WHO IS JESUS CHRIST? (1 of 2)

Unchanging Faith ❧ Part 8

Selected Passages ❧ Pastor, Dr. John Denney

It is a well-known fact that most people believe in God.  I’ve found they even enjoy talking about God. I’ve found as well that a large number of people view themselves as Christians.   But the whole tone of the conversation suddenly changes the moment you try to get specific about who God is or Who Jesus is.  The moment you try to define who God is or Jesus by the Bible, they’re no longer interested in talking.  Why is that? God and Jesus great topics of conversation so long as we hold to a cafeteria mindset of who God or Jesus is.  A lot of people have a potpourri belief in God; a kind of belief in God you can personally create and mix to your own personal liking.  

This morning we’re going to look at one of the most controversial questions there are: Who Is Jesus Christ?  Years ago famed Christian thinker Paul E. Little wrote a compelling little book entitled: “Know What You Believe.”  Little highlights a number of “bottom-line truths, the non-negotiables” about Christianity.  When it comes to the bottom-line truth of Jesus Christ, he points another book entitled: Christianity is Christ.  This title, Little says, sums up the heart of and uniqueness of Christianity.  Buddha is not essential to the teaching of Buddhism, or Muhammad to Islam, but everything about Christianity is determined by the Person and work of Jesus Christ.  Christianity owes its life, substance, and character in every detail to Christ.  He was: the Author of its teachings, the object of its doctrine, the origin of its salvation, the fulfillment of its hopes, the source of its power, the founder of its church, and the one who gave the Holy Spirit as a legacy to those who believe.  

Once, in a rare moment of relative calm, Jesus asked His disciples a defining question. Who do you say that I am?(Matthew 16:15, NAS). When Jesus asked this question, He was not just asking His disciples, He was asking all who hear of Jesus.  In other words, Jesus was not putting Himself on the judgement seat of mankind’s opinion. It doesn’t change Jesus one way or another what I or someone else thinks of Jesus. What matters is do my beliefs line up with Who Jesus really is. Randy Alcorn points out: The battle for human souls pivots on the issue of Christ’s identity. He’s the watershed, the dividing line between Hell and Heaven. Who do you believe, in your mind and deep in your heart, that he really is? Every person must give an answer—and whether our answer is right could not be more consequential or eternally significant.  We’re going to look at two of the most controversial truths about Who Jesus is: 1) Jesus is fully God, and 2) Jesus is fully Man. 

1. Jesus is fully God.  How divine was Jesus? He was fully divine. If we believe the Bible is God’s Word, there’s no getting around this statement.  Jesus is fully God.  The Bible tells us this again and again from Genesis to Revelation. This one truth is what divides Christianity from all other beliefs. Let’s look at a handful of them.
   1. Jesus is the Word of God.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with

God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). When John calls Jesus the Word he’s saying Jesus is the written word of God made incarnate.  He says this in verse 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Some try to make this verse say just the opposite by adding one little letter “a” which in grammar is an indefinite article.  By adding this letter it would make this verse say something entirely different: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was “a” God.  Jesus is no longer God, but “a god.” That is, He is like God but not really God.  

For those who say this verse is saying Jesus is not God, they are demonstrating they’ve never really read the Gospel of John!  John’s whole book is written to demonstrate Jesus is God!  John carefully records seven signs only God could do and seven “I AM” statements where Jesus says He is the very God who met Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3). So, John intentionally chose seven signs and seven statements of Jesus demonstrating Jesus is fully God.  Let me quickly list four of them. In John 2 John points to Jesus as the Creator when He instantly creates exceptional wine out of water at the wedding in Cana. Just as God creates, so Jesus creates. In John 6 Jesus reveals He is the Sustainer of life by miraculously feeding more than five-thousand people with just five loaves of bread and two fish.  In John 9 Jesus heals the blind, something only God can do. Jesus is the Giver of sight; the Light of the world.  In John 11, Jesus proves He is the Giver of life by raising the dead.         Each sign points to Jesus’s divine origin, authority, and full deity.  Jesus Himself in John 10:37–38 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:37-38).  Jesus is the Word of God made incarnate.  He proved it by doing and saying only the things God could do and say. 

1. Jesus is Lord (Yahweh). today in the city of David there has been born for you a

Savior, who is Christ the Lord(Luke 2:11). This was the announcement of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds tending their sheep at night.  The angel was careful to say Jesus is CHRIST THE LORD. The word “Lord” is sometimes used as a polite expression like we would say, “sir.” But this same word is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint) for the word Yahweh.  In fact the word for “Lord” is used some 6,814 times in the Greek Old Testament which was in common use during the time of Jesus. Depending on the context, this word was often used of God.  The context of the angel’s words in Luke 2 are saying Jesus Yahweh, the God of the Bible. Any Greek speaking person reading seeing the word would know the angel is calling Jesus Yahweh.   

1. Jesus claimed to be God. Not only is Jesus fully God and He is called Yahweh, but 

what’s more, Jesus said He is God!  In John 10 Jesus makes an incredible statement to this effect. He says:I and the Father are one… He is saying He and God are one in the same in essence. The Jewish leaders understood exactly what He was saying because in the very next verse it says they picked up stones to kill Him.  Jesus says He’s shown them many good works of the Father, which one are they stoning Him for? The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God(John 10:30,33). 

