Skip to content The Deity of Christ Dec 2 · 57 min ...more
The Deity of Christ
December 2, 2024 · 57 min
Dive deep into the identity of Jesus and avoid spiritual 'identity theft' as we explore the genuine Christ of Scripture in our new series.
Series The. Only. God. December 2, 2024 · 57 min · The. Only. God.
Dive deep into the identity of Jesus and avoid spiritual 'identity theft' as we explore the genuine Christ of Scripture in our new series. ...more Show the full description Show less Dive deep into the identity of Jesus and avoid spiritual 'identity theft' as we explore the genuine Christ of Scripture in our new series.
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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In this video 0:00 The True Identity of Jesus ChristComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
The True Identity of Jesus Christ 0:00 Brave campuses who are worshiping with us today. It's so great to have all of you. As a reminder, this Tuesday is the first Tuesday of the month. So we'll gather on all of our campuses online from 6 30 to 8. Wanna0:12 invite you, if you ever wanna know what makes brave tick, it's our first Tuesday prayer meeting. So invite y'all to come out to that. Couple other quick announcements for you. Last week, I announced our men's Warrior0:23 Summit on February first with a special pricing for the week because we had some, Internet issues and some different things. And because some of you weren't here last week and didn't get to hear, we had nearly a thousand0:34 men already sign up. I'm giving you 1 extra week to sign up for this at the reg at the regular rate. So you have till Saturday night at midnight. If you say, well, I already signed up early. Hey, good for you. Way to go.0:46 Proud of you. This is an opportunity for you to grab other men and invite them to come too. Let's pack this place. Let's make it a great time. So there's that. And then I just wanna thank you on behalf of all of our0:56 elders for being such a generous church. Generosity is what comes from within because of your love for Jesus. Brave Church has always been a generous church, given greatly to the Lord. You've done the same this year.1:07 Just wanna encourage you as we finish the year strong as the Lord prompts you, for resources. We would love you to be as generous as you can, to the Lord Jesus Christ for us to finish the year strong. But that's a great1:17 thank you to you. Can we give God praise for the generosity of Brave Church? Thank you very much. And with that, let's let's go before the Lord in prayer and get ready to hear his living and his active word among us.
1:28 Would you pray with me? Our father in heaven, we thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus Christ, his death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead. We thank you for the new life he gives all who repent and by
1:39 faith believe in him. We thank you for the Holy Spirit who indwells all of us who believe. Father, I pray that during this series that we're beginning today that you would have your way with us, that you would give us a
1:49 clearer picture as to who you are and what you want to accomplish in and through us. And, Lord, we give you the praise because, Lord, we as a people believe that every time your word is faithfully and accurately
2:00 proclaimed, that you are speaking. So our prayer this morning is speak, Lord, for we are ready to hear. And so now for all those who have gathered, who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak directly to you, who will
2:11 believe what he shares with you, and who will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word amen. Amen. This morning, I wanna talk to you about
2:23 Jesus Christ. That's what I wanna talk about. As we're beginning this new series called the only God, we're gonna take a look at all
2:35 3 persons of the trinity, but I wanna talk specifically about the person and work of Jesus in this season as we're heading into Christmas because it's so important that we know who he is. Not every single person
2:47 that says, I believe in Jesus, believes in the Jesus of the Bible. Not everybody that points to the heavens after they hit a home run or score a touchdown believes in the Jesus of the Bible. Not everybody
2:58 that says I believe in Jesus believes in the Jesus of the Bible. And so we live in a day and age where we talk a lot about identity theft where people can take your social security number or bank routing number, and
3:10 pretend that they're you, they can take your ID. But I think often what happens in church is a different kind of identity theft where we create God in our own image, and we want Jesus to be who we want him to be. And
3:21 oftentimes we come to church wondering if God's willing to do good stuff for me, then I'll believe in him, but if he's not, I won't. And I think that misses the mark on what God wants to reveal to us. God wants to reveal
3:33 who he is, and that's enough. If you truly know the biblical revelation of Jesus, that's enough. As a matter of fact, the Bible makes it so clear that it's enough, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow 1 day in
