Sunday, November 29, 2020

The Eternality of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Temple Baptist Church - 11-29-2020

John 1:1-3


A.  As we approach Christmas this year again, our thoughts need to turn to the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In the four gospels, we find the fullness of the God-Man, Jesus Christ.  The perfection of the Bible shows in these four gospels the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

a.  Matthew portrays Christ as the King of Israel and its genealogy is reckoned from Abraham.

 

b.  Mark portrays Christ as the Servant of Man and has no recorded genealogy as servants birth was not recorded.

 

c.  Luke portrays Christ as the Son of Man and its genealogy is reckoned from Joseph back to Adam who was the son of God.

 

d.  John portrays Christ as the Word and speaks of His divinity.  John has no genealogy because God has none.  It is in John that we see the Person and eternality of Christ.

 

B.  All cults believe something wrong concerning the person of Christ, heaven, hell, and salvation.   Much of the wrong theology in so called “Christianity” about our Lord Jesus Christ has to do with who He was before the incarnation. 

 

2 Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

1.  Islam portrays Him as merely a prophet or an ordinary but good man.

 

2.  Jehovah’s Witnesses portray Him as merely a “son of God.”

 

3.  Mormons portray Him as Satan’s brother, a created being—a mere angel who came to die for sin.

 

4.  Catholics portray Him is the “crucified” son of Mary, The Mother Of God, and continually show Him as a baby in her arms.

 

5.  Pictures portray Him as some long haired, Anglo-Saxon effeminate.

 

6.  Religionists portray Him as their “little buddy” instead of the Almighty LORD God.

 

7.  Most “isms” and “Schisms” simply ignore Him and worship idols.

 

8.  Many Baptists portray Him as a non-judgmental Savior who is not Lord and offers a salvation that does not reflect a change of lifestyle.

 

9.  Atheists and agnostics just try to ignore Him, but He will not go away!

 

10.  BUT, the Scriptures portray Him in a full and wonderful light as the God of all ages!  The Bible shows the true picture of Christ: who He was, who He became, what He did, and who He is.  John, chapter 1, does so in 14 verses. 

 

C.  Hebrews 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.  (Here are a few profound verses dealing with the perpetually of our never changing Lord Jesus Christ: Almighty Jehovah God.)

 

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  (God – Elohim – the plural name of God.  Our Lord Jesus spoke, and it was done.  Our Lord Jesus created and it was very good.  Our Lord Jesus commanded and it still stands fast.)

 

Psalms 90:1-2  Psalms 90:1  Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.  Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.  (Our Lord Jesus Christ has no time as He is the great “I AM.”  He is on both sides of eternity at the same time because He has no limitation.)

 

Psalms 93:1-2  The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.  (2)  Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.  (Our Lord Jesus Christ has reigned, is reigning, and shall forever reign.  At the name of Jesus, everyone should bow and, one day, everyone shall bow.)

 

Isaiah 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.  (Our Lord Jesus Christ “inhabiteth” eternity.  A present perfect tense!  There He lives; there He resides; there He controls.  He always has and He always will.)

 

Micah 5:2  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.  (Our Lord Jesus Christ became flesh and dwelt among us: The Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  This reference can only be applied to the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ thus declaring that Christ is Jehovah God, and He is eternal.)

 

1.  Who He Was.  Verses 1-3.  Jesus Christ, as Jehovah God, has always existed!  John 1:1 corresponds with Genesis 1:1. 

 

a.  Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God!”  This is the most profound statement in theology. 

 

1)  Nowhere in the Bible is there an effort to prove the existence of God; Genesis 1:1 is a statement of fact.  God is infinite in His person! 

 

2)  Eternity or infinity is a concept impossible to grasp because, in our finite minds, everything that we see or how we perceive the things that see seemingly has both a beginning and an end. 

 

3)  God has always existed and will always exist: He is eternal.  In Isaiah 57:15, the Bible declares that God “inhabiteth eternity.”  (The word “inhabiteth” is in a continuing sense and means to perpetually reside or to abide.  God does not live in time.  In the midst of eternity, God created 7,000 years of time with eternity stretching both before and after.)

 

b.  John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word.” 

 

1)  Once again, this is a declaration of fact, not one for argument or discussion.  In this chapter, we find the Word was with God, the Word was God, the Word was Creator, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.  (Verses 1-3)

 

2)  The Word was and is Jesus Christ.  Thus eliminating the flawed theology of Christ deniers listed previously.  (Verse 14)

 

c.  John 8:57-58  Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?  (58)  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.  (Jesus used the words “I am” in many instances to reveal to Israel who He was.  He not only declared Himself to be the Son of God but also Jehovah God, the Eternal One.  The Jews fully understood the ramifications of this statement and took up stones to stone Him.)

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