This content argues forcefully for the deity of Jesus Christ, asserting that the Bible unequivocally presents Jesus as God, not merely a perfect man. It refutes liberal theological interpretations that diminish Christ's divine nature by examining scriptural evidence of His divine attributes, actions, associations, appellations, adoration, and authority.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
well welcome back to church this evening
and our second installment for 2024 in
summer in the systematics uh if you
haven't received one yet I think these
are all available in the back back where
the ushers post up these worksheets
where we have our points for this
evening I'm going to get started with a
quote here from Ralph Waldo Emerson the
famed American essayist poet philosopher
who once wrote this Jesus is the most
perfect of all men that have yet
appeared okay well I would say and you
would say and most importantly the
scripture would say that Jesus was and is
is
perfect but that's not what Emerson was
saying here was he no he was not he was
not saying that that Jesus was
absolutely perfect he was saying that
Jesus was the most perfect of all men
that have yet appeared in other words
Emerson saw Jesus as a mere man a very
good man a a great man even the most
perfect of all men to use his words but
not God that was a belief Emerson was
unwilling to hold a statement he was
unwilling to make ground he was
unwilling to yield and of course there
have been many like Ralph Waldo Emerson
over the centuries uh who will applaud
Jesus for his Miracle working they'll
Embrace Jesus's moral teaching they'll
Elevate Jesus on a pedestal as Emerson
did of near Perfection but they will end
up denying the critical truth the
fundamental truth that Jesus is
God John at Robinson for instance said
this Jesus never claims to be God
personally it is indeed an open question
whether Jesus ever claimed to be the Son
of God let alone
God L Herald De Wolf insists that the
New Testament stopped short of an
absolute and unequivocal
identification of Christ with God
himself Edward Bowman says unfortunately
many modern Christians believe they
solve the problem by stating flatly
Jesus Is God it must be pointed out that
this statement is nowhere made by Jesus
or by any writer in the New
Testament Marcus Borg says an older
doctrinal understanding of Christianity
has ceased to be persuasive there's been
an appetite for looking at Jesus in a
way that doesn't depend on Christian
theolog iCal claims such as Jesus is the
only begotten Son of
God these are sad statements these are I
would say bone chilling statements and
ultimately Soul damning statements
because to deny the deity of Christ that
is to deny that Jesus is God is to deny
a core truth of the Christian Gospel
message which is that God sent his son a
Divine son into the world to be a savior
who through the shedding of his precious
Divine blood paid for the debt of the
sins of folks like you and
me but where do statements like these
come from how does a person like Borg
and the rest of them how do very
intelligent people like the the ones
I've just quoted get to the place where
they openly deny the deity of Christ
well they get there by embracing some
form of of liberal theology which at its
core denies the authority and the
sufficiency of God's word word and John
Whitmer points this out he notes that
liberal theology Embraces and builds on
a totally different doctrine of the
Bible than Orthodox theology liberals
reject verbal plenary inspiration and
the Orthodox concept of the Dual
authorship of
scripture this humanistic view of
scripture that that is to view scripture
as a collection of of basically human
writings has led to a very humanis IC
view of Jesus Christ and a very then
humanistic view toward christology the
study of Christ one in which the
scriptures are treated very lightly and
the case for Christ deity his godness is
built if at all on the shoulders of his
Humanity here's what I mean Donald McLoud
McLoud
notes it's a virtual commonplace of
modern christology that we must begin
with the humanity not not the Divinity
of Jesus The Tide Is set against a
christology from above and is running
strongly in favor of one from below and
an example of this would be wolf Hart
pan pannenberg a fun name to say he
notes that our starting point this would
be somebody who builds his christology
From Below um our starting point must
lie in the question about the man Jesus
only in this way can we ask about his
divinity but
why is that right is not the question
will we or won't we start with what the
scriptures teach about Jesus uh have we
not the truths we need to know about the
word of God Jesus in the word of God the
scripture surely we have what we need in
the word and that's why I agree with
Bruce demerest who who says here a
responsible view of Jesus Christ rests
not on human opinion or on the current
philosophical fad but on the express
teaching of Holy scripture Our attitude
to him is derived solely from the word
of God or here's FF Bruce he says the
belief in the deity of Christ is derived
directly from statements concerning him
in the Bible the references are so many
and their meaning so plain that
Christians of every shade of opinion
have always regarded its affirmation as
an absolute and indispensable requisite
of their faith
and and one of the clear affirmations
made in scripture is is that Jesus is
God here's Rand
mun deity he says means being of the
essence or substance of God the deity of
Christ means therefore that Jesus of
Nazareth was and is God Scripture
specifically denotes that God took on
Humanity not vice
versa Jesus was and Jesus is the God man
truly and fully human and at the same
time truly and fully God he's not
Godlike he's not nearer to God than
anyone else he is God he is perfect
deity he is Absol absolutely equal with
God the father in his Essence so to use
a big fancy theological word he is of equal
equal ontological
ontological
Essence Warfield BB Warfield says he is
declared and the most most Express
manner possible to be all that God is to
possess the whole fullness of attributes
which make God
God well so far I've quoted a bunch of
theologians for you and the promise I
made to you last Sunday evening is that
our study of christology would be
anchored in the study of scripture so
I'm going to make good on that promise
and we're going to get right into what
the scripture says about the fact that
Jesus is God now I have to warn you that
if our morning if our morning sermon
today in Luke 1 26- 27 was more like a a
rifle shot as we honed in on two verses
this is going to be like biblical
Buckshot where we are going to give you
a series of scattered scriptures I think
I counted something like 200 slides all
pointing to the the ultimate truth that
Jesus is God we could do far more slides
than that and still not get to the
bottom of who Jesus truly is but we're
going to do our best here in the hour
that we've got so um here's how we're
going to lay this out this even and
these are the blanks on your note sheets
by the way so have your your pens ready
uh we have six headings there on your
worksheet and we're going to look at
Christ's Divine attributes this is all
under the the larger Banner of the deity
of Christ his Divine
attributes his Divine
actions his Divine Association don't