3:44 heaven and on the earth and under the earth and declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father. So it's really important that we know when we say, I believe in Jesus, or we hear somebody say, I believe
3:56 in Jesus, who are you talking about? What do you mean when you say Jesus Christ? And the Bible's gonna reveal to us who he is, and it's important for us to know that so that when we talk about
4:08 our own personal testimony of we believe in Jesus, what are we actually saying when we say we believe in Jesus? And so throughout this series, we're gonna take a look at the person and work of Jesus, we're gonna take a
4:19 look at the person of the Holy Spirit, we're gonna take a look at the fatherhood of God and who he is and how they all make 1 essence, and they're 3 distinct persons because you need to understand that everything rises
4:29 and falls on who we say that God is. And so, today we're starting with the person of Jesus and who he is. And so, I invite you to open up your Bible to John chapter 1, John chapter
4:41 1 verses 1 through 5. And as we unpack those 5 verses, I'm gonna give you 5 truths about Jesus Christ today, and who he is that you can understand,
4:53 that you can know what the Bible reveals. And let me just lay my cards on the table from the beginning. I'm getting all my information from God's word. My presupposition is that the word of God is
5:05 true. The word proclaims the word is true. Jesus proclaims the word is true. History has demonstrated that the word is true. Personal testimony has shown me that the word is true. So, I'm going with biblical revelation
5:17 as to who Jesus is. That is my presupposition. And, that's why we're starting in the scripture to see what the scripture reveals about this man, this God man, Jesus Christ. So,
5:29 hear the word of the Lord with me this morning from John chapter 1 in the first 5 verses. It says, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with
5:41 God. All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in
5:52 the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. And here, nestled in these 5 short verses are so many truths about the person of the God man, Jesus Christ, and who he
6:04 is. And, if we're gonna say we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we need to know who he is. If we're gonna share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others who don't believe, we need to know who it is that we're
6:14 sharing. If we're talking to people about their faith in Jesus Christ, we need to say, do you understand how the Bible reveals who Jesus Christ is? And so, let me give you 5 truths about Jesus Christ
6:26 from his word today. Now, understand as we go through this understanding of Christology and the study of the person of Jesus Christ, we're we're we're just gonna be scratching the surface even as we do this
6:38 because we could spend weeks, even months, talking about all the depths of who he is, but we're gonna give you enough so that you know how to walk out your faith in the Lord. Let me give you the first truth. This may
6:50 not seem like a hard truth to some of you, but it is a certain truth that many people that say they believe in Jesus don't believe, and that is this, Jesus Christ is God. Jesus
7:01 Christ is God. That means he's always been God. He is God presently and he will always be God. That's what it means to be God. Notice what it says. He says, in the beginning was the word, and the
7:13 word was with God, and the word was God. Now why would they use this word word? In the Greek, it's logos. And the word logos to a Greek meant this, it meant the the medium through
7:25 whom God created the world and communicated with his creation. That's who the logos was. The Greeks didn't know who the logos was but they knew that's what the logos was. The Jews believed that the logos means that it
7:36 was through that which God created the cosmos. So whoever created the cosmos, whoever created the universe that is the logos. And here's what we get in verse 1. In the beginning was the logos, and the
7:48 logos was with God, and the logos was God. We're gonna get down to verse 14 later where it says the word, this logos became flesh and made his dwelling
8:00 among us. This logos is the Lord Jesus Christ. And this logos was in the beginning. That means before anything was ever created, where was this logos? Where was this
8:12 word? Where is Jesus before anything? He's God. In order to exist before the beginning of anything makes you God. If you want to put God on your
8:24 resume, here's 1 of the requirements that you've always been and you've always been self sustaining. In the beginning, that means at the beginning of them, before anything, God. Genesis 1
8:36 1 says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Before anything was created, God existed. What is John saying? In the beginning was the word, the the logos, the creator, the 1 that was
8:48 communicating. And the word was with God, so he's having fellowship with God, and the word was God. So, he is God. Make no mistake about it.
