Category: Sermon Prep (and follow up)
In yesterday's sermon, we began by asking C. S. Lewis' question: What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?
Jesus said and did many audacious things:
- He forgave sins.
- He drove money changers out of "My Father's house."
- He claimed to give waters springing to eternal life.
- He claimed to be the final Judge of the Universe.
- He declared that God would answer prayers offered in His name.
- He claimed authority to send God's Spirit and that God's Spirit would glorify Him.
- He gave commandments (His commandments).
- Weeping and fasting should cease because He is present.
- That He was in glory with God before the world was created.
- That everyone who is of the truth hears His voice.
- He claimed to be the bread of life, the light of the world, the door leading to salvation, resurrection, the way, the truth, the life, that eternal life is knowing Him.
- He declared Himself to be 'I AM'.
We conclude with Lewis that a man who thinks he is God is either insane or divine. The overwhelming testimony of the Scripture is, of course, that Jesus is God.
John 1:1-4 reveals that the Son of God ("the Word") was already in existence when the universe was created, indeed, He was its creator. It also affirms that the Word was God and was with God. Here we have two-thirds of the Trinity. "Word was God" speaks to His being God in His essence; "Word was with God" speaks of His being a distinct person within the Godhead. Remember, the Trinity is defined as God: one in essence, three in person. Beyond that, we must be slow to speak so that we do not distort the nature of God.
Why the deity of Christ matters:
1. Jesus revealed God (If we are to know God, we must know Christ. If Christ is not God, He could not reveal God, for the finite cannot comprehend the infinite.)
2. Worship
-If Jesus is not God, then to worship Him is to commit idolatry.
-If Jesus is God, then to not worship Him is idolatry.
What are we to make of Jesus Christ? It is the single most important question any human being can ask.