Christ Community Church, Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC)
Is Jesus God?
  • Holy Holy Holy (Nicaea)
  • Here I Am To Worship
  • What A Beautiful Name

      • John 1:1NKJV

      • John 1:2NKJV

      • John 1:3NKJV

      • John 1:4NKJV

      • John 1:5NKJV

      • John 1:6NKJV

      • John 1:7NKJV

      • John 1:8NKJV

      • John 1:9NKJV

      • John 1:10NKJV

      • John 1:11NKJV

      • John 1:12NKJV

      • John 1:13NKJV

      • John 1:14NKJV

      • John 1:15NKJV

      • John 1:16NKJV

      • John 1:17NKJV

      • John 1:18NKJV

  • In the Beginning

    Grace to you, Shalom from God our Father, from Jesus our Savior and from the Holy Spirit our Sanctifier.
    When you hear the words, “In the Beginning” what do you think of. Most people, even with people with very little knowledge of the Bible will think of the first verse of Genesis. Now that we are all thinking of the beginning of Genesis, what is the fourth word of that sentence?
    GOD
    In the Beginning GOD.
    Now remember the first three words of what Steve read today from John 1:1. “In the Beginning.” It is no accident that John was started his Gospel with those words. He knew, just like you and I that any Jewish person hearing those words would think of the fourth word, “GOD.”
    Yet, John changes the fourth word and goes on to explain that the WORD was Who was in the beginning. Just to make sure you heard me correctly, I will read that sentence again.
    Yet, John changes the fourth word and goes on to explain that the WORD was WHO was in the beginning.
    The WORD is who, not what. How can I say that. Well, you have to jump down to verse 14 of this chapter where we read:
    John 1:14 NKJV
    And the Word became 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.
    John clearly here identifies the WORD as Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh (God incarnate).
    And, to return to Genesis chapter 1, when you read verse 3 you will see how God created everything.
    Genesis 1:3 NKJV
    Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
    God said is what this verse tells us. What did God use to speak creation into being. He used the WORD. Clearly, Jesus is the WORD in this verse in Genesis. Just in case you don’t see this, or get this, John continues in verse 1 of his book to show us just who Jesus is.
    John 1:1 NKJV
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
    The WORD was with God. This is to help us understand that Jesus is distinct from the Father. Here we have some of the roots of the teaching about the Trinity.
    You see when anyone speaks a word, they have to use breath in order to speak forth that word.
    In both Hebrew (OT language) and Greek (NT language) the word for breath can also be translated as SPIRIT.
    In third verse of Genesis we see the FATHER speaking the WORD (Jesus) with the power of the breath (HOLY SPIRIT). What does God speak into being in the third verse of Genesis?
    LIGHT!!!
    Now hold onto that thought about light, and we’ll return to it soon.
    John 1:1 NKJV
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
    The last part of this verse, “The Word was God,” should put any doubts of believers to rest that Jesus is God. It is interesting the order of this words of this phrase in Greek literally say:
    GOD WAS THE WORD
    Now, I a hoping that most of you are saying to yourselves. “Pastor, tell me something I don’t already know.” Actually the reason, I picked up on this topic of Jesus being God was due to a conversation I had with Pastor Terry Culler at Breakfast this past Monday. He said, that a poll had been done and only 33% of Evangelical Christians believe that Jesus is God. So, I want to make sure that you know the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is God.
    Why is it then that 2/3 of Evangelical Christians don’t believe that Jesus is God? Perhaps that is the better question to ask.
    Several things come to mind.
    First: Much of what is taught in Christianity is little more than Christianized “Self-Help”
    If you listen to what is taught you will hear a lot about what YOU HAVE TO DO, or, NOT DO. So, when you strip away the religious language being shared, you are left with dealing with life with your own thoughts and efforts.
    When I say this, I am not referring just to living out your faith on a day to day basis. I still hear many people who identify themselves as Christians say that they need to live a good life in order to be saved. That is a lie that Satan wants you to believe.
    The idea that my good works, or just that I am a good person will earn my place in Heaven is so far from correct, that it is dangerous to know people still believe this garbage.
    I stated this at Sue Rippeon’s funeral on Friday, and will continue to say it over and over again.
    If we could be good enough to merit a place with God in eternity, then Jesus did not have to come into the world. And, Jesus certainly didn’t have to die.
    Really, when we say, or believe that we are good enough, we make a mockery of Jesus and what He did for us.
    Every blow Jesus took to his back was a blow you and I should have received.
    Every nerve that shot pain through His hands and feet was what you and I should have been subject to.
    Every breath that took 100 percent of Jesus’ energy just to push against the nails to open his lungs for air, is a struggle for breath that we all should have taken.
    But we didn’t have to do any of those things. Why? Because Jesus loves you and I so much that He willingly put Himself in our place to pay the price for our sins, which we could never pay.
    Jesus’ main purpose in becoming a man, God in the flesh, was to rescue you and I by dying in our place.
    Jesus is God! He was born sinless and lived His entire life without sin. Then He offered His sinless life in our place to enable us to be saved.
    Even though Jesus died for everyone who has ever, or will ever live, we still have to receive Him as our Savior and Lord.
    Steve read those powerful words today.
    John 1:12 NKJV
    But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
    John 1:13 NKJV
    who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