worry we'll come back to
these his Divine
appellations not like the mountains
his Divine
agulation and his Divine Authority I'll
say it again but I won't go backwards on
the slides his Divine attributes his
Divine actions his Divine
Association his Divine
appellations his Divine agulation his Divine
Divine
Authority we'll start with our first one
here Christ Divine attributes the Bible
portrays Christ as possessing several
different attributes or Perfections
which unmistakably point to the fact
that he is God and as with any study of
the attributes of God the attributes of
Christ as God can really be divided up
into two main categories you have what
theologians have called his his
metaphysical attributes and then you
have in the other category what are
known as his moral attributes medical
metaphysical attributes are those
attributes that God shares with no one
meaning if they are present in Christ
then he must be God himself because God
shares these attributes with nobody with
no mere mortal with no mere man moral
attributes are those which are shared by
Creator and creature alike so we're
going to start with the metaphysical
attributes that the nonshared attributes
and then we'll work through the moral
attributes or the shared attributes the
first one we want to consider is that
Christ is
self-existent the self-existence of
Christ uh one way to put this is that he
Christ is independent from all things
which are external to himself he depends
on no one he relies on no one he needs
no one the scripture rather testifies
quite to the contrary which is that
Christ is the source of all things John
1:4 says in him was life and the life
was the light of
men acts 3:14 and 15 says you denied the
holy and righteous one and asked for a
murderer to be granted to you but put to
death the author of Life whom God raised
from the dead so any aspect of creation
that has life people plants animals Etc
they have that life because they have
been infused by Life by The
lifegiver Not So with Christ he he's
different he has life in himself his his
life is not sourced in anything or
anyone else rather he is the very source
of life for with you PSM 369 is the
Fountain of Life so he's
self-existent next Christ is eternal the
eternality of Christ we touched upon
this last Sunday evening as we looked at
both the pre-existence and the
eternality of Christ but by way of
review and reminder there are a few
scriptures that point to the fact that
Christ is pre-existent we spent a whole
hour on this last week uh first we see
John the Baptist here uh though Christ
was born after John the Baptist there
was a sense as we see here in which he
was before John the Baptist John uh
first that would be John 115 not 1 John
115 a John bore witness about him and
cried out saying this was he of whom I
said he who comes after me has been
ahead of me for he existed before
me Jesus told the Pharisees of his day
that he was before Abraham truly truly I
say to you before Abraham was I am we
worked through that in detail last week
he existed before the world came into
being here he is in his prayer to the
father now father glorify me together
with yourself with the glory which I had
with you before the world was in the
same setting he says father I desire
that they also whom you have given me be
with me where I am so that they may see
my glory which you have given me for you
loved me before the foundation of the
world each of these passages points to
the pre-existence of Christ meaning he
existed before his own birth and he
existed before his own creation of the
world an even bro an even broader
statement though is that Christ is not
only pre-existent but he is eternal
which is test testified to both in the
Old and New Testaments first we see that
in this statement from Micah who spoke
prophetically of the one who would be
born in Bethlehem as as his goings forth
being from Everlasting Olam we saw that
last week can mean either um a long time
or it can mean from eternity second we
have this statement from Isaiah which
speaks to the eternality of Christ for a
child will be born to us a son will be
given to us and the government will rest
on his shoulders and his name will be
called wonderful counselor Mighty God
Eternal Father Prince of Peace we saw
last time he's Eternal the eternally the
father to his people the people of
Israel and then third there's this
simple yet powerful statement from the
author of Hebrews concerning the
eternality of Christ Jesus Christ Christ
is the same yesterday and today and
forever so that's the eternality of
Christ next we have the omnipresence of
Christ and this one can be summarized
rather succinctly which is that as God
Christ is
everywhere and we see this from
scriptures in various different contexts
and these are contexts which may not
initially make us think about the
omnipresence of Christ because they have
their own unique contexts one of these
is about church discipline and the there
is about the Great Commission but in
each there's this kernel of Truth
concerning Christ being omnipresent
everywhere at all
times this famously abused verse for
where two or three have gathered my name
I am there in their midst Matthew 18:20
that's in the context of church
discipline but note he is present in a
sense that we may not initially think
him to be present or Matthew 28:20 the
Great Commission behold I am with you
always I Am With You Always even to the
end of the age then there's this simple
statement from Paul in Colossians 3:11
Christ is all and in all and then this
one in Ephesians 123 Christ fills all in
all here's our next one the omniscience
of Christ I recognize there's not much
room under your worksheet headings here
I apologize I don't know how to give you
a bigger sheet of paper maybe next time
we can we can work on that but here's
the omniscience of Christ still under
heading one uh the omniscience of Christ
means as God he he knows
everything Jesus's disciples recognize
this truth John 16:30 this it says here
now we know that you know all things are
speaking to Jesus here and have no need
for anyone to question you by this we
believe that you came from God see what
it says there you know all things John
21:17 this is that interaction between
Jesus and Peter it says he said to him
Jesus to Peter the third time Simon son
of John
do you love me Peter was grieved because
he said to him the third time do you
love me and he said to him Lord you know
all things you know that I love you
omniscience Paul recognized this truth
about the omniscience of Christ when he
said in him are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and
knowledge and several other examples of
Jesus's omniscience are given in the
gospels uh for instance he knew the
history of the Samaritan woman she said
come see a man who told me all the
things that I have done is this not the
Christ uh he knew what was in man John 2
Jesus on his part was not entrusting
himself to to them for he knew all men
and because he had no need that anyone
bear witness concerning man for he
himself knew what was in
man he knew the thoughts of man Luke 6
the scribes and the Pharisees were
watching him to see if he's healing on
the Sabbath so they might find reason to
accuse him but he knew what they were
thinking and he said to the man with a
withered hand get up and come forward
and he stood up and came
