Alright well we’re there in 1st Timothy 3:16. The Bible says “16 And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness:”. I want you to notice these words “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”. And of course on Sunday nights we are going through a series entitled Declaring Doctrine. And we’ve been looking at this idea of the Godhead. Last week we saw the deity of Jesus Christ; the fact that Jesus was God in the flesh and we saw that based off of his moral attributes. Tonight we are looking at the deity of Jesus Christ as proven by the testimony of scripture. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is God and I’m going to show that to you and I’m going to prove that to you. And honestly, the only reason we even started last week with the attributes sermon is because of the fact that we already looked at the attributes of God; the natural attributes of God and the moral attributes of God.
But I want to show you and I want you to notice that in this verse here, the Bible says “And without controversy”. I want you to notice that word controversy. The word controversy means dispute or debate or contention. As far as the Bible is concerned, there is no dispute, no debate, no argument. “without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness”. The Bible says that God was manifest in the flesh. The Bible clearly teaches that God came to this earth in a human body. He was manifested in the flesh. In this series, in every sermon we are teaching doctrine but this is going to be kind of heavy on doctrine.
I want to encourage you to write down some notes. Number 1, we should know why we believe what we do but also we should know how to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2, the Bible says “2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”. You’ve heard me say this before. My goal is not to preach to be heard. My goal is to preach to be repeated. My goal is not that you hear what I’m teaching you but that you would learn what I’m teaching you and that you would write things down. That’s why we constantly encourage you to write things down, internalize it, understand it, repeat it and teach it to others. This is especially true with this sermon. If you’re a soul winner, there will be times when you come across people who don’t believe the deity of Jesus Christ because they’ve been taught falsely by cults. The Jehovah’s witnesses teach that Jesus was not God. The Mormons teach that Jesus was not the only God. The Muslims, the Hindus and the Buddhists will all teach that Jesus was a good man or a good prophet but that he wasn’t God.
Even today, just the average Christian that you knock on their door, oftentimes they’ll say “Well I’m not really sure if Jesus is God or what the Bible says about it.”. I want you to be able to clearly show them from scripture because there is no controversy. God was manifest in the flesh. And we’re going to learn that. We’re going to study that and it’s going to be a little more doctrinal. It’s good for us to learn these things but the purpose is to teach others also. So, I want you to write some of these things down. There are people who pay good money to go to Bible colleges and seminaries to learn the things that I’m going teach you right now for free.
I’m going to give you 7 different proofs from the scripture, 7 testimonies that prove that Jesus is God. And again, we could spend all night doing this in all sorts of passages. I just picked these 7 because I think they’re clear and easy to understand. Now I want you to understand that when I say that the Bible shows Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is the narrator of scripture. Next Sunday night I’m going to preach a sermon called the deity of Jesus Christ as proven by his personal claims. Next Sunday night we’re going to actually look at the claims that Jesus made that he was saying “Hey I am God”. And we’re going to look at those but that’s not tonight. Tonight we’re just looking at when the Bible itself tells us that Jesus is God.
Matthew 1:20. This is of course the Christmas story, the birth of Jesus Christ. This is one of the 2 major Christmas stories in the Bible with the other one found in Luke 2. Matthew 1:20 says this “20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”. So, Joseph just found out that Mary is with child and he doesn’t know what to think about it. And he has this dream where God explains to him. Matthew 1:21 “21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. The context here is about the birth of Jesus. Joseph is being told that Mary is going to give birth to a son and he’s commanded to call his name Jesus “for he shall save his people from their sins”. And that’s what the name Jesus means. Savior or to save his people from their sins.
Notice verse 22. “22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child,”. So in verse 22, the narrator of the story which is Matthew is speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. He is giving us some insight here and says “22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,”. He’s saying look, this is a fulfilling prophecy. And we find this in Isaiah. We’re not going to turn there tonight. But I want you to notice this prophecy that’s being fulfilled with the birth of Jesus.
