Pastor Jeff emphasizes the importance of understanding the true identity of Jesus Christ as God, eternal, and the Creator of all things in his sermon. He highlights that Jesus is not only the source of life but also the light that dispels darkness, urging listeners to grasp the significance of believing in the biblical Jesus rather than a misconstrued version. Throughout the message, Pastor Jeff reinforces two main truths: that all authority lies in Jesus as the God-man and that fidelity to His identity is crucial for genuine faith. He calls on everyone to embrace Jesus Christ fully, inviting those who haven't yet done so to accept His life-giving gift.
Sermon Transcript
Brave campuses who are worshiping with us today. So great to have all of you. As a reminder, this Tuesday is the first Tuesday of the month so we'll gather on all of our campuses and online from 6:30 to 8. Want to invite you if you ever want to know what makes Brave tick. It's our first Tuesday prayer meeting so invite you all to come out to that.
Couple other quick announcements for you. Last week I announced our Men's Warrior Summit on February 1st with a special pricing for the week because we had some Internet issues and some different things and because some of you weren't here last week and you didn't get to hear we had nearly 1,000 men already sign up. I'm giving you one extra week to sign up for this at the regular rate. So you have til Saturday night at midnight. If you say, well I already signed up early.
Hey, good for you. Way to go. Proud of you. This is an opportunity for you to grab other men and invite them to come too. Let's pack this place.
Let's make it a great time. So there's that. And then I just want to thank you on behalf of all of our elders for for being such a generous church. Generosity is what comes from within. Because of your love for Jesus, Brave Church has always been a generous church, given greatly to the Lord.
You've done the same this year. Just want to encourage you as we finish the year strong as the Lord prompts you for resources. We would love you to be as generous as you can to the Lord Jesus Christ for us to finish the year strong. But that's a great thank you to you. Can we give God praise for the generosity of Brave Church?
Thank you very much. And with that let's go before the Lord in prayer and get ready to hear his living and his active word among us. Would you pray with me? Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for the gift of your son Jesus Christ, his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. We thank you for the new life he gives all who repent and by faith believe in him.
We thank you for the Holy Spirit who indwells all of us who believe. Father, I pray that during this series that we're beginning today that you would have your way with us, that you would give us a clearer picture as to who you are and what you want to accomplish in and through us. And Lord, we give you the praise because Lord, we as a people believe that every time your word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed that you are speaking. So our prayer this morning is Speak, Lord, for we are ready to hear. And so now for all those who have gathered, who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ, speak directly to you, who will believe what he shares with you, and who will, by faith, put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word Amen.
Amen. This morning, I want to talk to you about Jesus Christ.
That's what I want to talk about.
As we're beginning this new series called the Only God. We're going to take a look at all three persons of the Trinity, but I want to talk specifically about the person and work of Jesus in this season as we're heading into Christmas, because it's so important that we know who he is. Not every single person that says, I believe in Jesus, believe, believes in the Jesus of the Bible. Not everybody that points to the heavens after they hit a home run or score a touchdown believes in the Jesus of the Bible. Not everybody that says, I believe in Jesus believes in the Jesus of the Bible.
And so we live in a day and age where we talk a lot about identity theft, where people can take your Social Security number or bank routing number and pretend that they're you, they can take your id. But I think often what happens in church is a different kind of identity theft, where we create God in our own image and we want Jesus to be who we want him to be. And oftentimes we come to church wondering, if God's willing to do good stuff for me, then I'll believe in him, but if he's not, I won't. And I think that misses the mark on what God wants to reveal to us. God wants to reveal who he is.
And that's enough. If you truly know the biblical revelation of Jesus, that's enough. As a matter of fact, the Bible makes it so clear that it's enough that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow one day in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So it's really important that we know when we say, I believe in Jesus, or we hear somebody say, I believe in Jesus. Who are you talking about?
What do you mean when you say Jesus Christ? And the Bible is going to reveal to us who he is. And it's important for us to know that so that when we talk about our own personal testimony of we believe in Jesus? What are we actually saying when we say we believe in Jesus? And so throughout this series, we're gonna take a look at the person and work of Jesus.
We're gonna take a look at the person of the Holy Spirit. We're gonna take a look at the fatherhood of God and who he is and how they all make one essence and they're three distinct persons. Because you need to understand that everything rises and falls on who we say that God is. And so today, we're starting with the person of Jesus and who he is. And so I invite you to open up your Bible to John, chapter one.
John, chapter one, verses one through five. And as we unpack those five verses, I'm going to give you five truths about Jesus Christ today and who he is that you can understand, that you can know what the Bible reveals. And let me just lay my cards on the table. From the beginning, I'm getting all my information from God's Word. My presupposition is that the Word of God is true.
The Word proclaims the Word is true. Jesus proclaims the Word is true. History has demonstrated that the Word is true. Personal testimony has shown me that the the Word is true. So I'm going with biblical revelation as to who Jesus is.
That is my presupposition. And that's why we're starting in the Scripture to see what the scripture reveals about this man, this God man, Jesus Christ. So hear the word of the Lord with me this morning from John, chapter one. In the first five verses, it 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. All things came into being through him. And apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
And here, nestled in these five short verses are so many truths about the person of the God man, Jesus Christ, and who he is. And if we're going to say we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we need to know who he is. If we're going to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others who don't believe, we need to know who it is that we're sharing. If we're talking to people about their faith in Jesus Christ, we need to say, do you understand how the Bible reveals who Jesus Christ is? And so let me give you five truths about Jesus Christ from His Word today.