forward or Luke 11:16 And1 17 says
others testing him or seeking from him a
sign from heaven but he knew their
thoughts so he knew the thoughts of men
not only that he knew the time and the
manner about his departure from the
world leading up to his his crucifixion
and his his death Matthew 16:21 says
from that time Jesus began to show his
disciples that he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things from the elders
and chief priests and scribes and be
killed and be raised up on the third day
he knew these things were going to
happen or John 13 now before the Feast
of the Passover Jesus knowing that his
hour had come that he would depart out
of the world of the father having loved
his own who were in the world he loved
them to the
end now there's more he knew he knew the
identity of the one who would betray
him Jesus answered them did I myself not
Choose You the 12 and yet one of you is
a devil so there these are just a
smattering of examples of scriptures
highlighting the omniscience of Christ
now it is true that there are certain
statements in Scripture that suggest on
initial read that Jesus had less than
total omniscience uh for instance when
when Jesus said in referring to his
second coming these these words but have
that day or hour no one knows not even
angels in Heaven nor the son but the father
father
alone but I'm going to make you wait a
couple weeks for an answer on what was
going on there when we get into the
humanity of Christ so stay tuned next up
the omnipotence of Christ to say that
Jesus is omnipotent is simply to say
that he is Unlimited in his power to the
extent that God the father is omnipotent
God the son is omnipotent which is why
he could say things like this in John
5:19 whatever the father does the things
the son also does these things the son
also does in the same manner Jesus as
God is all powerful he's Almighty he is
omnipotent here's Isaiah 9:6 again a
child will be born to us a son will be
given to us and the government will rest
on his shoulders and his name will be
wonderful counselor Mighty
God Eternal Father Prince of Peace or
Revelation 1 18 I am the Alpha and the
Omega says the Lord God who was who is
and who was and who is to come the
almighty and his omnipotence is shown in
various different settings Jesus's power
is shown in various different settings
like Hebrews
1:3 the radiance of his glory the exact
representation of his nature he upholds
all things by the word of his there's
our word power who having accomplished
cleansing for sin sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high he has power
over demons as we see in the account in
Mark chapter 5 now there was a large
herd of swine feeding nearby on the
mountain and the demons pleaded with him
saying send us into the swine so that we
may enter them and Jesus gave them
permission it's a statement of power and
coming out the unclean spirits entered
the swine and the herd rushed down the
Steep Bank into the sea about 2,000 of
them and they were drowned in the
sea he has power not not only over
demons he has power over disease
here's the scene in Luke 4 Simon's
mother-in-law was suffering from a high
fever they asked him Jesus to help her
and standing over her he rebuked the
fever and it left
her he has power over
death Luke 7 as he approached the Gate
of the city Behold a dead man was being
carried out the only son of his mother
and she was a widow and a sizable crowd
from the city was with her and when the
Lord saw her he felt compassion for her
and said to Hero not cry and came up and
touched the coffin and the bearers came
to a halt and he said young man I say to
you arise and the dead man sat up and
began to speak and Jesus gave him back
to his
mother or in Luke 8 they're all crying
and lamenting but he said stop crying
for she has not died but is asleep and
they began laughing at him knowing that
she had died he however took her by the
hand and called saying child arise and
her spirit returned and she stood up
immediately and of course having even
mention John 11 in the the the scene
involving Lazarus so he has power over
death he also has power over creation
part of his
omnipotence he said to them why are you
so cowardly you men of little faith then
he got up and rebuked the winds and the
Sea and became perfectly calm and the
men marveled and said what kind of a man
is this that even the winds and the Sea obey
obey
him or in M Matthew 21 seeing a lone fig
tree by the road he came to it and found
nothing on it except leaves only and he
said to it no longer shall there ever be
any fruit from you and at once the Fig
Tree withered so he has power over
creation the natural realm and of course
speaking of Jesus's omnipotence he has
power over the grave that's why we're
here as Christians with the Eternal hope
that we have it's all tied to Jesus's
power over the grave which is referenced
here in John two Jesus answered them
destroy this sanctuary and in 3 days I
will raise it up the Jews then said it
took 46 years to build this sanctuary
and you will raise it raise it up in 3
days but he was speaking about the
sanctuary of his body so when he was
raised from the dead his disciples
remembered that he said this and they
believed the scripture in the word which
Jesus had
spoken one more he has power over every
believer's one day transformation into
their glorified state or their glorified
condition here's Philippians 3 our
citizenship is in heaven from which also
we eagerly wait for a savior the Lord
Jesus Christ who will transform the body
of our humble State into Conformity with
the body of His Glory by his working
through which he is able to even subject
all things to himself every single one
of those scriptures I've just read off
to you and running out of breath as I do
so testifies to the fact that Jesus is
all powerful Christ is
omnipotent last under this first heading
we're going to see the
incomprehensibility of
Christ what that means is that Christ is
unable to be fully known to a finite
human mind like
ours put another way finite man could
never plunge the full depths of his
being Matthew
11:27 he says all things have been
handed over to me by my father and no
one knows the son except the father nor
does anyone know the father except the
son and anyone to whom the son Wills to
reveal him but note that line there no
one knows the son except the father no
one knows the son in his depth of his
being but God
himself or Ephesians 3 for this reason I
bow my knees before the father from whom
every family in heaven on Earth his name
that he would give you according to the
riches of his glory to be strengthened
with power through his spirit in the
Inner Man so that Christ May dwell in
your hearts through faith and that you
being firmly rooted and grounded in love
may be able to comprehend with all the
saints what is the breadth and length
and height and depth and to know the
love of Christ which surpasses knowledge
that you may be filled up to all the
fullness of God the love of Christ which surpasses
surpasses
knowledge now we can
try in this life though our our our
knowledge of Christ is necessarily
limited and it will be limited for even
the follower of Christ to what he has
revealed to us in the word but but even
then what we get out of the word in
terms of knowing who Christ is is what
God has has chosen to give us and even
