Lon Solomon Ministries
Who is Jesus?
So let's take a Bible, let's open it together. Matthew chapter 22, first book in the New Testament, gospel according to Matthew, Matthew chapter 22. He was born in at obscure village the child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop and was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held a political office. He did none of the things we usually associate with greatness. 19th centuries have come and gone and today he is the central figure of the human race, all the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that have ever sailed, all the kings that have ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of mankind on this earth as much as this one solitary life. Now we're talking of course about Jesus and the question that we have today that we want to try to answer is exactly who is this person named Jesus who has affected the world more than all the armies and navies and rulers in the history of the world. Now when it comes to the identity of Jesus friends our world is not suffering from a lack of suggestions. We have for example a modern Jewish thought who says that Jesus was a man, a great man, a rabbi, a teacher, maybe even a prophet. We have the Muslims who say that Jesus was one of Allah's many prophets of whom Muhammad was the greatest. We have the Mormons who say that Jesus Christ was a man who worked his way up to being a God just like you and I can do. We have the Jehovah's Witnesses who say that Jesus was an angel of God the first created being in the universe. We have the Eastern mystics who say that Jesus was an enlightened soul, a guru, a person who had attained nirvana. We have the humanist who say that Jesus was a great moral and ethical philosopher. We have the Unitarians who say that Jesus was a nice man who tried to help people get along in a really tough world. And then of course we have people like Albert Schweitzer and many of his so-called scholar buddies who will say that the Jesus Christ that the Bible described never even existed in reality at all. Now one thing you notice about all these groups everybody who admits that Jesus really did exist. The one thing they all agree about is that he was a great man. You say well that's good right? Well sort of. What do you mean sort of? Well it's sort of good because in the very same breath right under the needs of surface lurks something very subtle and that is a denial that Jesus is anything more than just a great man. False religions as different as they may be in so many ways they all have this one thing in common and that is they all deny the claim that the Bible makes for Jesus and that is that Jesus is Jehovah God himself wrapped in human flesh. Now folks this is the issue. This is the issue. All of biblical Christianity rises and falls with the identity of Jesus Christ. If Jesus was not God himself wrapped in human flesh then his teachings about God are suspect. His information about the afterlife is unreliable. His death on the cross was nothing special and those of us who have chosen to follow him we have no more real assurance about our eternal destiny than Stone Age people in Indonesia. Friends if Jesus is not who the Bible says he is then all of biblical Christianity crumbles. That's what we want to talk about today. We want to talk about in part four spiritual boot camp who is Jesus and we spent the first couple weeks establishing proving demonstrating that the Bible has evidence to support its claim to be the inspired in errant Word of God and as such we're going to use this trustworthy book as the source of our data in order to answer this crucial question who is Jesus is he God wrapped in human flesh or is he something else. It's all riding on that. So let's look. Now the Bible friends claims that Jesus was a being with a dual nature with two natures. First of all the Bible claims that Jesus was fully human and as such he experienced the full range of human nature and human need. He got so hungry he got thirsty he got tired he needed sleep he felt pain he had to deal with temptation and disappointment and grief the only difference is that in dealing with all that range of human emotion and need Jesus never sinned. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 Jesus was tempted in every way just as we are yet without sin and in his human nature Jesus was a descendant of David just the way the Bible promised the Messiah would be but the reason that he was able to face being a human being and never sinning is because of the other side of his nature that the Bible talks about and that is that Jesus was not just fully human he was also fully God. And friends this dual nature that the Bible tells us about means that Jesus was a creature unique in the history of the universe. There never has been there never will be another creature in the universe that is like him Jehovah God himself but wrapped in human flesh he is one of a kind. Now you might say Lon I hear what you're saying but you sure you I mean you know you guys didn't just make that up I mean did Jesus really believe that about himself did he really think that about himself oh yeah and to show you right here Matthew 22 where I asked you to turn here in Matthew chapter 22 the rabbis had been peppering Jesus with all kinds of questions trying to trip him up mess him up make him fall make him say something that he'd be embarrassed about and of course they