Now understand, as we go through this understanding of Christology and the study of the person of Jesus Christ, we're just going to be scratching the surface even as we do this because we could spend weeks, even months talking about all the depths of who he is. But we're going to give you enough so that you know how to walk out your faith in the Lord. Let me give you the first truth. This may not seem like a hard truth to some of you, but it is a certain truth that many people that say they believe in Jesus don't believe. And that is this.
Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is God. That means he's always been God. He is God presently and he will always be God. That's what it means to be God.
Notice what it says. He says, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now why would they use this Word Word? In the Greek it's Logos. And the word Logos to a Greek meant this.
It meant the medium through whom God created the world and communicated with his creation. That's who the Logos was. The Greeks didn't know who the Logos was, but they knew that's what the Logos was. The Jews believed that the Logos means that it was through that which God created the cosmos. So whoever created the cosmos, whoever created the universe, that is the Logos.
And here's what we get in verse one. In the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was with God and the Logos was God. We're gonna get down to verse 14 later where it says the Word, this Logos became flesh and made his dwelling. Among this Logos is the Lord Jesus Christ. And this Logos was in the beginning.
That means before anything was ever created. Where was this Logos? Where was this Word? Where is Jesus? Before anything, he's God.
In order to exist before the beginning of anything makes you God. If you want to put God on your resume, here's one of the requirements that you've always been and you've always been self sustaining. In the beginning, that means at the beginning of before anything, God. Genesis 1:1 says, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Before anything was created, God existed.
What is John saying? In the beginning was the Word, the Logos, the Creator, the one that was communicating. And the Word was with God. So he's having fellowship with God. And the Word was God, so he is God.
Make no mistake about it, Jesus Christ is God. This is not a open handed issue. This is not like how you view spiritual gifts or women in ministry or any other different thing. This is you don't believe Jesus is God. You don't have a relationship with God like Jesus Christ is and has always been and will always be.
In the beginning Was the Word before anything existed. He's God, and the Word was with God. They were having fellowship together, and the Word was God. Amen. Let me give you some other texts that will highlight the fact that Jesus is indeed God.
Because people say, well, the Bible nowhere says Jesus never claimed to be God. But let's look at some of the Scriptures and what was actually claimed and how people understood Jesus. In John chapter five, if you just turn a couple chapters over, you can see in verse 17, Jesus said, My Father is working until now, and I myself am working. And notice how the Jews responded, Verse 18. For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him.
Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. The Jews understood this Every time Jesus went out, he was speaking authoritatively and he was speaking of the fact that God is my f. And if you've seen me, you've seen my Father, because my Father and I are one. We're of the same essence. If you've seen me, you've seen God.
Why did the Jews want to kill Jesus? For blasphemy. What was his blasphemy? Because he, a mere man, was claiming to be God. The reason Jesus was crucified is because he, a mere man, was claiming to be God.
Now why was he claiming to be God? Because Jesus Christ is God. And he never apologized for it. He never said, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. You guys are misunderstanding me.
Or how about In John chapter 10? In John, chapter 10, starting in verse 30, he says, I and the Father are one. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. And Jesus answered and said, I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you stoning me?
The Jews answered him, for a good work. We do not stone you, but for blasphemy. Because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God. And that's what Jesus said. He even ends that section in verse 38 by saying, Understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.
We're one. Even when Jesus said he was the Way, the truth, and the life, and he's talking to his disciples. In John chapter 14, Jesus said, if you had known me, you would have known also known my Father. From now on, you know him and have seen him. And Philip says to Jesus, the night he was betrayed, lord, show us the Father, and that's enough.
Just show us. And Jesus said to him, have I been with you so Long. And yet you have not come to know me, Philip. He who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father.
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves. Everywhere Jesus went, he said, if you see me, you see my dad.
I and the Father are one. I only do what I see my Father doing. He was claiming that he was God. Remember in Mark chapter two, when they brought this paralyzed man to Jesus, these four men lowered him down on a mat while Jesus was preaching and teaching in the house. And what does Jesus immediately say?
He sees their faith. He looks at the man that's paralyzed, and what does he say? Son, your sins are forgiven. And all the religious elite of the day are saying, whoa, whoa, what's he saying? Only God can forgive sins.
He's blaspheming. He's saying that he's God. And Jesus says, is that what you're talking about? But so you know that the Son of Man has the ability to forgive sins. In other words, so you know that I'm God.
He says to the man, pick up your mat and walk. And the man picks up his mat and walks. He's demonstrating, I can heal. I can do everything. I can even forgive sins.
You know why? Because Jesus Christ is God. That's who he is. We see this all throughout his earthly ministry, everywhere we go, even after he ascends, as the writer of Hebrews writes. He speaks on behalf of the Father, speaking of his Son in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 8.
But of the Son, he says, the Father speaking, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. The Father speaks of the Son as God. The Father speaks of his Son as God. It's really interesting that when Thomas, the one who doubted Jesus resurrection, even after he'd been told by the women and all the disciples, said, unless I put my hands in his hand, unless I reach out and touch his side, I won't believe.
