May I Present Jesus (Part 2)

Take your only offensive weapon, the sword of the spirit, and turn with me to the book of Matthew. You say, wait a minute, I thought we're in the book of John. We are.

But I'm gonna introduce to you John 1, 1 to 5 by taking you to the Wednesday of Passion Week. Last week, we introduced to you John 1 by taking you to Monday of Passion Week, because Monday was a day of recognition. Monday was a day of coronation.

It was a day of the triumphal entry in which our Lord rode into Jerusalem. It was also a day of compassion, for there he wept over the city. The next day, Tuesday, would be a day of indignation, in which he would come and he would curse the fig tree and he would cleanse the temple.

But on Wednesday, Wednesday was a day of instruction. Wednesday was a day of confrontation. Wednesday was a day of questions.

You see, by the time you come to Wednesday, the religious leaders, their animosity had grown to such a high level. They could no longer stand even the sight of Jesus, let alone the name of Jesus. We shared with you last week that in John chapter 12, they were so angry with one another because they were unable to keep people from following Jesus.

That had been their mission for a few years now. But now you come to Wednesday of Passion Week and they are furious with what is happening with the Lord. After all, the day earlier he came and cleansed the temple, their holy place.

And so they were thinking of ways to trap him, thinking of ways in which they could draw the people away from the Lord. And so the Herodians gathered together, the Sadducees gathered together, and the Pharisees gathered together to formulate questions to stump Jesus. So the Herodians come first and they ask a question that deals with things politically.

Then the Sadducees come and they ask a question dealing with things theologically. And then the Pharisees come and they ask a question dealing with things spiritually. And of course, Christ answers them all perfectly.

They are dumbfounded. But then you come to a place where the Lord is gonna turn the tables on the religious establishment. He's now going to ask them a question.

And the question he asks is the only question that matters. The question he asks is the most important question ever asked of man. He knows that.

And so he's going to ask them a particular question. And in giving the question, it's almost as if it's a final message, a final invitation to them. Because within the realm of the question and within the realm of the answer to the question is the answer to their eternal destiny.

And so he is going to ask them a question in terms of a final message, a final invitation to all those who are his rejectors, they might somehow come to a place of redemption. So you find this question in Matthew's Gospel, the 22nd chapter, the 41st verse. It says, now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question.

Now this is the final question. This is the last question that he asks. And there will be no more questions asked of Jesus after this one.

So this is the last question of his earthly ministry. He's asking it. But no one, as we'll see in a few moments, will dare to ask him any more questions.

So he has them together and he says, what do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? Now that question is the only question that matters. For how you answer that question will determine your eternal destiny. You get it wrong? No. Your soul will be damned forever. You get it right, your soul will be in glory forever. So it's important that you get the answer right.

The question is, whose son is the Christ? In other words, who is the Christ? Who is the Messiah? Yeah, that's the question. And you will note, the answer comes rapidly. It comes quickly.

Because you see, the religious establishment want to let the people in the crowd know that they are smart. That they know the answer to Jesus' question. He knew the answer to their questions.

They wanna say that they're on equal par with Jesus and they can answer just as quickly and as rapidly as he did. So it says, they said to him, David's. That's right, that's correct.

That would be a right answer. It would be an incomplete answer. It would be a deficient answer.

But yet it would be a correct answer. Because the Messiah would be the son of David. That's true.

In the Old Testament, taught that over and over again. Second Samuel, chapter 7. Psalm 89.

Amos, chapter nine. And the list goes on and on and on that the Messiah would be the son of David. They are willing to recognize the humanity of the Messiah, but not recognize the divinity of the Messiah.

So the question would always be, did the Jews know that the Messiah would be divine? Does the Old Testament prove that the Messiah is God? Well, we told you last week, Isaiah nine, his name shall be called El Gabor, the mighty God. He's also the everlasting father or the father of eternity. Micah 5, verse number 2, he's from everlasting to everlasting.

Jeremiah 23, verse number 6, says he's gonna be called the branch, which is the Lord of righteousness. So the Old Testament clearly taught that the Messiah would be divine. The Messiah would be God.

But when they answer the question, they answer only partially, not completely. They answer that yes, the Messiah will be the son of David. So now what Christ does is very unique because he's going to take a passage of scripture from the Psalms, the Psalm that's quoted the most in the New Testament, all three Gospels quote it, Hebrews quotes it twice, Stephen quotes it or Peter quotes it in Acts chapter three.

It's quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It's Psalm 110. The most quoted Psalm in the New Testament is a Messianic Psalm.

