Welcome to the podcast of the White Church in Adelaide, South
Australia. Well, let's carry our enthusiasm
for the Word of God that Justin will bring in a moment.
I just want to share a scripture that I read this morning just
out of Ezekiel here. It says that, you know, the
Scripture is talking about that God will multiply and be, you'll
be fruitful and I'll repeat, rebuild the ruins and this sort
of thing. But then God says this.
He says, I do not do this for your sake, O House of Israel,
but for my holy name's sake. Jesus is building his church and
we get to be a part of that and we get to experience all the
benefits of knowing him and being a part of what he's
building. Amen.
That's pretty good, but he's doing it for his name's sake.
So Justin's going to come and share around this mighty name
that we've been praising and worshipping the name of Jesus.
And so let's be expecting that when you know, the, the
scripture says that when, when I am lifted up, I will draw all
men to myself. So we're believing that you
know, Justin, he's going to lift up the name of Jesus Christ our
King and and the Lord is going to draw us all close to him and
we're going to be experience the goodness of God.
So Lord, we thank you for this word that Justin has prepared
the word that you've given him, Lord, the word that you've put
in his heart. And I pray for all of us that
are in this place, Lord, that we would be open and good soil to
receive the word that that you were going to sow this morning.
And Lord, we pray as as much as we want to grow and become like
you, Lord, we pray that it would be pleasing to you and it would
lift up the name of Jesus in this place.
Amen. Thank you, Lord.
Awesome. Thank you, Dave.
Good morning, everyone. For those who haven't said good
morning in person to it's good to see you guys this morning as
Zai's kind of intro. We're going to be talking about
Jesus this morning, which is, you know, quite a novel topic
when you're in church should be talking about Jesus.
Thank you, Pete. All those songs were incredibly
Jesus centered. We're singing about a beautiful
name, a wonderful name, a powerful name that there is no
other name by which men must be saved, but this wonderful,
glorious name of Jesus. And as I've been thinking about
preaching this week and planning, just the thing that
came to mind is that our when we see Jesus rightly, everything
else makes sense. It's when we have a, a
misaligned view of Jesus that things start to go a little kind
of off kilter. We heard about a month ago or so
when Leo Nicotra was here and he spoke about Jesus being our
cornerstone. And that was basically the first
stone you would put down where everything else would be built
from it. And see if our view, that's our
view of Jesus. If our view of Jesus is slightly
off, the entire building is crooked.
And so it's important in, in US and in in our thinking to
actually make sure that we have a right view of who Jesus is
because everything comes from it, everything, everything.
In Isaiah 2816, it says this, this is what the sovereign Lord
says. I lay a stone in Zion, a tested
stone, a precious cornerstone for a shore foundation.
This is quoted by Peter. In one Peter, he's saying this
is Jesus. He directly says this is Jesus
the cornerstone. And again in Ephesians 219 to 20
it says you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but
fellow citizens with God's people, members of God's
household built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief
cornerstone. Everything we do comes from who
Jesus is. It's the, the centre of
everything and, and our view of Jesus.
When we have a right view of Jesus, we have a right view of
everything else, right. So in, in we're going to do a
bit of a probably more of a teaching this morning.
So we're going to use some a fancy word called Christology.
Everyone say Christology. Christology, if you're if you're
into Bible theology like I am, Christology simply means the
study of who Jesus is. That's Christology.
So it's what we're fundamentally talking about this morning is
our Christology, your Christology, my Christology.
How do I view Jesus? What do I view him?
How do I view him? And I did some study in this and
I looked up a book called Systematic Theology by Wayne
Grudem and he says this of Christology.
He says we can summarize the biblical teaching about the
person of Jesus Christ as this Jesus Christ was most fully God
and fully man in one person and will be so forever.
And I, I was a little honestly, when I first read that I said,
no, that doesn't like there's so much more to Jesus than that.
Like isn't Jesus my Lord and my Saviour right?
That's but when I fundamentally break that down, the only reason
he can be Lord is because he is fully God.
There is no higher name, as we sang this morning.
There is no higher name than him which makes him Lord.
The only reason he can be my Saviour is because he was fully
man and is fully qualified to represent me as my Saviour and
take my place on the cross. Fundamentally it comes down to
this. How can he be the King of kings
and Lord of Lords if he is not fully God?
And how can he be the suffering servant, the Messiah that comes
and dies in my place without being fully man?
