Who Is Jesus Christ?: Part 1

Speak to you this morning on who is Jesus Christ, who is Jesus Christ. I was going to title it different. I was asking Ben about that. I said, Ben, you got any thoughts on this? And he said, he said a good title would be who is Jesus Christ.

I said, wow, I'm going to use it. So I'm giving Ben, he's not here, he can't hear, but I'm giving him the credit for that. I appreciate his input. Seems to be simple, but I think that is really the most important question that we can ask.

And most of the most important question, how we answer that is critical of eternal life and eternal death of the consequences of that. And do we believe who Jesus Christ really is? Well, the Bible is God's written word, right?

God's revelation. And it's all about Jesus Christ. He even proved that after his resurrection on the road of Emmaus with the disciples as he took them through the word of God, the written word. Here is the living word taken the disciples, those two disciples through the written word, all about himself through the prophets and the Psalms and all the way and so forth.

But it's about Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ gives us an all important question, doesn't he? It's about who he is. Before I continue, let's pray. Let's pray. Our father and our God, we thank you and we praise you.

And our desire is that your son had the preeminence and everything, Lord, and everything. Thank you for your eternal word, the living word, your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom you will pleased. Lord, as in these last days, he's spoken to us by your son, by your son, whom he has appointed.

You have appointed heir of all things to whom he made the worlds. Lord, our prayer this morning is Lord, speak, Lord, speak for that servant. Here's give us ears to hear and eyes to see, to hear Jesus Christ and to see Jesus Christ.

In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Well, John, the apostle actually begins with last Lord's Day. We had a introduction. So, John, the apostle begins his gospel by speaking about the word, the eternal word. And it's all about the eternal word to our understanding.

And by definition, by definition, a word is a unit of a speech by which we express ourselves to others. A word is a unit of speech by which we express ourselves to others. But John, the apostle is not writing about speech, he's not writing about speech, even though Jesus Christ has spoken.

God has spoken through Jesus Christ. But actually, it is all about the person of Jesus Christ, the personhood of Christ, who he is. That person is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. I love what J .C. Rowell says.

We cannot hear enough about Jesus Christ. We cannot hear enough about Jesus Christ. We, I desire more and more about Jesus Christ and going through the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke. And here we are going through John.

We haven't gone through the others, but all that's four eyewitnesses about this one great person. And God, think of this, God has fully expressed himself to us, the holy God and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He has done that and he's done it by coming into the world and was made flesh, made flesh. Jesus Christ has perfectly revealed to us what God is like, who God is. He is the express image of God. Jesus Christ is.

If we want to know how, how and what God is like, we look at Jesus Christ, don't we? We look at the record and I don't know about you. That's why the gospels stand out as all important, because if we really want to know what God is like and who God is, it's all in Jesus.

It's all in Jesus for he is again, like I said, the image, the express image of the invisible God. He's the firstborn of over all creation. So again, this question should ring and ring. We should ask people this question.

And who is Jesus Christ? Who is he? Well, before we unpack and by God's help, what John unpacks of who Jesus is and he does internally, Matthew's gospel chapter 16. Go with me very quickly. The Matthew's gospel 16 and that's it.

Verse 16 is key, isn't it? We're going to verse 16, but I would like to begin with verse 13 right there of this journey. When Jesus, scripture says, and let me turn there very quickly. And this is critical because even though this is in Matthew, I was thinking about this in my study and devotional time as I was studying this, it's like the synoptic gospels, the synoptic gospels basically bring out the confessions.

And here we, John, notice John does not record this. What John does record is he basically goes to the heart, the internal witness of who Jesus is. But here we have the outward confession. And it's probably the most important confession.

This is the church's greatest confession, beginning with verse 13 and chapter 16. Notice when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, and this is a very pivotal point in the ministry of Jesus Christ saying, and he begins by asking, who do men say that I, the son of man am?

Who do men say that? And they answered, they said, some say John the Baptist. John the Baptist was actually first and foremost in what people were saying, who Jesus is. Then some Elijah, Elijah is very similar to John the Baptist, is a fiery, powerful prophet of God.

