ABC’s of the Christian Life #22: Following Jesus Christ Rightly #15a: Affirming the Incarnation #1

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Let's turn in our Bibles please to John chapter 1. Since this is

Christmas Eve, it is good that we give attention to the great historic event of the

Incarnation. And in doing so, we are really not deviating from our current study addressing the

ABCs of the Christian faith and what it is to follow Jesus Christ rightly. For certainly, in order to follow

Jesus rightly, we must know who He is in truth. It's essential. There are some who claim to know

God, who are far astray in their understanding of the person of Jesus Christ.

Not everything that claims to be a Christian church presents Jesus as He is displayed and revealed to us in the

Holy Scriptures. Now, we're referring specifically to Christian cults, and the definition of a

Christian cult is they have an aberrant or heretical view about the person of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul warned the church at Corinth, true

Christians, he warned them about some coming among them and preaching another Jesus, who really is not another, there's only one

Jesus, but they come and proclaim and preach Jesus, they say, and yet it's not the

Jesus of history, not the Jesus of the Bible. And Paul was concerned that the

Christians in this church at Corinth would embrace such teaching. But there are

Protestant mainline denominations that deny today the person of Jesus, they deny his deity.

This is quite commonplace. They claim that Jesus was only a man, not

God, but only a man. They deny the virgin birth of Christ.

That became really a significant and central issue toward the end of the 19th century among the mainline denominations, a denial of the virgin birth of Christ.

They deny the deity of Christ. This can be discovered in many mainline denominational churches, congregational churches, although I know of some solid reform congregational men pastors, but they're a relatively few number.

Presbyterians, although there are some good, many good solid reform Presbyterians, the mainline denominations of Presbyterianism, Congregationalism, Methodism, and even among some

Baptists, deny the deity of Jesus Christ.

And we would say, of course, that they are not preaching the true gospel that's set forth in the word of God.

You've got to have an understanding, right understanding of who Jesus is, or else you're not being faithful to the gospel.

You're actually playing the role of a false teacher, a false prophet, and you're damning souls rather than saving souls.

And yet, even after we set apart from true Christianity those who deny that Jesus Christ, the

Jesus Christ that's set forth in the Holy Scriptures, we would be wrong to assume that all Christians understand rightly and clearly the nature of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

And this has been a matter that has been a source of difficulty and confusion, instruction, correction, all down through the

Christian era. The fact is there are many who do not have a clear and accurate understanding of, say, the relationship of Jesus Christ to the

Godhead, of the blessed Holy Trinity. It's an important matter. We must have a true understanding of the person of Jesus Christ in the incarnation if we are to enjoy true fellowship with God through Christ.

And with the true triune Godhead, we must understand who Jesus Christ is.

And so knowing Jesus Christ in truth, communing with God through Jesus Christ is really at the heart of true life in God's creation.

The Lord Jesus himself said, I am calm that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly,

John 10 .10. And it's through knowing Jesus Christ personally and intimately that we are able to enjoy life more abundantly.

Because ultimately, Christianity is not a belief in a set of principles or a set of laws, but rather it is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

In fact, the Lord Jesus himself said in his prayer to the Father, this is life eternal. This is the heart of it.

This is what eternal life is all about, that they might know thee, the only true

God, that is God the Father, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. This is at the very heart of our relationship.

This is the substance of what it is to be a Christian, having a relationship with Jesus Christ, a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Isaac Ambrose, who wrote the classic book, Looking Unto Jesus, attempted to describe the wonder of knowing

Jesus. In this knowledge of Christ, there is an excellency above all other knowledge in the world.

There is nothing more pleasing and comfortable, more animating and enlightening, more ravishing and soul -contenting.

Only Christ is the sun and center of all divine revealed truths. We can preach nothing else as the object of our faith, as the necessary element of your soul's salvation, which does not some way or other either meet in Christ or refer to Christ.

