79 – IS JESUS GOD?
September 19, 1965
Pastor Henry F. Kulp
Romans 9: 1 - 5 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
We told you Paul is showing you the great heights and privileges of responsibility that God gave to the nation Israel, and they fumbled it all away, God gave them every advantage, but yet they failed God miserably.
1/ In the 5th verse, …of whom, as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever.
What is Paul doing in this argument? He is showing that their greatest privilege was in the fact that Christ, in His humanity, came from the nation Israel. This was the great climax in God’s program with a nation.
2/ In the 5th verse there would be no point in the phrase, as concerning the flesh, if Jesus Christ were merely a man, because all men come in the flesh—but this is deity, tabernacled in human flesh. The fact of the deity of Christ is plain and concise in this portion of Scripture, that if there was not another text in the Bible, affirming this great truth, I would be satisfied to accept it just on this verse. Jesus Christ is God.
3/ This is the very point where Israel stumbled. This is one of the two reasons why they crucified Jesus Christ.
Matthew 26: 63 - 66 But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.
This is where the nation fumbled and stumbled and missed the mark. They did not realize that Jesus Christ, their Messiah was God Almighty.
4/ Did you ever notice a very wonderful passage and connect it with the failing of Israel to recognize the deity of Jesus Christ?
John 1: 4 - 7 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
The words there, in Him was light, and the light was the light of man. Jesus Christ is not only life, but He is light also. When He came, He came to a dark world. It was very dark. He had a special nation, but they were in darkness. Then notice the 5th verse …and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. That is a very remarkable thing—the Lord Jesus Christ was life and also light. He is the only light, and I defy any man to show us any light on eternity beside the Lord Jesus Christ. They say, I have light on this problem, or light on that problem. They think they have.
Notice what Jesus Christ said in Luke 11: 35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee, be not darkness—some men take darkness for light.
5/ But notice, John 1: 5 …and the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.
In other words the darkness didn’t see it. The darkness didn’t know that the light had come. What kind of darkness is this that when the light comes, the darkness remains? That is the kind of darkness that the nation Israel was in when Jesus Christ came. It is not the darkness of our sight—you can dispel this darkness—all you have to do is turn on the light and the darkness is gone. But when Jesus Christ came into this world, and He came to the nation Israel, He was the light, but they were in darkness, and they didn’t realize that He was life and light.
6/ John 1: 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light.
Why do you need a witness for the light? If this room was in darkness and someone came in and turned on the light, you wouldn’t have to tell a man beside you that the light is on. He would know. How would a man standing along side of you not know the light was on? Only if he were blind, and the nation Israel was blind as far as Jesus Christ was concerned. So God had to send a man into this world to testify of the light, to tell the nation Israel that the light was here, for the nation was in blindness.
I love the 6th verse. There was a man sent from God whose name was John – just John. That is the way we know him—no letters to it—before it or after it—No Reverend, no D. D., no L. D. or XYQ, just John. Notice there was a man sent from God – can you add anything to that? Of course not. If a man is sent from God, you can’t improve on him by putting letters to his name. Will that make him more important? Not at all. If a man is sent from God, that is everything. The letters before or after his name add nothing, and should be discredited. But this man came to bear witness that the light was here, but the nation Israel was in darkness, and would rather stay in darkness. And so they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, because He said He was God, and Paul was proving to them that Jesus Christ who came in their midst was God Almighty.
7/ For a second, lets think about this man, John, who was sent from God. A man does not even need ordination, if he has been sent of God. All he needs is the acclamation that he was sent from God. One of the greatest evangelists was D. L. Moody. Mr. Moody was just Mr. Moody all his life. He was never made a minister, He was never ordained, never had a degree to his name—all his life he was just Mr. Moody, but, praise God, he was God’s man.
Then take Mr. Spurgeon—he was never ordained. He never had a degree to his name—all his life he was known as Mr. Spurgeon, but he was a man sent from God.
8/ Notice the word, witness—witness of the light – It is the same as the word MARTYR. The word witness comes from the same Greek word. So a witness is one who is willing to die for his testimony. He may not die, but he will be willing to die for his testimony. The Lord has called him to do a work, and he says, I will have to go and do it, even if I die. That man is a martyr. That man may preach in this work for 25 - 50 years and he may not die, but he is a martyr because he was willing to die. That is the meaning of witness. No man is a true witness unless he is willing to suffer anything that his testimony might bring. John was this type of man.
9/ There is a wonderful fact that I can rejoice in. One day Israel shall look upon Him whom they have pierced and the One Who is God shall appear unto them, and they shall say unto Him Isaiah 25: 9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Lo, this is our God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us.