And a week later, Jesus appeared through the wall, and Thomas was there. And Jesus said, reach out and touch my hands. Put your hand in my side. Stop doubting and believe. And Thomas did that.
And when he does, what does Thomas say? My Lord and my God. Why? Because Jesus Christ is God. He didn't become a God.
He's always been God. There's never a time where Jesus Christ did not exist as the second person of the Trinity. Jesus even asked throughout many different scriptures to pray in his name. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it will be given to you. Can you imagine the blasphemy and arrogance for a human being to say that today?
For the blasphemy and the arrogance of a pastor to say, pray to God in my name, and he will do it. But everywhere Jesus went, he said, if you want your prayers answered, pray through me. And why? Because there's one mediator between God and man, and that's the man, Jesus Christ, because he's God. How about other places?
The Bible tells us that we're only to worship God. As a matter of fact, In Revelation, chapter 19 and verse 10, when John fell down to worship one, it says, then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, do not do that. I'm a fellow servant of yours. And your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus worship God.
You're to worship the Lord your God and serve him only. You're not to worship anyone else. We can thank God for blessings, but our worship and our allegiance and our trust is only reserved for God. And yet, all throughout the ministry of Jesus, people worshiped him from the time he was born until the time that he died. Remember in Matthew, chapter 2 and verse 11, after the wise men came into the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they fell to the ground and worshiped him.
And when the wise men worship Jesus, you don't hear Joseph and Mary saying, don't do that. He's just a baby. They allow the worship to happen. Why? Because they know that the one in the manger is God's one and only son.
Or how about when the disciples were on the boat in that furious squall? They said, jesus, do you not care if we drown? Why are you sleeping? Jesus gets up and rebukes the winds and the waves says, be still. And when they saw that the winds and the waves had been calmed, they said, even the winds and the waves obeyed him.
And they what? They worshiped him? And Jesus doesn't say, no, no, no, no, no. It's just a magic trick. Don't worship me.
I'm not. He receives the worship. Worship is reserved for God and for God alone. Or how about after the resurrection, when the women are there and they reach out and see that he's him and they worship him. Or even during his earthly ministry.
In John chapter nine, when he heals the blind man who had no clue who Jesus Christ was, but he understood that whoever he was, he needed to be powerful. And In John chapter 9, starting in verse 35, Jesus asked the man, do you believe in the Son of man? And the blind guy said, who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? And Jesus said to him, you have both seen him and he is the one who is talking with you. And he said, lord, I believe.
And he worshiped him. To worship means that you give your allegiance to. That's why throughout the Gospel of John there are seven I am statements. I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world.
I am the door, the good shepherd. I am the resurrection of the life. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the true vine. What was he saying?
I'm God and I hold all the answers. That's who I am. So to say I believe in Jesus, I just don't believe he's God is to not believe in the Jesus of the Bible. It's to believe in the Jesus that you've made up in your own head. Not everyone that says I believe in Jesus believes in the Jesus through which the Bible reveals.
And it's important that we understand that because when we're sharing the Gospel, we're sharing Jesus Christ as Lord. Amen. Even when the apostle Paul preached in Second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5, here's how he preached, he said this. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as bondservants. For your sake, friends, this is not an open handed issue.
This is not. I don't know if I believe Jesus is Lord. I believe he's a good teacher. I believe he's a good man. Here's the problem with that.
The problem with that is Jesus was worship. The problem with that is Jesus claimed that he was one with the Father. The problem with that is Jesus was saying he was God. And the problem with that was Jesus was crucified because he's God. For you to say he's a good teacher is not nearly enough.
If I went around proclaiming to you all the time that I'm God and I hold the keys to life and death. And unless you believe in Me, you do not have life apart from me. That's blasphemous. That's what Jesus said. So he either is who he says he is or he's a liar or he's deranged.
He's a lunatic. You don't get any other options. I'm here to proclaim to you, according to biblical revelation, Jesus Christ is Lord. He is God. He has always been and he will always be.
Amen. And that's the Jesus that we place our faith in. And it's important that we get that. And as we continue our study, we're going to talk more about the. And I'm going to put up a screen for you, just a slide for you on the screen so you can see what this looks like.
Because when we talk about our God now, some people will say, trinity is not in the Bible. The word Trinity is not in the Bible. You're correct. But biblical revelation will reveal that this is who God is. That God is always Father and he's always Son, and he's always Holy Spirit, and three distinct persons with one essence.
So the Father is not the Son or the Spirit, and the Son is not the Father or the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father and the Son, but the Father is God and the Son is God, and the Spirit is God and it's one God. They're not polytheistic. Now you say, how in the world does that work? Here's what I would say to you. Glory.
How in the world can I explain to you an infinite God who's always been here, who's revealed Himself in that way? I can't explain it. I can just proclaim what the Scriptures reveal. That's all I can do. That means there's no time that God hasn't been Father.
There's no time. God hasn't been Son and there's no time. God hasn't been Spirit and there's no time that they're not all of the same essence as one God. How? Because that's who our God is.
That's who we believe in. Amen. And we see the Trinity throughout Scripture, you'll know that when Jesus was baptized in Matthew chapter three, when he's coming up out of the water in verses 16 and 17, it says, after being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water. So there's the God, man standing in the river Jordan. And behold, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on him.