couldn't do it and now that they're done asking him questions he decides it's time to ask them a question so verse 41 chapter 22 and while the Pharisees the rabbis were gathered together Jesus asked them a question here was his question what do you think about the Messiah the Christ whose son is he and the rabbis didn't even hesitate they immediately answered and said oh we know the answer to that that's easy he is the son of David 2 Samuel 7 predicts he would be the son of David Isaiah chapter 11 repeats he'd be the son of David and on and on and on throughout the Bible that's clear he is the son of David as a matter of fact the son of David became a formal title for the Messiah in Israel that was interchangeable with the word Messiah remember when Jesus wrote into the city in the triumphal entry they threw all their cloaks in front of the donkey was on check it out chapter 21 of Matthew and they cried out Hosanna to the son of David the Messiah so was the answer the rabbis gave wrong no it wasn't wrong it was just incomplete and Jesus now goes on to ask them a follow-up question aimed at showing them that the Messiah was much more than just the human descendant of David there was another whole side to him so look at verse 43 and so Jesus said to them okay I hear you but then how is it then that David speaking by the Spirit writing scripture Psalm 110 calls the Messiah Lord for David says Psalm 110 Messianic Psalm speaking of the Messiah all the rabbis agreed to this the Lord said to my Lord the Messiah sin at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet so then verse 45 if David calls him Lord how in the world can the Messiah be David's son you understand the question now how many of you here are parents or grandparents raise your hand alright wonderful how many of you here call your children or grandchildren Lord raise your hand no of course not we have some children in my family who think it ought to be that way but we straighten that out real quick in my family and I hope you do in your family of course not what father what grandfather did if you ever heard who calls his children or his grandchildren Lord yes Lord whatever you say Lord you really want to do that absolutely Lord hot dogs every night whatever you say Lord ridiculous okay so you understand Jesus's question if the Messiah is David's descendant why in the world does he call him a don't Hebrew Lord a word that is only used of deity and God why would he do that verse 46 and no one could say a word in reply and from that day on nobody dared ask him any more questions I like okay that's it we're done well we know the answer to this question don't we this isn't hard this is an easy one we know the answer to this it's all about the dual nature of the Messiah because the answer is that the human part of Jesus was the descendant of David just the way the Bible said but the God part of Jesus was the God the adon the Lord of David just the way David said it makes perfect sense if you understand what the Bible teaches about the dual nature of Jesus Christ you say when I long I understand what you're saying about Jesus being the human descendant of David I don't have any problem with that because these people back then I mean they all had the genealogical records if he hadn't been a descendant of David they would have known it they would have caught him on that I'm okay with that but I've got to tell you this claim that he's God I mean that's a pretty incredible claim well yes you're right it is and the Bible supports that claim and reiterates it everywhere you go in the Bible listen John chapter one in the beginning was the word talking about Jesus and the word was with God and the word was God Titus chapter 2 verse 13 talks about Jesus and calls him our great God and Savior a revelation chapter one here Jesus is called the almighty a word in the Bible that is exclusively used of God and no one else Colossians chapter 2 verse 9 says that all the fullness of deity dwells in Jesus in bodily form all the fullness of God lives in Jesus in bodily form and I love the exchange between Philip and Jesus in John chapter 14 Philip one of the disciples comes to Jesus and says Lord show us God the Father and that'll be enough for us well that was wonderfully nice of him just throw a show as God and we'll be very happy and what did Jesus say listen and Jesus said Philip have I been with you this long and you still don't know who I am Philip he anyone who has seen me has seen the Father now is that an amazing comment anybody who have seen me you see me you see God the Father it's one in the same Philip don't you understand who I am how do you make it any clearer than that you say well on okay so the Bible claims that Jesus is Jehovah God but that's not the point the point is what evidence does the Bible give us to prove that this is really true well let's talk about that the evidence that the Bible gives us is that the Bible points out to us that Jesus demonstrated all the prerogatives and all of the powers that go with being God let me tell you about them number one Jesus had a power over disease and over sickness the Bible tells us that only God could have Jesus walked around healing every kind of disease every kind of sickness in every situation who could do that but God and I love what the man in John chapter 9 said you know he was the man born blind and Jesus healed him and after Jesus healed him what does the man