One of Jesus’ most famous “I AM” statements is John 8.  Jesus tells the religious leaders: Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him(John 8:58-9). Abraham lived roughly two-thousand years before Jesus and Jesus is saying He existed before Abraham! Jesus was claiming He is the same God who met Moses at the burning bush all the way back in Exodus!  God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you (Exodus 3:14). 

1. Jesus possessed God’s attributes. On numerous occasions Jesus demonstrated

attributes which God alone possesses.  He displayed power over nature that is unique to God alone when He calmed the stormy waves (Mark 4:39).  He not only demonstrated His power over nature, but over the spiritual world as well when He cast out demons (Luke 4:35). He proved He has power even over our greatest enemy – death when He raised Lazarus (John 11:43-44).  In John 10 Jesus revealed He has ultimate authority over life and death life when He said no one could take His life unless He laid it down and He would take it back up again.  He displayed omniscience (all knowing) knowing things only God could know.  He knew exactly what people were thinking before they spoke (Mark 2:8; John 2:25).  Jesus displayed sovereign authority of God to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7).  He accepted worship that is only due to God.  When Thomas realized Jesus had in fact risen from the dead, he fell at Jesus feet in awe and worshiped Him saying, My Lord and my God!(John 20:28).  Only Jesus has fully died and fully come back to tell us what it is like after death.  

This is a good place to address a topic that has come up several times of late. A lot of people have had what are called “near death experiences” (NDE’s). Many report that death is a peaceful experience no one needs to worry about. They saw a light, felt great peace and so on. I listened to one lady on the radio a while back who’d had three NDE’s.  She was an expert on the subject.  As I listened to her, there was no mention of Jesus, no mention of God, no mention of Hell.  But these NDE’s are just that – Near death experiences. They didn’t fully experience death. Only Jesus has. The Bible says in Hebrews it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The only way we can be certain of where we are going when we die is by turning from out sin and trusting Christ. The Bible tells us Satan, the Devil is the father of lies (John 8:44).  He is the master deceiver who puts a veil of blindness before the eyes of unbelieves and even appears as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).  Unbelievers are trapped in Satan’s domain of lies until they trust Christ.  He [God] rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14). Jesus spoke and acted with the authority of God because He is God. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God(Colossians 1:15, NLT).   

If it is true the Jesus is God incarnate, then why was it necessary for Him to become a man? Only an infinite God could bear the full penalty of the infinite sin of those who trust in Him. We tend to treat sin as though it is something that God will forget.  We treat our sin as though it were something that will fade away with time.  We forget that sin has infinite consequences. Only God can completely heal and forgive our sin broken lives. Only God can remove our guilt and shame for all eternity. 

1. Jesus is fully man. How human was Jesus? He was fully human. He had a human name: Jesus (Yahweh saves). He had a human genealogy. He was born of a woman.  He had brothers and sisters. He was racially Jewish.  Yet, the Bible teaches Jesus is simultaneously completely God and completely man. He has both a divine nature and a human nature; a divine will and a human will.  A lot of people reject this because they can’t possibly see how this can be true.  J.I. Packer said: The really staggering claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man…The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets.  Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation.
   1. Jesus was physically born of a woman.  But when the fullness of the time came, God

sent forth His Son, born of a woman (Galatians 4:4, NAS). Matthew tells us, Mary…was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18). Jesus humanity was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). John says The Word became flesh(John 1:14).   

1. Jesus had a human body. Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor

with God and men(Luke 2:52).  In other words, Jesus grew just like any other person from infancy to adulthood. But unlike us, He is the only Person who could actually say and prove He was completely sinless!  Hebrews tells us as a Man, Jesus was tempted in all things as we are, but He was without sin. Yet, because He was tempted, He can sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15).  Some believe that because Jesus was God, He was not actually tempted. Temptation for Jesus was like resisting bullets for Superman. He had a big “G” on His chest under his robe which made him invulnerable to real suffering.  Were that true then Jesus would not be able to sympathize with our struggles with sin.  Because He is fully human, He could fully understand our plight and fully represent us before God as our mediator (1 Tim. 2:5).  

1. Jesus referred to Himself as a man.  But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man

who has told you the truth, which I heard from God(John 8:40).  As a Man He shared our physical and emotional experiences. He was hungry and thirsty (Matt. 4:2; John 4:7). He knew exhaustion (John 4:6). He needed sleep (Matt. 8:24). He experienced anger (Matt. 21:13).  He felt the agony of grief (John 11:35).  He was troubled as He faced the cross (John 12:27).  Jesus was fully Man. 

1. Jesus was seen as a man. Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous

powers? (Matthew 15:54).He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him (Isaiah 53:2).Were we to see Jesus we too would have thought, “He looks very ordinary to me.”  

Without doubt the single most significant event that has taken place in all of human history is the appearing of Jesus Christ.  He is unique God’s Son and the world’s only Savior for those who trust Him.  It can equally be said that without doubt the single most significant event that can take place in a person’s life is when he or she places their trust in God’s Son as their personal Savior.