature from Adam (Luke 1:35, “the holy offspring”).

b.

Jesus was truly {tempted} as man, but could never sin as God: Luke 4:1-13

{to be tempted is not sinful, to yield to temptation is sinful!}

c.

What did Jesus’ enemies fail to do? Luke 23:4 (cf.

John 8:45-46)