And others, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. So Jesus, when they say, how is Jesus like? Say, who is he? That was the answer. That was the answer. Or then they said, one of the prophets. And then in verse 15, it's really personal.

Notice what he says. He says to them, but who do you say that I am? He gets right to the heart of the matter, doesn't he? He gets very personal. Who do you say that I am? Now, you've already heard, and he begins by asking, who do men say that I am?

And he did that on purpose. He brings it to a personal point. Simon Peter, immediately, here's the head apostle, speaks out, answered and said, and this is the revelation. This is the confession of the church.

You are the Christ, the son of the living God. You are the Christ, the son of the living God. And you know what Jesus answered? He answered and said to them, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not, here's the key word, not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

Now, it goes on. He speaks about your Peter and on this rock, I will build my church and so forth, which is so critical. But I want to stop right there because that is the critical question. That is the critical answer.

And that's the right answer. It's not, when you think of it, the answer that was given was not something that Peter thought of. It wasn't. It was the revelation from the father. This is my son. You are the Christ, the anointed one.

You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, what does that have to do with John? Everything. Because that's the confession. Now, John literally, beginning with John 1, John will unpack that answer to us.

He unpacks it to us. The great confession of the church. So the apostle John gives us who that answer is, who is Jesus Christ internally from heaven as an evangelist. And I heard MacArthur speak about this in his sermon on this.

And I love what he said. John the apostle has given us like a evangelistic track of who Jesus is, who he is and how he brings salvation. That's a very good way to look at it. So here, here, God's word in chapter one verse, I want to just read verse one through five, and we're going to look at this in the next several weeks.

He says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God and all things were made through him. And without him, nothing was made that was made.

And him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. Another translation, we did not overpower it, did not overpower it. So Jesus Christ is the living, the eternal word is actually from the apostle John and the apostle John is the first witness to that.

There are several witnesses and we will look at these witnesses of answering this great question and what the scripture gives to us about who Jesus Christ is in this great passage we have before us. And by the way, it's one of the great summits of Holy Scripture.

In fact, in fact, I would say is probably reaches to the highest of human thought of who Jesus is. And I would even be apt to say that it goes beyond the highest of human thought. There is something so high about the person of Jesus Christ and think of it.

I've already mentioned this last Lord's Day as we were looking at the introduction that Jesus Christ is a one of a kind, unique person like no one else. No one else was ever born of a virgin birth. And we know the reason for the virgin birth.

I mean, he entered into this world without the Adamic nature. He had to enter into time. The one that was timeless and eternal came into time. He entered into it and he had to do it without the Adamic nature and how God knew exactly how to do that.

And Mary was conceived this holy thing that was that she was conceived of was none other than the son of God conceived by the Holy Spirit, the spirit of God supernaturally did this. So that's the purpose of the of the virgin birth is that Jesus would come into this world without the Adamic nature.

He did not have the Adamic nature within him. So here's another question. What is the very thought that reaches the highest height of human concepts? What is that thought? And of course, you know where the answer, what is the answer is?

The answer is this. Jesus Christ is the son of the living God, son of the living God. He is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, fully man, fully God, not half man, not half God, not 50 50, but he was 100 100.

He was fully man, fully God, fully human, fully deity, fully divine. As the great creed said, very God, a very God, very man, a very man. Unique, no one like him. He is the living word of God. He is the creator of all life.

We will look more into that as we go through these scriptures. He's the creator of all life. Time, space, matter exists because of him. He is the very being. He is the very source and he is the very essence of life.

My outline today will consist of three things. And there's one we're not going to spend much time on. It's very obvious that he is this. But number one, he is preexistent. Number two, he is coexistent.

Number three, he's self-existent, preexistent, coexistent, self-existent. Those are the three great truths. It has to be the deepest, the highest of all human thought of who Jesus Christ is. And we must do everything we can to understand our meaning.

But let me say this off the offset, beloved, is as hard as we try, our brains and our thoughts will fizzle out somewhere. We must have the Holy Spirit of God to help us and reveal to us through the pages of Scripture of who Jesus is.