So the Holy Spirit manifested himself as a dove. Who's there? And guess what? And behold, a voice out of the heavens said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So what's going on?
The Father's speaking as the Son's in the water while the Spirit of God is coming down and all three exist all at the same time. That's the Trinity. To not believe that the Father and the Son and the Spirit coexist eternally is to not believe in the biblical revelation as to who our God is. And let me be clear, because you'll hear people say stuff like this from pulpits in our country. They'll say things like this, I just believe that God manifests Himself as three different persons.
Sometimes he manifests Himself as Father, sometimes he manifests Himself a Son, sometimes he manifests Himself as Spirit. Which I ask, well, when he's manifesting Himself as Spirit, where's Jesus? When he's manifesting Himself as a spirit, where's the Father? Because the Father and the Spirit and the Son are all coexisting and they're all three God, and they don't go anywhere. I don't believe in manifestations.
I believe in three persons as one God. As the Bible reveals it. It's the Trinity, God. That's who we believe and that's who we serve. And it's important that you understand that it makes the Incarnation possible.
Matthew, chapter 28, Jesus says in verse 18, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of or immersing them in the reputation of who? The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Who? God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
And all throughout the Bible, we see Jesus placed. You know, Paul sends greetings in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father being God and Jesus Christ the God, our Savior. They're all three God at all the time. And why is this so important?
Because there are many aberrant theologies out there that say, you don't need to believe that Jesus is God. Just believe he died on the cross and rose from the grave. How can you rise from the dead if you're not God? How can you pay for the sin of the world if you're not God? There's never a time that Jesus Christ did not exist.
I don't know everything about aberrant theologies like Mormonism and Jehovah Witnesses, Jews, Muslims. When they say, I believe in Jesus, they're not saying, I believe in Jesus, the God who has always been, the God who is now, and the God who will always be. They might say he was a good prophet. They might say he was a created being. They might say he was a good man who became a God and therefore you, as a good person can become a God.
Listen to me. This is serious stuff here. Mormon doctrine does not teach that Jesus Christ is God's eternal son. They don't teach it. You do not have any Mormon brothers and sisters in Christ, even though they might say Jesus is the Son of God and Jesus died on the cross and Jesus rose from the dead.
Ask them this. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal God and that he's always existed and there was never a time that he didn't? And they will say, no, we don't believe that. Then you don't believe in the God of the Bible, period. Well, I know a Mormon that does.
Then they're a bad Mormon, because Mormon doctrine doesn't teach that. And again, it's not about what Brave believes. It's about what the Bible reveals. And the Bible reveals Jesus Christ as the second person of the Trinity who's always existed, who's the only one who could become incarnate flesh, who was the only one who could honor the Father, who's the only one who's worthy to die for the sins of the world? Who's the only one who was willing to take the wrath?
Who's the only one who can endure the wrath? Who's the only one who could have risen from the dead? It took God to pay for the sins of mankind. If Jesus isn't God, then your sins are not forgiven. That's why I believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
Amen. He's God. He makes it crystal clear. And we need to understand this, that when we're talking to people. I remember the first time I ever met with a Mormon on a plane.
And I think I've told you this like 20 some years ago, and I'm asking questions. Do you believe Jesus is God's son? Yes. Do you believe he died on the cross? Yes.
Do you believe he rose from the dead? Yes. I'm like, what is going on here? And the only thing they told me is I needed the Book of Mormon and they mailed me one. I didn't know how to ask the question, and I didn't know Greek at the time.
And if you know Greek, you can kind of walk through John 1:1 and talk about Granville Sharp's rule with Antarctic nouns. And you can show people that they're wrong in their theology and all that. But even if you don't know all that, you can just ask this simple. Do you believe that Jesus Christ has always been the second person of the Trinity? Do you Believe he's always been God, is God now and will always be God.
And there's never a time that that hasn't been. And you'll hear Muslims and Mormons and Jews and everybody. No, we don't believe that. Then you don't believe the gospel. The gospel is about God's eternal Son, who paid the price for your sin on the cross.
That's the Jesus I believe in. Amen. And it's important we get that right. Just because you named the name Jesus, you better get the right Jesus. For those of you in Inglewood today, you may or may not know this, but Jesus was playing the keys for us.
His name translated into English is Jesus. And I believe in Jesus, and I believe he's a good keyboard player, but I don't believe he can save me from my sins. That's not the Jesus I'm talking about. I'm talking about Jesus Christ, the righteous one, who was and is and is to come. That's the one.
That's the Jesus we're sharing. Amen. Jesus Christ is God. We got the first point of it. He's God.
He's always been God. He will always be God. Point number two is this. Yeah, well, how do you get that? He's eternal.
That's point two. Jesus Christ is eternal. He's eternal. When you read through this text, you wonder, why is verse two there? Didn't he already say that?
It says he was in the beginning with God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Why is he being redundant?
Because he wants you to see that the Son has always existed. There's never a time that he didn't exist. And we see this throughout Jesus ministry. He's trying so many different ways to tell his followers and those who are skeptical of him that he's always existed. In John, chapter 8, verse 56, Jesus says, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day.