And every Jew without exception would know Psalm 110 was Messianic. They would know that. And so Christ is gonna take the scriptures, the word of God, and he's going to explain to them the Messiah.

Listen to what he says. He said to them, then how does David in the spirit, according to Mark's Gospel, in the Holy Spirit, meaning under divine inspiration, David is gonna speak under divine inspiration by the Holy Spirit of God, then how does David in the spirit call him Lord? Saying, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet. If David then calls him Lord, how is he his son? It's a brilliant question.

He's got them in a quandary because they're willing to admit that the Messiah is humanly the son of David, but not divinely the Son of God. And yet their Scriptures taught very clearly that the Messiah would be divine. He has them between a rock and a hard place.

He asked them, how can this possibly be? So he's gonna quote from the Old Testament. It says simply, the Lord, Yahweh, said to my Lord, Adonai. Now Adonai refers to an earthly Lord, but not always.

But we know who Yahweh is. He's the Lord God of Israel. So when you read the Hebrew, it says, Yahweh, the Lord, said to my Adonai, Lord.

But the Greek Septuagint translates it, Kyrios, Lord, both words. Every time Yahweh is translated into the Greek in the Old Testament, without exception, it's always translated Kyrios, every single time. And so in the Greek, it says, the Lord, Kyrios, said to my Lord, Kyrios, meaning that the Lord is divine.

David's Lord is divine. Very, very important to understand this. And so he says, sit at my right hand. That's a place of equal position, equal authority, because it speaks of the equality of the son. Until I put your enemies beneath your feet. A total execution or subjugation of his enemies.

If David then calls him Lord, how, how is he a son? You see, everybody around them knew that Jesus was the son of David. They knew that. In fact, the Pharisees never argued the point that Jesus was the descendant of David.

They couldn't, because the genealogical records that were kept in the temple would prove that he was a descendant of David through Joseph, because of Solomon, and a descendant of David through Mary, because of Nathan, his other son. So physically and legally, he was a descendant of David. He is a son of David.

But is he the son of David? Is he the Messiah? That's the question. And yet the two blind men in Jericho who cry out to him, have mercy on us, son of David. Yet the two blind men in Galilee say the same thing, have mercy on us, son of David.

Yet the Canaanite woman who begs for mercy from the son of David. We have on Monday the crowds yelling Hosanna to the son of David. So we have the crowds recognizing that Jesus is the son of David.

He is their Messiah. So they think, so they hope he is, but they reject him a few days later, because he doesn't pull off politically what they think he needs to pull off, and militarily what they think he needs to pull off in order to relieve them from Roman oppression. And so here is the Lord turning the tables on the Pharisees and asking them the all-important question.

Whose son is the Christ, the Messiah? David's son, right? Sort of. But you gotta get the fact that he's also the Son of God. He is Lord.

He is king. He's not even talking specifically about himself, although he is, he's specifically speaking about Old Testament prophecy, because David says this before the son is born. David says this prophetically.

David is saying, the Lord said to my Lord prophetically. See? So he's giving a prophecy about the coming Messiah, yeah, calling his son Lord, calling his son God. Notice what it says next.

It says, no one was able to answer him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask him another question. Remember the last invitation of the Bible, Revelation chapter 22? The last invitation given by God centers around the same theme, the identity of the Christ.

Revelation 22:16. I, Jesus, am the root and offspring of David. I, Jesus, am the source of David's life and line, and I, Jesus, am the son of David's life and line, the bright morning star. The invitation centers around the identity of the Messiah, because you see, when you give an invitation to people, you must explain to them who the Messiah is.

That's why John says, many other signs did Jesus do that were not recorded in this book. You see, the Pharisees had seen all the credentials of the Messiah. They could not deny any of the miracles that Jesus had performed.

They had seen all the miracles. They could not deny them. So John comes along in John 20 and says, many other signs did Jesus do that are not written in this book, but these were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.

That's why John wrote his gospel. Now remember, all the gospels uniquely write about one phrase in the Old Testament, and then expand that phrase. We talked about it two weeks ago.

Let's see if you remember. Matthew. Matthew writes specifically about a phrase in Zechariah 9, verse number 9, which says, behold your king.

When he comes into Jerusalem on the backside of a donkey, behold your king. And so what does he do? His whole gospel is about the royalty of the Messiah. And then you come to Mark's gospel.