10/ Zachariah 8: 20 - 23 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
This is a wonderful prophecy—it shall come to pass that there shall come people, inhabitants of many cities, and they shall go to one another saying, let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord Of hosts. And they shall come to seek the Lord in Jerusalem, and pray before the Lord, and it shall come to pass that ten men, that is Gentiles from all the nations, shall take hold out of all languages of nations, even shall take a hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew sayjng, we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. This nation will one day recognize this Messiah who came to their nation as concerning the flesh as truly their God, and they will believe on Him and all the Gentiles of the world will come to the Jews and say, take us to your God, and of course, their God will be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
11/ Of course, they stumble at the fact that in Jesus Christ there was humanity and deity placed together. There are verses which do not express this doctrine, but illustrate this doctrine of the two natures of our Lord Jesus Christ in such a way that we cannot fail to be struck by the contrast.
Matthew 17: 24 - 27 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
What is more human than paying taxes? What is more divine then having them paid by sending an apostle on a mission that combines supernatural knowledge with supernatural power? Because he was told to go catch a fish, and this fish had a coin in its mouth, just the right amount, it was sufficient to pay the tax. Certainly this shows divine wisdom and knowledge. It was Supernatural wisdom and knowledge.
12/ Matthew 8: 27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
What is more human than for a man to be so fatigued with work that he falls asleep in a boat on the sea of Galilee—so fast asleep that the storm did not awaken Him, and it was such a bad storm that the seasoned fishermen were frightened? But what is more divine, than when awakened, He spoke with authority to the elements and calmed them.
13/ His acts or His works were the acts or the works of God, and only God. Take, for instance, Matthew 14: 15 - 21 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
Here we have the feeding of the 5,000, with five loaves and two fishes, and it says in the 20th verse they did all eat and were filled, and they took up the fragments that remained, twelve baskets full. The word full, is PER—IS—SIGH—AH. It is a mathematical word, it means a number greater than any other—it is superabundance. When He fed the 5,000 with the broken five loaves and two fishes, He fed them all and when they were finished they still had the baskets full. He could have fed every man, woman, and boy and girl in the world at that time. With those twelve baskets He could have fed all that ever lived, and all who will ever live, and He would still have twelve baskets full. This is the work of God.
14/ Let us turn to Colossians 2: 9 Where it says, For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
The key word in this text in the Greek is the word, fullness, but it falls far short of the understanding of the Greek word that is used here. The word, would be properly translated as ATTRIBUTE so it should read, In the body of Him dwelleth every attribute of the Godhead. The verb, to dwell, is not in the past tense, but in the present tense, and this is proper in speaking of deity. What is the first attribute of God? If you would ask the average person, what is the chief attribute of God, I am sure, nine out of ten people would say, God is love. This is true, but it is only the fourth attribute, not the first. What is the first attribute? The first attribute of God is holiness.
Let us go to Psalms 145: 17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
You will notice that the righteousness and holiness of God are not seen in some of His ways and some of His works, but are apparent in all that God does. Notice what the Book of Hebrews has to say.
Hebrews 7: 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
Everyone will agree that this is speaking of Jesus Christ. For such a High Priest became us Who is holy. So Jesus Christ has the first attribute of God, holiness.
15/ The second attribute of God is JUSTICE. Justice may be defined as that principle which affirms the certainty of the punishment of wrong doing. Justice is given as the second attribute of God because it is the guard and defense of holiness. All sin is an offense against the holiness of God.
Did Jesus Christ manifest the attribute of justice in His earthly career? Of course, He did. At once there comes to our remembrance, the record of an aroused and angry Saviour, with whip in hand, cleansing the Temple of God of the filthy, defiling racketeers who made graft of the temple worship. With flashing eyes, He thundered out the sternest denunciation that human ears could comprehend. Remember, He said to the religious leaders of His day who were hypocrites,You are of your father, the devil. He called them whited sepulchers. He called them dirty cups, He called them sons of snakes. Yes, Jesus Christ had the attribute of Justice
16/ The third attribute of God is mercy. Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. Was Jesus Christ merciful? Yes, He was, in all of His dealings on this earth.
John 8: 1 - 7 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
Here was a women caught in the very act of adultery by the Pharisees, they found her in disgust, but in delight that they could use her against the Lord Jesus Christ. They dragged her unto the Lord’s presence, and they wanted to stone her as the law taught. This is exactly what the law said should happen to a woman like this, but Jesus Christ showed mercy when he said He who is without sin among you cast the first stone, and He wrote on the ground. When He lifted Himself up and saw none but the woman, He said unto her. Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? And she said, No man accuses me, Lord. And because He is mercy, He said, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. We notice, that Jesus Christ did not say, neither do I accuse thee, but He said, I do not condemn thee.
17/ Then the fourth attribute is love. And He is merciful because He is love. The Bible does not say that God is power, that God is might, but God is love.
18/ Then we come to the fifth attribute of God, and this is truth. Jesus Christ said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Yes, Jesus Christ in John 14: 6 said He was the Truth. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
AMEN
Ref: 09/19/1965/ 79 - IS JESUS GOD? / 07/23/2020
No comments:
Post a Comment