Christ's Incarnation & Substitution

GBCN Youth Questions  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
0 ratings
· 14 views
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →

Christ the Second Person of the Trinity

What is the incarnation and why was it necessary
The Son is fully God
The son is fully God
The Son fully shares all of God’s attributes as part of the trinity
The Son fully shares all of God’s attributes
Eternal
Eternal, omniscience, omnipotent, omnipresent, does not grow tired
Has always existed
omniscience
knows all things
omnipotent
does not grow tired
omnipresent
Everywhere at the same time
Yet as a man (Born of a virgin)
He was born
There was a day
around the time of the census
He grew in wisdom
How do you grow in Wisdom unless there is something you don’t know?
He grew tired
needed sleep, he was exhausted from teaching
He existed in one place at a time
He was from Nazareth
They found Him, He was in A place
We see that Christ was truly a man, with all our weaknesses
As the writer of Hebrews says
Hebrews 4:15–16 ESV
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
And yet he is also fully God
And yet he is also fully God
I hope you still have your bibles open
In turn back to
Luke 1:43 ESV
43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
He IS her Lord, not going to be her Lord. Elizabeth recognizes in the spirit that this child has always been her Lord
Whoever read please turn back to
Luke 2:46–51 ESV
46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
Luke 2:46–50 ESV
46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.
We see in Christ an astounding knowledge throughout his ministry
Woman at the Well - He knew all she had done.
Brief Excursis With the story of Jesus in Jerusalem
this is the only story of Jesus in your age category
You may be tempted to think “my parents don’t understand me”
If only my parents knew what i know
They just don’t understand or they would let me do what I want to do
None of it is true! its all nonsense Your parents DO understand, that is WHY they said NO
Jesus genuinely knew more than his parents
His parents Actually didn’t understand.
He understood God’s will for his life better than His parents
And What did he do?
He Submitted to them
Jesus is your example of obeying parents even when you think they don’t get it.
Moving on, lets look back to
John 1:45–49 ESV
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Christ in His humanity was limited to be in one place at one time
But as God, his divine nature is omnipresent
Jesus is not revealing his omniscience or all knowingness
He did not say you were under a fig tree earlier
He says when you were under the fig tree “I saw you”
He was there, his divine presence is everywhere
And so he he SAW HIM
Turn back to
Mark 4:38–41 ESV
38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Who then is this? A man who grew tired and weary yet has the power to calm a storm
This is really a perfect passage to display Jesus’ full humanity and full deity
He had all the weakness of human flesh
and all the power of the one and only God
Does Christ’s Deity in any way diminish his humanity?
Can Jesus really relate to us? Did he share our weaknesses in a way that he can truly sympathise with us?
Yes, His deity in no way reduces his humanity.
He experienced our weaknesses
***Wealthy man and poor child both suffering debilitating disease***
Does Christ’s humanity in any way diminish is deity?
NO, He remained fully God possessing all the attributes of God
Is Christ two persons in one? NO
Scripture never talks of Him that way. Unlike the trinity He is never spoken of in the plural and nothing he does ever indicates the workings of two separate persons.
Did all or only part of the divine nature of Jesus dwell in his body?
Is Christ mostly divine with a speck of humanity?
Colossians 2:9 ESV
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
Colossians 2:8–9 ESV
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
Col 2:8-9
All the fullness of deity dwells bodily.
Jesus in the flesh was not merely a partial representation of God
; ,
John 14:8–11 ESV
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Did Christ empty himself of his divine attributes?
While living on earth did he empty himself of some of His divine attributes, such as Omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence?
Christ is fully man and fully God
All of His Deity dwelled in bodily form
Some hold this view from
In his body, Jesus grew tired, grew in wisdom,
Philippians 2:5–9 ESV
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
Have this mind among yourselves
How could this happen if he was fully God
Paul is instructing them and using Christ as an example
What is he instructing them to do ?
Be humble and put each others needs before their own
And here Christ humbled himself, though God and King, to die as a slave
What he emptied is Not his divine attributes
But his divine status and rights as Ruler over all creation

Why Did God Take on Flesh?

