April 23, 2023 - Who is Jesus
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Knowing God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:13:08
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· 24 viewsJesus' name is above every name. At his name, every knee will bow and tongue confess He is Lord. He lived and died and is risen for us. Jesus was a man just like us, but He also rose again to show He is the way, the truth, and the life. Only through Him can we find true salvation on our path towards eternal life. Learn more in the message “Who is Jesus?”
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Knowing God series Part 2
Knowing God series Part 2
It’s good to be back with you
I want to thank Pastor Trevor for beginning this new series last week.
When we talk about knowing God, many Christians feel its enough to know about God.
I want to suggest to you today that’s NOT good enough
We can’t just stop at knowing about God,
instead we need to actively pursue actually knowing God
Think about it this way.
If there someone you know alot about.
you know where they work, you know their favorite foods, your know where they live, ....etc
But you’ve never actually met them
You don’t have a relationship with them, and most likely you’re a stalker
Being a relationship with someone mean you actually know them. Not Just things about them.
For some christians They know about God. They read the Bible, they go to church, they listen to sermons, they sing during worship
but they don’t actually know God
this is a problem.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Wow those are some poinant words there Jesus
I believe this to be a warning to those who know about God, but never make the effort to pursue knowing God
let me explain...
Jesus is calling out those who declare His name but then go about doing their own thing, instead of doing what the Father wants them to do.
But notice the examples Jesus uses of them doing their own thing
Prophesy, Cast out demons, Preformed miracles.
I gotta admit, these are some challenging words of Jesus.
Can you imagine a person preforming miracles, casting out demons, and prophesying only then to be told by Jesus
“I never knew you, depart from me”
Its Jesus saying:
you can prophesy without Him knowing you?
you can cast out demons without Him knowing you?
you can preform miracles without Him knowing you?
The apparent answer it YES.
It is possible to do these things and Not know God.
We can’t judge a persons spirituality base on the miracles they preform, or the prophesy’s the give.
I know this is contrary to the current way of thinking in the charamatic church.
If we see someone preform a miracle. Christians from all over with flock to that persons meetings.
Now please don’t get me wrong.
not everyone who preforms miracles will be rejected by God
That’s not what Jesus is saying. He instead saying that there are those who will preform such acts that do it outside of His power
I’ll let you guess what power they are operating out of.
later on in the book of Matthew Jesus says
22 “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him.
24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
Here Jesus is referring to the great deception that will cover the earth to allow the Rise of the anti-christ
My point is this,
It’s more imperitive today than it was yesterday for the people Of God to know their God, not just about their God
Knowing God, is a lifetime endeavor
Yes it begins with knowing about God, thats what we attempt to do with every sermon
but please don’t leave it at that
It’s up to you personally
to allow God to use the things you know about Him
to introduce you to knowing Him more and more every day.
So last Sunday Pastor Trevor focused on knowing the Father. If you missed it you can catch up on Youtube or facebook
I encourage you to do so
Today we’re going to focus on Knowing Jesus
Body
Trinity
Trinity
Jesus is the 2nd person of the Trinity
Chalcedonean Creed
Chalcedonean Creed
a statement which sets forth what we are to believe and what we are not to believe about the Incarnation.
1. Jesus has two natures — He is God and man.
2. Each nature is full and complete — He is fully God and fully man.
3. Each nature remains distinct.
4. Christ is only one Person.
5. Things that are true of only one nature are nonetheless true of the Person of Christ.
Now this raises alot of Questions
How can Jesus be both God and man?
Why doesn’t this make him two people?
How could Jesus have hungered (Matthew 4:2) and died (Mark 15:37) when he was on earth, and yet still be God?
Did Jesus give up any of his divine attributes in the Incarnation?
Why is it inaccurate to say that Jesus is a “part” of God?
Is Jesus still human now, and does he still have his human body?
All good questions.
Jesus Is Fully God
Jesus Is Fully God
The Bible teaches that Jesus is not merely someone who is a lot like God, or someone who has a very close walk with God. Rather, Jesus is the Most High God himself.
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
Upon seeing the resurrected Christ,
Thomas cried out,
28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
In the same way the book of Hebrews gives us God the Father’s direct testimony about Christ:
8 But of the Son He says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.
and the gospel of John calls Jesus
18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
Jesus Is Fully Man
Jesus Is Fully Man
The truth of Jesus’s humanity is just as important to hold to as the truth of His deity.
The apostle John teaches how denying that Jesus is man is of the spirit of the antichrist
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Jesus’s humanity is displayed in the fact that he was born as a baby from a human mother
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The fact that Jesus is truly and fully human is clear from the fact that he has
a human body
a human body
39 “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
a human mind
a human mind
52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
and a human soul
and a human soul
38 Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
Jesus does not just look like a man.
He does not just have some aspects of what is essential for true humanity but not others.
Rather, He possess full humanity.
Did Jesus give up any of his divine attributes in the Incarnation?
Did Jesus give up any of his divine attributes in the Incarnation?
that he became weary (John 4:6),
thirsty (John 19:28),
and hungry (Matthew 4:2),
and that he experienced the full range of human emotions such
as marvel (Matthew 8:10)
and sorrow (John 11:35).
He lived on earth just as we do.