And Mark takes one phrase from Isaiah 42:1 that says, behold my servant. And John's whole gospel is centered around the servanthood of the Messiah, emphasizing the humility of the Messiah. And then you come to Luke's gospel, and Luke takes one phrase from Zechariah 6, verse number 12, which says, behold a man.

And Luke expands on that whole phrase, emphasizing the humanity of the Messiah. Then you come to John's gospel. In John's gospel, he takes one phrase from the book of Isaiah, the 34th chapter, behold your God.

And he takes 21 chapters and unfolds for us the fact that the Messiah is God. This is so important to understand. You need to grasp all this.

Because the way the spirit of God puts everything together in such a marvelous, in such a miraculous kind of way, helps us understand the true identity of the son of David, the Son of God. So you come to John's gospel, and John's whole theme is behold your God. This is God in the flesh.

That's why he says in John chapter 1, verse number 1, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. May I present to you Jesus, in all of his splendor, in all of his glory, in all of his beauty, because that's what John does.

John is like the holy of holies of New Testament books. John is all about presenting God. And in John chapter 17, you have that high priestly prayer where deity is communicating with deity.

The intimacy between the father and the son. There is no more holier book in the New Testament than John's gospel, because it portrays to us, presents to us the beauty of the living God. And the whole Bible is about the Lord.

The whole Bible presents to us the Christ. But John's gospel, unique in that it is, presents to us the beauty of the Lord. Behold your God.

Isaiah 7:14. Emmanuel, God with us. John 1:14. The word became flesh. That's the Christmas story in one sentence. The word became flesh. God with us.

Over in Luke's gospel. Luke chapter one. It says, as the angel speaks to Mary, verse 31, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. She'll name him Jesus. He will be great and he will be called the son of the Most High.

And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. This kingdom will have no end.

Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I am a virgin? And the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, the holy child shall be called the Son of God. Behold your God.

So John says, these things are written that you might believe. Over 90 times, John uses the word believe. Because the essence of salvation is believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you believe in who he is? Do you believe in the identity of the Messiah? Do you believe that he is Son of God, son of man? Do you believe in the humanity and the divinity of Christ? He is the God man. He's 100% God, he's 100% man. He is 200% of something.

You can't comprehend that, neither can I, because our mind only goes to 100%. But he's 200% of something. 100% God, 100% man.

He's not 50% God and 50% man. No, he's 100% man and 100% God. He is God in human flesh.

So as I present to you Jesus, I present him to you in five different ways.

Number one, his eternality.

Number two, his personality.

Number three, his deity.

Number four, his vitality.

And number five, his invincibility.

Those are in the first five verses of John chapter 1. Last week we covered his eternality. In the beginning was the word.

In the beginning was the word. Now understand this. “Was” is the imperfect tense of eimi, of the verb “to be”.

So you can read verses 1 and 2 this way. In the beginning was continuously the word. And the word was continuously with God.

And the word was continually God. That's literally how it reads. The word eimi is a very important word.

Why? You know if you've been with us long enough that we take you all the way back when Christ talks about the fact that he is the great I am, right? Ego eimi is the Greek translation of those four Hebrew consonants that make up the name of God in Exodus chapter 3. When Moses asked, who shall I say sent me? And the Lord God of Israel says, tell them that I am sent you. Tell them “to be” sent you.

Tell them that the eternal being sent you. That's his memorial name. His memorial name centers around his eternality.

He always is because he always was and always will be. The eternal nature of God is important, why? Because Jesus said in John 8:24, unless you believe that I am, unless you believe that I am eternal being, you will die in your sins. Do you have to believe in the eternality of God to be saved? Answer, yes.

Yes, you must believe in the eternal nature of the living God. That he is a God who is and was and always will be. You cannot deny the eternality of God because that's who he is.

Unless you believe that I am, I am continuous, I am eternal, you will die in your sins. Unless you believe that I am the God who spoke to Moses, in Exodus chapter 30, Exodus chapter 3, from the burning bush, you will die in your sins. I am the God that's always being.

That's who I am. That's who I am. And so, John says, in the beginning was continuously the word.

In other words, before the beginning, when did the beginning begin? Good question. Genesis 1, verse number 1, in the beginning, God. So in the beginning, in the beginning, in the beginning, God had already existed.

He was existing continuously. In the beginning was the creation of time and space. If you're not a part of time and space, you are preexistent, you exist before time and space.

If you exist before time and space, that means you are eternal. So before the beginning began, then the word always continuously was and is. That's the point.

The eternality of God. This is crucial to understand. Now listen to this.