Only Christ is the whole of man's happiness, the sun to enlighten him, the physician to heal him, the wall of fire to defend him, the friend to comfort him, the pearl to enrich him, the ark to support him, the rock to sustain him under the heaviest pressures, as a hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of waters in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

Quotation from Isaiah. Only Christ is that ladder between earth and heaven, the mediator between God and man, a mystery which the angels of heaven desire to pry and peep and look onto.

Here is a blessed subject indeed. Who would not be glad to pry into it, to be acquainted with it?

This is life eternal, to know God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.

Come then, let us look on this son of righteousness. We cannot receive harm but good by such a look.

Indeed, by looking long on the natural sun, we may have our eyes dazzled and our faces blackened, but by looking onto Jesus Christ, we shall have our eyes clearer and our faces fairer.

If the light of the eye rejoiced the heart, how much more when we have a blessed object to look upon, as Christ is more excellent than all the world.

So this sight transcends all other sights. It is the epitome of a Christian's happiness, the quintessence of evangelical duties, looking onto Jesus.

And that was the opening introduction that Isaac Ambrose set forth in his classic book entitled

Looking Onto Jesus. And so we want to consider this subject of the person of Jesus Christ, the incarnation.

And we'll do so by first describing the doctrine of the incarnation according to historic

Orthodox Christianity set forth in John chapter 1. And then we will show the

New Testament testimony regarding the deity of Jesus Christ. And that's all we're going to get to today, folks.

And then thirdly, next week, Lord willing, we'll address the biblical emphasis on the humanity of Jesus Christ, which is a very important truth that many people, many groups have denied through history.

And lastly, we'll rehearse the theological development of the Christian understanding of the person of Jesus Christ in the early centuries of the

Christian era. And we'll, again, not be able to address all these matters today, but we need to begin this morning and conclude next week,

Lord willing. And so let us begin by considering a portion of Holy Scripture of which we're probably familiar,

John chapter 1, in which the incarnation of the Son of God is set forth quite clearly.

And so let's read the first 14 verses. John wrote, In the beginning was the

Word. And by the way, when he wrote in the beginning, it's probably an allusion to Genesis 1, in the beginning.

Well, here in the real beginning, you have the second person of the

Holy Trinity with God, who was God. In the beginning was the

Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him.

And without him, nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was

John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe.

He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them gave the right, he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And then I embolden, I italicize verse 14 for emphasis, and the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as the only begotten, and I included the word in parentheses, son is implied here, the only begotten son of the father, the father full of grace and truth.

And so we read in the opening words of John's gospel, John's witness to the incarnation. Verse 1, he identified the pre -incarnate

Christ as the eternal word of God. The Greek word translated word is logos.

There's the definite article in front of it, so it's ho, that's the word, Greek word for the, ho, logos, the word.

And we read in the beginning that the word, this logos, was God, but also was with God.

And so this statement identifies the word on the one hand to be God himself, the word was

God, but on the other hand, the word is distinguished from God. We would say from God the father, for he is also with God.

And so here at the beginning of John 1, we have two persons of the blessed Holy Trinity set before us.

The logos is both God and with God. The logos would be the pre -incarnate

Christ from eternity, and then God the father as well.

In John's statement that the word was with God, John speaks of the eternal union of father and son as being an intimate fellowship with one another.

As one wrote, the meaning is that the word existed in the closest possible fellowship with the father.

This teaching that the son of God is a distinct person from the father, yet is himself God, is a key component to the doctrine of the

Trinity. This is what we have set forth here. And although there's diverse discussion in stating the precise meaning of the

Greek word logos, the word, it can be said that when John wrote of the pre -incarnate son of God as the logos or the word, he was asserting that the second person of the

Holy Trinity is the revelation of God to us. He's the word of God. God reveals himself to us through his word through the pre -incarnate

Christ. And so it's asserting that the second person of the

Holy Trinity, the word, is the revelation of God to us. Leon Morris, a commentator of John's gospel a couple of generations ago, he wrote these words.

This at any rate may be said, the word points to the truth that it is of the very nature of God to reveal himself.

A man's word is the means whereby he reveals what he is thinking. The word of God is his thought, if we put it so, uttered so that men can understand it.

