Who is Jesus?

Dustin Alley

Back to basics • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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Introduction

Last week we looked at God the Father and who He is. This week we are going to look at God the Son, Jesus, and learn who He is.

We said last week that God exists as a trinity and while that truth may be difficult to understand we should not let the fact that we don’t fully understand an infinite God discourage us. If we did understand all that God is, that would make us God.

So tonight we dive into Jesus and who He is.

About halfway through his ministry on Earth Jesus asked His disciples a question

Matthew 16:13–14 KJV 1900

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

Then is Verse 15, He asked them the same question you and I must answer today

Matthew 16:15 KJV 1900

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

Not much has changed really. In the first century there were different views of who Jesus is just like today. Some say He was a good man, a good teacher, or even an imposter. Others suggest a prophet.

Peter, the disciple known for opening his mouth when he shouldn’t or acting without thinking, says one of the most profound statements in all of scripture

Matthew 16:16–17 KJV 1900

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

We call this truth the “Deity of Christ”

But why does this matter?

Three reasons:

1. Knowing who Jesus is guards us against false teachings

1 John 4:3 KJV 1900

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2. Knowing who Jesus is helps us as we share the gospel with others

3. Knowing who Jesus is allows us to know and follow Him

Romans 5:8 KJV 1900

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

After this interaction Jesus turned and asked His disciples a piercing question

John 6:67–69 KJV 1900

Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

Let’s first explore how we know Jesus is God.

Jesus is God

His Deity is shown through His names

In we see the prophecy of the birth of Jesus and the prophet gives Him the names “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The prince of Peace.”

He makes claims to be the Jehovah of the Old Testament. KJV spelling LORD All caps

John 8:58 KJV 1900

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Exodus 3:14 KJV 1900

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

He is called the Son of God

John 3:16 KJV 1900

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It should be noted that the title “Son of God” does not denote any type of inferiority to the God. We should always understand the Bible in it’s own cultural context rather than our own. The Jews would have understood this title as being equal to God, not inferior to Him.

His names declare His deity and so do His works

His deity is shown through His works

He Creates

John 1:3 KJV 1900

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

He preserves all things

Hebrews 1:3 KJV 1900

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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

He forgives Sins

Mark 2:7–11 KJV 1900

Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

He gives eternal life

John 17:2 KJV 1900

As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

His names, His works, and then The worship He receives.

His deity is shown through worship

We are told to worship God alone.

Luke 4:8 KJV 1900

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

However throughout the gospel there are instances when jesus receives worship and does not turn it away.

The wise men, the healed blind man, and the angels that were commanded by the father.

Hebrews 1:6 KJV 1900

And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

If that were not enough to prove and understand the deity of Christ, then his attributes should be.

His deity is shown through his attributes

Does anyone remember the attributes of God that we looked over last week that were non transferable?

Omnipotence

Matthew 28:18 KJV 1900

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Omniscience

John 16:30 KJV 1900

Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.

Omnipresence

Matthew 2:20 KJV 1900

Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.

Eternality

John 1:1 KJV 1900

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Immutability

Hebrews 13:8 KJV 1900

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Holiness

Hebrews 7:26 KJV 1900

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

All of these truths and principles from the word of God point to one conclusion about who Jesus is. He is God.

There is a great way to explain this to someone who is questioning the deity of Christ. A person must accept that Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

Jesus is God and Jesus is the savior of the World

Jesus is the Savior of the World

Philippians 2:5–11 KJV 1900

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Notice that He came to us

He came to Us

The Babe born in the manger was God, clothed in human flesh.

John 1:1 KJV 1900

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 KJV 1900

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.

He was born of a virgin like no man before or after Him.

This fulfilled the prophecy given by Isaiah

Isaiah 7:14 KJV 1900

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel.

The name Immanuel literally means “God with Us”

The prophecy of where Jesus was born was given 450 years prior to it happening.

Micah 5:2 KJV 1900

But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

He came to the world and lived where we live. He knows our feelings and temptations not only by His omniscient knowledge, but also by experience.

Hebrews 4:15–16 KJV 1900

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Even though he faced the temptations we face, He never sinned.

Which is very important to know as we explore this next point

He died for us

God created this world perfect without sin. It wasn’t until sin entered the world that death came.

Romans 5:12 KJV 1900

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

The penatly for sin is eternal death

Romans 6:23 KJV 1900

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:8 KJV 1900

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Knowing Jesus’ deity and that He is God is so important because if Jesus were not God, He could not have paid for the sins of the world. He would have been paying for His own sin. But as God, His blood is powerful enough to cover the sins of the entire world.

1 John 2:2 KJV 1900

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

By dying for us, He saved us

He saved us

Jesus died for every person like we saw this last Sunday. He will save anyone who calls on him from the penalty of eternal death.

A way to explain this really simple is one of two ways. Either Call, turn, trust or Admit, Believe, Forever Recieve

Call out to the Lord for His gift of eternal life. Turn from your self effort. And trust Jesus’ payment.

The biblical language to describe this would be “Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 20:21 KJV 1900

Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

We see that Jesus is God and the Savior of the World, He is also the Risen Lord

Jesus is the Risen Lord

The most spectacular evidence of the deity of Christ is His resurrection.

Luke 24:1–7 KJV 1900

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

This wasn’t a secret event. There was no way this could have been a grave robbery.

There were roman guards placed at the tomb with a large stone rolled in front of it. And once He was risen there are at least 10 different recorded appearences of Christ.

Acts 1:3 KJV 1900

To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

He showed himself multiple times to multiple people. In fact one of them had at least 500 people who testified as eyewitness to His resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:6 KJV 1900

After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

1 Cornithians 15:6

What are the implications of this in our lives today though?

Jesus will build the church

Jesus purchased the church with his own blood as described in

Acts 20:28 KJV 1900

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

He is the head of the body. The leader of the church. It’s not my church or your church. It’s His church.

And because the church isn’t a building or a place, it is the people He should have preeminence in the direction of the church as a body and our lives.

Jesus should be Lord of our lives

If you can remember back to that time you trusted in Christ as your savior you should remember believing you were a sinner in need of Him to pay your sin debt. The fact that your a sinner hasn’t change and that you need him hasn’t went away.

Once we trust in Christ as our savior

Salvation isn’t the end of our relationship with Jesus, it is the beginning.

The Bible tells us that Obedience to the Word of God is a characteristic of a true believer in Jesus. If we love Him, we will gladly obey Him

John 14:15 KJV 1900

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

The Word of God is not simply for information, it is for application

James 1:22 KJV 1900

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

So what does all of this mean to us?

Jesus is God, He is the savior of the World, and should be Lord of our lives.

Three points of application and I’ll close

1. Reject any teacher who denies or questions Jesus’ deity

There are false religions out there. JW’s believe that there are three spearate Gods with God the father being more powerful that the other two. Mormans believe Jesus and Lucifer are brother and that you can become your own God if you are good enough. Catholics believe in Jesus but also worship saints and Mary and believe you can’t be saved unless you are catholic…I could go on and on but anyone who denies the deity of Christ is teaching unbiblical truths.

2. Look for opportunities to tell others about who Jesus is and how they can be saved

Jesus Died on the cross for our sins and for the rest of the world. Who are we to keep this a secret?

3. Pray about the burdens and temptations you are facing, remember that He is with you.

Jesus understands what you are going through. He lived on this earth. He knows all. He can give you more empathy than anyone on this earth. He can give you help.