9:00 Jesus Christ is God. This is not a open handed issue. This is not like how you view spiritual gifts, or women in ministry or any other different thing. This is you don't believe Jesus is God.
9:12 You don't have a relationship with God. Like, Jesus Christ is and has always been and will always be God. In the beginning was the word, before anything existed,
9:24 he's God. And, the word was with God, they were having fellowship together, and the word was God. Amen? Let me give you some other texts that will highlight the fact that Jesus is indeed God. Because people
9:36 say, well, the Bible nowhere says Jesus never claimed to be God. But, let's look at some of the scriptures and what was actually claimed and how people understood Jesus. In John chapter 5, if you just turn a couple
9:46 chapters over, you can see in verse 17, Jesus said, my father is working until now and I myself am working. And notice how the Jews responded. Verse 18, for this
9:58 reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own father, making himself equal
10:10 with God. The Jews understood this. Every time Jesus went out, he was speaking authoritatively. And he was speaking of the fact that God is my father. And if you've seen me, you've seen my father
10:22 because my father and I are 1. We're of the same essence. If you've seen me, you've seen God. Why did the Jews wanna kill Jesus? For blasphemy. What was his blasphemy?
10:34 Because he, a mere man, was claiming to be God. The reason Jesus was crucified is because he, a mere man, was claiming to be God. Now, why was he claiming to be
10:45 God? Because Jesus Christ is God. And he never apologized for it. He never said, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. You guys are misunderstanding me. Or how about
10:57 in John chapter 10? In John chapter 10, starting in verse 30, he says, I and the Father are 1. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. And Jesus answered and said, I
11:09 have shown you many good works from my Father, for which of these are you stoning me? The Jews answered him, for a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, because you being a man, make yourself out
11:21 to be God. And that's what Jesus said. He even ends that section in verse 38 by saying, understand that the father is in me and I am in the father.
11:34 We're 1. Even when Jesus said he was the way, the truth, and the life, and he's talking to his disciples in John chapter 14, Jesus said, if you had known me, you would have known also known my father. From now on
11:46 you know him and have seen him. And Philip says to Jesus tonight he was betrayed, Lord, show us the father and that's enough. Just show us. And Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and yet you have not come to
11:56 know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the father. How can you say show us the father? 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 of my own
12:07 initiative, but the father abiding in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the father and the father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves. Everywhere Jesus went,
12:19 he said, if you see me, you see my dad. I and the father are 1. I only do what I see my father doing. He was claiming that he was God. Remember in Mark chapter 2? When they brought this paralyzed
12:31 man to Jesus, these 4 men lowered him down on a mat while Jesus was preaching and teaching in the house? And what does Jesus immediately say? He sees their faith, he looks at the man that's paralyzed, and what does he
12:41 say? Son, your sins are forgiven. And, all the religious elite of the day are saying, woah, woah, what's he saying? Only God can forgive sins. He's blaspheming. He's saying that he's God, and Jesus says, is that
12:53 what you're talking about? But so you know that the Son of Man has the ability to forgive sins. In other words, so you know that I'm God, he says to the man, pick up your mat and walk. And the man picks up his mat and
13:04 walks. He's demonstrating, I can heal. I can do everything. I can even forgive sins. You know why? Because Jesus Christ is God. That's who he is. We see this all
13:16 throughout his earthly ministry everywhere we go. Even after he ascends as the writer of Hebrews writes, he speaks on behalf of the father, speaking of his son in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse
13:28 8. But of the son he says, the father speaking, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. The father speaks of the son as God.