God is not to be thought of as aloof and indifferent. He reveals himself, but he reveals himself as he chooses.

He is sovereign in revelation as in all else. And so we have a

God who reveals himself. He speaks, reveals himself through his word.

In verse 14, the statement is made that the word was made flesh. That is, eternal

God became a man. Verse 14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.

The glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

And so God became a man. Or more precisely, the

Son of God became a man. Here he's described as the only begotten of the

Father. Now because it's set forth as begotten, and that being so in relation to God the

Father, it can be said that the word was eternally begotten Son of the Father.

When we talk about the only begotten Son of God, we're not talking about Jesus being born into this world.

We're talking about him being eternally generated as the Son of God.

And the reason that we say he's eternally generated, there was never a time when the second person of the

Holy Trinity did not exist. He existed from eternity. We must conclude that because God is immutable.

He does not change. And we said that there was a point in time in history, even before creation, that God the

Father begat his Son. And we're speaking about a changeable God.

And so when we speak of the Son of God as begotten of the Father, we emphasize that he's eternally begotten of the

Father. There was never a time when there was not the

Son of God, just as there was never a time when there was not God the Father. There was never a time when there was not

God the Holy Spirit. It's important to note here that when the word is described as having been begotten by God the

Father, therefore, John was not referring to the human birth of Jesus, but of the eternal relationship between God the

Father and God the Son, who is the Word of God. The Word of God was begotten of the

Father from eternity. There never was a time in which the Word of God was not the

Son of God the Father. I had a little bit extra time this morning, and so I found a quote from an early church father named

Ambrose, not to be confused with Isaac Ambrose, who I quoted earlier. This is

Ambrose, an early church father, and he wrote about this eternal generation of the

Son. And he said these words, I inquire of you when and how the

Son was begotten. Impossible it is to me to know the mystery of this generation.

My mind faileth, my voice is silent, and not only mine, but of the angels. It is above principalities, above angels, above the cherubim, above the seraphim, above all understanding.

Lay thy hand on thy mouth. It is not lawful to search into these heavenly mysteries.

It is lawful to know that he was born. It is not lawful to discuss how he was born.

That it is not lawful for me to deny. This I am afraid to inquire into.

And then he says this, For if Paul, when he was taken into the third heaven, affirms that the things which he heard could not be uttered, how can we express the mystery of the divine generation which we can neither apprehend or hear?

Why do such tormenting questions delight thee? Ambrose was challenging somebody who was trying to delve into this matter.

It's beyond our capability to comprehend the infinite God. We can only conclude that which is set forth for us in the

Holy Scriptures. The second person of the Trinity, the

Son of God was begotten of the Father from eternity. There never a time, there was never a time when there was not the

Son of God. Now it's important for us to understand that when we say that the

Son of God became a man, we're not saying that the internal Son of God transitioned into a man and then after his ministry on earth transitioned back into being the eternal

Son of God. That is not what happened. With the incarnation, the eternal

Son of God did not cease or even diminish in any way as the person of the

Holy Trinity. In other words, the incarnation is not the removal of any divine attribute and it's not the diminishment to any degree of his deity, but rather the incarnation, the eternally begotten

Son of God should be understood as taking on in addition to himself a human nature and body, a human soul and body, took upon himself so that he's fully

God and fully man. He in no way was diminished with regard to his deity.

Paul reasoned that it pleased God that the fullness of God would abide in him.

This is important. And therefore, upon the incarnation, he wasn't just the

God -man for 30 years and then died, but rather he became the

God -man and will continue to exist as the God -man in eternity, which is hard to fathom.

The infinite God who is outside of time came into history, came into time.

And so he's the God -man and will be with us through eternity as the

God -man. And so the incarnation is a miracle and a wonder to even contemplate.

And so when Jesus Christ died on the cross, he died with respect to his human nature. And the reason is

God can't die. It was within his human nature, his human body that he died.

His human body died on the cross. His divine human soul was separated from his body.

His divine human nature went to paradise, the dwelling place of the souls of the righteous dead.

But his human body was entombed in the grave of, not Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea.