say he says since the beginning of the world nobody has ever opened the eyes of a man born blind who can do this well the answer is only God second of all Jesus had a power not only over disease and sickness that only God could have but second of all Jesus had a power over the forces of nature that only God has in Matthew chapter 14 Jesus walked on water in Matthew chapter 8 Jesus was out in the middle of this huge gale in the Sea of Galilee and he stood up and said be quiet and the wind stopped and the sea was calm and the disciples in the boat you know what they said they said what kind of man is this who can do this that even the winds and the waves obey him and in Matthew chapter 21 Jesus was walking along one day saw this fig tree curse the fig tree fig tree died shriveled up and died right there on the spot who can do something like that you know I just moved out of a house where a number of years ago we planted English ivy what a mistake this stuff went everywhere went up the wall up the chimney up the bushes up the trees into the grass I mean the stuff was unbelievable I tried everything I could think of to stop this stuff I went out there I sprayed this stuff I cut this stuff I pulled this stuff I even cursed this stuff die die die you know what didn't I and you know why I didn't die because I'm not God Jesus walks along curses his fig tree boom things die who can do something like that third Jesus had a power over demons that only God could have the Bible tells us about it how Jesus cast out demons cast demons into pigs and they coward in fear every time Jesus came around and in Luke chapter 11 the rabbis even come to Jesus and they say to Jesus how do you do this and we don't understand how does a person do this and I love the answer he gives them Luke 11 verse 22 he said when a strong man guards his house his possessions are safe but when a stronger person comes along he overpowers that man and takes all that he has Jesus said how do I overcome and overpower demons it's real simple fellas I'm stronger than they are now who in the world can make a statement like that and back it up but God himself fourth Jesus had a power over sin that only God could have I want you to flip over a couple of pages to mark gospel mark chapter 2 it's page 708 if you're using our copy of the Bible page 708 and mark chapter 2 while you're turning let me tell you what's happening here Jesus is in a house in Capernaum it's real crowded and these folks show up with this paralyzed man this quadriplegic man he's on a stretcher but they can't get him through the crowd to actually get him to Jesus so what they do is they go up on the roof cut a big old hole in the roof and they lower him down on ropes that's where we pick up the story verse 5 and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralyzed man son your sins are forgiven now some of the rabbis were sitting there and they said to themselves how can you spell a talk like this now I mean he's blaspheming who can forgive sins but God alone now were they right were they right who can forgive sins but God alone finally the rabbis gets something absolutely utterly correct how in the world could anybody forgive sin but God alone we all agreed on that right okay now let's go on and when Jesus knew what they were thinking in their hearts he said to them why are you thinking this which is easier verse 9 which is easier to say to this paralyzed man your sins are forgiven or to say to him get up take up your mat your stretcher and walk now let's stop and answer Jesus's question which is easier to say to say your sins are forgiven or to say take up your mat your healed and walk out of here well folks it's much easier to say your sins are forgiven you know why because who's going to check you out who's going to ever know if you nearly did it who's going to ever know if it really took how in the world can you ever be sure whether it really happened that's easy to say but hey you say to a quadriplegic man lying on a stretcher get up take up your stretcher and walk home and it's only going to be a matter of a few seconds for every single person knows whether or not you did what you just said so which is harder isn't it harder to say to the man that's paralyzed take up your mat and walk out of here Jesus said but watch look what he said but so that you may know I love this so that you may know that I the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sin I'm going to do the harder and if I do the harder you know I can do the easier and he said to the man I tell you take up your mat and go home and the man got up took up his stretcher and walked out of there in full view now this man may have trouble getting an aisle to go in but I guarantee he had no trouble getting an aisle to go out and he picked up his stretcher and walked out of there and Jesus said now if I can do that that's the harder you know I can do the easier I want you to know I have the authority to forgive sins on earth what did the rabbi say who can forgive sin but God alone and the people said we have never seen anything like this well of course not how often is it you meet God walking around of course you've never seen anything like this and and if and how could Jesus tell the woman at the well everything she'd ever done if he wasn't God and how could Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead if he wasn't God but friends the crowning proof of all is the