13:40 The father speaks of his son as God. It's really interesting that when Thomas, the 1 who doubted Jesus' resurrection even after he'd been told by the women and all the disciples said, unless I put my hands in his hand
13:51 and unless I reach out and touch his side, I won't believe. And a week later, Jesus appeared through the wall and Thomas was there and Jesus said, reach out and touch my hands. Put your hand in my side. Stop doubting and
14:02 believe. And Thomas did that. And when he does, what does Thomas say? My Lord and my God. Why? Because Jesus Christ is God. He didn't become a
14:13 God. He's always been God. There's never a time where Jesus Christ did not exist as a second person of the Trinity. Jesus even asked throughout many different scriptures
14:26 to pray in his name. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it will be given to you. Can you imagine the blasphemy and arrogance for a human being to say that today? For the
14:37 blasphemy and the arrogance of a pastor to say, pray to God in my name and he will do it. But everywhere Jesus went, he said, if you want your prayers answered, pray through me. And why? Because there's 1 mediator
14:49 between God and man, and that's the man Jesus Christ, because he's God. How about other places? The Bible tells us that we're only to worship God. As a matter of fact, in Revelation
15:01 chapter 19 and verse 10, when John fell down to worship 1, it says, then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, do not do that. I'm a fellow servant of yours, and your
15:13 brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus worship God. You're to worship the Lord your God and serve him only. You're not to worship anyone else. We can thank God for blessings, but our
15:25 worship and our allegiance and our trust is only reserved for God. And yet, all throughout the ministry of Jesus, people worshiped him. From the time he was born until the time that he
15:37 died. Remember in Matthew chapter 2 in verse 11, after the wise men came into the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they fell to the ground and worshiped him. And when the wise men worshiped Jesus, you
15:48 don't hear Joseph and Mary saying, don't do that, he's just a baby. Jesus, you don't hear Joseph and Mary saying, don't do that. He's just a baby. They allow the worship to happen. Why? Because they know that the 1 in
15:56 the manger is God's 1 and only son. Or how about when the disciples were on the boat in that furious squall? They said, Jesus, do you not care if we drown?
16:09 Why are you sleeping? Jesus gets up and rebukes the winds and the waves, says, be still. And when they saw that the winds and the waves had been calmed, they said even the winds and the waves obeyed him and they
16:21 what? They worshiped him. And Jesus doesn't say no no no no no. It's just a magic trick. Don't worship me. I'm not He receives the worship. Worship is reserved for God
16:33 and for God alone. Or how about after the resurrection when the the the women are there and they they reach out and see that he's him and they worship him. Or even during his earthly
16:45 ministry in John chapter 9 when he heals the blind man who had no clue who Jesus Christ was, but he understood that whoever he was, he needed to be powerful. And in John chapter
16:56 9, starting in verse 35, Jesus asked the man, do you believe in the Son of Man? And the blind guy said, who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? And Jesus said to him, you have both seen him and he is the
17:08 1 who is talking with you. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. To worship means that you give your allegiance to. That's why
17:20 throughout the gospel of John, there are 7 I am statements. I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the door of the good shepherd, I am the resurrection of the life, I am the way, the truth, and the
17:30 life, I am the true vine. What was he saying? I'm God and I hold all the answers. That's who I am. So to say I believe in Jesus, I just don't believe he's God is to not believe in the Jesus
17:42 of the Bible. It's to believe in the Jesus that you've made up in your own head. Not everyone that says I believe in Jesus believes in the Jesus through which the Bible reveals. And it's important
17:54 that we understand that because when we're sharing the gospel, we're sharing Jesus Christ as Lord. Amen? Even when the apostle Paul preached. In second Corinthians
18:06 chapter 4 and verse 5, here's how he preached. He said this, for we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus
18:18 as Lord, and ourselves as bondservants for your sake. Friends, this is not an open handed issue. This is not I I don't know if I believe Jesus is Lord. I believe he's a good teacher. I believe he's a good man. Here's the
18:30 problem with that. The problem with that is Jesus was worship. The problem with that is Jesus claimed that he was 1 with the father. The problem with that is Jesus was saying he was God, and the problem with that was
18:39 Jesus was crucified because he's God. For you to say he's a good teacher is not nearly enough. If I went around proclaiming to you all the time that I'm God, and I hold the keys to life and death, and unless you
18:50 believe in me, you do not have life apart from me. That's blasphemous. That's what Jesus said. So he either is who he says he is, or he's a liar, or he's deranged.