then it's going to be partial especially
when we try to limit it to an hour in one
one
night so those are some of the uh
metaphysical non-shared attributes of
Christ those are attributes of Christ
which mirror those that are attributed
to God the Father meaning he shares
these perfectly in his Essence
ontologically with God the father
because he himself is God next we're
going to work through some of the moral
attributes of Christ which he possesses
perfectly and which he shares with his
creatures I.E you and me these are these
are additional evidences that Christ who
has these attributes perfectly is God
here are some of those moral attributes
the Holiness of Christ um as with the
Holiness of God the Holiness of Christ
refers to his his separateness his
Transcendence above all that is is
sinful it also refers to his perfect moral
moral
Purity we see this attribute of Jesus
alluded to in passages like Luke 135
we'll look at this next week in the
morning hour the Holy Spirit Will Come
upon you and the power of the most high
will overshadow you and for that reason
the holy child shall be called The Son of
of
God acts 13 and 14 and 15 but you denied
the holy and righteous one and asked for
a murder to be granted to you but put to
death the author of Life whom God raised
from the dead a fact to which we Are
Witnesses or 1 John 35 and you know that
he was manifested in order to take away
sins and in him there is no sin that's
the flip side of saying he's holy is
that he is has no sin he's he's morally
perfect uh next is the truth of Christ
meaning he always is and forever will be
who he claims to be and how he
represents himself he he's never
inconsistent with his own Divine
character then there's the total absence
of any trace of falsehood in him John
14:6 I'm the way and the truth and life
no one comes to the father but through
me but he is the truth first John 5 and
we know that the Son of God has come and
has given us understanding so that we
may know him who is true and we are in
him who is true in his son Jesus Christ
this is the true God and eternal
life next is the love of
Christ by this we mean simply his
sacrificial self-giving for sinners like
you and me we we're singing about this tonight
tonight John
John
13:1 Jesus knowing that his hour had
come that he would depart out of this
world to the father having loved his own
who were in the world he loved them to the
the
end 1 John 3:16 by this we have known
love that he laid down his life for us
and of course Romans 5:6 while we were
yet weak or still weak at the right time
Christ died for the ungodly as a supreme
Act of divine
love next is the faithfulness of Christ
this refers to Christ's total and
eternal commitment to God's plans and
purposes and he's referred to the
faithful one in a couple of ways Revelation
Revelation
3:14 to the angel of the church in leoda
write this is what the amen the faithful
and true witness the beginning of the
creation of God says that's Christ
speaking or Revelation 1911 then I saw
heaven opened and behold a white horse
and he who sits on it is called faithful
and true and in righteousness he judges
and wages
War last one under heading number one is
the mercy of Christ meaning The
Compassion the pity he has for sinners
like you and I Jude 20 and 21 testifies
to the mercy of Christ but you beloved
building yourselves up on your Most Holy
Faith praying in the Holy Spirit keep
yourselves in the love of God waiting
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
to eternal life
so in some Jesus possesses each of these
attributes metaphysical and moral shared
and nonshared and and they're each proof
of his deity God has these attributes
and possesses these attributes perfectly
and if Jesus shares these attributes
which we've seen he does then Jesus Is
God here's our second one we've seen
Christ's Divine attributes now we're
going to look at Christ's Divine actions
and what we just looked at is who Jesus
is with this next one we're going to
look at what Jesus does and what he has
done and what he will do
first Jesus is the
creator he's the Creator all things came
into being through him and apart from
him nothing came into being that has
come into
being Colossians 1:16 for in him all
things were created both in the heavens
and on Earth visible and invisible
whether Thrones or dominions or rulers
or authorities all things have been
created through him and for for him so
he's the Creator he's also the upholder
and the sustainer of all things
Colossians 1:17 says he is before all
things and in him all things hold
together in colossian or Hebrews 1:3
says speaks of him as the radiance of
his glory and the exact representation
of his nature and he upholds all things
power we also know that he forgave sins
that's not another function or another
action of Christ a Divine action is that
he forgave sins Matthew 9 behold they
brought to him a paralytic line on a bed
seeing their faith Jesus said to the
paralytic take courage son your sins are
forgiven Mark 2:5 Jesus seeing their
faith said to the paralytic child your
sins are forgiven so he forgave sins he
also granted eternal life Isaiah 43:25
says I even I am the one who wipes out
your trans transgressions for my own
sake and I will not remember your sins
that's carried over to Christ in various
contexts including this one John 10:27
2028 my sheep hear my voice and I know
them and they follow me and I give them
eternal life and they will never perish
ever and no one will snatch them out of
my hand so he forgives sins he grants
eternal life these are all pointing the
reality that Jesus is God Only God can
do those
things he strengthens the
church he does so by uniting Believers
to each other in Christ Jesus there is
neither Jew nor the Greek there is
neither slave nor free man there is no
male nor female for all you you are all
one in Christ Jesus he equips those in
the church to serve in the body for just
as we have many members in one body and
all the members do not have the same
function so we who are many are one body
in Christ and individually members of
one another
and he sustains Believers to serve him
in his church with Grace Philippians
4:23 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
be with your
spirit here's another one under the
actions of Christ he answers
prayer John 14:14 if you ask me anything
in my name I will do it the receiving
the hearing the answering of prayer is a Divine
Divine
action stepen even in Acts 7:15 59 calls
out to Jesus as he's being stoned they
went un stoning Stephen as he was
calling out saying Lord Jesus receive my
spirit he will raise the dead in the
coming Resurrection in the future All
Saints will be raised they'll be raised
from decomposition as well as from Death
they will be raised never more to die
and they will be raised by Jesus's power
John 5 truly truly I say to you an hour
is coming and now is when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God and
those who hear will live for just as the
father has life in himself even so he
gave to the son also to have life in
himself and he gave him authority to
execute Jud judgment because he is the
son of man do not Marvel at this for an
hour is coming in which all who were in
The tombs will hear his voice and will
come forth those who did the Good Deeds
to a resurrection of Life those who