And he saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old, and you have seen Abraham. I mean, Abraham lived hundreds of years before you. You're not even 50 and you've seen Abraham. What does Jesus say?
Truly, truly. I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. Before Abraham was born, I've always been. Before Abraham was born, I've always existed. Who do you think created him?
It was me. That's what he was saying. First Timothy, chapter one and verse 17, talking about Jesus, Paul writes, now to the King, eternal, immortal, invisible. The only God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
The King Eternal. Who's the King Eternal? Jesus Christ. He's always existed, even when it was being prophesied by the prophets as to where Jesus was going to be born and how he was going to be born in Bethlehem. In Micah chapter five and verse two, we read this.
But as for you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you one will go forth, from me to be ruler in Israel. Listen to what it says about this Messiah. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. This one born in Bethlehem will have always existed.
Or how about John, chapter 5, verses 38 and 39? When people are questioning the witness of Jesus and Jesus says, you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about me, and yet you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life. What was Jesus saying? He says, hey, religious folks, you study the scriptures.
You think it's a good book. You think that in them you're going to discover the words of life. You think that in them you're going to find salvation. Let me tell you. I am salvation.
I am the word of life. Everything in this book from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 is about me. This book is a revelation of me. And yet you refuse to come to me and have life, even though I'm standing right in front of you. I am the life.
That's who I am. I'm the eternal God. That's why it's important when preachers preach that they believe that Everything from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 is a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't skip spots. You don't apologize for things.
God does not need a PR agent so that you feel comfortable with who he is. God needs proclaimers that believe who he is, that will proclaim, this is who our God is, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God. He is eternal. He's always existed, and there was never a time that he didn't exist.
Amen. That's who Jesus is.
That's why in Luke 9:26, Jesus talks about those who don't believe His Word, who don't believe in the revelation of His Word and what it's going to be like for them at his coming. Luke chapter 9:36, he says, for whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory. And the glory of his Father and of the holy angels. What was just saying? This word is me.
The Logos reveals is me. The Scriptures reveal me. Everything written in this book is about me. He says, when you read that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, who do you think was there creating me? You think when I formed and fashioned human beings in my image, who was it?
It was me. When the universe was flooded, who sent the flood? That was me. When I delivered Israel from Egypt, who was it? The part of the Red Sea, that was me.
When I responded to Elijah's prayer, who called down fire from heaven, who do you think the one that sent fire was? It was me. Everything in this book is a testimony as to who I am as God. And now I've become incarnate flesh. And here I am revealing to you who I am and you don't believe me.
Jesus Christ is God and Jesus Christ is eternal. That's who he is. Whether you want to believe it or not. One day you'll know. You'll know I'm just proclaiming to you what the Bible teaches.
It's your job to see if you want to respond to that God. Because if that's not the God you say you believe in, when you say you believe in Jesus, you believe in some aberrant view that has no power to save you. The only one who can save you is God. The only one who can save you is the one who is eternal. If he's not eternal, he's not God.
If he's not self sustaining, he's not God. If he hasn't always been here, he's not God. He's just a made up mythology. Friends, I'm here to tell you he's eternal and he's God. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. The Trinities always had perfect fellowship with one another. And we'll unfold that as this series continues to move on. But notice verse three, all things. This is powerful.
Talking about the Word, talking about Jesus. All things came into being through him. And apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. What does this tell you? Tells you Jesus Christ is creator.
Jesus Christ is creator. I mean, how much more clear can you get? All things came into being through him. Anything that exists, Jesus created. And apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being.
In other words, if he didn't create it, it didn't come into being. But if it came into being he's the one that created it. Jesus Christ is the Creator. I invite you to turn over to Colossians Chapter one, where through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul unpacks this in just a little more detail for us. And in Colossians 1:15, it says this.
Let's just walk through it. It says, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. The image of the invisible God means if you've seen Jesus, you've seen God. Why is that important? Because one day, every single one of you will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his glory.
God is Spirit. You can't see Spirit. You can't see the Father. You can't see the Spirit. You couldn't see the second Person of the Trinity until He became incarnate flesh and put it on for all eternity.
You'll see Jesus. And if you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Godhead. Because they're all of the same essence, one God. Amen. And what does it say?
It says this. It says, the firstborn over all creation. Firstborn does not mean that he was created. There's a word for that in the Greek. This is not what it means.
Prototokos is the word. It's sovereign priority and superiority over all creation. It means he has the position of inheritance and honor. When it says he's the firstborn over all creation, it means he's the sovereign ruler. It means he's the one that created it all.
It means he's the one that did it all. And nothing was created apart from Him. Notice what else it says. It says the same as we just read for. By him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible.
Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him. And for Him, Everything that's been created that you see and that you don't see was created by Him. Things visible that you can see with your eyes. Things invisible that you can't see. He created them all.
There's nothing that's been created that Jesus Christ did not have his hand in. And why were they created? They were created through Him. And what for Him? His creation was created so that we would worship Him.
He wasn't created so that he could do good stuff for us. He created us so that we could worship Him. Because there's no greater satisfaction than giving your all to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's continue.
He says this, verse 17. He is before all things and in him holds all things together. That means he's before all things. That means before anything was created, he was there. That means he's eternal.