I like what John Owen said. John Owen, the great Puritan theologian said, what good is the Bible unless we have the Holy Spirit? Without the Holy Spirit, the Bible will be nothing but a dead letter. But the Spirit of God gives life to it and breathes upon it.

It's a living as Brother Keith mentioned about what Luther says. It's alive. It's quick. It's powerful. It comes after us. It pierces us. There's nothing like it. It has the power to even change the most depraved person on this earth.

It's really awesome. So the height, the depth, the width must have the Spirit of the living God to illumine us to our little finite, feeble minds. And I say that in all honesty because our minds are finite and feeble.

We must have the Spirit of God to help us. And that's why I love 1 Corinthians 2 .10. The Apostle Paul says this, but God has, here's this word revealed again, revealed them to us through His Spirit, these great things of God.

And he's speaking of, I has not seen, heard, has entered into the heart of man those things which God has prepared for them that love Him. Now, and then he reveals about all these things and that revelation comes to us through the Spirit of God.

And he says, for the Spirit searches, listen to that, the Spirit searches all things, not some things, all things. Yes, the deep things of God. And I'm telling you, nothing's more deeper than the person of Jesus Christ.

So we need the Holy Spirit to help us as we take this journey. Well, that's pretty much my introduction. So when it comes to the person of Jesus Christ, we are diving into the deepest of waters. John the Apostle doesn't begin, as you, as we've noticed before, if we said before that with the human birth of Jesus Christ, as the other gospel writers do, but he begins with the beginning, the beginning.

And in part one today, we will look at first at who Jesus Christ is from verse one and two, as I said, that He is the eternal living word. So we will look today at His pre-existence, His coexistence, His self-existence.

Lord willing, we will look next Lord's day from verse three and look at Jesus Christ as the creator of all things. That is a sermon in of itself, that Jesus Christ is creator. And in the following week, Lord willing, we will look at verses four and five, the life that Jesus Christ is life and Jesus Christ is light.

He's the very source of all life. But today let's begin. The first point is He is pre-existent. He is pre-existent, pre-existent. He begins by saying this, in the beginning was the word. Let's stop right there.

In the beginning was the word. This is the Apostle John's message. This is the Apostle, not Paul, I'm sorry, John's message. John's message is in the beginning was the word. Let's ask the question, what is the beginning?

What is the beginning? Genesis one, gives us that answer, right? In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. But we could stop right there in the beginning. God, He is the beginning.

Jesus himself said in Revelation, I am the alpha, the Greek alphabet, the alpha and the omega. I am the beginning. I am the end. He is the beginning. There is no origin within. He created the heavens, He created the earth, He is the creator, as we will look, Lord willing, at that.

In the beginning was the word. So what's so significant about that? Well, it's very significant because the answer to that is that the word was already existing. He already existed before creation. Pre-existing, pre-existing, that is to say, in simple terms, the word, who is none other than Jesus Christ, the living word, the son of God was already in existence.

When God created everything, when he created the world, the space, the universe, Jesus Christ was there. He was the word. He is the word. He was with God. He was God. He did not have a beginning. This is what John is saying.

Just as God, he is proving through this text that Jesus Christ is God. And isn't it interesting that this is what all the cults deny? This doctrine here is under attack. And I got this excerpt from John MacArthur and he says, quote unquote, evangelical churches of our day.

One third says and does not believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And you know what he said? He said, that's just not a false statement. That's heretical. That's heresy. There's no way a person can be a Christian or evangelical Christian, which that term is being loosely tossed about.

There is no way anyone can be a true Christian that denies that Jesus Christ is God in flesh. He's the son of the living God. That's the confession of the church. And I'm telling you, this doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ is under great attack, folks, and Satan is very cunning and filtrating and blinding people and deceiving people of who Jesus is.

It's sad, but this is very true and it's very real. And Satan is very real. And he's deceiving millions of people about who Jesus is. In religion, the Christianity is not religion, it's true religion, pure religion, undefiled, but it's not the religious denominations in which I'm as Ravenhill would say, but abominations that exist.

