INTRO.:A. Most of us here would say “Of course I know Jesus!”However I am not talking about just knowing Him as your Savior. Infactcanyou name a time and a place where you did receive Him as Savior❓ Or more pointedly, HOW did you receive Him❓ What is it that secures your salvation❓ Are you 100% certain you know Him to the place where you are guaranteed a place in Heaven forever❓ What did you actually DO to get saved❓ Did you simply pray a prayer that someone told you to❓ Did you truly repent of your past life❓ Did you trust in His shed blood alone as sufficient to pay the penalty for your sins, past present and future❓
Acts 17:30-31 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
B. Most people trust Christ PLUS some ritual, like baptism or the Lord’s Supper, etc. Or maybe you trusted Christ PLUS your goodness, works, sacraments, charity, love for others, etc. I am not trying to get anyone to doubt their salvation, simply to examine whatYOU believe or did for salvation.
C. O.K., let’s say you are secure in what you did to claim Jesus as Savior. Other than knowing Him in that way, what else do you really KNOW about Him? Last time we tried to get you to know what the Bible says about God the Father. But what do you really KNOW about what the Bible teaches about our Lord & Savior, God’s only begotten Son? If we are truly “sons of God” what makes us different from Him?
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
NOTE: We are called “sons of God” and so are angels. But He is “the only begotten Son of God”! The word “begotten” doesn’t mean Jesus was created like all humans (J/W’s), it means “unique” – one of a kind
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
I. JESUS, THE CREATOR:
A. His Eternality:
ILLUS.: I once had a deacon’s wife who did not believe that Jesus was eternal. She argued that Jesus BEGAN only at His incarnation. She was correct in that He wasn’trevealed as “Jesus” and His incarnation until His birth, but He, because He was God, has always been. Jesus said: “Before Abraham was, I AM!”
John 1:1-3 & 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 14 And the Word was made 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.
1. “In the beginning”…(time) 2. “God created”…(energy) (Solves the time, space, matter continuum) 3. “the Heaven”…(space) 4. “and the earth”…(matter)
NOTE: The only thing we know about Him in His early years is His birth in Bethlehem, escape to Egypt, His early years in Nazareth, the one time He got separated from His earthly parents at age 12 and was found teaching the religious leaders in Jerusalem and the fact that He grew in “wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man”. That’s it until He began His earthly ministry at age 30.
His first miracle was at the Wedding in Cana turning the water into the fruit of the vine (“the best”). Catholicism teaches that He performed miracles as a child, e.g. making a literal clay pigeon come alive and fly. Of course Catholics accept the Magisterium (ongoing teaching ministry) of the Popes and priests over God’s Word and words.
II. JESUS, THE GOD/MAN:
A. His Incarnation:
1. Until Jesus’ birth as a human mankind had only bits and pieces of information of What and Who God was. 2. Now God humbled Himself and took on a human appearance with human limitations, but remaining God Almighty, so mankind could know Him better and know Him intimately. Phil. 2:7-8 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
ILLUS.: Theologians are conflicted over this statement and make it seem that God became less when He clothed Himself with humanity. Because of His self-imposed limitations, e.g. hunger, thirst, pain, etc. they believe Jesus ceased to be God while on earth. They call it the “self emptying of Christ.” In the hymn “And Can It Be” there is one verse that says Jesus “emptied Himself of all but love” that I refuse to sing, because it isn’t true. He didn’t empty Himself, He simply humbled Himself! He continued to be God although clothed with human flesh! He didn’t even empty Himself of omnipresence! In speaking to Nicodemus Jesus (on earth) said…
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in Heaven.
*Some even say that His temptation on the Mt. was not a real temptation if He could not sin. Some even say He did not sin, but that He could have sinned. The real question is not could He or did He, but rather was He still God?! God in the flesh, yes, but nevertheless God! If He could have sinned our salvation would have been in jeopardy!
*A Palestinian may throw rocks at an Israeli tank, so the attack is real, but it cannot hurt the tank or those inside.
III. JESUS, OUR EXAMPLE:
A. His Miracle Ministry:
1. There are only 38 miracles recorded in the Gospels, but He did many more than that since He healed many and did many that were not recorded.
John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
B. His Teaching/Preaching Ministry:
1. He was the most prolific Teacher/Preacher Who ever lived and this was His primary ministry, but NOT His primarymission.
NOTE: So great a teacher and preacher was He that after over 2000 years men still ponder the depths of His wisdom and knowledge.
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how un-searchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
2. So the question remains, “DO YOU KNOW JESUS…REALLY?”
IV. JESUS, OUR SAVIOR:
A. His Crucifixion:
1. We have now arrived at the crux of His ministry and His primary mission! 2.Question: could Christ have died some other way? (stabbing, strangling, falling, hanging, choking, sickness, disease, cancer even if the means involved bloodshed)?
a. NO! Because He had to suffer and die according to the Scriptures, e.g. Ps. 22, the animal sacrifices, the prophecies of the O.T. and the absolute will of God. b. He even had to be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness.
1) Why a serpent? Shouldn’t it have been a lamb?! 2) A serpent because it represented sin overcome.
ILLUS.: Mankind has been “serpent bitten”! It started in Eden with Satan tempting Adam & Eve in the form of a serpent. Then God had sent “fiery serpents” against His murmuring people in the wilderness. His remedy was to have Moses make a serpent on a pole (one which couldnot ever bite) and have people look at that brass (judgment) serpent (in faith believing) to have the poison coursing through their veins by the serpents in the camp stopped so they would not die.
Jesus was telling Nicodemus in Jn. 3 that he too must look in faith believing to Jesus, sins Remedy, Who would also be lifted up on the Cross to provide eternal, not just physical, life to all who do so.
CONCL.: So, DO YOU KNOW JESUS…REALLY?! And of course, because He is not just Jesus, but is also God manifest in the flesh, He is so much more. We have only scratched the surface of Who He really is! And His ministry continues and is so much more after His crucifixion. Yes, He is…
THE CREATOR, THE GOD MAN, OUR EXAMPLE & OUR SAVIOR
But to know Him, that is, to really KNOW HIM, we have to continue to learn about His Person, His attributes, His compassion, His love and…