He holds all things together. That means he's a sustainable. Every atom in your body is being held together presently by the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that your heart is beating is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that you have thoughts in your head right now is because of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The fact that the earth is not completely blown up is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. He holds it all together. He created it all and he holds it all together. How arrogant we are to think we're in charge of anything. He's in charge of it all.
He is also the head of the body, the Church. What's the one institution he created the Church. For what purpose? To receive glory, honor and praise from his people. And he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.
This does not mean Jesus needed to be born again. It means that he was the first to rise and conquer death permanently. Amen. There are people Jesus raised from the dead. I mean, Lazarus was one.
After he had been dead for four days, Jesus raised him from the dead. But Lazarus had the unfortunate proposition of dying twice. I mean, he was raised from the dead once, but he died again. When Jesus Christ came out of the tomb, it was his declaration that death no longer has a hold on anyone. Because I am king and lord over death.
That's who he is. And even when Jesus died on the cross and said it was paid in full, which we'll talk more about as this series continues, he said to the thief that was believing in him, truly, truly, I tell you, today you'll be with me in paradise. Where did Jesus go that very day that he died? Went to heaven, thief. Went to heaven with him.
And then when he came back in his earthly body, he was demonstrating, I have conquered death, and only in me can death be conquered. There is no other way to conquer death than to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal God of the universe. It's the only way to overcome sin. Amen.
Verse 19.
Oh, it says at the end of verse 18, he will come to have first place in everything, which means he should have priority in all areas of your life. He permanently defeated death. Notice what it goes on to say in verse 19. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him, that shows that he had full deity his entire life. And then what do we see in the gospel, verse 20?
And through him to Reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross. Through him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven, the only way salvation could be provided for human beings is through God. The only way God can provide salvation is for God to do it himself. That's why Jesus Christ had to be God. There were plenty of people bleeding out on crosses in the first century.
There are plenty of pretenders. There's only one whose blood was satisfactory, the God man, Jesus Christ. There's only one who died and three days later got up out of the grave. There's only one way to heaven, and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ, the God, man of the universe, the Creator of the universe, the eternal Son of the universe. That's it.
Amen. That's who our God is. Jesus Christ is our creator. When you talk about this God, this is. This is somewhat overwhelming when you think about it.
We sing that song, Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know that that baby boy would someday walk on water, Rule the nations, all those different things. Did you know? I mean, we talk about Christmas so often because people come only on Christmas and Easter. They hear the story about Jesus in a manger and they think, okay, God became a baby.
I don't totally get it. This baby is the one that created the heavens and the earth in six literal days. This baby is the one that the whole Old Testament reveals. This baby is the King of the universe. This baby is the one that's going to come back with fire in his eyes and a sword coming out of his mouth in judgment of the nations.
This baby is the one who laid down his life on a cross. This baby is the one who got up out of the grave. This baby is the one who offers life to anybody who would repent of their sins and trust Jesus. That's who this baby is. That's why the incarnation that we'll talk about is miraculous.
We're not talking about God made a baby for a while, for 33 years. We're talking about the second person of the Trinity who's always existed, who created everything, who humbled himself for all eternity by becoming a baby and existing among us and being with us for the sole purpose of providing a way so that we who are dead could get to heaven. That's our God, and He's worthy of all of our worship, honor and praise. Amen. That's who he is.
So when I read through Colossians or I see in John chapter one and verse three that all things were created by him and through Him. And apart from him, nothing has come into being. It means he's in charge of it all. He's worthy of everything. He's God.
He's eternal. He's Creator. Let me give you a fourth one. Jesus Christ is life. Jesus Christ is life.
In him was life. And that life was the light of men. In him was life. Why did there need to be life in Jesus? Because you're dead.
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Your problem from the time you're conceived is not who your mom and dad are. It's not what kind of world you're going to grow up in. It's not what color skin you have.
It's not what ethnicity you have. It's the fact of this, that you're born dead. Even when you come out of the womb and you're kicking and screaming and giggling and crying and showing all sorts of signs of life, spiritually, you're stillborn. And you spend your life trying to find life and purpose and meaning in any other way than in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we all have a resume to prove it.
And so Jesus Christ came because of one reason and one reason only. Because we're dead. That's why he came. He did not come to provide a way of loving, although he showed people how to love. He did not come just because he wanted to be a good God, although He is a great and awesome God.
He came because his creation was dead. And the only way to make his creation alive is if he himself took the punishment and the wrath of God for the sin of humanity and paved away through the death of the cross and his resurrection from the dead, so that those who were dead by faith could repent and believe that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and be made alive. That's why he came, friends. He's the life. Now, there's commercials out there where somebody's on a fishing boat and they're talking like, man, this is the life.
And not being a camper, I'm telling you, that's not the life. But some people say football is life. And some people think money is life. And some people think relationships is life. And some people think sex is life.
And some people think immorality is life. And some people think drunkenness is life. Anytime you're trying to find life in something other than the person of Jesus Christ, it's not eternal and it's not lasting, which is why you have to keep filling yourself with things that aren't the life. Because only Jesus is the life. Think about the most famous scripture, perhaps in our entire Bible, or ones that nonbelievers would say.
I've heard that one John 3:16. Sometimes you even see it behind the goalposts still to this day in the end zone. So that people will hopefully open their Bible and read it. Which says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Say, only begotten.