committed the evil Deeds to a
resurrection of judgment so he's playing
a part in the Resurrection The Future
Resurrection John 11 testifies to this
as well Jesus said to her this is the
the Lazarus account I am the
resurrection and the life he who
believes in me will live even if he dies
and everyone who lives and Believes In
Me will never die ever do you believe
this the
next action Divine action of Christ is
that he will execute
judgment John 5 for not even The Father
judges anyone but he has given all
judgment to the son so that all will
honor the son even as they honor the
father he who does not honor the son
does not honor the father who sent him
he'll execute judgment on Believers at
the beima seat that's in 2 Corinthians 5
he'll execute judgment on the Nations we
see that in Matthew
25:31 but when the son of man comes in
glory and all the angels with him and he
will sit on his glorious throne and all
the nations will be gathered before him
and he will separate them from one from
the other as the shepherd separates the
sheep from the
goats or acts
17 therefore having overlooked the times
of ignorance God is now commanding men
that everyone everywhere should repent
because he is fixed a day in which he
will judge the world in righteousness
through a man whom he determined having
furnished proof to All by raising him
from the
dead now he'll execute
judgment on the Beast and his
followers and the rest were killed with
the sword which came from the mouth of
him who sits on the horse and he'll
execute judgment on Satan Genesis 3:15
and I will put enmity between you and
the woman and between your seed and her
seed he shall bruise you on the head and
you shall bruise him on the
heel all right we've looked at Christ's
Divine attributes his Divine actions
next we're going to look at Christ's Divine
Divine
Association and by this I mean that
there are things said in the Old
Testament of God of of Yahweh which are
later in the New Testament used with
reference to Christ so it's God is the
first referent but then in the New
Testament Christ is referred to in a
very similar manner or way which is
further proof that Jesus is God uh for
instance in the Old Testament we have
testimony that God is the creator Psalm
102 oh my God do not take me away in the
midst of my days your years are from
generation to all generations of old you
founded the earth and the heavens are
the work of your hands even they will
perish but you will remain and all of
them will wear out like a garment like
clothing you will change them and they
will be changed but you are the same and
your years will not come to an
end now this same truth about being the
Creator is found in the New Testament
we've covered a few verses already but
look Hebrews 1 you Lord in the beginning
founded the Earth and the heavens are
the works of your hands they will perish
but you remain they will all wear out
like a garment and like a mantle you
will roll them up like a garment they
will also be changed but you are the
same and your years will not come to an
end we have the whole Isaiah 6
scene where we see in the king the year
of King uzziah's death I saw the Lord
sitting on a throne high and lifted up
with a train of his robe filling the
temple seraphim stood above him each
having six wings with two he covered his
fa face with two he covered his feet and
with two he flew and one called out to
another and said holy holy holy is yahe
of hosts the whole earth is full of his
glory and the foundations of the
threshold Shook at the voice of him who
called out while the house of God was
filling with smoke now when we get to
John's gospel the Gospel of John it's
revealed that who Isaiah saw there was
Christ John 12:41 these things Isaiah
said because he saw
his glory meaning Christ and he spoke about
about
him in the Old Testament you have God
being spoken of Isaiah 40:3 as being
preceded by a forerunner a voice his
calling prepare the way for Yahweh in
the wilderness make smooth in the in the
desert a highway for our God and then
that same language is used in Matthew's
gospel of Christ Matthew 3 now in those
days John the Baptist came preaching in
the wilderness of Judea saying repent
for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand for
this is the one referred to by Isaiah
the prophet saying the voice of one
crying in the wilderness Make Ready the
May the way of the Lord make his paths
straight God in the Old Testament is
described as as disciplining his people
by means of fiery serpents numbers 216
so Yahweh sent fiery serpents among the
people and they bit the people so that
many people of Israel died
well we're warned in 1 Corinthians 10:9
not to put Christ to the test in a
similar manner nor let us put Christ to
the test as some of them did and were
destroyed by the
serpents uh God in the Old Testament is
regarded over and over as as holy Isaiah
8 it is Yahweh of hosts whom you should
regard as holy well so is Christ in the
new and do not fear Their Fear and do
not be troubled but sanctify that's the
same root word word for Holy sanctify
Christ as Lord in your hearts
God in the Old Testament is viewed and
is described as the ultimate object of
one's faith and it will be that everyone
who calls in the name of Yahweh will be
delivered well we get to the New
Testament so is Christ Romans 10:9 if
you confess with your mouth Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead you will be
saved Romans 10:13 whoever calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved or John
14:1 do not let your heart be troubled
believe in God these are the words of
Christ now believe also in
me now while we're on this topic of divine
divine
associations and things which are said
of God the Father also being true of God
the son of Christ consider how father
son and spirit are all all placed side
by side with each other in the Great
Commission go therefore and Make
Disciples of all the nations baptizing
them in the name of the father father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit they're
mentioned side by side there as as
equals equal in a Divine Authority in in
deity so they are in 2 Corinthians
13:14 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and The Fellowship
of the Holy Spirit be with you
all so Christ and the father are one I
and the father are one he says meaning
of one substance of a singular essence
they're not one person they're separate
persons but they are the singular Divine
Essence and they act
together John
14:23 if anyone loves me he will keep my
word and my father will love him and we
will come to him and make our dwelling with
with
him 1 Thessalonians 3:11 now may Our God
and Father himself and Jesus our lord
direct our way to you or 2 Thessalonians
2:16 And1 17 now may our Lord Jesus
Christ himself and God our Father who
has loved us and given us Eternal
comfort and Good Hope by Grace encourage
your hearts and strengthen them in every
good work and word whatever the father
has Christ has all things that the
father has are mine he says therefore I
said that he takes of mine and will
disclose it to you all things that are
mine are yours this is Jesus praying to
the father and yours are mine and I have
been glorified in
them we are through three points on our
worksheet you can now turn it over to
side two we're going to cover the next
three uh this would be Christ's Divine