19:02 He's a lunatic. You don't get any other options. I'm here to proclaim to you, according to biblical revelation, Jesus Christ is Lord. He is God. He has always been and he will always be.
19:14 Amen? And that's the Jesus that we place our faith in. And it's important that we get that, and as we continue our study, we're gonna talk more about the the trinity, and I'm gonna put up a screen for you,
19:26 just a just a slide for you on the screen so you can see what this looks like. Because when we talk about our God, now some people will say, Trinity's not in the Bible. The word Trinity's not in the Bible. You're
19:36 correct. But, biblical revelation will reveal that this is who God is. That God is always Father and he's always Son and he's always Holy spirit in 3 distinct persons with 1 essence. So
19:47 the father is not the son or the spirit and the son is not the father or the spirit and the spirit is not the father and the son, but the father is God and the son is God and the spirit is God and it's 1 God. They're not
19:59 polytheistic. Now you say, how in the world does that work? Here's what I would say to you. Glory. How in the world can I explain
20:11 to you an infinite God who's always been here, who's revealed himself in that way? I can't explain it. I can just proclaim what the scriptures reveal. That's all I can do. That means there's no time that
20:23 God hasn't been father. There's no time God hasn't been son, and there's no time God hasn't been spirit, and there's no time that they're not all of the same essence as 1 God. How? Because that's who our God is.
20:35 That's who we believe in. Amen? And, we see the Trinity throughout scripture. You'll know that when Jesus was baptized in Matthew chapter 3, when he's coming up out of the water
20:47 in verses 16 and 17, it says, after being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water. So, there's the God man standing in the river Jordan, and behold, the heavens opened and he saw the spirit of God descending
20:59 as a dove and lighting on him. So the holy spirit manifested himself as a dove who's there. And guess what? And behold, a voice out of the heavens said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So what's going
21:11 on? The father's speaking as the son's in the water while the spirit of God is coming down and all 3 exist all at the same time. That's the trinity. To not believe that the
21:22 father and the son and the spirit coexist eternally is to not believe in the biblical revelation as to who our God is. And let me be clear, because you'll hear people say stuff like
21:34 this from pulpits in our country. They'll say things like this, I just believe that God manifests himself as 3 different persons. Sometimes he manifests himself as father. Sometimes he manifests himself as son.
21:46 Sometimes he manifests himself as spirit. Which I ask, well when he's manifesting himself as spirit, where's Jesus? When he's manifesting himself as a spirit, where's the father? Because the father and the spirit and the
21:58 son are all coexisting and they're all 3 God and they don't go anywhere. I don't believe in manifestations. I believe in 3 persons as 1 God as the Bible reveals it. It's the Trinity God.
22:10 That's who we believe in, that's who we serve, and it's important that you understand that. It makes the incarnation possible. Matthew chapter 28, Jesus says in verse 18, all authority
22:22 in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of or immersing them in the reputation of who? The Father,
22:33 the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Who? God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And all throughout the Bible, we see Jesus place, you know, Paul sends greetings in
22:45 the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Father being God, and Jesus Christ, the God our savior. They're all 3 God at all the time. And why is this so important?
22:58 Because there are many aberrant theologies out there that say you don't need to believe that Jesus is God, just believe he died on the cross and rose from the grave. How can you rise from the dead if you're not God? How
23:09 can you pay for the sin of the world if you're not God? There's never a time that Jesus Christ did not exist. I don't know everything about aberrant theologies
23:21 like Mormonism and Jehovah Witnesses, Jews, Muslims. When they say, I believe in Jesus, they're not saying, I believe in Jesus, the God who has always been, the
23:33 God who is now, and the God who will always be. They might say he was a good prophet. They might say he was a created being. They might say he was a good man who became a god, and therefore, you
23:45 as a good person can become a god. Listen to me. This is serious stuff here. Mormon doctrine does not teach that Jesus Christ is God's eternal son.
