Thank you for taking the time to read the Weekend Sermon this week. I am glad to be able to post the sermons each week, and I hope that those who read them are benefited by them. I also hope that everyone is having a very good day.
I've had another good week working on my writing. I am thankful to the Lord for that. I am also thankful that the heavy rains did not cause any flooding at my house. It rained about as hard as I've seen it rain. One town just north of where I live had some flooding, so I hope that everyone will pray for those who had damage.
I do have a prayer request. I would like to find a part-time job to help supplement my writing income. Please pray that the Lord will lead me to the right job and that His will will be done in this situation.
In other matters, please pray for those who are recovering from natural disasters. Continue to pray for those in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. The situation in Papua New Guinea is improving, but that nation still needs our prayers as well.
Let us continue to pray for peace in the troubled areas of this world. Pray for those in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan and Ukraine that they might have peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, please pray for those in Benin and Sri Lanka. Pray that many will hear about the love of the Lord Jesus.
Last week, we began a series of messages on who is Jesus. We started off by focusing on the divinity of Jesus Christ. Many will try to deny that Jesus is God. However, as we saw last week, the Bible is quite clear that Jesus is God. Jesus referred to Himself as divine, and those who opposed Jesus recognized the fact that Jesus claimed to be God.
In today's message, I want us to focus on the humanity of Jesus. Jesus was God, but Jesus was also a man. This is an important topic to discuss, because it was an area of doctrinal contention even in the early days of the church.
First of all, Jesus acknowledged that He was a man. He recognized His mother and His relatives. When Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, He made it clear that He was not a ghost, but He was a flesh, blood and bone human being with a then glorified body.
The Bible is quite clear in emphasizing the fact that Jesus was a human being and that He had an actual human body. Philippians 2:7 tells us, "He made Himself nothing by taking the nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." John 1:14 states, "The Word was made flesh and dwelled among us." In I John 1:1, John points out that he saw Jesus and he touched Jesus. He knew that Jesus was a real human being and not just someone who appeared to be a human being.
We see from His life on this earth that Jesus did things and experienced things that happened to humans. For instance, Mark 4:38 records that when the storm came up and the disciples were afraid, Jesus was asleep on the boat. Jesus grew tired and needed to rest just like we do.
Mark 11:12 is one verse that points out that Jesus experienced physical hunger. When he was hungry, he went to get some figs from the fig tree, but the fig tree was barren. The Bible also records that Jesus was hungry after having fasted for forty days and nights in the wilderness.
Jesus had friends just like all humans do. John was Jesus' very good friend. Jesus was friends with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Jesus wept at the death of His friend Lazarus.
Why is it important that Jesus was a human being with a human nature. It is important because Jesus is the Second Adam. The first Adam failed. He sinned, and death passed upon all human beings.
Jesus succeeded in every area where Adam failed. Jesus was completely sinless. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus was tempted in all the ways that we are, but He did not sin.
Because Jesus lived a holy and sinless life, He is able to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the righteous one who knew no sin, but He became sin for us. He took the punishment that we deserved, and He bore our sins in His body on the cross.
In Adam, all died, the Bible says. However, in Jesus Christ, all can be made alive.
It is also important that we stress the humanity of Jesus, because Jesus is our perfect example of how we are to live in this world. We can look to Him and emulate His behavior.
I find it comforting to know that Jesus was a human being. He knows what I am going through. He knows what it is like to be let down by His friends. He knows what it is like to be despised and rejected. Jesus understands the sorrows and the heartaches that I go through. The Bible says that He is our Great High Priest who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Because Jesus was an actual human being, He understands me and what I face. He has been there too.
Jesus knows what we face. We can go to Him, and He will provide the comfort of one who has been there too. Always look to the Lord Jesus for His guidance and help in each situation.
Next week, we will continue with our series exploring who Jesus is. On Monday, I will post the verses of the week. On Wednesday, there will be some type of review, or I might post a poem. May God bless you all. Amen.
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