Appalachians that's number four that's
spelled this way by the way Appalachians
as in names titles metaphors used to
describe Christ in scripture and each of
these Divine appalachi as we're going to
see shed some light on his deity the
fact that he really is Jesus really is
God we think of some of these
metaphorical references that highlight
the supernatural origin and divine
nature of Christ I am the bread that
came down from heaven I am the door if
anyone enters through me he shall be
saved I am the way the truth and the
life no one comes to the father but
through me I am the vine you are the
branches he who abides in me and I in
him he Bears much fruit for apart from
me you can do nothing so these these
metaphorical references to to Christ
being Divine Christ being God he also
referred to himself in other ways Christ
did that that affirm his deity that that
point to his godness Revelation 2213 he
calls himself the Alpha and the Omega
the first and the last the beginning and the
the
end or here in Revelation 3:14 he's the
amen the faithful and true witness the
beginning of the creation of God or one
we've seen over and over already before
Abraham was I
am here's another
name for Christ pointing to his deity
that would come from Isaiah 7:14 we work
through this very briefly this morning
but Isaiah 7:14 he's Emanuel he's God
With Us the Lord himself will give you a
sign behold the Virgin will be with
child and bear a son and she will call
his name Emanuel which we know is then
quoted by Matthew in Matthew
1:23 uh he referred to himself as the
son of man not just Emanuel but the son
of man which in context typically
pointed to his deity for instance it was
it was as the son of man that that Jesus
said he had the authority to to forgive
sins Matthew 9:6 but so that you may
know that the son of man has Authority
on Earth to forgive sins then he said to
the paralytic get up pick up your bed
and go home it was as as the son of man
that he claim the ability to be Lord
over the Sabbath for the son of man is
Lord of the Sabbath it was as son of man
that he had the power to execute
judgment John 5:26 for just as the
father has life in himself even so he
gave to the son also to have life in
himself and he gave him authority to
execute judgment because he is the son
of man it was as the son of man that
Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many
Matthew 20
it was not this way among you but
whoever wishes to become great among you
shall be your servant and whoever wishes
to be first among you shall be your
slave just as the son of man did not
come to be served but to serve and to
give his life a ransom for many it was
as the son of man that it is as the son
of man that he will send out his angels
to wield judgment the son of man will
send forth his angels and they were they
will gather out of his kingdom all
stumbling blocks and those who who
commit lawlessness and will throw them
into the fiery
furnace and the son of man the gospels
indicate will sit upon the throne of his
glory truly I say to you Matthew 19 that
you who have followed me in the
Regeneration when the son of man will
sit on his glorious Throne you shall sit
upon 12 Thrones judging the TW tribes of
Israel or this one Matthew 25 but when
the son of man comes in his glory and
all the angels with him then he will sit
on his glorious
throne and it says the son of man that
Jesus will come again Matthew 24 for
this reason you also must be ready for
the son of man is coming at an hour when
you do not think he will or Matthew 26
Jesus said to to him you yourself said
it nevertheless I tell you Hereafter you
will see the son of man sitting at the
right hand of power and coming on the
Clouds Of Heaven so Jesus indicating
he's the son of man is an indication
again of his his deity his his godness
here's another name Appalachian for
Jesus that indicates his divinity that
would be his the word Lord the name Lord
the title Lord
curios now it's doubtful whether
everyone who ever called Jesus Lord in
intended in that moment to be referring
to his deity because that that word
curios Lord could also be referred to as
it could be like a common hello sir kind
of uh reference but there's no question
that on many occasions that word Lord
was intended to refer to Jesus's deity
like here in Luke 2 but the angel said
to themo not be afraid for behold I
bring you good news of great joy with
which will be for all the people today
in the city of David there has been born
for you a savior who is Christ the
lord Thomas doubting Thomas answered and
said to him my Lord and my God acts
16:31 they said believe in the Lord
Jesus and you will be saved 1
Corinthians 12:3 no one can say Jesus is
Lord except by the Holy Spirit and then
Philippians 2 at the name of Jesus every
KNE Knee will bow of those who are in
heaven and on Earth and under the Earth
and every tongue will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
father so Jesus being called lord is
often an indicator of his deity he's
also called the son of God
so we've seen he's the son of man he's
also the Son of God and the title son in
in Old Testament times was used to
identify one having the Char
characteristics of that of which you
were a son so if you were a son of
Joshua or son of David you would you
would resemble in various ways Joshua or
David meaning Son of God would refer to
one who has the qualities or the
characteristics of God now there's only
one instance where Jesus himself is
recorded as is referring to himself as
the Son of God it's in John
10:33 I'm going to skip that one for
time sake but it is often used of others
by others to describe Jesus as being the
Son of God uh for
instance through the experience of the
Incarnation he was called God's son
he'll be great and be called the son of
the most high and the Lord God will give
him the Throne of his father David the
holy spirit will come upon you and the
power of the most high will overshadow
you and for that reason the holy child
shall be called The Son of God he was
also called son in the sense of being
the Messiah the the anointed of God
Nathaniel answered him Rabbi you are the
Son of God you are the king of
Israel John 11:27 I believe that you are
the Christ the son of God the one who
comes into the world and note when
others spoke of him this way as the Son
of God and this is important Christ
never attempted to cor them or or to
change the label and say well actually
no he he accepted he acknowledged that
he was the son of God and that in fact
is what led to him being accused of
blasphemy the here we have it the high
priest said to him I put you under oath
by the Living God that you tell us
whether you are the Christ the son of
God Jesus said to him you yourself said
it nevertheless I tell you Hereafter you
will see the son of man sitting at the
right hand of power and coming on the
clouds of heaven then the high priest
tore his garments and said said he has
blasphemed what further need do we have
of witnesses behold you have now heard
the blasphemy what do you think they
answered and said he deserves
death similar reference here in John 5
for this reason therefore the Jews were
seeking all the more to kill him because
he Not only was breaking the Sabbath but
also calling was also was calling God
his own father making himself equal with