See, Jeff, there was a time Jesus didn't exist because he was begotten of the Father. No, you don't understand. I'm human. I have a beginning and I have an end. So when I beget children, they have a beginning and have an end.
The Father is eternal. He can beget that which is eternal. Begat means to have the same essence as when he begat His Son. He didn't create his Son. He didn't create Jesus.
When the Holy Spirit was begotten, he wasn't created. They had all existed and all had the same essence from all eternity. And God the Father sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. He sent his only begotten Son so those who believe in him would not perish, but have what. So that dead people would not perish, but have what?
What do dead people need? They need eternal life. It's not everlasting life that they needed. It's not, hey, you're going to die. So, you know, if you believe this prayer, you can live forever.
It's like you're dead and you need the very life of God in you presently. Now that will live with you now, who will carry you all the way through eternity. You need the eternal life. Jesus. John 17:3 says, now this is eternal life.
That they may know you and the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. That's eternal life. It's knowing the person and work of Jesus. Friends, here's what you're looking for. Here's what you need more than anything else.
You need life. You need life and you need it in his name. Jesus said in John 10:10, I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. John 14:6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, say it with me and thee. Life.
He's the life. There's no other way to the Father except through Jesus. Because there's no other God that can give you life when you're dead. There's no other way to heaven except through Jesus. Because Jesus is the life and there is no other life.
And that's what he was proclaiming. And the reason people still get mad at that today is because you've made up God in your own mind. The reason they crucified Jesus is they didn't like who he said God was. Because he is God. And I'm just proclaiming to you he's the only way.
And I don't care what your religious background is, what your skin color is, your ethnicity is, your social status, your money status. You need Jesus Christ for your life. Amen. That's what he was saying. Jesus Christ is life.
And apart from him, you don't have life. Or how about at Lazarus funeral, Jesus said this. I am the resurrection and the life. I give life. Why?
Because y'all are dead. You need my life. That's why. All throughout the Bible, you know, we see that, you know, Jesus in John 3 says, you must be born again. Everybody must be born again.
Why? Because you're dead. Spiritually, you may be alive. Physically, you may feel really good. Physically, you may have lots of friendships, lots of friends.
But what does it profit you to gain the whole world and yet forfeit your soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? The Bible is screaming to you that you're dead and that you need life and that the only place you can find life is in Jesus. That's why when John writes a letter later in First John, chapter 5, verses 11 and 12, he says, he who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son does not have the life.
It's so simple. The question is, do you have life and do you have the life of His Son? And notice what it says in him was life. And this life, what does it do? This life was the light of men.
What's light do? It provides guidance and direction. This life provides guidance and direction. If you have the life, you have guidance and direction in you. That comes with the package.
Because at the moment that you trust Jesus, God deposits the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to live on the inside with you forever, to guide you into all truth. It's amazing to me, and I don't want to paint a false picture of the early church because the early church had problems like the 21st century church has problems. So I don't want to paint a false picture like back then. They had it all together. But think about it.
They didn't have budgets, they didn't have buildings, they didn't have ordained pastors. They didn't have preaching classes, they didn't have seminars, they didn't have small group lecture series. They didn't have anything. And yet, seemingly what they had was the Creator, eternal God who gave life. And they trusted that he could provide guidance so wherever they went, they could call upon his name and allow God to do what he needed to do.
Now, I'm here to tell you I'm a lifelong learner. I'm committed to learning, which means this. I don't have it figured out in any area of my life completely. I'm always wanting to grow and always wanting to learn. I don't think there's wrong with taking classes on marriage or taking classes on finances, or taking classes on health or learning new habits to do or growing in your understanding of the world.
That's all good. But I find oftentimes in our culture, when we have a problem, instead of running to the eternal Creator, God who has all the answers and has all the life, instead of going to him first, he's an afterthought. We think we need counseling and lectures and all these answers. And then if that doesn't work, we'll go to God. Here's what the Bible says.
Go to God first. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added. Seek Jesus first. Make Jesus the Lord, allow him to be the Lord, go to him with wisdom, depend upon him, and then it's okay. Proverbs says, it's good to have a plethora of counselors.
It's good to have other people speaking into your life, but they're not primary, they're secondary. Jesus Christ is primary. And it's interesting that the church could flourish without so many things that we have today. I'm here to tell you, I believe one of the reasons the church doesn't flourish as much as God wants it to is because we've not placed Jesus high enough in our churches. Jesus said, if I'm high and lifted up, I will draw all people unto myself.
I'm the light of the world. I'll provide guidance and direction for everything you need. If you preference me, you think about it, this eternal God, this Creator, this life giver, it says, this light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend it. This word that says comprehend, it can mean understood. I mean, it could mean that this light shined in the darkness.
But those, they didn't really understand who Jesus was, although some people did understand who Jesus was. And some of us here Today understand who Jesus was. But the word can also mean overcome or overtaken. I think a better translation is the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overtaken it. Let me give you a fifth one about this eternal creator, life giving God and that is this.
Jesus Christ is unstoppable.
He's unstoppable. Even when the light shines in darkness, who wins? Light always beats darkness. It's always beat darkness for generations. It will always beat darkness.
In every generation. There will always be people rise up and say, Jesus can't be real. The Bible's not true. That happens in every generation and Jesus continues to win. The darkness has no hold over the light.