Verse 23 “23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”. I want you to notice that this is about Jesus. Verse 24 “24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.”. Now there’s a big emphasis here being made about the name of Christ. And just like you may have multiple names in the Bible, these people had multiple names. And Jesus was of course his main name and his prominent name. And the name Jesus means “the Lord saves”. And we can talk about that and I’m not going to focus on that but i want you to notice that the Bible says that Jesus was a fulfillment of this prophecy in the book of Isaiah when it says they shall call his name Emmanuel. And the word Emmanuel is in a different language so he tells us what it means. He says which being interpreted is God with us.
Now let me ask you something. Wouldn’t it be odd to name a little baby “God with us.”? I mean that’s what the name means. Let’s just say that you have a boy and we visit after the birth and ask what his name is. Then you respond “God with us”. That’s kind of an odd name to give a baby. Why would it be prophesied and why would it be documented that the birth of Jesus was the fulfilling of this prophecy? The prophecy was that a baby would be born with his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us. There’s really only one answer for that. He’s called God with us because he is God with us. People try to explain this away like “Oh no it just means that God was with his people”. Let me tell you something. If you name your son “God with us”, that’s blasphemy. But Jesus is God and the Bible says “16 And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”. That’s all about Jesus Christ. So, we see one proof here where the Bible tells us that the child’s name being born is Emmauel meaning “God with us”. Why would they name him “God with us”?. Because Jesus was God with us. Because he’s God in the flesh.
Number two. Let’s look at the testimony of John. In Matthew we saw the prophecy about Jesus. They named him Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us. In John 1 we have the story of creation. Notice John 1:1. “In the beginning”. Now if you’ve ever read the book of Genesis, if you ever started to read the Bible, that should sound familiar to you. Because Genesis 1:1 begins “In the beginning God created”. In John 1:1 we’re told “In the beginning was the Word,”. John is the 4th book of the New Testament but if you were to put statements in order then this is right there with Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning was the Word,”. I want you to notice the word “Word”. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”. See, the Word wasn’t created by God since the Word was here in the beginning.
Some people say this is a contradiction in the Bible. Well it’s the same verse so I don’t think John made a mistake in the very first verse in his book. The statements that he’s writing in our human logic and intellect seem contradictory. Let me tell you something. “great is the mystery of Godliness”. One of the biggest problems that we have as Christians is that we try to understand God in our own logic and our own reasoning. Look, God is bigger than we are. His ways are higher than our ways. We should have a God that we cannot understand. I mean if you could understand everything about God, that’d be a pretty small God. So here we’re given this statement. You say “What do I do with this contradictory statement? It doesn’t make sense to me.”. You accept it by faith because it’s the word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”. You say, “How can you be with God and be God at the same time?”. Look at verse two. “2 The same was in the beginning with God.”. “The same” is referring to the Word. You say, “How can this be?”.
It was very freeing for me when I just was able to come to the place where I said “Whatever the Bible says I just believe it. I don’t have to understand it. I just believe it.”. And by the way that’ll help you in every area of your life. When the Bible gives you marriage advice, you don’t have to understand it. It’ll work. When the Bible gives you parenting advice, just do it. It’ll be fine. When we can get to the place where we just say “If that’s what the Bible says, I’m going to do it”. You say “How can it be that the Word was with God and the Word was God?”. There’s really only one way to understand this. And again, just to comprehend it in a human level, it is because we believe in the doctrine of the trinity. Now the trinity is a different sermon for a different night. And we’re going to cover that at a different time. But I just want to show you 1 John 5:7 which is probably the most clear verse on the trinity in the Bible.
1 John 5:7 “7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,” That’s who we refer to as the 1st member of the Godhead or Trinity. “the Word,”. Now it doesn’t say Jesus but that is Jesus and we’ll see that in a minute. “. And this was written by the same person who wrote the Gospel of John. I think John is trying to help us understand how the Word can be with God and be God at the same time. He says well here’s how it works “7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”. You say “I don’t understand that”. You don’t need to understand it. Just believe it. We believe that there is one God that exists in three persons. And I’m going to do a whole sermon on the trinity. We’ll go through all the different theories and we’re going to understand it. But for now, just understand that there is 1 God, not 3 Gods. That’s polytheism. There’s one God that exists in three persons, not three parts of God. It’s 1 God who simultaneously exists in three persons. So, therefore the word, which is the 2nd member of the Godhead, can be with God the father, with God the Holy Ghost and at the same time he was God. So, the word was with God and the word was God. The word is the 2nd member of the triune God.
