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The Man Who is God

30 Oct 2004, Pr George Porter

(George is Thornleigh's Church Pastor)

Title:   Son of Man or Son of God?    The Man who is God!

Theme:   The Divine Human Nature of Jesus Christ

Scripture Reading:   Hebrews 1: 1-13

Introduction:   

Review any day of your life and consider what was paramount.  I would suggest it is not the time that is the real issue.  It is what you do in that time and how you do it.  All time does is isolate the when of any particular event.   Likewise, in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, we have times and events outlined.  Time is important only insofar as identifying when events would become historical in God's calendar of events for this world.    Time important -yes, but the paramount issue is the invasion of this planet by Jesus Christ.  The history of His fulfillment of OT Prophecy into our history, is the key event of our salvation.  Jesus Christ must be central to all Biblical doctrine, all religion and all theology.  He must be central to the Christian's  life, experience and daily behaviour.

Wrapped in the Christian faith are concepts beyond time:  The nature and character of God.   The deity of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Christ's incarnation of virgin birth. Christ's perfect righteousness.  The creation, nature and fall of mankind.  The Divine provision for our redemption and final eternal salvation.   The atonement for our sins.  The necessary work of the Holy Spirit for us.

If man is not the son of God created in His image, Genesis 1:26-27 (or the children of God's family) but are the result of the evolutionary process - then I would suggest we are a little lower than the beasts and not a little lower than angels.  We would have no identity, no sin, no falling from God's glory, with no need for God's invasion in the form of Christ into this world to save humankind.

Our history and our destiny hinge and depend on  Jesus of Nazareth being out Lord and Christ and Saviour.   His birth, life, death and resurrection is the issue and essence of our existence.  Only in Holy  Scripture do we find an absolute answer to Christ's relationship to our situation. It is impossible to escape.  Central to the issue is the Nature of Christ and the nature of man - humanity.

THE BIG QUESTION IN LIFE?

Matthew 22:42  Jesus himself asked the question of the Pharisees and Sadducees,  "What think you of Christ?  Whose son is he?  They could not accept His divinity and challenged Christ no end.  Notice the context of this question, it is another question in verse 34-36.  The religious leaders asked Christ,  "which is the great commandment in the law?"   In verses 37-40   Jesus Christ made it clear that the two great underlying principles of the commandments is to,  first and foremost Love God with our total person.   Second,  "like unto it"  of equal importance to "love your neighbour as you love yourself".  In answer to Christ's question in verse 42,  the Pharisees answered, "The son of David."  So Jesus replied in verse 43, "How then does David inspired by the Spirit call him Lord"  He then quotes David in Psalm 110:1, and asks His final question of them in verse 45, "If David calls him Lord, how is he his son?"  

Jesus was getting at the very core of His son-ship.   Son of God, Son of man.

In this passage I believe we see absolute truth and righteousness and practice of the law historically revealed in Jesus Christ.  Jesus is impacting on the minds of his questioners. A life lived in the love and power of God depends on what we believe about Jesus Christ.   This is imperative for eternal salvation.  As Paul says in Colossians 1:27.  The hope of the Gospel is the glory of Christ's righteousness lived out in our daily lives.   "It is Christ in you the hope of glory."   Jesus Christ is God's supreme revelation to humanity.  Christ is the centre of human history. He makes sense of what happened before He came to earth and He makes sense of history and the future since Calvary.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 explains the pivotal events of history as the Gospel-  the good news.  In verses 12- 26 he explains the resurrection of Christ and it's critical and imperative necessity for our salvation.  How Adam passed on our birth right to death!  But how Christ, the second Adam,  has given believers the right to resurrection and eternal life.   ONLY the God man could do this for us.  (See Romans 5 re two Adams.)  Adam sold out to the author of sin - the Devil /Satan.    Christ's supernatural and miraculous intervention inhuman history has provided salvation from lost life - death. 

Christ is the purpose of history.  History pivots on Christ being both God and Man.  The Man who is God!   Biblical revelation and history is a record of God's creation and of His dealings with humanity.  Namely:   Creation;  the fall of mankind; God's calling  of Israel as a channel for the Son of man -Messiah;  the incarnation of Jesus Christ- Son of God and the second coming of Jesus Christ to end sin and death and restore eternal life to believers.

