Jesus Is Truly God
Theme for 2021: In Christ and Christ Alone
2 sets of PUT-focus:
- Point People to Jesus
- Uplift Jesus and His Name
- Trust Jesus Always and Completely
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- Pray Always and Never Give Up
- Unload Your Cares and Burdens on Jesus
- Thank Jesus in All Circumstances
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Title: Jesus Is Truly God
Thrust: See Jesus Christ anew and aright through biblical lenses and honour Him in His fully elevated status as God.
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Where did THIS MAN get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not THIS the CARPENTER’S SON? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all His sisters with us? Where then did THIS MAN get all these things? And they took offence at Him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honour." (Mt 13:54-57)
2 Main Points to our Sermon today:
- 1. Jesus is God and must be worshipped.
- 2. Jesus is God and must be revered.
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1. Jesus is God: The Biblical Truth
- Heresy: Gnosticism
- Jesus: half-man; half-god
A. The Eternality of Christ
The Advent of Christ (John 1) parallels the Creation account (Gen 1):
- In the beginning God (v.1a) | In the beginning was the Word ... and the Word was God (v.1)
- created the heavens and the earth (v.1b) | Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made (v.3)
- Let there be light (v.3) | In Him was life, and that life was the light of men (v.4)
i. The Self-Existence of God
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His Name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is My Name Forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.(Ex. 3:13-15)
Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM. (Jn 8:58)
Tetragrammaton YHWH for God, The Great I Am.
ii. The Pre-Existence of Christ
The Johannine Chiasmus
- In the beginning was the Word
- and the Word was with God,
- and the Word was God.
- He was with God in the beginning.
John presented Christ's Advent as the Logos.
John was also familiar with the Hebrew usage of the plural noun, Elohim for God, hinting to the existence of the Godhead as Trinity.
Let US make man in OUR image, in OUR likeness (Ge 1:26)
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B. The Full Deity of Christ
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing (ekénōsen), taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness… (Php 2:6-7)
kenosis = the self-emptying of Christ
Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name.. (Php 2:9)
i. The Supremacy of Christ
15 He is the image of… God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created… in heaven and… on earth, visible and invisible… thrones… dominions… principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 He is the Head of… the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn… in ALL THINGS He may have the preeminence. (Col 1:15-18)
For it pleased the Father that in Him ALL THE FULLNESS should dwell. (Col 1:19)
ii. The Full Glory of Christ
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold MY GLORY which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (Jn 17:24)
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw HIS GLORY, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:14)
“He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power… He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Heb 1:3)
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2. Jesus is God: The Christian Response
A. The Right Reverance to Jesus
1 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is The Lord Of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of Him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, The Lord Of Hosts.” (Is 6:1-5)
Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads... 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” (Rev. 4:4, 10-11)
B. The Rightful Worship of Christ
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Challenge
1. Live life wisely because it has a natural expiry date.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecc 12:13-14)
2. Let Jesus reclaim His rightful place in our lives.
3. Recognise Christ’s preeminence and honour His supremacy.