Look at verse 3. He goes on to explain to us that the word is God. He does the things that only God can do. What does he do? Well he’s the creator. Notice verse 3. “3 All things were made by him;”. By who? By the Word. The “him” is referring back to “The Word”. “3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”. What does that mean? That means that the Word is the creator. Look at verse 10 in the same chapter. “10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”.
Notice verse 4. “4 In him was life;”. Not only is “the Word” the creator but “the Word” is also the source of life. Why am I showing you this? Because look, when you are the creator and when you are the source of life, you know what you are. You are God. The Word was with God. The Word was God. Why? Because he was the creator. “3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”. “10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”. He is the source of life. “4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”. And by the way, Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me”. So, we see that the Word is the creator. We see that the Word is the source of light. And i want you to notice that “the Word” is the Lord Jesus Christ.
You say Pastor, “Why are you preaching these sermons on Sunday night?”. Because I want you to be the most biblically sound and educated church in the world. Because I want you to understand not just what we believe but why do we believe that. Here is a reason. Because “the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”. The word was the creator. The word is the source of life. And verse 14 says “14 And the Word was made flesh,”. That should remind you with the verse that we started with tonight. “And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness, God was manifest in the flesh”. This is referring to the same event. The incarnation of Christ. This is the event that the 2nd member of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, the Word, became flesh. “14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the”. I want you to notice these two words. “only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”.
If you have any problem understanding who is this “the Word”, John 1:14 should clear that up for you. “14 And the Word was made flesh,”. In case you’re like “Is that Buddha? Is that Muhammad? Is that the crazy guy in the Philippines proclaiming to be Jesus?”. “14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”. Now those words “the only begotten” should kind of let you know who we’re talking about. Because the most famous verse in the Bible, which is just a couple of chapters over, let’s look at it.
John 3:16 “16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,”. That’s Jesus Christ. “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”. So look, according to John 1:14, “14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”. According to John 3:16, Jesus is the only begotten Son. The Word was in the beginning with God. He was God. He made everything. He’s the creator and he’s the source of life. What does all of this prove? It proves this. Jesus is God. Jesus is the Word. Jesus is God. He was with God and he was God. “How can he be with God and be God?”. It’s the trinity. We’ll talk about that another time.
I’m just giving you references that prove the deity of Christ proven by the testimony of scripture. One is Matthew 1:23 where it says his name was Emmuanel which being interpreted is God with us. The 2nd one is John 1 where we see that the Word was with God. The Word was God. And the Word was made flesh. And he was the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth.
Here’s the 3rd one. The testimony of Philippians. If you read Philippians, you see that it is all about the death of Christ and his willingness to be obedient unto death, even unto the death of the cross. But I want you to notice verse 5. Philippians 2:5 “5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”. This is Paul saying “Hey, you need to be humble like Jesus was humble.”. How was Jesus humble? Here’s how humble Jesus was. “6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”. And then he talks about how he took on the form of a servant and became a man and was obedient unto death even the death of the cross. He’s saying look, you need to be humble like Jesus was humble. You say well how humble was Jesus? He says here’s how humble he was. He was God and he became a man. He was God and he became a servant. He was God and he was obedient unto death. And that’s the context of this passage.
But I want you to just notice there that verse number 6 says “6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”. What does that mean? That means that Jesus, when he made himself equal with God, he was not taking anything. He was not stealing anything. He was not trying to take anything that didn’t already belong to him. Do you understand that? I mean if I started a cult and I started telling people that I was God then I’m trying to steal glory that doesn’t belong to me. I’m trying to rob God of his glory and put it on myself. But you know what, when the Bible says that Jesus is God, the Bible says who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. See, Jesus didn’t do anything wrong when he equated himself to God. You say why? Because he was God. Because he is God. Because he’s God in the flesh.