This is so good. In the beginning was the word. Now why did he use the word? Why did he say, in the beginning was Jesus? That would be pretty simple, wouldn't it? In the beginning was the son, S-O-N.

Why did he say that? Why does he say in the beginning was the word, Logos? Why? Why would he do that?

Well, he's going to appeal to the Jewish mind. He's gonna appeal to the Greek mind. He's gonna appeal to those who are engaged philosophically, the Greeks. He's gonna appeal to those who are engaged theologically, the Jews, okay?

To the Greeks, Logos was an entity. It was a impersonal force. To the Greeks, they believed if there's a creation, then there was a cause to the creation. But the cause was an impersonal force, not some person. So they named it Logos. And John comes along and says, I want you to know that from the very beginning, before time ever began, the Logos existed.

The Logos was there. And the Logos really is a person because the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us. To the Jewish mind, the Logos was the revelation of God.

It was the word of God. Speaking of the authority of God, the authenticity of God, the reliability of God, the veracity of God. So to the Jewish mind, Logos spoke about the word itself. How the word was an expression of God. That's the only way they knew God, was when God spoke. So that's how they came to understand who God was.

So God would give revelation. God would speak. Because no man has seen God at any time.

So when God would speak, he would exhibit himself. He would explain himself. That's why way back in Exodus chapter 34, as you recall, when Moses said, I wanna see your glory.

And the Lord said, I can't let you see my glory and live. But the Lord did say this. He said, in verse number 5 of chapter 34 of Exodus, the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord.

So Moses is calling upon the name of the Lord. He wants the Lord to show himself. Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed.

God said something. He proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who gives iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

Moses made haste to bow down, bow low toward the earth and worship. He worshiped based on what was said, not based on what he saw. The Lord God proclaimed his glory.

The Lord God spoke his glory. So that's how Moses then would bow and worship him because he bowed under the authority of God's revelation. So to a Jew, the Logos was the revelation of God.

To the Jew, the word of the Lord is the expression of God to man. And Jesus Christ is God speaking to us. Jesus Christ is the fullest revelation of God.

That's why the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. We beheld his beauty. We beheld the person of God expressed in Jesus Christ, who is the exact representation of the Lord.

And so that's why he uses the Word. In the beginning was the Word. In the beginning was Logos.

Telling the Greeks, listen, the Logos is not an impersonal force. It's truly an individual, it's a person. It's God in the flesh.

Telling the Jewish audience that Jesus Christ, the Word, is the complete and full revelation of his glory. And John would say, we beheld that glory. We're able to see the person of God.

So important to understand what John is conveying to us. Revelation 19:13, Jesus Christ returns. His name, and by that name, he is called the Word of God.

That's his name, the Word of God. In other words, it's like when Jesus comes again, he's also called faithful and true. Because his word is faithful, his word is true.

And so when he comes again the second time, and his name is the Word of God, it's as if he is saying, I told you already. I told you everything about my presence. I told you everything about my first coming.

I told you everything about my second coming. I am the Word of God. The inspired Word is the incarnate Word, and the incarnate Word is the inspired Word.

You must take them both the same. Because the incarnate Word gives us the inspired Word. And therefore, John says, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word is God. He's God in the flesh. In the beginning, there always existed the Word.

Before time and space were created, the Word was in existence. Speaking about the pre-existence of the Word, the eternality of the Word. So John presents him, first of all, in the beauty of his eternality.

Second of all, he presents him in the beauty of his personality. Listen very carefully to what the Bible says next. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

Twice it says that the Word was in the beginning with God. When the beginning began, the eternal one already existed. He existed outside of time and space because he's a creator of time and space.

So, in the beginning, the Word existed as God and he existed with God. So the Word existed, in eternity past, as God, as the eternal God. And the eternal God existed with the eternal God.

Speaking of a triune nature of God, that God is three in one, here you have two of them. He is three in one. He is one God that manifests himself in three distinct persons.

And John, from the very outset, only speaks not just of his eternality, but of his personality, that he is a unique and distinct person. He is one of three. Very important to understand that.

For instance, in the beginning, God. Genesis 1:1. The word for God is Elohim. The I am ending means that it's plural.

But it doesn't say, in the beginning, God's. It says, in the beginning, God, right? Creator of the heavens and the earth. But note this.

The Bible says, in Genesis 1:26, let us make man in our image. Why doesn't God say, let me make man in my image? He says, let us make God in our image. Why? Because God is in a relationship with himself.

Who is God speaking to? Who is God speaking to? In the beginning, God. Let us make man in our image. In fact, turn with me in your Bible to the book of Titus.