ALL THE ANSWERS TO LIFE'S QUESTION

So there we have the WHEN it all began? -  at  creation.   The WHY we are here?   we were created by God.      The WHAT  for ?-  to give glory and pleasure to God and care for His planet he created.    The HOW to live? - in fellowship with the God Family through faith in Jesus Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The where are we headed?  - if faithful to a new heaven and earth.     When will that be? -  at Jesus Christ's  promised return at His second coming to this planet.  Next time to end the sinful history and death on this planet.    The time of the "better resurrection", Hebrews 11:35

SON OF MAN    SON OF DAVID OR SON OF GOD

We must tread with caution when we try to explain the incarnation ( God in the form of human flesh) in human terms.  We cannot explain in every detail how it happened but we do know that Holy Scripture explicitly states that He was both God and Man in the fullest, absolute and perfect sense.  God uses anthropomorphisms to help us understand in human language that God took our human form.

A survey of the  Gospels  give us an idea of the usage of several names to identify who Christ was in reality.    The Son of God - used by the Holy Spirit, Jesus and even the devils and Satan.     Son of man was Jesus favourite title.   Son of David used by the Jews.   Also used are, son of Mary, son of Joseph,  son of the carpenter, son of Peace,  Son of the Highest, His Son and My beloved Son - spoken by the Father.

Matthew emphasizes His humanity and notes His  Jewish heritage as he is writing to Jews.   He also stresses His deity.   Mark does the same as does Luke.   John acknowledges His humanity   but comes in heavy on the Divinity of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  He records all the discussions Jesus had with the religious leaders and His own disciples concerning His deity.

  John emphasized the Father Son relationship.   John emphasized Christ's divinity as being of the same essence as the Father God.  Co- eternal, co-equal, the form or image of God and man.  ( See Pr Paul's definitions  in   Philippians 2:5-8   "in the form of God,"   "equal with God," "in the likeness of man,"    and "in fashion (appearance) as a man."  See also Colossians 1:12-19    "who is the image of the invisible God,"    in Him is  "all fullness" of deity and humanity in absolute perfection.

In John 3:16  he quotes Jesus' words.  "God loved the world so much, that he gave His only unique Son,"  [Ed: Pr Porter's Literal translation of Greek]  Jesus was not begotten in the same fashion as men are conceived.  Matthew made this clear in Matthew Chapter 1.   After listing all the sons fathered , e.g.  verse 2, Abraham fathered (begat) Isaac etc. In verse 16 he changes tack. "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.  In verse 23, Christ is also called Immanuel, "being interpreted is, God with us."  Jesus was not procreated as other sons. 

John 1:1-5  Christ is the Word.  The Word was with God from the "beginning" and "the Word was God".   There never was a time when He was not with God the Father  nor was there a time when He was not God.  He, the Word created all things and this planet.   The Word as the only source of light  came to His own in the world but they did not receive Him, verses 10-12.     Explicit references to the divinity of the Son of God.    John 1:14  explicitly states  "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory the glory as of the (only unique one)  of the Father, full of grace and truth.  Absolutely God and Man in the fullest perfect sense, without sin.  In verse 18 John makes it clear that the visible revelations of the God family in both Old Testament and New Testament have been through God the Son , the Messiah - Christ.    Jesus Christ is the God man , the Man who is God.

Psalm 33:6-9 makes it clear that God creates by the spoken word.   "By the word of the Lord----,    for He spake, and it was done---."  In Genesis 1 it repeatedly states, "God said,"  and everything came into existence.  So was the birth of Jesus of Mary.   The Holy Spirit spoke via the angel and Mary became pregnant.   The unique and only one of His kind born of a virgin woman.  "When the fullness of time was come, (Old Testament prophecies in particular Daniel 8-9), God sent His Son, made of a woman---."  The Son of God became as well  - Son of man.

In Luke 2:7  prophecy bursts into reality as the God Man invaded our planet and changed our history as the man who is God.   In chapter 1:35 , the angel made the explicit statement, "that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God."   The God of the Old Testament history ( see Exodus 20:1-2) has now physically entered human history. 

John specializes in the veiled deity of Christ in the human person.  Totally God and totally Man.   I would  ask you to read the entire book of John in several versions and try the New Living Bible. I will list some references to get your interest. ( all NLB)

John 4:24-26   The Samaritan women at the well said she knew "Messiah will come."  Jesus told her, " I am the Messiah."