Now let me just take a moment right now and just kind of give you some thoughts here in regards to the King James Bible. Here at Verity Baptist Church, we believe that the King James Bible is the inspired, preserved, inerrant, infallible Word of God in the English language. And I’m not preaching on that subject. I’ve preached about that already in the series. We’ve got documentaries and all sorts of things to answer your questions if you’ve not heard that before. But let me just show you one of the reasons why we believe the King James Bible is God’s Word. It is because the King James Bible is consistent and has no error in it. That’s why we say it’s infallible. The modern Bible versions have major problems in them that are not just removing the “thees” and the “thous”. They’ve got problems in them that actually affect doctrine.
I’d like to read to you Philippians 2:6 in 3 widely used modern Bible versions.
King James Bible
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Now that’s consistent with what we believe. He didn’t do anything wrong by equating himself to God because the word was with God and the word was God. He was equal to God because he is God. What do the modern versions say?
ESV (English Standard Version)
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Now hold on a second. The word grasp means to hold or grip. According to Philippians 2:6 in the English Standard Version, it says that Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. That means he didn’t think that making himself equal with God was something that he could hold on to or grip or reach or grasp.
ASV (American Standard Version)
6 who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
So according to the ESV, Jesus didn’t think that being equal to God was something he could grasp. According to the ASV, it was a thing that he could grasp.
RSV (Revised Standard Version)
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
So they all 3 basically say the same thing; that Jesus did not think that he could grasp equality with God. Now hold on a second. Please understand this. That’s not just a little change. That’s the complete opposite of what Philippians 2:6 and the King James Bible says. “6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”. The Bible is saying that he didn’t think there was anything wrong with making himself equal with God. The other ones say he didn’t think he could make himself equal with God. Those are two different things. Now look, you don’t have to be a theologian to understand this. And by the way, the theologians are the ones who gave us these false versions.
Look, things that are different are not the same. These books are saying 2 different things. One says Jesus wasn’t God. The other one says Jesus didn’t even think he could be like God. So how do you know which one is right? Well go ahead and make your decision but I’m going to stick with the one that agrees with John 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”. I’ll go with the one that agrees with Matthew Chapter 1. “they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”. Philippians 2:6 is a verse that teaches the deity of Christ; that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And then these modern Bible versions say the exact opposite; that he did not think equality with God a thing to be grasped. Look, they’re not saying the same thing. So you gotta decide obviously. I’ve preached other sermons on modern Bible verses. We’ve showed you all sorts of mistakes and things. They can’t even get it right that David killed Goliath.
We saw the testimony of Matthew. “Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us”. We say the testimony of John. “the word was with God and the word was God”. We saw the testimony of Philippians; that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Let’s look at the testimony of Colossians. Colossians 1:14. “14 In whom”. Referring to Jesus “we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”. That’s of course the lord Jesus Christ. Notice verse 15. “15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”. Notice verse 16 “16 For by him were all things created,”. Now here’s what’s interesting. And I’ll deal with this in another sermon. But people will look at verse 15 and say “Well see he’s the firstborn of every creature so that means he was created”. And the Bible says similar things in Revelation and we’ll deal with that another time. But please understand this. It wouldn’t make sense for Paul to tell us that he is created and then in the next verse that he created all things. Obviously he is teaching us here that he is the one that was used, he was the member of the Godhead that was used to create into existence. The Bible says that God spake and it was so. How did God create? He used his word. Who is the Word? Jesus.
In verse 16 he says “16 For by him”. The “him” is “the whom” from verse 14 where we have redemption through his blood. Look at verse 16 “16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”. So, “14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”. That same “whom” is the person who created all things. All things were created by him and for him. What does that mean? That means that Jesus is God. Look at verse 17 “17 And he is before all things,”. Ok, so he wasn’t created. He was in the beginning. He’s the great “I am”. We’ll look at that next week. “17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”. What does that mean? It’s patterned the same way as John 1. The word was the creator. “by him were all things made”. He’s the source of life. “in him was light”.