Everything we do when we talk about Jesus has to come from
this. And when you think about other,
other religions and stuff and other views of Jesus and, and
even within splinter, splinter groups or things like Mormonism
and Catholicism and stuff like that, it actually fundamentally
comes to a view of Jesus that is slightly out.
So in in some religions, they they teach that Jesus as a wise
teacher, maybe even a messenger of God, a prophet, but they deny
his, his God, his godhead, his deity.
Now, the problem with that is that if Jesus is a good teacher,
he made some pretty bold claims. He said I'm I'm the way, the
truth and the life. If he's a good teacher and that
statement his fault, he's actually a bad teacher.
He's a terrible prophet. If he's saying I'm the I'm the
way and I'm dying for the sins of the world and he didn't
because he's not God, well, then he's actually a pretty poor
teacher. So it's it's pretty impossible
to hold that view without actually concerning yourself
with who God is. But the other side is that some
some things kind of go, well, God Jesus is a God, one of many
gods. Like he's not, he's not the top,
top dog. He's, you know, a sub sub God to
he's a lesser God. The problem with that is that
then he can't be King of kings and Lord of Lords because
there's obviously somebody above him.
Some people say, well, maybe he's like a demigod like
Hercules in Greek mythology. Or maybe they might even say,
well, Jesus wasn't actually a real person at all, He's
actually just a myth. The problem with that, there's
countless historical evidence that proves that Jesus Christ
walked on this earth. So he's not a myth, but he made
very bold claims that he himself was God.
And so we must hold this view that says at the same time as as
him being fully God, he must also be fully man.
And in that is where we stand as Christians and we say we hold
these two intention every time we see Jesus.
These two are at work. I have in my pocket, let's see
if I can get it out. An Australian 50 Cent piece just
to illustrate how this is even possible because I think in our
human minds sometimes we think about things like this.
And Mcconney, well, how did the two actually exist?
And it's not a perfect example, but it is an example, so
hopefully it helps. On one side of my coin is a
picture of the late Queen Elizabeth the 2nd.
And if I asked you what was on this coin, your answer would be
Queen Elizabeth the Second. However, if I turned this coin
around and said now what's on the coin, you're going to tell
me it's the Australian coat of arms.
Both the true at the same time and always true.
This coin both has Queen Elizabeth the 2nd and has the
Australian coat of arms on it. No matter which way I look at
it, it will always be that way. And that is how we can
understand that Jesus somehow, even though our brains can't get
around it, somehow every time he did something, he was both fully
man and fully God at the same time.
It's phenomenal, right? And, and that we need, we must
hold this true because as I say, there's so many other religions
like put Jesus into one of these two camps and then it goes off
kilter. But it has significant
implications for us to understand he is both all the
time. So we're going to look at each
separately and actually just unpack why is this actually so
important? Why is it even important that I
care about this? As I said, it's where everything
comes from. It's all about definitions of
Jesus. Boil down to this.
We're going to look at Jesus the man first in Acts 222, Peter's
standing up, the very first sermon we see in the early
church. He says, men of Israel hear
these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man
attested to you by God with works and wonders and signs that
God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know
this Jesus to live it up according to the definite plan
and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the
hands of lawless men. He's pretty bold towards these
people who are listening, right? God raised him up, moosing the
pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held
by it. This Jesus God raised up and of
that we are all witnesses. Peter stands up, he says this
Jesus a man, he's not saying this Jesus a God, this Jesus,
this deity is going, this Jesus, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the
man you crucified and he died in your place.
This is just kind of, you know, bringing some evidence to why
Jesus is fully man. Philippians 26 to 8 says though
he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God
as a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the
form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of
men and being found in human form, he humbled himself and
became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
So we see Jesus is this man one. Timothy 2 five and six, it talks
about Jesus being the mediator between God and men, the man
Jesus Christ and our final one in one John 42 says by this, you
know, the Spirit of God because there was this, there was this
teaching even in the early church that Jesus was not
actually, he didn't actually come in the flesh.
He came as a came as kind of God, kind of a God being, but he
wasn't actually man. And this was John's correction
to the church. It says this is how you know the
Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
Even in the early church, they started to go off off way and
kind of started to believe that, well, maybe Jesus wasn't quite
fully man. And John's writing to the early
church ago, hey, the Spirit of God will actually confirm is a
Jesus Christ was fully man. So, so why, why is this
important? Why does it even matter that
Jesus is fully man? Now I'm going to give you 3
three reasons that I think it's important that we need to know
that Jesus is fully man. And the first one is this.
He sympathizes with our weakness.