But Jesus Christ himself did not have a beginning. He is the beginning. He existed from all eternity past. Present future. He never was created. He never had a beginning. Now he entered into time and had a birth, but but he existed before that.

He had no beginning, and this is what John is saying, Jesus is the preexistent one. Coexistent, self-existent, he's fully God, he's fully the son of God. God has no origin. As one of the early church fathers says, God has no origin and Jesus Christ is God.

He's the son of God, he is the second person of the Godhead and origin is a word that only can apply to created things. God has. No origin, it seemed like my children were growing up and that's one of the very first questions that they came to me about, where did God come from?

And that's a marvelous question. I love the way children just come at you and here I was, a father, and I said, wow, what a loaded question. And all I could tell him, I said, he has no beginning, he has no ending, he is the beginning, he is the ending.

Time even began with him. He is the eternal God and it's like children just looking at me and I've explained that the best on their level and they look at me, wow, how can that be? I don't know, but he's God and he's none other than God and that's why he's God.

He's the everlasting God. Are there scriptures that speak about this? Oh, absolutely. It's all, I'm going to give you a few scriptures through John, just John's gospel and a few from others. But listen to the word of God as we speak about the pre-existence of God.

John 17, 5, Jesus is praying here to the Father. In John 17, 5, he says, And now, O Father, glorify me together. Listen to what he says. With yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

Now, can I say this? This passage in this scripture alone is sufficient to show that the scriptures support the pre-existence of Jesus. But there are many, many other scriptures. But I love that Jesus is praying.

He speaks about, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. But it was just one of many scriptures and Jesus himself explicitly taught his own pre-existence.

And this is why I begin by the words of Jesus, because all authority and power is in his words. Listen to what he says, which gives tremendous weight and authority to this great doctrine. In John 3, 13, Jesus says to Nicodemus, No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the son of man who is in heaven.

John 6, 33,. For the bread of God is he who comes down. Notice what he says. He comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. John 6, 38,. For I have come down. Notice that term again comes down.

He come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me, the father sent the son. John 6, 62. And he gives a question here. What then if you should see the son of man ascend where he was before?

Where he was before? John 8, 23,. And he said to them and he's speaking to the Jews, You are from beneath. And that doesn't mean hell. That means earth. You are from beneath. You're from this earth. But I'm from above.

I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I am not of this world. John 16, 28. Again, Jesus says, I come forth from the father. I have come into the world again. I leave the world and go to the father.

Very, very clear of his mission that the father sent him to do the father's will. Jesus even said in John 8, 58, 59. This is this is pivotal, folks, of his character and who he is and his claims. Jesus even said that he existed prior to Abraham's birth.

And notice how they react about this. Jesus said to them, most assuredly, most assuredly, some translations. We know what it says. Amen and amen. He's given an amen and amen before he says this statement.

Verily, verily, truly, truly, I say to you, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. What was the response? Verse 59,. Then they took up stones to throw at him, thought he was a lunatic, blasphemy.

But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. He was in the temple. He went out of the temple going through the midst of them. So he passed by. It was a miracle that he escaped, actually, and miraculously did so because, according to Leviticus 24, 16, the Jews knew exactly what to do to stone him to death for his claim being equal with God.

Because they thought that his claims was blasphemy. Who is a man like this to say he's even equal with God? He is equal with God. That's the truth. That was his claims. He is the son of the living God.

They didn't know that. They were blind to it. And Paul basically brings that out in 1 Corinthians. If they really knew who he was, they would have never crucified him. But it was in God's plan that they would reject him and put him to death and hand him over and put on the cross.

It was in God's plan and his sovereign plan. And isn't it amazing the sovereignty of God, folks, in this? Satan was doing everything he can to stop him. But Satan played right into the hook and took the bait.

Jesus escaped miraculously because, according to the scriptures of the sovereign timetable of God, his time had not really had come right on the Passover. So that was in God's sovereign timetable. But Jesus is truly divine.

Romans 8, 3, 8, 3, the Apostle Paul now, for what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh. Notice what he says. God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, in the likeness of sinful flesh on the account of sin.