Jesus is 100% man and 100% God
to a finite mind, maybe that doesn’t make sense
Jesus became so completely one of us that the people who lived with him didn’t notice anything special about him;
Jesus’s deity was perfectly veiled in human flesh.
In fact, when He went to His own village, Nazareth
55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Even His own family didn’t know He was the incarnate one. Think of this:
5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
Allow me to summarize my thoughts on Jesus’ incarnation
Jesus is 100% God and 100% man
He took on flesh (incarnate) and became one of us
Still fully God, but yes laid aside the usage of His divinity
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
He lived a life without sinning
22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;
15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
I contend Jesus was sinless
but that He also knew what it meant to be one of us
He can sympathize with our weakness
Jesus also had to learn as we do
52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
The Divinity of Jesus would have no need to increase in wisdom and stature
But the human aspect defininitely would have to
This verse, Phil 2 that we read earlier and several others makes me believe Jesus
remained fully God, but laid aside the use of His divity so He could be one of us
When He started His ministry Teaching, doing the miracles, healinga, deliverences
He did so under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit
Giving us the perfect example of how we as humans under the power of the Holy Spirit could live our lives
How can I say this?
There are no recorded miracles of Jesus till after His baptism and subsequent infilling of Holy Spirit
21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,
22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
23 When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,
Jesus then went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil
after overcoming the devils temptations through the word of God, Jesus began His public ministry
Jesus then begins to preach, and then calls His first disciples
18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
His first recorded miracle takes place at the wedding of Cana of Galilee after His Holy Spirit Baptism
6 Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.
7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him.
9 When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom,
10 and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
I beleive Jesus demonstrated the perfect life.
It wasn’t some unattainable goal that only He as God could accomplish.
Obvioulsy His death and subsequent ressurection was for Him alone
but the life He lead was a demonstration to us on how to live it.
an oportuinity for each of us through the power and annointing of Holy Spirit could do
Begin soaking music
During this time, allow yourself to focus on Jesus
Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in a renewed way
Who Is Jesus?
Who Is Jesus?
In Genesis, Jesus Christ is the Seed of the woman
In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb.
In Leviticus, He is our High Priest.
In Numbers, He is the Pillar of cloud by day and the Pillar of fire by night
In Deuteronomy, He is the Prophet like unto Moses.
In Joshua, He is the Commander of the Lord’s army.
In Judges, He is our Judge and Lawgiver.
In Ruth, He is our Kinsman Redeemer.
In 1st and 2nd Samuel, He is the Seed of David.
In Kings and Chronicles, He is our reigning King.
In Ezra, He is our faithful Scribe
In Nehemiah, He is the Rebuilder of everything broken
In Esther, He is our Advocate.
In Job, He is our ever-living Redeemer.
In Psalms, He is our Shepherd.
In Proverbs, He is our Wisdom.
In Ecclesiastes, He is our meaning for life.
In the Song of Solomon, He is the loving Bridegroom.
In Isaiah, He is the Prince of peace
In Jeremiah and Lamentations, He is our weeping Prophet.
In Ezekiel, the Glorious Lord
In Daniel, He is the fourth Man in the "fiery furnace."
In Hosea, He is the faithful Husband
In Joel, He is the Outpourer of the Holy Spirit.
In Amos, He is our Burden-bearer.
In Obadiah, He is our Judge and Savior.
In Jonah, He is the risen Prophet.
In Micah, He is the Ruler of the world from Bethlehem.
In Nahum, He is our Stronghold.
In Habakkuk, He is the Watchman
In Zephaniah, He is the Mighty to save
In Haggai, He is the Restorer
In Zechariah, He is the branch of David; the One pierced for us
In Malachi, He is the Son of Righteousness
In Matthew, He is King of the Jews. the Messiah. the Christ, the Son of the living God.
In Mark, He is the Servant. Miracle Worker
In Luke, He is the Baby in the manger. The Son of Man.
In John, He is the Son of God; the Living Word; the way, truth and life
In Acts, He is the Savior of the world; Ascended Lord
In Romans, He is the Justifier.
In I Corinthians, He is the Resurrection
In II Corinthians, He is our Comfort.
In Galatians, He is our Liberty;
In Ephesians, He is Head of the Church.
In Philippians, He is our Joy.
In Colossians, He is our Completeness and the glue that holds our world together
In 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, He is the Coming King.
In I & II Timothy, He is our Mediator.
In Philemon, He is our Benefactor.
In Titus, He is the Blessed Hope.
In Hebrews, He is our Perfection
In James, He is the Power behind our faith.
In I, II Peter, He is our Chief Shepherd and Chief Cornerstone
In I, II, III John, He is our Truth and Everlasting Life
In Jude, He is the Foundation of our faith. Our security
In Revelation, He is The King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe and the Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be...
Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, but never Undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings Peace!
The world can't understand him,
The armies can't defeat Him,
The schools can't explain Him, and
The leaders can't ignore Him.
Herod couldn't kill Him,
The Pharisees couldn't confuse Him, and
The grave couldn't hold Him!
Nero couldn't crush Him,
Hitler couldn't silence Him,
Other religions can't replace Him, and
The world can't explain Him away!
He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.
His ways are right, His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and His mind is on us.
He is my Redeemer, He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and He is my peace!
He is my Joy, He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and He rules my life!