23:57 They don't teach it. You do not have any Mormon brothers and sisters in Christ. Even though they might say, Jesus is the son of God and Jesus died on the cross and Jesus rose from the dead, ask them this question.
24:09 Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal God and that he's always existed and there was never a time that he didn't? And they will say, no, we don't believe that, then you don't believe in the God of the Bible.
24:20 Period. Well, I know a Mormon that does, then they're a bad Mormon. Because Mormon doctrine doesn't teach that. And again, it's not about what Brave believes, it's
24:32 about what the Bible reveals. And the Bible reveals Jesus Christ as the second person of the trinity who's always existed, who's the only 1 who can become incarnate flesh, who is the only 1 who could honor the father,
24:43 Who's the only 1 who's worthy to die for the sins of the world? Who's the only 1 who was willing to take the wrath? Who's the only 1 who can endure the wrath? Who's the only 1 who could have risen from the dead? It took
24:52 God to pay for the sins of mankind. If Jesus isn't God, then your sins are not forgiven. That's why I believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Amen? He's God. He makes
25:04 it crystal clear. And we need to understand this, that when we're talking to people, I remember the first time I ever met with a Mormon on a plane, and I think I've told you this, like 20 some years ago. And I'm asking
25:14 questions. Do you believe Jesus is God's son? Yes. Do you believe he died on the cross? Yes. Do you believe he rose from the dead? Yes. I'm like, what is going on here? And the only thing they told me is I needed the
25:22 Book of Mormon, and they mailed me 1. I didn't know how to ask the question and I didn't know Greek at the time. And if you know Greek, you can kinda walk through John 1 1 and talk about Granville Sharp's rule with an
25:32 arthritic nouns and you can show people that they're wrong in their theology and all that. But even if you don't know all that, you can just ask this simple question. Do you believe that Jesus Christ has always been the
25:44 second person of the trinity? Do you believe he's always been God, is God now, and will always be God? And there's never a time that that hasn't been. And you'll hear Muslims and Mormons and Jews and everybody no. We
25:55 don't believe that. Then you don't believe the gospel. The gospel is about God's eternal son who paid the price for your sin on the cross. That's the Jesus I believe in. Amen? And it's important we get
26:07 that right. Just because you named the name Jesus, you better get the right Jesus. For those of you in Inglewood today, you may or may not know this, but Jesus was playing the keys for us.
26:20 His name translated into English is Jesus. And I believe in Jesus. And I believe he's a good keyboard player, but I don't believe he can save me from my sins. That's not the Jesus I'm talking
26:31 about. I'm talking about Jesus Christ, the righteous 1 who was and is and is to come. That's the 1. That's the Jesus we're sharing. Amen? Jesus Christ is God. We got the first point. Let me clear.
26:43 He's God. He's always been God. He will always be God. Point number 2 is this. Yeah, well, how do you get that he's eternal? That's 0.2, Jesus Christ is eternal. He's eternal. When
26:55 you read through this text, you wonder why is verse 2 there? Didn't he already say that? Says he was in the beginning with God. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in
27:05 the beginning with God. Why is he being redundant? Because he wants you to see that the son has always existed. There's never a time that he didn't exist. And we see this throughout Jesus' ministry. He he's
27:17 trying so many different ways to tell his followers and those who are skeptical of him that he's always existed. In John chapter 8 verse 56, Jesus says,
27:29 your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old, and have seen and you have seen
27:40 Abraham? I I mean, Abraham lived hundreds of years before you. You're not even 50 and you've seen Abraham. What does Jesus say? Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.