John 5:16-47  Christ claims to be the Son of God and equal with Him in work and power.  Co- Sovereign deities who are bent on the salvation of humanity. 

Again in John 6: 22-58 Jesus repeatedly claims his deity and relationship to the Father.  At least nine times He states His power to, and promise to resurrect all those who die believing in Him.  Christianity is all about life after death.   Only the man who is God can promise and do resurrection to eternal life for  all who believe and love Him.

Jesus taught the people and the Pharisees  that he knew His origins, John 8:12, 14, 15 , as being valid and true.   In verses 19-25 Jesus says, 'I am the one I have always claimed to be."  Christ continues His  claims to divinity in his answers to the Pharisees I verses 42-58.  "Which one of you can truthfully accuse me of sin?"   He was the sinless God Man.  He is the eternal God, "The truth is, I existed before Abraham was even born."

Christ claims to have the same divine power with the Father.  Power to lay down His human life in death for our sins and power to resurrect His humanity as He did so, John 10:14-18.   In answer to the Pharisees continual question, "If you are the Messiah tell us plainly," verse  24,   Jesus said "The proof is what I do in the name of my Father." "The Father and I are one,"  God.  See verses 24-38.   In John 11:25 he said, " I am the resurrection and the life." Then He proved it by resurrecting Lazarus' decomposing body!.    Deity in action in humanity.   The Man who is God.  John 12:44-50,  He and the Father agree and work together in total harmony and unity. In John 13:18-19 He makes a prophecy,  that His betrayal by Judas would be proof of His Messiah-ship. The purpose to create believers in His divinity.  In John 14:1-4 He warns of His imminent return to the Father on their behalf.  Then in verse 6 categorically says, "I am the way, the truth and the life."  The only way to the Father is through the God man, the Man who is God.

In John 17 :1-5 Christ prays to God the Father and claims He has always had Divine authority to do the  work assigned Him -the  work of saving humanity.  These are just some of the references to His deity and equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  John summarizes in John 20:31  by saying that he has only recorded a portion of the proofs,   "But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing in  him you will have life."

Paul, (I believe as author), follows the same theme in Hebrews 1: 1-13. KJV  God in these last days has spoken to us , "by his Son-by whom also he made the worlds, ---the express (exact) image of his (Fathers')  person" now sits at the fathers' right hand in , "Majesty on high."     "Thou art my Son----  Thy throne O God" He says of Christ.  Christ the God man is portrayed as co-equal co-eternal as well as human,  see verse 6.  To ignore and disbelieve the word of God is to ignore our only chance of salvation and eternal life.  In Hebrews 2:1-3 , "How can we escape, ( the penalty of sin),  if we neglect so great salvation."   The God man is now in heaven on the throne of His authority with the Father working on our behalf  so that we can escape condemnation in the Judgment and receive eternal life at His second invasion into human history shortly.  See Hebrews 9:24,26-8.

The invasion by  the God Man  into our history is referred to by Paul in 1 Timothy 3:16. KJV.    Here in a nutshell,  he outlines the events of the Son of God's round-trip heaven to earth to heaven,  as the Son  Man who is,  the Man who is God  forever.  What sacrifice and what eternal love for us.  "God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."  NLB is very clear, "Christ appeared in the flesh, and was shown to be righteous by the Spirit.  He was seen by angels and was announced to nations.  He was believed on in the world and was taken up into heaven."

We must say with Simon Peter as recorded in John 6: 68-69,  "-to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.  And we believe and are sure (Greek says, we have made an intelligent decision), that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus Christ is without controversy and by the words of God , the one and only unique Son of God.  The son of man - The Man who is forever God.  He was the Perfect child. The Faultless man.  Lived a Holy ministry. Humanly died a flawless Sacrifice.

The loving, faithful, just, Eternal Divine Sovereign God man - Jesus the son of God of Nazareth.

Friend,  What will you do with Jesus?  Whose Son do you think He is?

He thinks the world of you. He wants to enter you mind and life and live in you and work with you and deliver you  to His throne for eternity !  Read His call  now in Revelation 3:20-21.   Note He says, He gives you the "Right" NIV,  to His throne

He did it all for you so you could share His glory and authority.  That's what throne means.   What love!  What mercy!  What Grace!  What undeserved honour and glory!  What will you do with Jesus the Son of God, the Son given for man?   Do not "neglect such great salvation." 

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