JESUS CHRIST: SON OF GOD, SAVIOR
FOUNDATION OF FAITH - PART 4

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  1. Jesus Christ the Son of God
    1. James Cameron’s Press Conference scheduled for February 26th to announce the discovery of the tomb and body of Jesus and his wife
    2. Ichthus – Ancient Christian symbol – Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior
    3. Father, Son, Holy Spirit -- The significance of “Son of God” is to fill out the trinity
    4. But Scripture means much more when the term Son of God is used

  2. Jesus Christ
    1. Jesus – Yeshua (He Saves)
      1. Jesus of Nazareth
    2. Christ – The Anointed One
      1. Messiah and Savior

  3. The Gospel of the Son:
    1. John 3:16 – Too bad it has been connected with fanatics, sports fans, and wrestling
    2. Reading John 3:12-21 -- I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.

  4. The Son SHOWS us God - No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. (John 3:13)
    1. The Unseen Glory of God:
      1. Exodus 33:15-20: Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
      2. God is pleased with Moses, yet Moses never saw the Face of God.
    2. God has revealed himself to us in his son:
      1. John 1:14, 18: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth ... No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
      2. Hebrews 1:3: The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
      3. Colossians 1:15: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
    3. More than a messenger or representative:
      1. The Son is God: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” (John 14)
        1. Recognized by his enemies -- John 5:18: For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
        2. Philippians 2:6-7: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
      2. His teachings and actions are in synch with the Father:
        1. John 8:38: I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.
        2. John 5:19: I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

  5. The Son is SENT from God - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (John 3:16)
    1. God loves us, so he sends the one who can best express that love:
      1. John 14:23-24: If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
      2. John 15:9: As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
    2. Jesus is obedient and trustworthy:
      1. He is sent to do God’s will
        1. John 8:29: The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.
        2. John 12:49-50: For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.
      2. He is sent to do God’s work
        1. John 4:34 -- My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
        2. Philippians 2:8 -- And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
        3. He was sent to save the world

  6. The Son SAVES the World - God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17)
    1. The Son Has Life and Authority:
      1. John 5:21, 26-27: For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
      2. Who is the Son of Man?
        1. Daniel 7:13-14: In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
      3. Life or Judgment?
        1. John 3:18: Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
        2. John 12:47-50: As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
        3. The Son, as judge, has come to “sentence us to life” through the grace of God. He would judge in our favor. But if we reject the Son sent by God to save the world, we condemn ourselves.
        4. 1 John 5:11-13: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

  7. Savior:
    1. Savior - Children of God:
      1. The Son of God has invited us into the family, set the slaves free!
        1. John 1:12-13: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
        2. Galatians 4:4-7: But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
      2. Why don’t we realize we are his children?
        1. The girl in Nicaragua:
          • Setting: the meeting. We talked about her hopes.
          • Then she mentioned her Father who owns all the land and wealth ...
          • My first reaction was “Why doesn’t he pay for it?”
          • Then I realized she was talking about God!
        2. Why are we so reluctant to live dependently upon God – like little children!
        3. 1 John 3:1: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
        4. This should give us ...
    2. Confidence:
      1. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. – 1 John 4:15-17
    3. When you answered "Yes" to the confession question ["Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?"] ... Do you rely on the love of God? Do you depend upon the life in the Son of God? The only other option is self-dependence, which is self-condemnation.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Evening Sermon, 25 February 2007
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