09-06-2020 – It Really Is All About Jesus Christ

Bible Text: various passages | Pastor: Pastor Mike Hale | The printable bulletin and sermon notes are located at the
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September 6, 2020
“It Really Is All About Jesus Christ”
As I brought last week’s sermon to a close, I declared that salvation can’t be obtained by ancestral heritage, good works, or religious rituals. And although the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, it is the plan, provision, and power of God for salvation to everyone who repents, believes, and follows Jesus Christ: crucified, resurrected, and coming again.

I made a point last week of reiterating how the true Jesus of the Bible, God’s One and Only Son, is both Savior and Lord; He came from heaven to die for our sins, was raised from the dead to demonstrate eternal life, ascended back to the Father, and is coming back to get all who belong to Him, to take us to heaven.

That kind of foolishness will give you hope, put peace in your heart, and change your life for eternity!

The truth about Jesus Christ is marvelous, miraculous, and yet most of the people who have lived, are living now, or have not yet been born, reject the truth about Him, and instead believe a variety of half-truths and lies:

Some say He was nothing more than a good teacher, but good teachers don’t claim to be God.

Some say He was merely a good man, but good men don’t mingle with prostitutes, liars, and thieves.

Some say He was a maniac, but maniacs don’t speak the way He spoke.

Some say He was a fanatic, but fanatics don’t draw children to themselves or reach out to heal lepers.

Some say He was just a myth, but myths don’t have ancestral heritage going all the way back to Adam..

Some say He was a phantom, but phantoms don’t bleed, let alone can they give up their life for others.

Some say He was a fraud, but frauds don’t rise from the dead.

There is also a wide variation among religious belief systems, concerning who Jesus Christ is, for example:

Judaism believes in God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, but it rejects Jesus as God’s Son, considering Him to be a false prophet who leads men astray.

Islam considers Allah [Arabic, ‘the god’] to be the only God and Jesus is just one of five human messengers who came from Allah, along with Abraham, Moses, David, and Mohammad.

Mormonism teaches that Jesus is a spirit-child of Elohim (the God of planet earth), and through obedience and devotion Jesus obtained Godhood and so can we.

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus isn’t God; He is Michael the archangel, the first creation of God.

Christianity is all about Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.

See Matthew 16:13-17…
“13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

Who do “the people” (the Jewish people, apart from the religious leadership) say the Son of Man is?. “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Jesus asks, ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

(These words affirm Jesus as [the Anointed or Holy One] the Messiah (Hebrew) , the Christ (Greek). Jesus declares Simon has been “blessed” by God’s revealing to him this truth, that Jesus is “the Son of the living God” (ascribing His deity as God the Son).

See John 1:1-4,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”

(Before time, Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”)

See John 1:14…
“14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:18…
“18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

See John 6:44-46…
“44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.”

Matthew 11:27,
“All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

John 14:6-7,
“6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” ”

John 20:31,
“These [the Scriptures about Christ] have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

See Luke 24:25-27…
“25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

See Luke 24:44-48…
“44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.”

You cannot honestly or intellectually [with this knowledge] come away from the Bible’s clear and repeated testimony that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, that He and the Father are equal in origin, essence, authority, wisdom and power.

See Matthew 26:62-66…
“62 The high priest stood up and said to Him, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” 63 ButJesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ,the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; 66 what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!” ”

Caiaphas [the high priest] pressures Jesus to answer these false accusations, but He remains silent, unwilling to give credence to these bogus charges.

Now we get to the heart of the matter, what is really eating at these religious hypocrites (verse 63), “Tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God,” i.e., “Are you the Messiah? Are you the Holy One who was to come from God? Are You the One sent to rule as King over Israel? Are you the Savior?”

Jesus answers (verse 64)
“You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Daniel 7:13,
“I kept looking… …And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming.”

Revelation 1:7,
“Behold, He [speaking of God’s Son] is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”

Caiaphas (verse 65) goes ballistic, tearing his robes, making a scene, declaring Jesus guilty of a capital crime; basically saying (verse 66), “You heard Him, He said He is God! We need no further testimony, He has condemned Himself!” “Tearing your garments” expresses a very deep grief; of which the High Priest was forbidden to display, according to the Talmud [The source for all Jewish law], that is, unless he witnessed unquestionable blasphemy toward God.

Leviticus 24:15-16
“15 You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone curses his God, then he will bear his sin. 16 Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.”

The Sanhedrin [the Jewish Supreme Court] now judges Jesus worthy of death, even though, according to their own law (Leviticus 24:15-16), blasphemy against God means to curse God or disrespect His Name, and any person guilty of this crime was to be stoned to death. But Jesus had only stated the obvious, that He was the Messiah, they could have considered him a liar, but He was not cursing God or disrespecting the name of God.

See Matthew 26:67-68,
“67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him, 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?” ”

These pious, arrogant, irreverent religious leaders, even with all the false testimonies of their so-called “witnesses,” did not have convincing proof of Jesus guilt; but now, with Jesus own words, they judge Him guilty of blasphemy; in reality, He has done nothing but speak the Truth: He is God’s Son, the Messiah, Lord and Savior.

They spit in Jesus’ face displaying their disdain and contempt, attacking Him about the head with their fists, slapping and mocking Him, yelling insults, challenging Him to “prophesy” who was hitting Him [unable to see through His swollen eyes and bloodied face].

This takes place early Friday morning, the day He would be crucified. Five days earlier, when Jesus had entered Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, the people praised Him, crying out for Him to save them; but now, Israel’s leaders have arrested and condemned the One and Only, sent by the Father to die for their sins, for all sin; God our Savior, Jesus Christ.

It really is all about God’s Son, the divine message of the Cross is the power of God for salvation to everyone who repents of sin, believing in and following Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Maybe you are hearing this today and you aren’t sure if you are saved?

What should you do?

Admit that you are a sinner (Romans 3:10-12, 23-24), we all are.
Believe that only Christ can save you (John 14:6), He is the only way.
Confess your sins to God (Mark 1:15; Acts 2:36-38), you must repent.
Demonstrate a changed life (James 1:22-25), read and obey God’s Word.
Exemplify the character of Jesus Christ (1John 2:3-6), by following His example.

We must proclaim the Message of the Cross, as a message of hope, love, and eternal life, for it really is all about Jesus Christ: Crucified, Resurrected, Coming Again.

 
Pastor Mike
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