That's why he condemned sin in the flesh. He condemned it. Powerful, powerful verse. And here's one that ties right into John 1, 1. And it's the same apostle that speaks in his first epistle, not the gospel, but the first epistle, John 1, 1 and 2.

That which was from the beginning, that which we, notice how he says we, speaking of other witnesses, other apostles, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life.

Verse two, the life was manifested. The life was manifested, speaking of Jesus Christ. And we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that that eternal life, which was with the father, notice what he says, with the father and was manifested to us.

Great statement, great statement. Paul says Galatians 1, 17, and he is before all things and in him all things consist, all things, all things. He is preexistent. He is God in flesh, the second person of the Trinity, the Alpha and the Omega, the Logos.

He is the word, the Logos. That's the Greek word. He was there before creation. He was there before time. He was there before everything, anything before darkness, before light, before stars, before anything.

Jesus Christ was with the father in the beginning, in the beginning. And by the way, that does not mean from the beginning, does it? It does not mean from the beginning, in the beginning. And Genesis 1, 1 says, God, he is the beginning.

Jesus Christ was already there with the father, the Holy Spirit. He did not become he was not created, as the cults say. He never had a beginning. He is the beginning. He is the beginning with God. That's the record, folks.

This is what John is beginning with. The word was and the word here actually in the Greek is in perfect tense. It actually means which is the word is so often used for deity in the Greek. And it literally means to be or it means I am.

And the perfect imperfect tense. I'm sorry. So to to mean continuous existence without beginning, without origin, he just is and he was God. How do you explain that? That's what I'm saying. We need the Holy Spirit to help us here, folks, because really it brings us to a place of worship when we see the person of Jesus Christ and his glory and who he really is.

Psalm 90, verse two, before the mountains, Moses is his before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting. You are God. Jesus Christ is that word of God, the second person of the Trinity that was there with the father.

Here's another one I love, and this can be actually the testimony, perhaps of the son of God himself, who is God and yet divine deity is what you're speaking of. Turn with me very quickly to Proverbs.

Look at chapter eight, Proverbs eight. This is a wonderful passage here that I like for us to look at. And we can actually say this can be the the testimony of who Jesus is. Notice what the Proverbs says here, beginning with verse 22.

I like to read to verse 31. The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way before his works of old. I have been established from everlasting from the beginning before there was ever an earth when there was no depth.

I was brought forth when there were no fountains abounding with water before the mountains were settled before the hills. I was brought forth while as yet he had not made the earth or the fields or the primal dust of the war of the world.

When he prepared the heavens, I was there. Notice that when he prepared the heavens, I was there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit so that the waters would not transgress his command.

And when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him as a master craftsman. Jesus speaks of Jesus. And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in his inhabited world.

And my delight was with the sons of men. I really believe that can be a commentary of Jesus Christ with the father. So he is preexistent. There's another passage you can turn with me. And this is a very familiar one.

We heard it preached on Christmas many times and and even at Easter. But it's a great passage from Philippians chapter two. I don't want to read all of it. But verse six, seven and eight speaks of Jesus, who Paul says who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond slave.

That's so humbling. His brother Keith spoke about this morning about being the servant. We're talking about the servant of service here. We're talking about God and flesh that kneeled down before his creatures and washed their feet.

Amazing, isn't it? He made himself of no reputation. That was my choice in love that he did such a thing. And then most of all, to die on a cruel cross on account of sin, taking the form, taking the form.

Listen to that. The form of a bond slave and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

And if you notice, there's there's actually a stages that Paul, the apostle by the Holy Spirit, brings to he enters into time, he begins at his lowly birth and then goes to the to the deepest of humility of all humility is humiliated on the cross.

And but yet then it says, God, the father has highly exalted him above all, giving him a name above all names. And he speaks about that every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is God is is to the glory of God, the father.

Now, I want you to think about that, that that's a great, great reality that's going to happen every day. Yes. Every knee, every angel in heaven, every being that ever existed, whether they be saved or unsaved and all those in hell.

Think of this all creation and all that God created, all angels, all beings that ever existed, millions and billions and even fallen angels. Folks. We'll bow the knee to Jesus Christ, we'll bow the knee, that's how great of a person he is.