27:52 Before Abraham was born, I've always been. Before Abraham was born, I've always existed. Who do you think created him? It was me. That's what he was saying. First Timothy chapter 1 and verse
28:04 17, talking about Jesus. Paul writes, Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen? The King eternal? Who's the King
28:16 eternal? Jesus Christ. He's always existed. Even when it was being prophesied by the prophets as to where Jesus was going to be born and how he was going to be born in Bethlehem.
28:29 In Micah chapter 5 and verse 2 we read this, but as for you Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you, 1 will go forth from me
28:41 to be ruler in Israel. Listen to what it says about this Messiah. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. This 1 born in Bethlehem will have always existed.
28:54 Or how about John chapter 5 verses 38 and 39 when people are questioning the witness of Jesus and Jesus says, you search the scriptures because you think that in them
29:06 you have eternal life. It is these that testify about me and yet you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life. What was Jesus saying? He says, hey, religious folks, you study the scriptures, you think it's a
29:17 good book, you you you think that in them you're gonna discover the words of life, you think that in them you're gonna find salvation. Let me tell you, I am salvation. I am the word of life. Everything in this book from
29:27 Genesis 1 1 through Revelation 22 21 is about me. This book is a revelation of me and yet you refuse to come to me and have life even though I'm standing right in front of you. I am the
29:39 life. That's who I am. I'm the eternal God. That's why it's important when preachers preach that they believe that everything from Genesis 1 1 through Revelation 22 21 is a revelation of the
29:51 Lord Jesus Christ. You don't skip spots. You don't apologize for things. God does not need a PR agent so that you feel comfortable with who he is. God needs proclaimers that believe who he is, that will
30:03 proclaim this is who our God is, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God, he is eternal, he's always existed, and there was never a time that he didn't exist. Amen? That's who Jesus is.
30:20 That's why in Luke 9 26, Jesus talks about those who don't believe his word, who don't believe in the revelation of his word, and what it's going to be like for them at his coming.
30:32 Luke chapter 9 36 he says, For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory, and the glory of his Father, and of the holy angels. What
30:44 was he just saying? This word is me. The logos reveals is me. The scriptures reveal me. Everything written in this book is about me. He
30:56 says, when you read that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, who do you think was there creating? Me. You think when I formed and fashioned human beings in my image, who was it? It was me.
31:08 When the universe was flooded, who sent the flood? That was me. When I delivered Israel from Egypt, who was it that part of the Red Sea? That was me. When I responded to Elijah's prayer who called
31:20 down fire from heaven, who do you think the 1 that sent fire was? It was me. Everything in this book is a testimony as to who I am as God, and now I become incarnate flesh, and here I am revealing to you who I am, and
31:32 you don't believe me. Jesus Christ is God, and Jesus Christ is eternal. That's who he is. Whether you wanna believe it or not, 1 day you'll know. You'll know. I'm just proclaiming
31:44 to you what the Bible teaches. It's your job to see if you wanna respond to that God. Because if that's not the God you say you believe in when you say you believe in Jesus, you believe in some aberrant view that has no
31:55 power to save you. The only 1 who can save you is God. The only 1 who can save you is the 1 who is eternal. If he's not eternal, he's not God. If he's not self sustaining, he's not God. If he hasn't always been here,
32:07 he's not God. He's just a made up myth. Friends, I'm here to tell you, he's eternal, and he's God. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was
32:19 in the beginning with God. The trinity's always had perfect fellowship with 1 another, and will unfold that as this series continues to move on. But notice verse 3, all things this is powerful.
32:32 Talking about the Word, talking about Jesus. All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being. What does this tell you? Tells you Jesus Christ is creator.
32:44 Jesus Christ is creator. I mean, how much more clear can you get? All things came into being through him. Anything that exists, Jesus created. And apart from
32:56 him, nothing came into being that has come into being. In other words, if you didn't create it, it didn't come into being. But if it came into being, he's the 1 that created it. Jesus Christ is the creator. I invite you
33:08 to turn over to Colossians chapter 1, where through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul unpacks this in just a little more detail for us. And in Colossians 1 verse 15 it says this, let's just walk through
33:20 it. Says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. The image of the invisible God means if you've seen Jesus, you've seen God. Why is that important? Because 1 day every single 1 of you will
33:31 stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his glory. God is Spirit. You can't see Spirit. You can't see the Father. You can't see the Spirit. You couldn't see the second person of the Trinity until he became incarnate
33:42 flesh and put it on for all eternity. You'll see Jesus, and if you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Godhead, because they're all of the same essence. 1 God. Amen?
