Welcome to this week's posting of the Weekend Sermon. I hope that all of you are having a very good week. Thank you for taking the time to read the blog and the sermon this week.
I have been having a pretty good week. Writing has been going well, and I've been able to keep up with my work around the house. I've been feeling well, too. I am thankful to the Lord for the fact that the neighbor's building project hasn't caused any problems. I was worried about that, but all has gone well so far. Please pray that the other neighbor's project won't cause any bother either. I thank you for your prayers.
In other matters, I would like us all to pray regarding the situation with the ebola virus outbreak in Congo. Please pray that those who are sick will recover, and pray that this sickness will not spread.
Let us also pray for those in Hawaii. Let us pray that the volcanoes will quiet down. Continue to pray for those in Puerto Rico and Papua New Guinea who are recovering from natural disasters.
Pray for peace in the troubled areas of this world. Pray that Syria, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan and Afghanistan will find peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let's pray for the nations of Ghana and China. Pray that many will hear about the love of Jesus.
Last week, we finished our series of messages on some of the passages in the Bible that are misinterpreted or taken out of proper context. Today, we will begin a new series of messages. The title of this series is Who is Jesus? I wan't to focus on the person and work of the Lord Jesus, and I hope that these messages will bring honor and glory to Jesus.
Today, we will focus on the fact that Jesus is God. The Bible declares that Jesus is God. Jesus said that He was God. Those who saw Jesus while He was on earth either recognized Him as God, or they recognized that Jesus claimed to be God.
Let's look at the first point. The Bible declares that Jesus was God come to this earth in human form in several different places. Colossians 2:9 states, "For in Christ, all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. Hebrews 1:6-8 tells us that Jesus was the Son of God born into the world to be God's ultimate revelation.
John 1:1 clearly speaks of the divinity of Jesus. This verse states, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Jesus is the Son of God and God the Son. He existed as part of the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit throughout all eternity. The Son came to this earth and took upon Himself human flesh. Jesus left the glories of Heaven to come to this earth in order to show us the love of God. He came to redeem us and provide a way for the restoration of all things.
When I was in college taking a class in church history, I had a professor who said that Jesus never made the claim that He was God. However, this is just not accurate. On several occasions, Jesus did claim that He was God. For instance, in John 10:30, Jesus states, "I and the Father are One."He will later tell one of His disciples that if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. In John 8:58, Jesus says, "Before Abraham was born, I AM." Jesus was claiming to be the I AM who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush. This is about as clear as Jesus could be claiming to be God.
Those who heard Jesus make this statement knew exactly what He meant. After Jesus said I AM, the religious leaders picked up stones and tried to stone Jesus to death. In John 10:33, the religious leaders said that they despised Jesus because He was a mere man claiming to be God.
Clearly, Jesus claimed to be God, and this claim was recognized by those who knew Jesus. Jesus also accepted worship as if He was God, and His disciples would come to recognize Him as God.
In John chapter 20, when Thomas saw the risen Jesus, Thomas fell at His feet and said that Jesus was his Lord and his God. Jesus accepted this statement, and He did not rebuke Thomas in any way. When the other disciples saw Jesus just before He ascended into Heaven, they worshiped Him recognizing Him to be God.
I think that there can be no doubt that the Bible claims that Jesus was God come in the flesh. Jesus claimed to be God. The enemies of Jesus recognized that Jesus was claiming to be God, and the disciples worshiped Jesus as God.
Here is the relevant question now, do you believe that Jesus is God come in the flesh? If He is, then we need to do what He says. Jesus calls us to follow Him if we believe that He is who He claimed to be. Each person has to decide if the claims of Jesus are true.
Next week, we will continue with our series on Jesus. On Monday, I will post the verses. On Wednesday, I will post another movie review. May God bless you all. Amen.
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