Here we’re told that all things were created by him. Then in verse 17 it says “17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” What does that mean? He’s the source of life. Do you realize that when you woke up this morning, you woke up because Jesus allowed you to wake up? You woke up because Jesus gave you life to wake up. And one day when you die you’ll die because Jesus said it’s time for you to die. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment”. He is before all things. He wasn’t created. He existed before all things. The docrine of him being created is a false doctrine. And he is before all things and by him all things consist. Look, Jesus is the source of life. And by him all things consist. He’s the creator. He’s God. Colossians 2:9 “9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”. And we’re going to come back to this verse later when we deal with the trinity. I just want you to notice that the Bible says that “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead”. That’s the deity. So we get the the testimony from Colossians.
So we have the testimony from Matthew, “his name is Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us”. We have the testimony from John “The word was with God. And the word was God”. We have the testimony from Philippians “He thought it not robbery to be equal with God”. We have the testimony from Colossians “by him were all things created and by him all things consist”. We have the testimony from Hebrews.
Hebrews 1:1 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners”. This is just a beautiful and eloquent way to say this. I love how the King James Bible is very eloquent. They’re synonyms. They mean the same thing. Sundry means different or diverse. He says “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,”. Here’s what he’s saying. There were different times and manners. He’s referring to the Old Testament. Verse 2 “2 Hath in these last days spoken” Who has spoken? God has spoken. “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,”.
So, I want you to understand what we’re looking at in Hebrews 1. We have 2 different individuals here. We have God the father (who has spoken in times past by the prophets). And now God the father is speaking unto us by his Son. Notice “whom he”. The he there is God. “hath appointed heir”. Who is “the heir”? That’s Jesus. “of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”. God made the world through his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Word. Jesus wasn’t created. When he says he’s the firstborn of every creature, it means that he was the one that was used to bring creation because by him were all things made. And they were made for him and by him they consist. It’s all consistent with scripture.
So notice the last part of the verse. “2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”. So, God made the world by him which is Jesus. I hope I’m not confusing you. I just want you to understand this. Verse 3 “3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,”. Jesus is the brightness of God, the brightness of his glory and Jesus is the express image of God the Father’s person. “and upholding all things by the word of his power,”. Isn’t that consistent with what we saw in Colossians where it said “by him all things consists”. It says “when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:”. So, who’s the majesty? That’s the Father. The term “majesty” represents a king. So look, Jesus after he had purged our sins on the cross went to hell, resurrected, ascended. He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. He sat down at the right hand of God the Father. And that’s consistent with other places in scripture.
Look at verse four. “4 Being made”. Now who is this referring to? That’s referring to Jesus and the fact that God became flesh at the incarnation. Notice “Being made so much better than the angels,”. Now he wasn’t created. He’s always been. But he was obviously born physically of Mary. Notice, “4 Being made so much better than the angels,”. So Jesus came down to this earth and was so much better than the angels. “as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”. A more excellent name than who? More excellent than the angels. Jesus is not equal to the angels. That’s what he’s saying. Jesus was made so much better than the angels when he was incarnated as a human and that his name is more excellent than their name. Because look, today the cults try to equate Jesus to the angels. The Mormons will say that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers and they’re just equals. Look, Lucifer is a fallen angel. The Jehovah’s Witnesses actually teach that Jesus is Michael the archangel. These are lies. This is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says being made so much better than the angels as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. And by the way, the name of Jesus is above every name. “for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”. The Bible says that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father. So he’s made so much better than the angels.
Notice verse 5. “5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son,”. Because he’s saying “Look, Jesus was made so much better than the angels”. He’s giving us reasons why he’s better than the angels. He’s better than the angels because he’s been given an inheritance. He’s better than the angels because he’s been given an excellent name. Then he says “5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?”. Here’s what he’s saying. I never told an angel you’re my Son and I’m your father. Now look, today the Dispensationalists will say “Oh, the angels came down from heaven and they gave birth. The angels are the sons of God”. No, he said “unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? That’s what the Bible says. You’re getting better than a Bible college education because you’re not getting all the heresy that comes with the Bible College theological books.