33:55 And what does it say? It says this. It says the firstborn overall creation. Firstborn does not mean that he was created. There's a word for them in the Greek. This is not what it means.
34:07 Prototokos is the word. It's sovereign priority and superiority over all of creation. It means he has the position of inheritance and honor. When it says he's the firstborn overall creation, means he's the sovereign
34:17 ruler. It means he's the 1 that created it all. It means he's the 1 that did it all, and nothing was created apart from him. Notice what else it says. Says the same as we just read. For by him, all things were created
34:29 both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. Everything that's been created that you
34:41 see and that you don't see was created by him. Things visible that you can see with your eyes, things invisible that you can't see, he created them all. There's nothing
34:53 that's been created that Jesus Christ did not have his hand in. And why were they created? They were created through him and what? For him. His creation was created so that we would worship him.
35:06 He he wasn't created so that he could do good stuff for us. He created us so that we could worship him. Because there's no greater satisfaction than giving your all to the Lord Jesus Christ.
35:18 Amen? Let's continue. He says this, verse 17, he is before all things, and in him holds all things together. That means
35:30 he's before all things. That means before anything was created, he was there. That means he's eternal. He holds all things together. That means he's a sustainer. Every atom in your body is being held together presently
35:40 by the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that your heart is beating is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that you have thoughts in your head right now is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that the earth is
35:51 not completely blown up is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. He holds it all together. He created it all and he holds it all together. How arrogant we are to think we're in charge of anything. He's in charge of
36:02 it all. He is also the head of the body, the church. What's the 1 institution he created? The church. For what purpose? To receive glory, honor, and praise from his
36:14 people. And he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. This does not mean Jesus needed to be born again. It means that he was the first to rise and conquer death permanently. Amen? There are people
36:26 Jesus raised from the dead. I mean, Lazarus was 1 after he'd been dead for 4 days. Jesus raised him from the dead, but Lazarus had the unfortunate proposition of dying twice. I mean, he was raised from the dead
36:38 once, but he died again. When Jesus Christ came out of the tomb, it was his declaration that death no longer has a hold on anyone because I am king and
36:49 Lord over death. That's who he is. And even when Jesus died on the cross and said it was paid in full, which we'll talk more about as this series continues, he said to the thief that was believing in him, truly truly I
37:01 tell you today you'll be with me in paradise. Where did Jesus go that very day that he died? Went to heaven, thief went to heaven with him, and then when he came back in his earthly body, he was demonstrating, I
37:13 have conquered death and only in me can death be conquered. There is no other way to conquer death than to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal God of the universe. It's the only way to overcome
37:25 sin. Amen? Verse 19.
37:37 Oh, it says at the end of verse 18, he will come to have first place in everything, which means he should have priority in all areas of your life. He permanently defeated death. Notice what it goes on to say in verse 19,
37:48 for it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him. That shows that he had full deity his entire life. And then what do we see in the gospel? Verse 20, and through him to reconcile all things to
38:00 himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. The only way salvation could be provided for human beings is through God. The only way God can
38:11 provide salvation is for God to do it himself. That's why Jesus Christ had to be God. There were plenty of people bleeding out on crosses in the first century. There are plenty of pretenders.
38:24 There's only 1 whose blood was satisfactory, the God man Jesus Christ. There's only 1 who died and 3 days later got up out of the grave. There's only 1 way to heaven, and that is through the Lord
38:36 Jesus Christ, the God man of the universe, the creator of the universe, the eternal son of the universe. That's it. Amen? That's who our God is. Jesus Christ is our creator.Show more
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