It is important that Jesus is fully man because we can know
that he sympathises with our weakness.
Let me give you some examples in Hebrews 415.
I don't think we've got this one.
Pete says we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathise and understand our weaknesses.
This is in the amplified version.
It says one who is, but we have one who has been tempted,
knowing exactly how it feels to be human in every respect as we
are, yet without committing any sin, knows exactly how it feels
to be human. Here's here's, here's some of
the stuff that Jesus went through as a man.
He grew up. We think that's very basic, but
he came as a baby and grew up. His dad owned a from what we can
understand in the Bible, his dad was a Carpenter.
He knew business. He knew how to be a Carpenter.
He was left alone by his parents at the age of 12.
He knew what it was like to go on big family holidays and trips
and make the journey to Jerusalem.
He knew how to have fun and he'd go to weddings and festivals.
Jesus first miracle was turning water into wine and a great
wedding. Jesus had friends and he knew
what it was like to celebrate the good things in life, the
weddings and it says and he went to the festivals that they had
and the traditions that they had in the Jewish culture.
He knew how to have fun. He also knew what it was to be
tempted by glory and riches and the quick get rich quick
schemes. When the devil comes and says,
hey, I can give you everything if you just bow down to me.
But more importantly, he knew how to stay true to God in that
moment. He knew what it was to be loved
by the crowds and the next minute, hated by the crowds.
We celebrated Easter last week and Palm Sunday the week before.
Palm Sunday. Everyone's crying out.
Hosanna, Hosanna, you know, praise the Lord, praise the Lord
Jesus coming in. Everyone's celebrating their
throwing palm branches and laying things on the floor.
It's awesome. And the very next week, the same
group of people crucify him, crucify him.
Wonder if you've been in that place where somebody said
something to your face one week and then the next week it seems
like a completely different point of view.
Jesus went through that. Jesus knew what it was like to
have people try and bring him down and trap him in his words.
Jesus knew what it was like to have his close friend full sick
and ultimately die. In fact, the shortest verse in
the Bible is that Jesus wept with his friends mourning the
loss of his friend Lazarus. And they they actually said the
one whom you love is ill. Then ultimately he passed away.
Jesus raised him from the dead, but not before he took time to
actually mourn his loss. Jesus knew what it was like to
have somebody betray him for a better deal.
Judas Iscariot selling Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
He walked with Jesus three years.
Have you ever had a friend or a colleague or somebody he knew?
He knew so close. You thought you were so close.
Then all of a sudden they turn for a better deal.
Jesus knows. Jesus sympathizes.
He knows. He knows in his darkest moment,
he knows what it feels like to be abandoned by not just his
friends. They couldn't even stay awake
with him. But ultimately they run away.
And on that cross, Jesus cries out, My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me? He knows what it feels like to
be abandoned by God, to feel like you've been abandoned by
God. Have you ever been in that
place? We're going, God, where are you?
Jesus knows that feeling because he was fully man and because he
is fully man, we know that Jesus can sympathize with our
weakness. If he is not fully man, then he,
he's got a different perspective on all of this.
But because he is fully man, he goes, I get it.
I know he, he was emotional. I know, I get it.
I know the hard times, I know the good times.
I get it. I can sympathize with your
humanity because I became human, fully human.
He sympathizes with our weakness.
The second reason it's important we understand he's fully man is
because he also sets us as an example.
If he is not fully man, I don't have a true example because I
can never attain to being God. If he is not.
If he's not in that camp, fully human and he's part God, then
I'm like, well, I'm never going to be God.
And so there's no point in even trying to be like Jesus.
But Jesus said I was. I was fully human, which means I
give you a true example to actually follow.
I set you an example, Paul writes to the Romans.
It says this in Romans 829. For those whom God foreknew, he
also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in
order that he might be the first born among many brothers and
Philippians 310 to 11. Paul writes.
He says that I may know him, that I may know Jesus and the
power of his resurrection and share in his sufferings,
becoming like Him in his death, that by any means, apostle, I
might obtain the resurrection from the dead.
And then in one Peter 221 again, Peter the apostle writes this.
Just in case you thought it was just Paul telling us to be an
example. Peter writes this.
He says for to this you have been called, to this you have
been called, I have been called because Christ also suffered for
you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his
steps. And then in one John 2/5 to six,
which is really kind of clinches at home by the apostle John.
By this we may know that we are in him.
This is how you know you're in Christ.
Whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way in
which he walked. That is impossible if he is not
fully man. Yet because he is fully man,
John can say with absolute conviction says, if you profess
your faith in Jesus, you can walk in the same way that Jesus
said because he set you an example as a full human being.
And therefore when I look at Jesus, I go, that is an example
I can actually follow as a Jesus being fully man.
He doesn't just sympathize with my weakness and get what I'm
going through, gets the struggle.
He's there comforting me in my struggle.
But he also gives me an example that I can actually follow as a
man, as a human being, and that he knows how I can actually move
through those as a human being, not just as God, but actually as
a human. And the third thing, he doesn't
just sympathize. He doesn't just set us an
example because he is fully human.
He can substitute for us. By being fully human.
He is fully qualified to fully represent us.
I'll say that again. By being fully human, he is
fully qualified to fully represent us.
He is able to take my place. 1 John.
John writes and he says if anyone does sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
He can represent me because he is human.
Romans 518 to 19 As one trespass led to the condemnation for all
men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life
for all men. For as by the one man's
disobedience, it's Speaking of the first man to ever live,
Adam, who disobeyed God. For by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners. So by the one man's obedience,
the many will be made righteous. How can he substitute for
humanity? Because He was human, He can
take our place. Because He was human, Hebrews
217 He therefore he had to be made like his brothers.
Speaking of human beings, He had to be made like them in every
respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high
priest in the service of God. To make propitiation, which is a
fancy word to say to make payment for our sins.
The only way he can do it is by being fully human. 2 Corinthians
521 We don't have this one either, Pete.
It says he, God made him, Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin on
our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God.
It is so important that we understand that Jesus is fully
human because if he is not fully human, he could not take my
place. But because he is human, he can
substitute for me, and because he is human, He takes my place
on the cross. That is one of the most profound
things we will ever understand about the power of the gospel is
that he took my place not as just not as God taking my place,
but as a human standing in the gap for all humanity.
He says I will take their place. Why?
Because I am exactly like them without.
But I am without sin. I'm fully human.
I've been through the emotions. I've I've kept the true path.
I've obeyed God fully as a human, as a man, and therefore
now I am fully qualified to fully represent them before God
the Father. Isn't that powerful?
This is the power of the gospel, the fact that Jesus was fully
man and fully substituted for us.
That is why it is so important that we understand that Jesus is
fully man because not only does he know how I feel, not only
does he set me an example, but he substitutes for me in every
single way and by his act of obedience I am made righteous
before God. I can be put into a right
relationship before God because of his substitution on my
behalf. It actually talks in the Old
Testament that they used to sacrifice sheep and goats to try
and cover cover the sins of the people.
And the basically this is just isn't going to cut it because
the people still deserve to die because the sheep and the goat's
blood doesn't quite qualify. But it wasn't till a man said,
I'm going to take their place. I'm going to bleed.
He's human, which means his blood can actually be spilled.
And so now he fully substitutes for all of humankind on the
cross and redeems us all. He substitutes for us the man
Jesus Christ. So why is it important that we
understand that he is also fully God?
Is it just a man a good enough that he's in this camp, that
he's a wise teacher and he died on behalf of all the people?
Isn't that just good enough? No, we must hold that he is also
fully God. Let's look at some scriptures
that actually back this claim in Colossians, a book that's
actually really got it's titled, there's a passage in there
titled The Great Christology Colossians 119.
It says in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
And then the next chapter over for in Christ all the fullness
of the deity lives in bodily form.
So he's kind of defending this case.
Jesus was fully God. John one verse one, it says in
the beginning was the word Speaking of Jesus and the word
was God and the word was with God.
It says, yeah, this is God. And in case we're just arguing
from the New Testament, if we look back at the prophet Isaiah
thousands of years before Jesus came, we claim these scriptures
and quote them often at Christmas time.
Isaiah 9/6 For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name,
what's his name? Wonderful counsellor, mighty
God, mighty God. How can he be called mighty God
if he is not mighty God, but he is fully God?
And then the prophet Isaiah a couple of chapters earlier, we
loved this one at Christmas time as well.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you
shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.
How can you give him that name if he is not fully God?
How can he hold that name in trueness if he is not actually
God with us? If he is just a man, then anyone
can make that claim. But because he is fully God, he
can hold true to that name and say, I am God with you.
And if that's not enough, these are all the people writing Jesus
himself when he's speaking in front of Pharisees and
Sadducees. He says this in John 858.
Jesus said to them truly, truly, you know he means business when
he's saying truly, truly, he said it twice just to make sure
you get it. Truly, truly.