Look at verse 6. “6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world,”. And that phrase begotten, it references different things. And we’ll cover that at a different sermon. But I just want you to understand that doesn’t reference the beginning of Jesus because Jesus always was. It’s reference the birth of Christ; when Christ was born as a human in this world. “6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”. Worship who? Worship Jesus. Because he’s the first begotten. And by the way, if you read the Christmas story, what did all the angels do? They all appeared and they worshiped God. Exactly what the Bible’s telling us.
Now notice verse seven. “7 And of the angels he saith,” And they’re going to quote from the Old Testament. “Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”. The reason why I went through these verses is that I want you to understand the context. God is talking about the Son. It’s God the Father talking about the angels. That’s what we’ve seen. Notice verse 7 “7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.”. So what he’s telling us is what God the Father says about the angels. He says about the angels, you are ministering spirits and ministers a flame of fire. Then notice verse 8. He says “8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God,”. Now wait a minute. I thought God was speaking? If so then why did he say to the Son “O God”. Because his Son is God. How does God call his Son God? Because we believe in a triune God. We believe in the fact that God exists in three persons. God the father. God the Son. God the Holy Spirit. And God the Father just looked down at God the Son and said “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”.
We just saw a verse where God the Father called Jesus God. What does that mean? Here’s what it means. Jesus is God. You say “I don’t understand. How can God call Jesus God?”. Well the Word was with God and the Word was God. “His name shall be called Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us”. “By him were all things created and by him all things consist”. And then we have here in Hebrews 1:8 “8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”. So we have the testimony from Hebrews of God the Father calling Jesus the Son God.
I’m giving you seven. We’re almost done. We’re on number 6. 1 John 5:20 “20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.”. So the Bible is saying that we know that the Son of God has come. And I don’t have time to develop this but let me just explain something to you. The phrase Son of God is a phrase referring to the deity of Christ. People say “Oh no he’s not God. He’s the son of God”. Look, God exists in three persons. There is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. The fact that he’s called the Son of God is a reference to his deity in the same way that Jesus was called the son of man being a reference to his humanity.
Let me just go and throw this out there. We believe that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man all at the same time. How can he be both? I don’t know. That’s what the Bible says. That’s what we believe. He was God and he was man. But the phrase the Son of God is a reference to his deity. Do you understand that? And even if you just want to break it down on a logical level, when a human has a son, what is the son? It’s a human. I know some of you including me were educated in public school. But you know when a monkey has a son, it’s not a human. It’s a monkey. When a t-rex has a son, it’s not a chicken. It’s a dinosaur. I know we’ve been taught evolution but when a dog has a son it’s a dog. When a human has a son they’re equal. As soon as my son is born, he’s not less than I am. He’s an equal to me in the sense that I’m a human being and he’s a human being. Well let me tell you something, when God has a Son, it’s God. The difference between that illustration and God is that we are a race that reproduces. God only exists in three persons. They’re not multiple Gods. That’s polytheism. There’s only one God and that one God only exists in three persons. God the Father. God the Son. God the Holy Ghost. But I just want you to understand the phrase “Son of God” is a reference to his deity.
1 John 5:20 “20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.” When you got saved, spiritually you’re born in Christ. This is all that it’s referring to. “20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”. Who is the true God and eternal life? His Son Jesus Christ. “20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”. So here we see the testimony of 1 John 5:20. He’s just flat out called “the true God”.
Let me give you one last one and we’ll finish up. Go to Revelation 4:8. “8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him;”. And of course this is where we’re seeing a view of the throne of God in heaven. We’re getting a description of the throne room of God. “8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”. Now I want you to notice that here we have God the Father sitting on the throne. I don’t have time to develop it but if you look at revelation chapter 5 you’ll see that God the Father was on the throne. They brought a book. They wept because no man was worthy to open the book. And then the Lamb comes and opens the book. Then he opens the seals which begins the event of the end times. And he delivers the book unto the God sitting on the throne. So, this is God the Father on the throne. But he’s referred to as “Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”. I want you to notice that the phrase “Lord God Almighty is used as a reference to God. You’ll see this consistently throughout the Book of Revelation.