I don't know how I got that one in there. Forgive me. Until the day of the resurrection on the third day.

At the resurrection, the divine nature with his human nature joined in the one person of Jesus Christ, reunited with his human body that now is in a glorified form.

And so when Jesus Christ ascended after a 40 -day post -resurrection ministry among his disciples, he ascended in his human body to heaven.

But it was a glorified body that came out of that tomb. In the incarnation, he came as the eternal begotten

Son of God, took upon himself human body, a human nature, continued when he died, his human body went into the grave.

But on that first Easter, the human and divine nature of Jesus Christ reanimated that human body.

It came forth a glorified body. And so when he ascended into heaven, he went forth as a man, as the

God -man. And when he was enthroned in heaven, God enthroned a man on that throne.

Now, we could go a long way in talking about this. Through Jesus Christ, God fulfilled what he had originally intended in the garden, that Adam and Eve would be his co -regents who would reign over creation on his behalf.

And now God has fulfilled his purpose in man in enthroning him, Jesus Christ, on that throne in heaven.

And so Jesus, a glorified man, the God -man is reigning now in heaven over heaven and earth.

It's an amazing thing. But thankfully, although the human body, the glorified body is there in heaven, if you went to heaven, you would see it in some way, sitting on that throne.

Nevertheless, because of his eternal, infinite, divine nature, he's able to manifest his presence to his people anywhere, everywhere, at all times.

And that's why Jesus could say to his disciples, Lo, I am with you always. Simply stated, then, the incarnation is the event in which the eternal

Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, took into union the nature and body of a man whereby

Jesus Christ is true God and true man, two natures in one divine person who will continue in this blessed union for eternity.

Robert Raymond, who died just this last year, I believe, wrote a wonderful systematic theology that I read four or five years ago, and he stated the truth in this way.

Without ceasing to be all that he was and is as the second person of the Holy Trinity, the eternal

Son of God took into union with himself in the one divine person, that which he had not possessed before, even a full complex of human attributes, and became fully and truly man for us men and for our salvation.

Jesus of Nazareth was and is the God -man. And so the

Holy Scripture set forth Jesus Christ in this way. Because of the incarnation, he is the

God -man. Two natures. Next week we'll talk about how the two natures of Jesus Christ relate to one another and how this was a matter of debate, particularly in the early centuries of the

Christian era. But there's a lot of confusion about this. Does this mean that Jesus Christ was two people?

No, he's one divine person. Does it mean that he had one nature, a combination of divine and human nature?

No, no, no. He had a divine nature and a human nature. And we'll talk about that and the implications of that next week,

Lord willing. Well, we can find in the Bible evidence, of course, clear indications that Jesus Christ is both

God as well as fully man. And so today in the time we have, and there's all, you know,

I think 13 pages of notes thereabouts, we'll talk about the divinity of Jesus Christ and then next week we'll talk about the humanity of Jesus Christ.

And then again, we'll talk about understanding these two natures of Jesus and how we relate to God in the light of this person of Jesus Christ.

We've rehearsed these before, but I don't apologize for that because, again, this is an essential matter, isn't it?

And, you know, there are many who deny the deity of Jesus Christ and oftentimes you'll hear Christians maybe cite four or five verses from the scriptures.

That should be sufficient. They clearly set forth Jesus as God. But in actuality, the

Bible is full of evidence, scriptural evidence, that substantiate our understanding that Jesus Christ is divine, the divinity of Jesus Christ.

And so I set forth about seven or eight categories in which the divinity of Jesus Christ is set forth in the

Holy Scriptures. And obviously because of the time, we are not going to be able to go through every one in detail, but at least you're going to have before you a resource because oftentimes this kind of issue is engaged in, isn't it, when we're attempting to witness for Jesus Christ to those about us.

And so first consider some direct statements of the deity of Jesus Christ.