Titus chapter 1, verse 1. Listen to what it says. Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, or promised before time began.

Let me ask you a question. Who did God make a promise to before time began? He didn't make it to the angels because they weren't created yet. They were created somewhere between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Man was created on day six.

So who did God make a promise to? Before time began, God made a promise. Who did he make a promise to? Turn over to 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1, verse number 9.

It says, God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, or the exact same phrase in Titus 1, verse number 2, before time began. So God had a purpose before time began, and in that purpose, he made a promise, but who did he make the promise to before time began? In the beginning was the Word, the eternal Word of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the eternal Word existed with the eternal God.

He was face to face with God. Speaking of the equality of the nature of God the son and God the father. Face to face means equal.

So you have the proof of the triune nature of God beginning in John's gospel, because these things are written that you might believe in who Jesus Christ is. He's the second person of the triune nature of God. In the beginning was the eternal Word that always existed, that was not created during time and space, because he was the one who created time and space.

So he had to be eternal, and he existed with God. The eternal God existed with the eternal God. Speaking of the eternal nature of the Godhead, speaking of the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh, this is so important to grasp.

Why? Because people will deny the deity of Christ. They will deny the reality of the Messiah and the true identity of the Messiah. And that's why, I think I told you a couple weeks ago, every cult has a Jesus, right? But Christianity doesn't have a Mohammed.

Christianity doesn't have a Joseph Smith. Christianity doesn't have Buddha, right? But every cult has Jesus. They have a Jesus.

He's a prophet, he's a good man, but they have a Jesus. Why? Because Satan is a master of disguise, master of deception. He wants to draw you away from the true Jesus, but only Christianity has the true Jesus, the one who existed before time and space, the eternal God himself.

That's who he is. And so the Bible's very clear about the eternality of God. The Bible's very clear about the personality of God. He existed with God. All that to say is that God was in a relationship with himself before time began. And the whole plan, the whole purpose was to redeem a bride for a son.

The whole plan of redemption wasn't conjured up after the fall. The whole plan of redemption, the whole plan of the cross wasn't something that God made up because of sin. No, it was all a part of the plan.

It was all a part of plan A from the very beginning before time began in eternity past. Our names are written in the Lamb's book of life in eternity past before time ever began. Think about that.

God had a purpose and a plan to redeem a bride for his son. And in that redemptive process, you, me, and those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we become a part of that bride. That's what the Bible says.

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Why? Because one day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Every tongue will confess that. So when Christ gathers these religious leaders together, they're already gathered together around him, and the multitude is gathered there on the Temple Mount, he asked them the only question that matters. Whose son is the Christ? Do you understand him as son of David and Son of God? Or just son of David? Do you see the son of David as divine, as the Lord that existed before time began? Because David would speak prophetically before the son was ever born, calling him Lord under the inspiration of the Spirit of God.

That's the only question that matters. I don't know why you're here today. I don't know what brought you here today.

I don't know who dragged you here today. But you're here today. You're here today for one specific reason, that you would hear John 1, verse 1, and verse 2. Next week, we'll get to verse 3. But the important thing is, is that the Lord wants you to know his identity.

That's why we entitled the sermon, May I Present Jesus. You need to know who Jesus is. Because without him, you're lost.

With him, you have life. And so you need to understand the identity of the Christ. And the Lord brought you here today to hear this sermon on the eternality of the son.

The personality of the eternality of that son, who stood face to face with the eternal God, as eternal God. God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal God? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of David? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah of Israel, the Messiah of God? Do you believe in who Jesus Christ is? Told you last week, there are so many people who preach another Jesus, but not the true Jesus.

Here, we present to you the true Jesus of the scriptures. My prayer is that every one of you would know him personally, intimately, because he's forgiven you of your sins, he's wiped them all away, and you stand righteous before him. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for your word, the truth of it, and how it is you make it so clear and obvious to all of us. Lord, our prayer is that we would take your word and apply it to our lives.

And for everyone who is here today, Lord, please, I pray for their eternal destiny. If someone is here and does not know you, may today be the day of their salvation. May your spirit do its convicting work in their hearts, that they might come to saving faith.

And for those who do know you, Lord, arm them with the truth of your word, so when they come across people who deny your deity, who deny your eternality, who deny your veracity, they would be able to take them to the scriptures and say, this is what the word of the Lord says. You've given us the sword, the sword of the spirit, which is our offensive weapon. May we use it for the glory of your name until you come again, as you most surely will, in Jesus' name.