Lesson 3 Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord
The Apostles Creed • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Christians are defined by one primary mark: we believe in and are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What beliefs may separate churches and denominations, a true Christian is someone who has repented of his or her sin and embraced Christ as the only Lord and Savior.
This commitment to Christ is not just a modern evangelical phenomenon; it is also reflected in the ancient faith of the Apostles Creed.
The largest portion of the creed is devoted to Christ.
The Creed chronicles the storyline of Jesus, from his conception by the Holy Spirit to His elevation and His ascension from His exaltation to His promised return as King.
The shortest and most universal declaration of any Christian is simply this; “Jesus is Lord”.
On the Day of Judgement, we will be defined by our Christology.
We will meet the Christ either as Savior, or we will meet Him was Judge.
Jesus the Christ
Jesus the Christ
We believe in Jesus the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the one who was promised to Israel, the one who fulfills all these promises and so much more.
Calling him Jesus Christ unmistakably emphasizes that he was and is our Savior.
And in Jesus Christ we have all the Savior we need: the one who saves us from our sins and saves us from hell.
Salvation in Christ Alone
Salvation in Christ Alone
The Lord saves through his Messiah.
This idea is a primary element of early Christian apostolic preaching.
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Notice that also at the center of this apostolic preaching is the assurance that this was Gods plan.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
Notice this command was not given merely in the name of Jesus, but in the name of Jesus Christ.
It’s Jesus’ messiahship that is at the heart of His saving work.
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The Quest for the Historical Jesus
The Quest for the Historical Jesus
We need this reminder because, especially in the twenty-first century, there have arisen movements within institutional Christianity to try to find some other way of defining who Jesus is.
Christians do not gather in the name of Jesus Christ, whom we have come to know by the means of historical investigation excluding Scripture.
We live joyfully and we pursue holiness because we believe that the Jesus of history recorded in the Gospels, proclaimed by the apostles, and found in the New Testament is the Christ of faith-Jesus Christ.
The historical Jesus always ends up reflecting the values and biases of the scholars investigating him.
We must confess our complete dependence upon the revelation of God in Scripture lest we preach some other Jesus, some other Christ.
His Only Son
His Only Son
The notion of the Messiah being the “Son of God” is rooted in the Old Testament.
God, promising David that his son Solomon, would build the temple, said in 2 Sam 7:14
14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,
The Messiah would be both King of Israel and a New David, thus he would be the Son of God.
Jesus is Gods Son because he is the second person of the Trinity.
Arguably the most profound aspect of the incarnation is that before the incarnation the Son was already the only begotten of the Father.
Scripture clearly teaches the preexistence of the Son.
The Son is sent, because of John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
and Hebrews 1:1-4
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
By union with Christ through faith, we also are the sons and daughters of God.
Jesus is the eternal Son of God, He is the Only begotten Son of God.
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
It is through Jesus’ atonement that we are adopted as sons and daughters of the most high.
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
The only reason we can ever be called the adopted sons and daughters of God is because Jesus is indeed, the only begotten Son of God.
Christ our Lord
Christ our Lord
Not only did He condescend Himself in order to take on the form of a man, but he willingly subjected Himself to death for us.
As a result, Christ became the Lord, the eternal Davidic king.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This verse is the fulfillment of the promise in Isaiah 40:5
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
This doctrine is also the substance of the apostolic preaching.
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Many resist the doctrine of Christs Lordship.
The forms of resistance are many and complex but the sinful heart loathes the Lordship of Christ.
More commonly, most people simply assert that they do not need a Lord.
Some even claim that they can accept Christ, as Savior but not as Lord.
This assertion, however, is a complete misunderstanding of the New Testament theology and an unbiblical separation of Christs offices of Priest and King.
Salvation comes to those who confess that we desperately need a Savior, and at the same time that the Savior is “Christ the Lord” as in Luke 2:11
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
His Lordship endures even though we struggle to fully embrace his Sovereignty in our every circumstance.
And we are saved because, and only because, of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.