We had it, of course, already in John 1. In the beginning was the

Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. And then in verse 14, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

And clearly John is declaring in John 1 that Jesus is God. In Hebrews 1, we read the writer to the

Hebrews quoting Psalm 45, 6 and 7. And if you read

Psalm 45, you would read that it's a Psalm celebrating an ancient wedding of a son of David, a king of Israel to a

Gentile bride. And the writer to the Hebrews, inspired by the

Holy Spirit, applied verses 6 and 7 to Jesus Christ. And so Hebrews 1, 8 reads, but to the

Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.

Here in Hebrews 1, the writer is addressing Jesus as O God.

One week after the resurrection, our Lord appeared to the apostles. Thomas had not seen the risen Lord as yet because when

Jesus appeared on the night of his resurrection, only 10 apostles were present.

Judas had gone out and hung himself, but Thomas was not present. Jesus showed himself on that first Sunday evening to the 10.

And of course, when the apostles told Thomas that they had seen the risen

Lord Jesus, Thomas thereafter is identified as doubting

Thomas. He said he didn't believe and refused to believe. The testimony of apostles.

Thomas said to them, except I see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails, thrust my hand into his side,

I will not believe, John 20, 25. But the Lord then appeared to Thomas one week after his resurrection, an evening.

He appeared to Thomas as well as the others. And he told Thomas, reach your finger here. Look at my hands, reach your hand here.

Put it in my side. Do not be believing or do not be unbelieving, but believing, John 20, 27.

And Thomas's response is recorded in John 20, 28. Thomas answered, said to him, my

Lord and my God. And so Thomas declared that the resurrected

Jesus Christ was God, God himself. If this were not a true statement,

Jesus would have corrected him immediately, right? But he didn't because Thomas was making an accurate declaration,

Jesus is God. In Acts 20, 28, we read of the apostle Paul instructing the elders at the church in Ephesus.

He said to them, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

Interesting, here God, of course, is referring to Jesus Christ. God the

Father didn't purchase the church with his own blood, only Jesus Christ on the cross shedding his blood.

And here Paul is referring to Jesus Christ as God. In 1

John 3, 16, the apostle John wrote, hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us.

Once again, God the Father did not lay down his life for us. The Holy Spirit did not lie down his life for us.

Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

God laid down his life for us. That means Jesus Christ is God. You can't conclude anything else.

And then later in 1 John 5, 20, we read, we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know him who is true.

We are in him who is true. In his Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life.

Again, declare Jesus Christ is God. Christians are in him that is in God. And this is

Jesus Christ. Jesus too is God. These are direct statements. And there are others, but these are sufficient for our purpose.

Well, aside from direct statements of Scripture to declare Jesus as God, secondly, there are biblical descriptions of Jesus that can only lead to the conclusion that Jesus is

God. And so there are a number of these. First, for example, and we dealt with this when we were in Thessalonians, our study of Thessalonians last summer, and we also addressed it almost two years ago in our study of Colossians.

You'll probably recall it as we talk about it. There are attributes of Jesus that are only true of God, for they are incommunicable attributes.

Does that word sound familiar to you? Ring a bell? That only God can possess.

And so, for example, there are attributes of God that can only be true of God.

Now, there are attributes of God that are also able to be seen in us. Those would be regarded as communicable attributes.

He's able to communicate those to us and through us. We can be holy as God is holy, not to the same degree, but as God is holy, we can be holy.

There are other communicable attributes, but there are some that are incommunicable, and we have four listed on page five of your notes.

First, Jesus is described as eternal. That can only be said of God. When John described seeing the glorified

Lord Jesus, he wrote, And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, but he laid his right hand on me, saying,

Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last. That's the glorified Jesus Christ declaring that he is eternal.

Only God is eternal. Secondly, Jesus is infinite.

Only God can be infinite. Jesus gave to his disciples a great commission to make disciples of all nations.

Jesus said, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Only God can be with his people everywhere, in all places, at all times.

Jesus is God. Because he has the incommunicable attribute of God, he is infinite.

Jesus is omniscient, as only God can be. Matthew 9 .4, But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said,

Why do you think evil in your hearts? He knows everything. He knew people's thoughts. Fourthly, Jesus is omnipotent.