Go to Revelation 11:17. And remember that we believe that God exists in three persons. God the Father. God the Son. God the Holy Spirit. One God that exists in three persons. Look at verse 17.
Revelation 11:17 “17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty,”. So that phrase is only used about God and specifically that word Almighty. Because if you remember from several weeks ago, when we saw the attributes of God, remember God is omnipotent. He’s all-powerful. Almighty, that’s what that means. “17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.”. So in revelation 4:8, we read “holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come”. It’s a reference to the fact that he’s always existed. When did he start? Well, he always has been. He’s the great I am.
In Revelation 11:17 we saw “O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come;”. Look at Revelation 15:3. “3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”. So notice, this phrase is used about God. God Almighty is about God. Why? Because God is the only one that’s Almighty. It means power or strength and God is the one that has all might. I’ll just throw in there that with the Great Commission in Matthew 28, Jesus said “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”. And that’s for next week’s sermon. But anyway, he’s Almighty. God is almighty. Now I want you to notice Revelation 1:8. We have Jesus speaking and Jesus appears to John on the Isle of Patmos. “8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”. Why is Jesus the Almighty? I thought God was the Almighty. Well here’s the thing, Jesus is God. All power is given unto me in heaven and earth is what Jesus said. So, Jesus is he which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty.
So last week we looked at the deity of Jesus Christ as proven by his moral attributes that only God has. He’s holy. He’s just. He’s good. Tonight we saw the deity of Jesus Christ as proven by the testimony of scripture. Does the Bible give testimony to the fact that Jesus is God? We looked at 7 things and could have looked at a lot more but we saw many proofs of the diety of Jesus. We saw the testimony of Matthew “his name shall be called Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us”. We saw a testimony of John “The word was with God. The word was God.”. We saw a testimony of Philippians “he thought it not robbery to be equal with God”. We saw a testimony of Colossians “By him were all things created and by him all things consist.”. We saw a testimony of Hebrews. “unto the Son he saith thy throne o God”. We saw the testimonial of 1st John. “This is the true God”. We saw a testimony of revelation “which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty”. All that to say this, Jesus is God. You should believe it. You should understand it. You should teach it to others.
And let me just end with this idea and we’ll finish up. When we say that Jesus is God, please understand this. This is unique to our Christian belief system. Muslims don’t claim that Muhammad was deity. Mormons don’t claim that Joseph Smith was deity. Nobody claims that Buddha was deity. The Bible claims that Jesus is God. And next week we’re going to see how Jesus claimed that Jesus was God. So, please understand this. When we say that we are followers of Christ, what we are saying is that we are following God who is manifest in the flesh. Now I hope you believe that.
But here’s the application. Because I never like to end the story without an application. It’s not just good enough for you to believe it. You should live like it’s true. See, Jesus is the Word. My wife and I, we’re not perfect. We make mistakes and we’re learning and growing like anybody else. But we decided a long time ago that if Jesus said it, I’m just going to go with what he says because he is God. And you would save yourself a lot of heartache and a lot of trouble and problems. Everybody always wants to talk and think that they got it more figured out than God does. Let me tell you something, Jesus is God. He is the creator. He created you. He made you. He created you with a purpose and a plan. And you would be wise to say “Well, if God says it, I’m just going to do it.”.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but every time I stand up to preach, by the grace of God we’ve tried to say “Hey, here’s what God says.”. When I preach on politics, it’s all about what God says. When I preach on finances, it’s all about what God says. When we talk about marriage or dating or parenting, it’s all about what God says. When it comes to our health, it’s all about what God says. Why? Because Jesus is God. Just get yourself on his program and you’ll be fine because he’s God. And the funny thing is, we say he’s not just a man, but when it comes to listening to him, we act like he’s just a man, like we have it figured out and that we’re the exception to the world. You’re the exception to nothing. You are a sinner like everybody else. And the only exception is Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh.
Let’s pray.