Sunday, March 9, 2014 am
Back to Basics (2014) -8
March Theme – The Godhead
Jesus – Son of God/Son of Man
Matthew 16:16 – Peter’s answer, “You are the Christ, the Son
of the Living God.”
a.
John 1:1-4, 14,
“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 nothing was made that was made. In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men.”
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth.”
In this verse we find John the apostle boldly asserting who Jesus was.
John was with Jesus during His ministry and faithfully served Him
throughout his life. He
begins the gospel of John in which he seeks to PROVE that Jesus IS God
with the above bold assertion.
b.
How we view Jesus is
very important.
Understanding His nature is at the foundation of numerous
doctrines, including our salvation.
Many false religions deny or change the deity of Christ.
- Many world religions
view Him as a philosopher or one of many deities revealed throughout
history.
- Mormons treat Jesus as
just one of many gods who can be created over and over;
- Jehovah’s witnesses
see Jesus as similar to an angel, being created by God;
- Islam sees Jesus as
nothing more than one in a long line of prophets (though they
acknowledge He was special and even accept His virgin birth).
- Oneness Pentecostalism
teaches that Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit are one and the same
being. Some teach a doctrine
called modalism which says that while all 3 are God, at any given time
He was in one of the 3 modes, but never more than one at a time.
So we can clearly see that HOW one views Jesus is important.
Jesus Himself said, “Therefore
I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe
that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)
It is fundamental to our
response and quite honestly needs to be understood BEFORE me make “the
good confession” (Acts 8:37, Rom. 10:9-10)
c.
Jesus claimed to be God.
i.
John 8:58,
“Before Abraham was, I am.”
It was a conversation with the Pharisees and others who were
critical of His claims of authority from God.
Jesus rebuked them for rejecting His teachings noting that to do
so was rejecting God. This
leads to a discussion of their being descendants of Abraham.
Jesus challenges them saying that if that were so they would do
his works. Jesus then said,
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was
glad.”” (John 8:56)
They chided Jesus saying that Abraham was dead and Jesus was not
yet 50 years old. They
ask if He had seen Abraham.
Jesus replied, “Most assuredly, I
say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (8:58)
The Jews knew exactly what Jesus meant.
He was referring to the Lord’s Instructions to Moses at the
burning bush to go to Pharaoh to demand release of the people.
Moses asked, “Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to
the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has
sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I
say to them?”
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you
shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
(Exodus 3:13-1)
The context
and structure of the wording is such as to declare eternity.
John 8:59 tells us that the statement of Jesus prompted them to pick up stones to throw at Him.
ii.
John 10:30.
On another occasion
Jesus was asked to declare plainly who He was.
Jesus appealed to His works and noted that His sheep would hear
His voice and follow Him and none would be able to snatch them out of
His hand. Jesus then said, “I and My Father are ONE.”
In vs. 31 we read again, “Then
the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.”
In vs. 33 they declare the reason they sought to stone Him was
blasphemy, “The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not
stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make
Yourself God.”” (John 10:33)
iii.
That which ultimately
led to His death, at the appropriate time, was when
He openly admitted that He was God.
Matt. 26:62-66 records Jesus before the High Priest and their
response.
d.
Jesus proved He was God
i.
Among the major
religious leaders of this world throughout history, NONE claimed to be
God, EXCEPT Jesus Christ. To
make such a claim is bold and requires proof.
ii.
By accepting worship – Matthew 2:11 records that He was worshipped by the wise men
from the east and Mary observed it.
Matt. 14:33, after walking on water and entering the boat we read, “Then
those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You
are the Son of God.””
Matt. 28:9, 17 – after His resurrection, when some of the women saw Him
they fell down at His feet and worshipped Him.
And at the mountain, the 11 disciples worshipped Him.
John 9:38 – when Jesus finally reveals Himself to the blind man who has
been cast out of the synagogue for defending Him, he believes “and he
worshipped Him.”
iii.
He forgave sins – One more than one occasion, Jesus forgave sins, something reserved for
God and they knew it.
Mark 2:5-7 (cf. Isa. 43:25 – a claim of God) – where Jesus heals a
paralytic and also makes a point
Luke 7:47-48 – when Jesus is eating with a Pharisee and a woman comes in
and anoints His feet with her tears.
Jesus tells a parable about forgiveness.