He has all power, all authority. Only God has all power and all authority. And so he said,

He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the truth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

He is sovereign. Philippians 3 .21, It is said of Jesus that he will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able to even subdue all things to himself.

Only God has that ability. And yet it's attributed to Jesus here. Jesus is God. Revelation 1 .18,

Jesus said, I am he who lives, who is dead, who behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.

And I have the keys of Hades and death. Only omnipotent

God has the keys of Hades and death. And so we see the Lord Jesus has those keys.

Jesus Christ is eternal God. And then there are relations that Jesus has with God the

Father that can only lead to the conclusion that Jesus himself is eternal God.

He's the only begotten son of God. He is the very image of God the

Father. In fact, he's described in Hebrews 1 .8 as the express image of God.

You recall the day when the Lord was challenged. Some thought they were going to trip him up, either discredit him in front of the people or discredit him in the eyes of Rome.

Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Show me a coin. Whose image is on that?

Caesar's. Render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, the things that are God's unto

God. That coin had the stamp of Caesar on it. Jesus Christ has the stamp of God on him.

He is the very image, the very representation of God himself. He is the image of God.

And he upholds all things by the word of his power. And then thirdly, there are acts of Jesus Christ that can only be attributed to God.

First of all, he attributes those who are saved as being elected by him, chosen by him.

I know whom I have chosen. Now normally, God the Father is described as the one who elects people unto salvation, but here

Jesus assumes this privilege, this action.

And so one must conclude that Jesus is God. Secondly, Jesus is shown to have known the inner secrets of men's expressed thoughts.

Again, Jesus is God. Jesus hears the prayers of his people. Jesus told his disciples prior to leaving them, if you ask anything in my name,

I will do it. Only God can answer prayer. No mere man can do that.

Jesus Christ is God. And so there are acts that Jesus did. We read he will be the judge of all human beings.

We read in the scripture Jesus creates, as only God can create. Jesus commands things that only

God can command. Jesus forgives sins, and only God can forgive sins.

Jesus sanctifies his people. Only God can sanctify people. And Jesus glorifies his people.

Only God can glorify people. And so these actions attributed to Jesus Christ demonstrate quite clearly that Jesus is indeed

God. And then fourthly, it can be shown that Jesus Christ is God in the manner in which his disciples regarded him.

And so we read through the gospel accounts, for example, Jesus is believed on as God would be believed on.

John 3 .18, he who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten

Son. And so to believe on Jesus is to believe on God. Jesus is loved as they would love

God. If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed. O Lord, come, wrote

Paul. Again, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be damned. And so we see disciples love

Jesus as they love God. Jesus is God. Jesus was to be obeyed as God alone was to be obeyed.

John 17 .5, while they were still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying,

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him, or obey him. We are to obey

Jesus Christ as we would obey God the Father. It was God the Father who was saying, Here is my Son. Obey him.

Jesus Christ is God. Jesus is prayed to as God. Now normally we pray to God the

Father, but it's perfectly proper to pray to Jesus on occasion. And we read of that taking place.

Stephen, as he's being stoned, as he's about to die, he looked up, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

That was a prayer, wasn't he? He was prayed to Jesus as we would pray to God the

Father. And then Jesus Christ is praised as God is praised. Revelation 5 .13,

every creature which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, such as are in the sea, all that are in them, I heard saying,

Blessing, honor, and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.

And so here you see the exalted Lord Jesus as regarded as God and to be worshipped.

Only God is to be worshipped. Jesus Christ is God. And then he's to be adored by his people.

When again, he brings the firstborn into the world, God says, okay, let all the angels of God worship him, referring to Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is to be worshipped. Only God should be worshipped. And so Jesus Christ is indeed

God. And then thirdly, we would argue that Jesus Christ must be

God if he's to save us from our sins. And so it was absolutely necessary for Jesus to be

God. Several reasons for this. Only God can save souls from damnation.

And only God can satisfy the guilt and debt that is owed to God for our sin. And therefore,

God must become man in order to save us from our sins.

Why was it necessary for God to become man? Because the sacrifice or sin that is made must be infinite in value or merit.