It can't overtake it, it can't overcome it. Because Jesus is unstoppable. He's victorious, he's powerful, he's omnipotent. He made a public display of our sin on the cross. And here's what I want you to see, that he is still our hope and glory.
When we talk about being born again, I'm not talking about hey, declare this, pray this simple prayer. Just mouth these words in hopes that if you mouth them just right, God will take you to heaven. I'm talking about you who are dead in your sins and me who was dead in my s. That the God of the universe is willing to forgive all of that. And one better than that.
Not only forgive us, cleanse us from the inside out, but come and make his home inside of us. Who wants to come live inside of you? The eternal creator God, that's life giving of the universe, wants to make his home inside of you. If that doesn't blow you away, nothing will.
People are always wanting to debate Christianity and debate all this stuff and have arguments and like. I don't need to debate anything. I know Christ lives in me. You say whatever you want. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Think about this statement in Colossians. It's so powerful. Colossians 1:27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. What is the mystery which is Christ in you? The hope of glory, his power, his wisdom, his hope, his life, his joy, his authority, his righteousness and truth all reside in those who believe in Him.
When you give the Lord all of your sin and he gives you all of his life and all of his righteousness and all his authority and all his power, it doesn't make you a little G God. You're still dependent upon God but that God lives in you. Where's God? Inside every single person who believes the life giver Jesus Christ, the light of the world, lives on the inside. Amen.
Why? Because Jesus Christ is unstoppable. The apostle Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, wrote it this way. In Galatians 2:20.
He says, I have been crucified with Christ is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, gave Himself for me. Paul's not saying I am all these things. He's saying Christ is all these things and that Christ lives in me. He says, for if righteousness could be gained through observation of the law, then Christ died for nothing.
In other words, if there were things that you could do on your own to get yourself perfectly right with God, if there were things that you could do to prepare yourself for heaven, then Jesus Christ died for no reason at all. You don't even need Him. But I'm here to tell you, there's no one in existence who's taken a breath, who's come out of the womb, who is prepared for heaven. All are stillborn, all will die. All are in need of being born again.
And how can you be born again? By believing that eternal God of the universe, Jesus Christ put on flesh, came and fulfilled the law, took the wrath of His Father for all your sin, died on a cross, rose three days later and offers life to anyone through repentance and faith. Repentance is knowing I need to leave my life a sin because I can't stay dead anymore, and turning my faith into Christ because He's the only one who can make me alive. And when that happens, he grabs you forever. No one can snatch you out of his hand.
He deposits His Holy Spirit in your life. So you have the life of Christ and the light of the world on the inside, who is growing you into all holiness, righteousness and truth. That's good news, right? I mean, you think about it, you study the Gospels and you see everything that Jesus did and taught. And then you see him continue that on the earth through the church.
And he's still doing it through his church. He's still building his church, he's still saving people, he's still sanctifying people. He's still manifesting his presence and his kingdom through people. And amen. Jesus Christ is coming again soon.
But when we talk about Jesus, this is who we're talking about. Do you believe in that Jesus? Not the Jesus that you make up in your own mind. Well, I kind of like Jesus to be like this, and I kind of like Jesus to be like that. And I kind of wish Jesus was more this way.
And he's loving and he would never send anybody to hell. And he's this. And that's the Jesus I like. I'm not asking you about the Jesus you like. I'm asking you to believe in the biblical revelation of how God's revealed his son, the one that he's pleased with, the one that he loves unconditionally, the one who died on the cross for your sin, the one who was raised from the dead.
And here's what's so important. Just because you've mouthed the words, I believe in Jesus. Just because you prayed a prayer at a conference, just because you felt your heart tingle on the inside, does not mean that you believe. Belief is, I trust that. That God, Jesus Christ is God's eternal son.
He died for me on a cross, the one who created everything. He took all the wrath of God. He rose from the dead in glory. And he and he alone is who I place my faith in. Have you done that?
Because I'm here to tell you, if you're here at Brave, it doesn't matter what religious activities you put yourself through or what you've done, if you haven't placed your faith and trust in Jesus, place your faith and trust in Jesus today. And for those who have placed your faith and trust in Jesus, hopefully this stirs your soul with who we're talking about here and who's worthy. That even when we sing songs of praise that you would give, that God prays. Not like. I don't know if I like that song.
This is the God of the universe who allows me to worship him, and I want to give him my best. Amen. Would you stand with me this morning?
Our Father, we give you all the glory, honor and praise for your word being proclaimed here about who your son is. If you're here today and you've never trusted in the God that you heard about and you want to place your faith in him by grace, you can do that. It's just a gift that you can receive by telling the Lord. Lord, I know I'm dead. I know I'm a sinner.
There's never been a time in my life I've. I've invited you in. But this morning I want to give you all my sin. I repent of it. You can have it.
And in exchange, I want all your life and all your goodness and all your righteousness Nothing because I earned it, but because you said you'd give it to me. Come into my life and be my Lord and Lord for those of us who trust you, those of us who know you, those of us who live for you, God, would you do a work in us today as we sing loudly to you telling you that you and you alone are our King, our eternal God and our Savior. We give you all the praise in Jesus name, Amen and Amen. Could we give God praise, praise this morning.