God or John 19 the Jews answered him we
have a law and by that law he ought to
die because he made himself out to be
there it is the Son of
God another Divine title next one would
be he is the logos the word John 1:1 the
beginning was the word and the Word was
with God and the Word was God uh this
title comes from the Old Testament
concept of of the word of God which was
used to signify divine
revelation for instance in the Old
Testament that the word of God was
involved in creation by the word of
Yahweh the heavens were made and by the
breath of his mouth all their host the
word of God was involved in in
Revelation now the word now the word of
Yahweh came to me saying before I formed
you in the innermost Parts I knew you
and before you came out from the womb I
set you apart I have given you as a
prophet to the Nations the word of
Yahweh came to to Jeremiah or then
Yahweh s sent forth his hand and touched
my mouth and said to me behold I have
put my words in your mouth that's an
example of the word of God being
revelatory and then we also see like in
Ezekiel here the word of God pertaining
to Salvation in the Old Testament then
he said to me prophesy over these bones
and say to them oh Dry Bones hear the
word of Yahweh thus says Lord Yahweh to
these bones behold I will cause breath
to enter you that you may come to life I
will put Senus on you make flesh come
upon you cover you up with skin and put
breath in you that you may come alive
and you will know that I am Yahweh and
what's really interesting is that when
we get into John's gospel where where
Christ is often referred to as the word
we see these references to Jesus as the
word being involved in creation like
here in John 1:0 he was in the world and
the world was made through him in
Revelation like in John 1:18 no one has
seen God at any time the only begotten
God who is in the bosom of the father he
has explained him and in Salvation but
as many as received him to them he gave
the right to become children of God even
to those who believe in his name so
there's this link between the Old
Testament concept of the logos the word
of God and in the new with Christ and
the Word was
God next one next appalation would be he
is the Holy One we've already seen this
quoted elsewhere but Peter in his speech
on Solomon's Portico uses this title to
describe Jesus Jus the holy and
righteous one which is the exact title
used to describe Yahweh Israel's God in
hoseah 11:9 I am God and not man the
Holy One in your midst again that's
another clear reference to Jesus's
deity last one and I sort of Save The
Best For Last on this and by that I mean
the clearest evidence of names of God
being attached to Christ and this is
simply the fact that in the New
Testament there are multiple references
to Jesus just plainly being called God
so we've looked at the son of man and
the Son of God and the word of the Lord
and and so on and so on but there are
direct references in the New Testament
to Jesus being called God like this John
1:1 and the Word was God John 1:18 he is
the only begotten God who is in the
bosom of the Father John 20:28 Thomas
again says my Lord and my God Titus
Titus
213 refers to our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ later tonight go look up
the Granville sharp rule of Greek
grammar it'll explain to you that this
is a reference to God hebrews: 18 your
throne oh God is forever and ever and
the scepter of unri uprightness is the
scepter of your kingdom 2 Peter 1:1 Our
God and Savior Jesus Christ 1 John 5:20
in his son Jesus Christ this is the true
God and eternal life that this here is
referring back to Jesus Christ and then
Romans 9:5 who is Christ who is God over
all blessed
forever so we've seen his attributes his
actions his Association his appellations
his names now we get to our fifth point
this evening Christ Divine
agulation meaning another way the
scripture testify to Jesus being God is
that he is given and receives
worship remember the the scriptures testified
testified
repeatedly that those who are not God
are not to be worshiped and not to be an
object of our devotion this long quote
here tells us that angels are not to be
worshiped that long quote I'm not going
to read anymore tells us that apostles
are not to be worshiped Peter here is
declining worship by
Cornelius Paul was telling the people um
here in Acts 14 they were not to worship
Him people Apostles are not to be
worshiped and of course the lesson
learned here by King
Herod is that Kings and government
rulers government leaders are not to be
worshiped because when we they they seek
worship and don't give God the glory as
we see at the end of Acts 1223 here
they're eaten by worms and breathe their
last so there are these examples in the
scripture of of mere humans receiving
worship and not giving God glory through
it and they face the
consequences only God is the proper
object of adur adoration
adulation and worship Deuteronomy 613
Yahweh your God you shall fear and him
You Shall Serve and by his name you
shall swear Exodus
34:14 you shall not worship any other
God for Yahweh whose name is jealous is
a jealous
God or in the scene of Jesus's
Temptation uh by the devil in Matthew 4
says again the devil took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the
kingdoms of the world and their glory
and he said to him all these things I
will give you if you fall down and
worship me but look at Jesus's response
he said to him go Satan for his written
you shall Worship the Lord your God and
serve him only and what that means is
that if Jesus were to accept worship
from others as he does that would mean
that he is God and that's exactly what
the scriptures testify to and and point
to worship is continually directed
toward Jesus worship is received and
accepted by Jesus Matthew 14:33 those
who were in The Boat worshiped him
saying you are truly God's son Matthew
28 but the 11 disciples proceeded to
Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had
designated and when they saw him they
worshiped Him Luke 58 when Simon Peter
saw this he fell down at Jesus's knees
go saying Go away from me Lord for I'm a
sinful man Hebrews 1:6 and when he again
brings the firstborn into the world he
says and let all the angels of God
worship Him and note this the scripture
indicate not only that Jesus accepts
worship but he demands
it Jesus told that the Jewish leadership
in John 5:23 that if they were to refuse
to honor him they would simultaneously
be refusing to honor God he who does not
honor the son does not honor the father
who sent
him and last on this point the
scriptures not only teach us that Christ
was worshiped and that he received
worship and that he accepted worship
that he demanded worship but the
scriptures also teach us that that we
should worship Christ consider some of
these doxologies from the New Testament
and how each points us to the worship
that Christ is due Hebrews 13 now the
God of Peace who brought up from the
dead the great Shepherd of the sheep
through the blood of the Eternal
Covenant our lord Jesus equip you in
every good thing to do his will by doing
in us what is pleasing in his sight
through Jesus Christ to whom be the
glory forever and ever amen or 1 Peter 4
so that in all things God may be
glorified through Jesus Christ to whom
belongs the glory and might forever and