Jesus, in his human nature, of course, was without sin, completely undefiled, holy, apart from sinners.

But when he died, what brought infinite worth to that human sacrifice of Jesus, he is also divine.

And therefore, it has infinite worth. Jesus Christ, when he died, of course, died in order to save his people.

The elect that the Father gave him from eternity, Jesus died to save them.

He atoned for their sins. But because Jesus is God, his death on the cross was of sufficient merit.

He could have saved 10 ,000 worlds. Not just his church, not just his people, but the value of his person when he died on the cross is capable, therefore, of an infinite atonement, but it was intended to save his people alone.

Jesus Christ must be God for a finite human being could not have borne the burden of wrath that was heaped upon him for the sacrifice of sin.

Isaac Ambrose wrote, Christ must, therefore, must needs be God, that he might abide the burden and sustain the manhood by his divine power.

It took divine power to enable Jesus Christ to endure what he endured on our behalf.

And then, fourthly, Jesus Christ, we're on page seven now, Jesus Christ must be God for the enemies of our souls were too powerful for us.

He must be God in order to conquer the devil and secure our souls for heaven.

We're not gonna have time, but hopefully you're familiar with all the I am statements, particularly in John's gospel.

When Jesus made the claims, I am the bread of life, I think I've got the list here, maybe on page eight,

I don't know. Yes, on page eight. The series of I am statements when

Jesus said, I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door of the sheep.

I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection of life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the true vine.

Each one of these statements, when it was heard by those listening to him, would have immediately identified and associated

Jesus's words with God revealing himself to Moses at the burning bush.

Moses said, you tell me I'm gonna go save your people. If they asked me, what's your name?

Who am I gonna say you are that you sent me? And God said to him, I am who has sent you.

You tell them I am. And when Jesus sent forth those words, it's put down in our

Greek texts as ego and me, or me ego, I am. There was an identification of Jesus Christ himself with God who was speaking to Moses at the burning bush.

Every one of those I am sayings is a declaration of the deity of Jesus Christ.

And then when the Lord revealed himself to the Jewish leaders, we have to close here shortly, but clearly the

Jewish leaders understood his claim to be God. They accused him of blasphemy.

They knew he was claiming to be the son of God, thereby making himself equal with God. And so they sought to put him to death.

And so repeatedly, Jesus Christ is set forth as God before the Jewish leaders who would have him crucified.

There are other reasons, and they're set forth in your notes. And again, I wanted to be able to provide a resource, not just be able to cover everything here because that's not possible.

But there is such a testimony of Holy Scripture. For anyone to deny the deity of Jesus Christ, you're denying the

Bible. You're denying God's word. It cannot be argued in any way that the

Bible teaches that Jesus is not God. He is the eternal son of God who took upon himself human nature, dwelt among us, and then he died as a sacrifice on that cross, the

God -man, and thereby he secured our salvation. His atonement was of infinite value when he died upon the cross, and therefore he could atone for our sins.

And we would argue, of course, that therefore Jesus Christ is the only Savior of mankind because there is no other

God -man as he is. And again, he ascended into heaven, and he is ruling even now as the son of God over heaven and earth and over history.

And the scriptures teach us that those sinners who humble themselves and turn to him as their

Lord and Savior will be freely and fully forgiven of their sins and granted everlasting life in his presence with his people.

This is a glorious matter, the incarnation, and we celebrate it this

Christmas season, and it's a wonderful and good thing to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ at this time of year, even if he wasn't born at this time of year.

To commemorate and celebrate the incarnation is God -glorifying, and it's reassuring to us too, isn't it?

Amen? Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word, and thank you,

Father, for the many ways in which you reveal your Son to us who came into this world to become one with us in order to save us from our sin.

And we thank you, our Father, for having accomplished in him your design for the human race to share with you in your everlasting kingdom, ruling with your

Son. And so help us, our Lord, to highly appreciate and value this glorious doctrine, and we pray,

Lord, that you would help us to worship Jesus Christ even as we worship you, God our

Father. For we know that when we honor him, we do honor you. For it's in Jesus' name we pray.