He is God in flesh. So the great testimony of the apostle John is that Jesus Christ was the word, the logos. Right. And the one who had always existed before time, before the foundation of the world, he was and is the son of the living God.

He is and was preexistent, preexistent, was preexistent. Next is his coexistence, his coexistence. We read again in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, with God. Jesus was actually face to face with God, the father forever and ever.

The word with, again in the original Greek, has the idea both of being with and acting towards. That's interesting, isn't it? Being with and acting toward. Acting toward. He's with the father and yet he's acting toward the father.

So Jesus Christ, the word, the logos, was both with God, acting with God. He was with God and is God. The second person of the trinity. There's a great mystery within this. And like I said, we can't truly explain the trinity, but we know that the trinity exists because I like what Tozer said, there's a mystery within it.

And he says, but no one can explain a mystery of who God is. If he could be explained, he would not be God. So the element of mystery exists and it always will exist. Even once we get to heaven, we will not have God figure it out.

Now we will be glorified in a state far greater than we would know much more of what we know now. But those are the things that even the saints and the angels and no one knows of the true personhood of who God is and the father, the son and the spirit.

Three persons, but one God. And we're going to look at that. He was with God by God's side. He's acting by God's side. He lives by God's side and the deepest and the most intimate, closest relationship and the closest, deepest communion and fellowship and connection with the father.

He was with God. And by the way, there's a perfect bond there with the father, a perfect bond. John, Jesus, it says this in John chapter 10, verse 30, I and the father are one, one with the father. I and the father are one.

Now, let me say this. There are modelists, modalists out there that basically the one is Pentecostals that believe that. And I've ran across people like this. And by the way, I was listening to MacArthur on this as well.

And he says there's over 25 billion of these people that believe this and are in the United States. Twenty five million. Think of that. Twenty five million people that's confused and deceived about denying the Trinity.

And this basically the modalists basically believe that Jesus, all they believe that just in one God, that he acts like the father, he acts like the son and he acts like the spirit. And they take the scripture.

I was sharing this with Brother Keith before our service started today that they basically believe that the father, I'm sorry, that Jesus is the father. Jesus is the son and Jesus is the Holy Ghost. The second is true, but he's not the father and he's not the Holy Spirit.

He's the son. And they take that one scripture out of context and they even use this. But when Philip comes to Jesus in John 14 and he says, show us the father. And Jesus says, Philip, I've been so long with you.

You haven't seen me. So what he's saying, I'm not the father. But they take that out of context, saying he is the father. But what he's saying, he's emphasizing, as John's emphasizing right here is his deity, that he's God.

See, he's one guy. He's the he is. He was with the father. He came from the father. He came down from the father. And he's the son. But what the model is, say, is that he's the father, the son and the spirit all in one.

Grossly confused. I've talked to many of these people, they are so. And by the way, anytime you see a lot of the apostolic churches by name, the oneness of Pentecostals, they believe this. They believe this.

They will not. They will not pray to the father through Jesus and Jesus name. They basically that you will hear them pray, but they pray to Jesus as he is the father, the son and the spirit, always pointing to the baptism of Jesus.

Boy, they get upset when you go there. I'm telling you, but it's the truth. You just can't take one scripture and just throw it out of context. And you got to understand by by God's Holy Spirit what that context is actually saying.

But there's a lot of modelists that believe this. Jesus is one with the father, though. There's one God in three persons, right? Jesus did not claim to be merely a messenger from God, as the cults say.

Or did he just say his claims of a prophet of God? No. That that was actually John the Baptist. He was the prophet of God. Last of the Old Testament. But Jesus is more than a prophet. He was in the beginning with God.

That's the testimony of the Apostle John that Jesus Christ was the word, the logos who had always existed with God. And he is God. He is God. He's preexistent. He's coexistent. He's self-existent, self-existent.

Basically, I don't want to spend too much time here, but that's obvious. He needs no one to hold him up or wherever he comes from. He's he's self-existent. And wherever he comes from, that's our mind.