ever amen 2 Peter 3:18 but grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ to him be the glory
both now and to the day of eternity amen
so the fact that Christ is worshiped the
fact that he receives Divine agulation
is further evidence that he is God and
this is
our last one for the evening and this
will be quick number six Christ's Divine
Authority Christ Divine Authority we've
already seen various aspects in this
race through study tonight of Christ's
Authority we've seen that he has
authority over creation for instance
even the wind and the waves obey him for
example uh but here as we wind down I
want to highlight two major spheres over
which Christ is said to possess
Authority both of which would be spheres
that ultimately only God would have such
a right over these
spheres first is that Christ claimed
authority over the whole Israelite
system of religion the law of Moses its
various outworkings he said in Matthew 12
12
six but I say to you that something
greater than the temple is here the Hub
of worship for the people of Israel the
very place where God was said to be
present he says something greater than
the temple is here
that's a statement of deity he declared
that he was Lord of the Sabbath for the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath he
son of man is Lord of the Sabbath he also declared that he had authority over
also declared that he had authority over the various Jewish Traditions which had
the various Jewish Traditions which had developed throughout the years leading
developed throughout the years leading to those many statements in The Sermon
to those many statements in The Sermon on the Mount where he says you have
on the Mount where he says you have heard it said but I
heard it said but I say and none of those by the way where
say and none of those by the way where he States his authority over Jewish
he States his authority over Jewish religion when unnoticed by Those whom he
religion when unnoticed by Those whom he encountered during his Earthly Ministry
encountered during his Earthly Ministry Matthew 7 says now it happened that when
Matthew 7 says now it happened that when Jesus had finished these words the
Jesus had finished these words the crowds were astonished at his teaching
crowds were astonished at his teaching for he was teaching them as one as
for he was teaching them as one as having Authority not as their scribes so
having Authority not as their scribes so I mentioned there are two main spheres
I mentioned there are two main spheres major spheres over which Jesus has
major spheres over which Jesus has Authority one would be Jewish religion
Authority one would be Jewish religion and practices the other would be in our
and practices the other would be in our day his his authority over the
day his his authority over the church Ephesians 5:23 Christ also is the
church Ephesians 5:23 Christ also is the head of the church Colossians 1:18 and
head of the church Colossians 1:18 and he is the head of the body the church he
he is the head of the body the church he is the head of all he is the ruler over
is the head of all he is the ruler over all he is authority over all all
all he is authority over all all authority he says Matthew 28:18 has been
authority he says Matthew 28:18 has been given to me in heaven and on
given to me in heaven and on Earth so there we have it Christ's
Earth so there we have it Christ's Divine attributes his Divine actions his
Divine attributes his Divine actions his Divine Association his Divine
Divine Association his Divine appellations his Divine agulation and
appellations his Divine agulation and his divine Authority each pointing
his divine Authority each pointing unequivocally and biblically to the fact
unequivocally and biblically to the fact that Jesus is God I'm going to close
that Jesus is God I'm going to close with three brief quotes and then we'll
with three brief quotes and then we'll be done here's John Whitmer again I
be done here's John Whitmer again I cited him earlier he says when a person
cited him earlier he says when a person honestly and without liberal
honestly and without liberal presupposition faces the evidence of
presupposition faces the evidence of scripture he or she cannot fail to
scripture he or she cannot fail to conclude that Jesus knew himself to be
conclude that Jesus knew himself to be the Incarnate Son of God and claimed
the Incarnate Son of God and claimed that identity
that identity Horus Bushnell says the character of
Horus Bushnell says the character of Jesus Christ forbids his possible
Jesus Christ forbids his possible classification with men refuting some of
classification with men refuting some of the earlier quotes I said I quoted
the earlier quotes I said I quoted earlier and this last one from William
earlier and this last one from William beerwolf a man who can read the New
beerwolf a man who can read the New Testament and not see that Christ claims
Testament and not see that Christ claims to be more than a man can look all over
to be more than a man can look all over the sky at High Noon on a cloudless day
the sky at High Noon on a cloudless day and not see the
and not see the son amen Jesus is god let's pray pray
son amen Jesus is god let's pray pray God thank you uh for this different pace
God thank you uh for this different pace at which we went tonight uh this
at which we went tonight uh this different type of study that we've
different type of study that we've engaged in tonight all pointing to the
engaged in tonight all pointing to the to the truth and the reality that that
to the truth and the reality that that your son the Son of God the Lord Jesus
your son the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ is God God I pray that we
Christ is God God I pray that we wouldn't be taken out to sea by all the
wouldn't be taken out to sea by all the various false teachings and doctrines of
various false teachings and doctrines of demons that are out there today which
demons that are out there today which would would portray Christ as something
would would portray Christ as something lesser than God or someone lesser than
lesser than God or someone lesser than God may we
God may we cling to and remember as we go through
cling to and remember as we go through this mountain of biblical evidence the
this mountain of biblical evidence the truth that Jesus our lord is the very
truth that Jesus our lord is the very Son of God the Eternal Son of God God
Son of God the Eternal Son of God God encased in human flesh May that increase
encased in human flesh May that increase and and and and and Elevate our worship
and and and and and Elevate our worship of Christ may it spur in us a greater
of Christ may it spur in us a greater desire to go out and share Christ with
desire to go out and share Christ with others and God I pray that through this
others and God I pray that through this study again we just we wouldn't just
study again we just we wouldn't just bottle it up and and store it up but we
bottle it up and and store it up but we would share it with others so that more
would share it with others so that more can come to know Christ as Savior and
can come to know Christ as Savior and Lord and enjoy worshiping him forever in
Lord and enjoy worshiping him forever in glory it's in his name we pray amen
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