    Have you acknowledged that without Jesus you are lost? Have you come to the realization that Jesus’ gift of grace is for you by dying in your place? Have you received Jesus?
    We have to repent. We have to turn from trusting in being “Good Enough.” We have to confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have to walk away from the temptation and ask Jesus to come into our lives that we may be saved.
    If you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, pray for those who will be praying to Jesus and asking to receive Him.
    If you desire to receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, pray silently with me now.
    Lord Jesus, I come to you knowing that I have lived a lie. I have believed I was good enough, or better than others. I have believed that whatever bad things I did, would be overlooked by you, Jesus. Please forgive me. Please forgive my foolishness.
    Please cleanse me with your precious, sinless blood and save me. Please come into my life and make me your child, and enable me to believe completely in You and in Your Word.
    In the saving name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
    ​
    Now that you have received Jesus, you have been forgiven. You have become a child of God.
    When this happens, our hearts become so thankful for what Jesus has done for us that we want to show Him how much we love Him.
    We want to live a life that shows we are different, that shows we are saved! We want to live a good life. Why? In order to be saved? No, that has already happened. We live a good life in order to show Jesus how thankful we are for rescuing us.
    When you have received Jesus as your Savior, you need to get into His Word on a regular basis. You want to serve your Savior. So, just how are you supposed to live?
    Well, you will see that as you begin to read and study God’s Word. This gospel of John that we are referring to here today is a great place to start.
    Someone stated once that the Gospel of John is full of living water. Water that is shallow enough for a toddler to play safely in. Toddler’s is what new believer are. And this water is deep enough for the most robust believer to dive into and never be able to plumb the depths of this word.
    God-the-Holy Spirit inspired John and others who wrote the Bible. The Holy Spirit is the true Author of God’s Word. So, before you pick up the Gospel of John, or any other book, pause and pray something like this:
    God-the-Holy Spirit, come and open my eyes, my heart, my mind and my spirit to the truths which You have for me in Your Word today. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen!
    Next, get involved in a church which believes the Bible is God’s Word from cover to cover. Unfortunately, there are churches that don’t believe the entire Bible is God’s Word.
    I was serving as a pastor of a denomination which did not believe that the entire Bible was God’s Word. That is the main reason I left and why I am now a pastor in the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, like this one, Christ Community Church.
    Get involved in a Bible Study. Covid-19 has forced us to do things differently. Our new Faithlife software that we are using, has the ability to have video conferencing with groups of people. I need to find out how this works.
    I want to teach Crossways Bible Study to our people. It is an in depth study of the entire Bible. It is what I should have been taught in Seminary. Many people who have gone through Crossways have been blessed, as it has provided a great foundation for understanding God’s Word.
    ​
    OK, let me get back to the main topic. Another reason I think many evangelical Christians don’t believe that Jesus is God is because Jesus didn’t come to our world demanding that we honor Him as God.
    No, Jesus came as a servant. Even though Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, made the lame to walk, cast out demons and raised the dead, He didn’t do these things to force you to believe.
    In fact the book of Philippians tells us that instead of showing Himself as great, Jesus did the opposite.
    Philippians 2:5 NKJV
    Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
    Philippians 2:6 NKJV
    who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
    Philippians 2:7 NKJV
    but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
    Philippians 2:8 NKJV
    And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
    These verses are an example of how Jesus wants us to live. He was humble. He wants us to be humble. Jesus always looked to the Father for direction, because He wants us to look to God and the Bible for direction.
    So, because Jesus didn’t grandstand that He was actually God in the flesh, many people don’t see that, or believe that it is true.
    ​
    Did you catch earlier in John 1 that Jesus created everything?
    John 1:3 NKJV
    All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
    How many things were made/created without Jesus? NONE.
    The caterpillars, the aardvarks, the whales. The bright colored cardinals, and the web spinning spiders. The ostrich, and the iguana. Even you and I.
    Jesus is the creator. He loves His creation so much that He became one of us. A human—a sinless human, that he would rescue us from sin, death and the power of the devil.
    Then having accomplished the rescuing of His creation, by His death, He was raised from the dead, that we would know Jesus really is God.
    ​
    So, in the end, is knowing and believing that Jesus is actually God important? It is so important, that our very salvation is dependent upon it.
    Amen. Now may the Shalom of God which passes understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen!
    ​
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      • John 1:14NKJV

      • Genesis 1:3NKJV

      • John 1:1NKJV

      • John 1:1NKJV

      • John 1:12NKJV

      • John 1:13NKJV

      • Philippians 2:5NKJV

      • Philippians 2:6NKJV

      • Philippians 2:7NKJV

      • Philippians 2:8NKJV

      • John 1:3NKJV

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Christ Community Church
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240.329.4920
https://cccaflc.org
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