I say to you before Abraham was Abraham the forefather of our
faith? I am now to anyone if you read
that out of context doesn't make a lot of sense, but I am was how
God introduced himself to Moses thousands and thousands and
thousands of years beforehand when Moses said who are you?
And God says I am that I am this word Yahweh and here Jesus
directly to the religious leaders of the day said before
Abraham was Yahweh. I am in other words, I'm the
same God that was there thousands of years ago.
I'm here fully God. So for us to deny that Jesus is
fully God would be deny the very words of Jesus himself.
Jesus said I'm I am fully God. So why does this even matter
that Jesus is fully God? Well, the first thing is that we
can know that God cares because Jesus, God himself, he didn't
send an Angel. He didn't send just another
prophet. He'd sent a whole bunch of
prophets and judges through all the Old Testament.
He just sent them and he's just kind of, hey, you go give a
message. But eventually it gets to the
point because there's only one person who can sort that out.
Me. We know that God cares so much
that he came himself to sort it out.
Doesn't that like, blow your mind?
This God who created everything in six days, This God who holds
the entire universe in the palm of his hand, cares so much about
the beings that he created that it wasn't enough just to send
another Angel, just to send another messenger, just to send
another representative. He cares that much that he would
come himself to fix the problem of sin and everything that we've
ever done wrong. God himself cares that much that
he came to do it himself. John 316 which is the the verse,
probably the most quoted verse of the whole New Testament.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. For God so loved the world in
Jonah which we don't have Jonah 2 verse 9.
God says to Jonah, Salvation is from the Lord because no one
else can save you. God himself can.
God saves Isaiah 41, the prophet says fear not for I am with you.
This is what God says, I am with you.
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you.
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Who's going to do this? God?
How does he do this? Because he cares.
Why does he do this? Because he cares and he's not a
distant God. Sometimes we can view that God
is all the way over here because he's God and we're not.
But the point of Jesus being fully God demonstrates to us
that God cares that much to bridge the whole divide and meet
us where we're at. We know for certain that God
cares. When we look at the person of
Jesus Christ, we go, God cares. God cares so much.
So the second thing reason why it matters that Jesus is fully
God is because we can have certainty in God's character.
If we didn't have the person of Jesus, or if Jesus was not fully
God and he was only part God, there'd still be questions in
our mind of what is God like, What is God truly like?
But the fact that Jesus was fully God, we can know exactly
what God is like because Jesus said this to his disciples when
they said, well, show us the way to the Father.
And Jesus said to them, have I been with you so long and you
still don't know me? Philip, Whoever has seen me has
seen the Father, because if you look at me you can see him.
You can only make that claim if you are fully God.
We can have certainty of what God is like because of the
person of Jesus Christ. We can know for sure the
character and nature of God. When we look to Jesus there is
no question on his character because we can see it in the in
the the fullness of who Jesus is.
Hebrews one verse 3 the writer to the Jewish people.
He says Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact
imprint of his nature. And he, Jesus upholds the
universe by the word of his power.
And after making purification for sins, he sat down at the
right hand of the majesty on high.
He is the exact imprint of the nature of God.
Exact. There's no wiggle room when it's
exact, right? Like, like we're not just
rounding up here or rounding down as we would do with
numbers. No, no, there's no difference.
Jesus is God, and so when you look at Jesus, you go, that is
what God is like. There's no debate.
That is what God is like because he is the exact imprint of God's
nature. And we can have certainty.
I can have certainty on who God is and what God is like.
When I know that Jesus is fully God, I can look to the person of
Jesus and go, that is what God is like without guessing,
without questioning, and go, I know that God is compassionate.
Why? Because Jesus was compassionate.
I know that God cares about his Kingdom.
Why? Because Jesus cared about the
Kingdom of God. I can know that God cares for
the poor and those who don't have enough.
Why? Because Jesus cared for the poor
and those who didn't have enough.
I can know the character of God when I look at Jesus.
And the final one. We can have confidence in the
completeness of his sacrifice. If you can remember when we were
talking about God, Jesus as fully man, we said he can
substitute for us. But in a book that I have at
home on world religions and cults and just discusses that,
it says this Only the infinite God in the person of Jesus
Christ can take the punishment from an infinite God to mark
salvation even possible. Who else could fully satisfy the
full wrath of an eternal infinite God to against sin?
Who else could fully pay that price?
No man could. It is impossible for any human
being to live up to the perfect standard of God.
Who else could do it but God Himself?