To be both a King and Priest
To rule and judge and also to remove sins and mediate between man and God
When he created the World he put Adam in it and told him to have dominion over the earth
That means to Rule over it
And it was Good, God’s original design for the World was that it be ruled by Man
Because of Sin man is unable to rule how God intended
Hence, The God man.
God ruling over the earth as a Man
Secondly, and more critical to our discussion today he came to deal with Sin and Death
Genesis 2:16–17 ESV
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16 ESV
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
The God who said Let there be Light, and there was light, has said that all who Sin Shall Surely Die
The one who cannot lie
How do you escape that kind of judgement - IT IS CERTAIN
Any Ideas?
Why must he be Man?
Penal Substitutionary Atonement
We, guilty of sin deserved the penalty of an all powerful God’s eternal wrath
Christ both paid the penalty of Sin and earned righteousness that was credited to us that believe
IF Christ had come today, in the US, Performed all sorts of miracles and then died in the electric chair would that have saved us? Or to the Persians, or the Egyptians, or Aztecs for that matter.
NO
Two things are missing. Other than the resurrection.
God’s righteous requirements
Our law is not God’s law
If he had perfectly followed our laws it would not have met God’s standard, only ours
Substitution is not recognized
We never intentionally allow the punishment of one to fall on another
There is no LEGAL precedent for it
There would have been no basis for us to know what he done
So what was necessary?
God to set apart a nation, give that nation His holy law with his standards, A Law that recognizes and accepts Substitutionary atonement.
Leviticus 1:1–5 ESV
1 The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock. 3 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. 4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5 Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Leviticus 1:1–3 ESV
1 The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock. 3 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.
We
Here, and all throughout Leviticus, God tells Moses that the animal shall be accepted to make atonement.
Hebrews tells us
Hebrews 10:4 ESV
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Isaiah 1:11 ESV
11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
Psalm 40:6–8 ESV
6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
Isaiah 11:11 ESV
11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.
Psalm 49:7 ESV
7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,
If Christ were only a man he would be insufficient to pay our ransom
Ps 49:7,
Psalm 40:5–9 ESV
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. 6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” 9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.
Psalm 49:15 ESV
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah
Ps
If the animal could not take away sin, If it was not an acceptable substitute, Why was it there
As a substitute
As Mediator
To help us in our weakness
Why Must he be Deity?
Only God could fully bear God’s wrath
Salvation is from God, none other should receive the Glory.
Is Moses Just out of the loop? Was he unaware? did the Prophets, the psalmist, and new testament writers know something that Moses was just completely unaware of?
A God/Man was necessary as a mediator between god and man
,
NO
Moses understood that the sacrifice of animals was not the solution to sin and death
It was however, necessary to anticipate and understand the work that Christ was to do.
The first Sacrifice of Cain and Abe
BEFORE we come to try to understand the levitical sacrificial system we need to look at some of the earlier revealed sacrifices and what they teach to inform our understanding of the sacrificial system.
Genesis 4:3–7 ESV
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
Genesis 4:3–5 ESV
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
The Sacrifices of Cain & Abel
There is a right way to offer sacrifice and a wrong way
The gift has no value in and of itself
As God says to Cain “If you do well, will you not be accepted?”
It is not enough to offer sacrific
The sacrifice of Noah
Did Moses record for us Noah offering sacrifice to God before or after the Flood?
The animal sacrifice is not the cause of God’s grace
IT is a response.
Lets take a look
The sacrifice of Isaac
Genesis 22:1–14 ESV
1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
Was it right for God to ask Abraham to
What was God asking Abraham to do? Why?
Why?
A burnt offering was an offering to be completely burnt up for Sin
Abraham was a sinner
It was not unjust for God ask Abraham to sacrifice his “only son”
Isaac asks his father “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering”?
Abraham’s Response is one of Faith in God
How did God provide? Was it the Ram?
NO
It had nothing to do with the Ram
What phrase do we see repeated in this narrative?
Does the tense change after Abraham sacrifices the Lamb?
The Ram was merely representative of what the Lord will provide.
Passover Sacrifice
IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH SIN
Exodus 11:5 ESV
5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.
Who is under the curse of death?
This is a curse that is Like the curse of sin in Genesis
The God who says let there be light and there is light. Has said EVERY FIRSTBORN in the LAND of Egypt shall die!
But this curse is NOT the curse of death because of Sin
BUT it is like it.
And the solution is Like the solution to the curse of sin and death
:
It was after the flood, not before
Exodus 12:5–7 ESV
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
Exodus 12:13 ESV
13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
If Moses wanted to show the importance of Animal sacrifice to make one righteous surely he would have shown Noah
;
Ex
Was it the substitionary atonement of the Lamb that ransomed Israel’s firstborn
Who offered up the Lambs
It was the people who offered there own Lambs
Exodus 13:14 ESV
14 And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
Did the People redeem themselves?
Exodus 15:13 ESV
13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
Numbers 3:11-
Numbers 3:11–13 ESV
11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, 13 for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 24:18 ESV
18 but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
;
What if they had not applied the blood to their door? Would the Lord have passed over?
No, it was necessary but not sufficient
Psalm 49:7 ESV
7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,
Not only is a lamb insufficient, but anything less than the God/Man is insufficient
If Christ were only a man he would be insufficient to pay our ransom
Psalm 49:15 ESV
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah
Our faith in an adequate payment comes from the knowledge that Jesus Christ is Fully God and that proving his victory over sin and Death ROSE FROM THE GRAVE
Without the resurrection the penalty has not been paid in full.
Chalcedonian Definition outlined
One Son, the Lord Jesus Christ
Perfect in Godhood
Perfect in manhood
Truly God - And consubstantional with the Godhead in trinity
Con-substantial with
Truly Man - With a rational soul and body - Consubstantial with Us in manhood in all but Sin
Eternally Begotten & Born of the virgin Mary
One and the Same Christ, Son, Lord, Only Begotten
AS TWO NATURES
In-confusedly
unchangeably
indivisibly
inseparably
Distinction not removed by Unity
Each Nature Preserved
Concurring
in ONE Person and Substance
Not parted or divided into two persons
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more