He concludes by saying, ““Therefore I say to you, her sins,
which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is
forgiven, the same loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are
forgiven.””
iv.
With the many miracles He performed – consider as He forgave sins.
John 10:24-25
He said, “If you don’t believe Me, believe the works…”
v.
The fourfold witness – In John 5 after healing a paralytic, we find another
discourse of Jesus. In this
he makes the case for His authority and that HE is the “Son of God.”
John 5:31-47 records 4
“witnesses” – John the Baptist who testified of Him, His works
(miracles); The Father Himself – in various ways throughout His life but
it included occasions when He spoke such as at the baptism and
transfiguration of Jesus, and finally – scriptures – the Old Testament
prophesied of Him. Together
these “witnesses” made a compelling case for who Jesus is.
vi.
His virgin birth also testified of
Whom He was
– Isaiah 7:14, cf. Matt.
1:23 – “Immanuel”. The
significance of the virgin birth testifies of the divinity of Jesus.
Tonight, we will address this.
e.
Passages declare Jesus
is God
i.
The whole premise of
Christianity is based upon Jesus as the Son of God.
ii.
Romans 1:4 – declared to
be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection from the dead.”
iii.
Colossians 1:17, “And
He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
iv.
1 Tim. 3:16 – He was
manifested in the flesh
v.
Hebrews 1:1–4,
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the
fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,
whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the
worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of
His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He
had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has
by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
a.
There are numerous
passages that address a Father/Son relationship with Jesus and God.
We have already noted some.
Others would include:
i.
John 14:28 “You have
heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you
loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’
for My Father is greater than I.”
ii.
God declared it! Matt.
17:5, “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!””
iii.
Jesus boldly made the
claim and it was the cause of His rejection
– John 5:17,18 Jesus
referred to God as His Father - John 5:17 - “But Jesus
answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been
working.” Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He
not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father,
making Himself equal with God.”
b.
Often times in scripture
Jesus is referred to as the Son of God.
Some might wonder, since Jesus claimed God was His Father and
that He submitted to Him, that such requires that Jesus be less than God
and thus created.
c.
The problem is confusing
the nature of Jesus
and His incarnation.
By nature we mean that Jesus was deity and man (both at the same
time). By incarnation, be
mean that He became man.
d.
Jesus WAS God on earth –
see all that we have shown above.
He possessed the qualities of deity.
Jesus was equal with God – John 1:1-4 – the Word became flesh.
Phil. 2:5-6, “Let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the
form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,”
e.
But Jesus was also man
while upon earth –
He frequently referred to Himself as the “son of Man” - Matt. 8:20, etc.
John 1:14 – the word became flesh
Rom. 8:3, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through
the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,”
Hebrews 2:14, “Inasmuch
then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself
likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who
had the power of death, that is, the devil,”
So Jesus was BOTH God
and man while upon this earth.
f.
Whenever we see Jesus
referred to as “the Son of God” and “Son of Man” it is a reference to
His coming to this earth as both God and man.
I am convinced that this description, is a reference to Jesus on
earth surrendering His equality with God for the sake of our salvation.
It was a choice of
submission (subordination) – related to our salvation.
1.
He surrendered that
equality for our sakes
2.
1 Cor. 11:3
“But I want
you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is
man, and the head of Christ is God.”
3.
1 Cor. 15:27-28,
“For “He has
put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put
under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is
excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son
Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that
God may be all in all.”
4.
Phil. 2:7-8,
“but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a
bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point
of death, even the death of the cross.”
5.
John 6:38-40, “For I have come
down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent
Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given
Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And
this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and
believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at
the last day.”” While upon this earth, Jesus admitted His
submission. That is why He
referred to Himself as the “Son of God” and the “Son of Man”.
He NEVER denied His deity as we have seen.
g.
Consider:
As Children of God we are expected to submit to the Father – cf.
Matt. 7:21-23, etc. How
could Jesus understand us if He did not have to do the same thing?
h.
One final point: 1 John
3:8
says, “He who
sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy
the works of the devil.” By coming to this earth as both God and
man, Jesus is able to be the necessary sacrifice for our sins.
The ultimate sacrifice once and for all.
That IS the theme of the book of Hebrews.
And thus we Jesus, the Son of God!
He became man so that we might be saved.
Let us not make His work on this work to be vain in our lives.