Who else could pay such a price? Who else could completely and
fully pay the debt that we owed but God Himself?
Because God is so perfect, He is so sovereign, He is so good,
that there is not a single human being on this planet who has
ever lived, who will ever live, that could ever meet the
standard of a perfect and holy God, except for one.
And that one was fully God and fully man at the same time.
Hebrews 10 says it like this, when Christ had offered for all
time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right
hand of God. For by a single offering he is
perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
And this is the wonderful thing about Hebrews 10 is it says goes
on and it says, therefore, brothers, since we have
confidence, how does where does our confidence come from?
It's because we know that Jesus is able to fully pay the price
for our sin because he is fully God.
He knows the exact dollar figure it was going to take to cover
our sin. Not only can he stand in the gap
for all of humankind, but he knows the exact price.
He knows the exact life it needed to take, and that life
was his own God himself. Fully God was able to fully pay
the price for our sin and for the sins of the entire world.
We can have confidence in the completeness of His sacrifice.
There isn't anything else we have to do.
It's not like He could kind of make most of the way and it's
kind of going now there's a little bit left for you to do.
He goes, no, no, because I was fully God, I was able to fully
pay the debt because I knew what it was going to take.
There's only one who could live up to a holy, imperfect
benchmark, and that was God himself.
And so it matters when we say that God, that Jesus is fully
man. It matters because he can
sympathize and feel what we feel and he knows our human
experience when we come to him. We say, I don't know how to get
through this because I know because I've been there and I
can help you. And we know and it's important
that he's fully man because we've got an example of what it
means to walk this life in reverence and obedience to God.
And it's also important because we know that we have a
substitute, an advocate who can represent us, who knows our
experience, who stands in the gap for us as a man.
And we know also that it is important that he is fully God,
because we know that God then cares deeply for us, that we can
have certainty of God's character when we approach him.
And then we can be fully assured that every part of the debt that
we owed, every benchmark that we needed to meet to stand before a
holy God has been met in Jesus. That is why it is important that
we understand that Jesus is both fully God and fully man.
The the theologian John Stott in his book Basic Christianity love
it when somebody calls something basic.
This is what he says. The distinctively Christian
claim about God is that He has spoken and acted fully and
finally in Jesus Christ. There is no one else.
Other religions will teach you that.
There is other teachers that come after Jesus.
Their claim about Christianity is that Jesus Christ was it.
Christianity is Christ. Who Christ is and what He has
done are the rock upon which the Christian religion is built.
If He was not who he said he was, and if he did not do what
he said he came to do, then the foundation is undermined and
this whole thing will collapse. Take Christ from Christianity
and you remove the very heart from it.
Christ is the center. Everything else is peripheral.
It is so important when we start with a right view of who Jesus
is. He's our cornerstone.
And when Peter stands up, another sermon in the early
church have walked in, somebody's got miraculously
saved. And he says this in Acts chapter
4, again talking of Jesus, this Jesus, this one who claimed to
be both fully man and fully God, this Jesus Christ of Nazareth is
the stone that you rejected for whatever reason, you didn't
believe he was actually God. You didn't believe he was
actually man. This stone that you rejected has
become the cornerstone, the one on which everything else is
built from. And there is salvation in no one
else. For there is no other name under
heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
There is no other name than the person of Jesus Christ.
Would you stand with me this morning?
Father? We thank you this morning for
the person of Jesus Christ, the one who is able to substitute in
our place, the one who knows exactly what we are going
through in every area, our highs, our lows, and everything
in between. We thank you for this one that
is able to sympathize with us and stand in the gap.
And Father, we thank you that this penalty that we owed, this
price that we had to pay, is fully met in the man Jesus
Christ. For there is no other name,
There is no other name by which we must be saved.
We thank you. And we just asked this morning
that you would realign our view of Jesus, that this
understanding of who Jesus is would become the absolute
cornerstone of our lives and of this church, that everything
would move out from here. Lord, realign our hearts by the
power of Your Holy Spirit. Set this in place as a rock
solid foundation that we can be certain that we know that we
know that we know. There is no other name by which
men must be saved. There is nothing we could do.
There is no act we could do, we could perform.
There is no price we could pay but for the man Jesus Christ,
who is both fully God and fully man.
We thank you for him, and in his mighty, powerful, wonderful
name, together we say Amen. Amen.
Thank you for joining us for today's message.
For more information about The Way Church, please visit
ourwebsite@thewaychurch.com dot AU.
Have a blessed day.