Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
We are asking now if the true and the living God is there and if
He has revealed Himself, then what would we expect by way of
the evidence? If Jesus Christ were God incarnate, what would we
expect by way of His claims? We would expect that His claims
were an affirmation of deity.
He is stating what the Old Testament law really meant. In verse 32,
“But I say unto you.” In Matthew 5:34, “But I say unto you,” and
in verse 39, “But I say unto you.” And then again in verse 44, “But
I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you.” This is His interpretation of the Old
Testament statement in verse 43, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor,
and hate thine enemy,” or as it was interpreted by the Jewish
people. So we see that the Lord Jesus Christ claimed to interpret
the law of God. Surely this is exactly what we would expect if Jesus
Christ were God incarnate.
In Matthew 10, the Lord Jesus Christ claimed to judge the world.
In Matthew 10:32–33 He stated, “Whosoever therefore shall
confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father
which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him
will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” This is a
very significant statement. If Jesus Christ were God incarnate,
again, we would expect such an affirmation. If He were not, what
It’s interesting that the Lord Jesus Christ accepted this great
affirmation, this great testimony to His deity. In Matthew 16:20,
“Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that
he was Jesus the Christ.” There are many other passages in the
New Testament where we find the claim of the Lord Jesus Christ
to be the Old Testament Messiah, but this one is very clear in
Matthew 16:16 and 20. If Jesus Christ were God incarnate, we
would expect Him to claim this affirmation of deity.
There are many other passages in the New Testament that state
the same thing. One more I would like to refer to in this theme,
and that is John 10:31–42. Let me just read a word here. In verse
36, Christ said, “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified,
and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am
the Son of God?” And verses 37–38, “If I do not the works of my
Father, believe me not; but if I do, though ye believe not me,
believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father
is in me, and I in him.” Again, the Jewish people recognized that
this was an affirmation of deity, because in verse 39, “Therefore
they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand.”
He claimed to be the Son of God.
We see also in this great gospel of John that the Lord Jesus Christ
claimed to give eternal life. In John 10:28, the Lord Jesus said, “And
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” How important it is for
us to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ, who stood so firmly against
all religious hypocrisy, very boldly makes these statements that
He can give eternal life, that He is the Old Testament Messiah,
that He is the Son of God, that He was the fulfillment of prophecy.
The next point is that He claimed to be the object of faith. It’s
very important to recognize this, that He not only spoke of
Himself as being an example of faith, not only showing people
how to believe in God as an example. No, much more than that,
Also in John 14, the next point, He claimed to send the Holy Spirit.
In John 14:16–17, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the
Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him, for he dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you.” Or, as the better manuscripts have
it, “and is in you.” And verse 18, “I will not leave you comfortless:
I will come to you.” Here the Lord Jesus Christ claimed to send
the blessed Holy Spirit. What a strong affirmation of deity this is!
The next one: He claimed to be inseparably related to God the
Father and God the Holy Spirit. Back in Matthew 28 we have in
the Great Commission the statement, “Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore and teach [or disciple] all nations, baptizing them
in the name”—and that’s singular—“of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy [Spirit].” Here the Lord Jesus Christ claimed to
be inseparably related to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.
What a bold thing to do! If He were not the Son of God, how can
we explain such a thing as this? And yet the Lord Jesus Christ,
very frankly and very simply, claimed equality with God the Father
and God the Holy Spirit by commanding the disciples of every age
to baptize converts in the name that would have to do with the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The next one that I want to refer to that would emphasize the
deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is in John 8:29 and 46. Here the Lord
Jesus Christ claimed to be sinless. What a remarkable affirmation
this is! He was fearless in denouncing sin in the lives of other
people, and yet when He refers to Himself, in a simple way He
stated in John 8:29, “And he that sent me is with me: the Father
hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please
him.” For any Jewish person who would know about God at all,
you could not get a Jewish person to make a statement like this:
“I do always those things that please him.” What Christian in the
twentieth century would say that, in his right mind? But the Lord
Jesus Christ very simply and very boldly claimed to be sinless.
The last point that I have in this section of our lecture is that
the Lord Jesus Christ claimed to possess the attributes of deity. In
John 8:58 He claimed to be eternal. “Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.” He says “I am.”
He claimed to be eternal. In Matthew 28:18, the verse we read
just a moment ago, where He said, “All power is given unto me
in heaven and in earth,” He claimed omnipotence. In Matthew
28:20, He claimed omnipresence when He said, “And lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world.” And in the verse that
we just read in John 8:29, He claimed holiness when He said, “I do
always those things that please him.”
The next point is that if Jesus Christ were God incarnate, we would
expect His person and His Word and His work to be inseparable
from all aspects of the Christian faith. Early in this series of
lectures I reminded you that there are three great foundation
stones to Christianity. The first foundation stone is the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The second one is His historical
work of the atonement, and the third one is His inspired and
infallible Word. If Jesus Christ were God incarnate, then we would
expect His person and His Word and His work to be inseparable
from all aspects of the Christian faith. I would now like briefly to
present ten evidences that this is true.
does and it is. Allow me to read again a verse from Luke 24. It
states in verse 44, “These are the words which I spake unto you,
while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which
were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in
the psalms, concerning me,” so messianic prophecy does find its
fulfillment in Christ’s person and Word and work.
If Jesus Christ were the Son of God, we would expect the early
literature of the church to be a vindication of the belief and life
taught by Jesus Christ. It is such a vindication. For example,
Clement, the pastor of the church at Rome, writing to the church
at Corinth in AD 95, presents material for the deity of Christ, the
necessity of the atonement, the necessity of conducting yourself
correctly in the church, belief in the resurrection. We would expect
early church literature to be such a vindication of the Lord Jesus.
If Jesus Christ were the Son of God, we would expect that people
of all races would receive Him as Savior and Lord and testify to
His saving power. They have, and they do.
Then, last of all, if Jesus Christ were the Son of God, we would
expect that His Word would be treasured, studied, translated, and
taught—in excess to all other volumes. My Christian friend, it has
been, and it is so treasured.