The God Man (Part 1)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. The title of this morning's message is The Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ, Part 1. So this is a big subject, to say the least.

The Gospel of John and the Eternal Son

There's no way we could fit it all in one message, so we're not even going to try. But let's start out with the Gospel of John, Chapter 1. So go ahead and turn there. The Gospel of John, Chapter 1. Why begin in the Gospel of John?

Well, because the Gospel of John starts in the beginning. When discussing the life of Jesus, while we understand that Jesus the man, Jesus of Nazareth, he had a beginning when he was born in Bethlehem nearly 2 ,000 years ago.

That's true, but the divine Son of God has no beginning or end. Jesus himself said in Revelation, Chapter 1, Verse 11, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. Most of you probably know that Alpha and Omega are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet.

So Jesus basically is saying, I am the beginning and the end. And we know how the Bible begins, right? In Genesis, Chapter 1. How does it begin? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

And we see something very similar here in John, Chapter 1. Look at Verse 1. In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God. And 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. Skip down to Verse 14. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth.

Let's open in prayer. Our father, we thank you that you have revealed yourself to us in the person of Jesus. Help us to learn from him and his example. Conform us to his image and guide my tongue so that in everything I say, Christ may receive the glory.

It's in his name we pray. Amen. So to begin this message on the life of Christ, we just saw that the son of God had no beginning. He was in the beginning with God. And it says he was God. In the Old Testament scriptures, he visited Abraham and Sarah, announcing to them the birth of Isaac.

He wrestled with Jacob and changed his name to Israel. He appeared to Joshua as the commander of the army of the Lord. And he was the fourth man in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So the first point that I want to make just to establish who Jesus is, our first point is that Jesus is the God man.

Jesus is the God man. Jesus is one person with two natures. This is very important. We know that there's only one God. And within the Godhead, there are three persons, father, son, and spirit. So there is one God and three persons.

Christ is one person with two natures, the human nature and the divine nature. And these two natures are perfectly joined together in what theologians call the hypostatic union. In the Old Testament, the prophets, they predicted the birth of Christ.

In fact, the first promise of the coming Savior is found all the way back in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, where the Lord said to the serpent after he deceived Eve, he said, I will put enmity between you and the woman, in between your seed and her seed.

He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. This is a veiled reference to what happened at the cross. And the seed of the woman is a subtle reference to the virgin birth. OK, so this is how the story of Christ begins as far as his life and then his ministry.

The Annunciation and the Nativity of Jesus

It begins in the New Testament with the annunciation. So if you take notes, you want to write this down. This is the beginning of our outline for the life and ministry of Christ. The annunciation. What is the annunciation?

Well, it is the announcement by the angel Gabriel to a young Jewish woman named Mary, who was a virgin, that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear a son. And he would be called Emmanuel, which being translated, it means God with us.

So the New Testament story of Jesus begins with the annunciation. That's number one. After that, number two is the nativity of Jesus. Of course, we know that Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem, as the prophet Micah predicted.

That's Micah chapter five, verse two. Bethlehem. Why Bethlehem? Well, it was the city of the Old Testament Christ, if you will, the Old Testament anointed one. That is David. So Bethlehem is the city of David.

And of course, David was the great king of Israel. And both Jesus's mother and his stepfather, Joseph, were descendants of King David. You remember that Jesus's birth was attended by a star in the sky.

In Matthew chapter two, verse two, the wise men, when they come, they ask this question. Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.

So the first point was that Jesus, the son of God, had two natures. He is both God and man. And because he is the God man, he is, number two, worthy of worship. Jesus is worthy of worship. Why? Because he's God.

He is God in human flesh. The nativity of Jesus, of course, is the basis for the Christian holiday of Christmas observed on December 25th. But not just that. The year that we live in, 2021, and this has to drive some people crazy that our whole calendar is based on the life and birth of Christ.

But it's 2021. Based on what? Well, it's 2021 AD. AD stands for Anno Domini, which is Latin for in the year of our Lord. So it is 2021 in the year of our Lord that is 2021 years after the birth of Christ.

The Circumcision of Christ and His Early Childhood

Let's turn to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. So after the nativity, after Jesus was born, when eight days were completed, he was circumcised. And this was an important event. Here's why, one reason why it's important.

And this is our third point. Jesus was circumcised according to the law of Moses. Here's the point. Jesus was the only man in history, Jesus was the only man to ever keep the law of God perfectly. He was from his birth without sin.

So we've seen the annunciation, the nativity, the circumcision of Christ as one born under the law. And of course, you know, most people know that there is very little written or known about Jesus as a child.

We know that the holy family had to flee to Egypt to escape persecution, persecution of King Herod, who sought to eliminate any rival, potential rival to the throne. But one thing we are told about Christ as a child is found in Luke 2, verse 40.

Go ahead and look at it. Luke chapter 2, verse 40 says,. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. So we know really nothing about Jesus from the time of his infancy up until age 12.

Apocryphal works of literature have been written trying to fill the gap of this time period, but these works are exactly that. They are apocryphal. That means they're works of fiction. It's mythical. Holy Scripture is silent about the upbringing of Christ.

So here's the fourth point I want to make. Where Scripture is silent, and this applies to so many other things, where Scripture is silent, we must remain silent also. Do not speculate about Jesus. We must go with what the Scripture says about him.

Why is that? Why must we go with Scripture? Well, because the Bible is the most reliable source of history. Let me repeat that. The Bible is the most reliable source of history because in it the God of history gave us his story.

So God the Holy Spirit chose not to reveal anything about Jesus' childhood with this one exception. The Bible does tell us about Jesus at the age of 12. Look at Luke 2 verse 41. We'll start there. It says his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.

And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother did not know it.

You can imagine his mother being a little panicked at this point, I'm sure. But supposing him to have been in the company, there they went a day's journey and sought him among their relatives and acquaintances.

He has to be among the group somewhere. So verse 45, when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him. Now, so it was that after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. So when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said to him, son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously.

And he said to them, why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. They didn't understand. Do we understand the statement?

Notice what Mary says in verse 48. She said, your father and I sought you. But since Joseph was not actually the father of Jesus, Jesus responds. Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?

So this further illustrates our first point. God was his father. Jesus is the unique son of God or the only begotten son of God. And why was Jesus born? We read about him coming to earth, being born. Why did Jesus come to earth?

Jesus Came to Do the Will of His Father

Well, this is point number five. He came to do the will of his heavenly father. And his name really tells us this much. Jesus, the name Jesus literally means Jehovah saves or Jehovah is salvation. When the angel told Joseph what to name him, he said, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

That's why he came. That's what his name means. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com.

We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.