resurrection of Jesus himself Romans chapter one verse three talking about Jesus says who asked who his human nature was a descendant of David and who was declared with power to be the son of God to be deity how was he declared to be God by his resurrection from the dead the purpose of the resurrection of Jesus among other things was to vindicate to us to prove to us beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus is God in the flesh he is deity just the way he claimed friends no other religion no other philosophical system in the world claims an empty tomb for its leader not Buddha not Confucius not Muhammad not Joseph Smith not Rabbi Schneerson not Karl Marx not George Bernard Shaw or any of his human his buddies and the reason is because none of them ever claimed to be Jehovah God in the flesh but that is what Jesus claimed to be that was what he said he is and to prove it he rose from the dead as proof positive that he's telling us the truth you say now long wait a minute you're an educated man you mean to tell me there's not the slightest doubt in your mind about the resurrection really happening not the slightest you say well how can that be I'll tell you it's real simple I am an educated man and I understand human nature and that's why I know the resurrection has to be true because friends in the first century when the events of the New Testament were still recent history Christianity could have been stopped dead in its tracks if someone had simply disproven or discredited the resurrection of Jesus everything else is over produce the body give a good explanation what happened there at the tomb and Christianity is done there is no Christianity and believe me there were opponents of Christianity who wanted to stop it wanted to bring it to an end wanted to end it dead in its tracks they tried to do it but friends listen they they persecuted the preachers and even killed the preachers but the one thing they were never able to do was to discredit the resurrection and I'll tell you why because the resurrection happened just the way the Bible says it happened and that's why they couldn't disprove it and they couldn't discredit it and friends if that's true then Jesus is Almighty God wrapped in human flesh just the way he said he is now if you're here and you've never trusted Christ in a real and personal way this is really important for you to know because you know what we love to say around here follow a dead savior and you'll end up just like you and and all these other people we named Confucius, Buddha, Muhammad all these other people they're dead friends and they're dead people pointing out you up a dead end street we're not we're not presenting a dead savior to you we're presenting a living risen Messiah who's pointing you up the street to eternal life and to real eternity with God we're not pointing you with a dead savior down a dead end street and if you're here and you've never trusted Jesus in a real and personal way friends we don't want you heading down a dead end street Jesus said because I live for eternity those who follow me will live also we want you to be one of those people we hope you'll think about that well it's summarize what have we learned today we've learned that Jesus in the Bible claim to be Jehovah God wrapped in human flesh that all the rest of the Bible reiterates that and that there's proof his miracles his power over disease his power over the forces of nature his power over demons his power over sin and his own personal resurrection demonstrate Jesus had the prerogatives and the power that go with being God alone he is what he claimed to be now all that leads us to a really important question and everybody knows the question right so take a deep breath you ready are you ready all right ready here we go come on now one two three oh wonderful you say Lon so what say I'm a follower of Christ I mean I've already crossed this bridge I've already done this in my life I already believe this about Jesus I mean I oh so what difference does make to me really I mean I'm here you're preaching to the choir you know well the choir thank you very much so um so what difference would it make for me well you know there's a wonderful verse in the Bible Philippians chapter two and here's what it says it says every knee will bow because of who Jesus is and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord now it's true as a follower of Jesus Christ 30 years ago I already crossed this bridge I already accepted him as my savior I already acknowledged him as Lord and surrendered my life to him as Lord maybe you did too but let me tell you something really interesting do you know in 1865 when Robert E. Lee the Civil War came to an end Robert E. Lee surrendered at Affomatics Courthouse to General Grant Richmond fell to the Union armies they took Jefferson Davis the president of the Confederacy put him in chains and put him in jail the Confederacy was was surrendered but you know what's interesting if you read history you'll find that there were still little bands that went on fighting there were still little pockets of resistance that didn't immediately close up and surrender they went on fighting guerrilla warfare for quite some time in the cell and you know what I decided I was thinking about it this week I decided I realized this week that I'm a lot like the Confederacy in 1865 maybe you're not but I am 98% of me is surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ Richmond has fallen Jefferson Davis is in chains Robert E. Lee has gone home to private life but there's still some parts of me where I'm where where I'm still got pockets of resistance in my life still parts of me where I'm determined I still want to do it my way and I still am carried on guerrilla warfare with the lordship of Jesus Christ now you may not be like that but I am and I mean this week the spirit of God just whooped up on me and said line 98% is not good enough I don't expect you to be perfect but I don't want you to be satisfied with 98% I want all of you remember the old quote Jesus is either Lord of all or he's not Lord at all and and there's a lot of truth to that and I just got to tell you for me in light of who Jesus is Lord of all man God just impressed on me this week it is incumbent on me to seek to bring every pocket of resistance in my life into submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ and it's hard because some of these areas I mean they're the last few outposts you know it's hard now if you're like I am maybe you've got 98% of you all taken care of but there's still a little bit of guerrilla warfare going on between you and the lordship of Christ so what are you talking about what kind of pockets of resistance are you talking about well like how we speak you know the Bible is very clear Colossians chapter four that our speech is to be seasoned with salt it's to be with grace you know how many of us go out into the workplace and say things and speak a curse words and other things that we got no business saying it really bothers me when I run up against people who come to this church and I'm in private conversation with them and I hear language come out of their mouth I mean wait a minute what is this and gossip and all kinds of nasty back fighting stuff I mean what is this and how about the way we act out there how about the way we drive hmm how about our sexual conduct whether it's our premarital sexual conduct if we're not married or our faithfulness to our spouse or how we look at and think about the opposite sex or the adult movie channels in the hotels when we're traveling I mean come on now how about our personal ethics and the way we live each and every day tell them I'm not a hoe but what is that or our work habits when the boss isn't around or the movies we go to the magazines that we pick up and read the way we spend our money or the way we make our money I mean is there integrity with the way we make it and the way we fill out our taxes when we're hurt do we forgive the way God tells us to or do we harbor bitterness I mean there's all kinds of little pockets of resistance that can exist in a follower of Christ's life and today I want to do I want to give you a challenge it's the same challenge the spirit of God gave me this week and that is to take a really hard look at your life if you're a follower of Christ and ask a question where am I harboring enclaves that are holding out against the lordship of Jesus Christ that are engaged in guerrilla warfare where I'm determined I'm gonna do it my way friends 98% not good enough we've got to strive to the best of our ability to make Jesus Christ the Lord of everything we are everything we have everything we do and maybe we'll never get there perfectly but we can't be satisfied with less are you prepared to run up the white flag in these areas of your life these are hard questions but they're questions in light of who Jesus is that we need to be asking ourselves and we need to be responding to so I want us to bow our heads now and let's close our eyes together and I want to give you just a moment or two for you to do business with God if you're a follower of Jesus Christ I want to ask you to take a moment and talk with God about the areas of your life that he points out to you are still pockets of resistance to the lordship of Christ and if you're willing to ask for his help in running up the white flag and bringing those areas in the submission to his lordship then why don't you take this time right now to tell him that let's pray Lord Jesus you know we're just human and the ability to subjugate our willful human nature to the lordship of Christ is a challenge a big challenge and just when we think we're doing really well something pops up and and we've got another little area that we need to deal with but Lord my prayer is that you would motivate us today and encourage us today that if you are who you say that the lordship of Jesus Christ over every area of our life is non-negotiable now Father many people here today have talked to you about areas of their life and they're all different many of them have asked for help in bringing these areas into submission my prayer is that you would honor what they've done that you would be pleased with their heart and God in response you would grant them the power through your spirit to bring these areas more and more to the place where the white flag is up permanently and that area is surrendered to Jesus Christ help us wipe out every pocket of resistance or at least make that our goal that we might truly be people who live under the lordship of Jesus Christ father work in our hearts in our lives and authentically make us people that when the world looks at us they see what a follower of Christ ought to be and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen God bless you thanks for being here