Turn with me to the Gospel of
John chapter 1, please. Give you just a little insight
as you're turning how this message came about. I was speaking with
Brother Paul Mahan last week, and he told me about a road sign
that he's been seeing frequently in Virginia. I haven't yet to
see it here. Maybe you have. But the sign
asks a question. It says, are you an idolater? And then it follows up with the
statement, God is one, not three in one. God is one. Are you an idolater? God is one,
not three in one. In other words, if you believe
that God exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
then you're an idolater. What is this saying? What is
this suggesting? What is it insinuating? Well, it's not suggesting or
insinuating anything. It's just a flat out denial that
Jesus Christ is God. How serious is that? Life and
death serious. The truth of who God is hinges
upon that truth. How does such teaching affect
sinners like you and me apart from Jesus Christ? Now hear me
on this. Apart from Jesus Christ being
God, it means that there's no salvation for anyone. Only God
can provide the perfect righteousness that He requires through the
perfect work that He Himself finished. It was Christ, God
manifest in the flesh, who provided that perfect righteousness. Only God can save sinners. Jesus Christ is the one who came
into the world to do so. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand."
How did Christ put away our sin? By the sacrifice of Himself.
The Scripture is very clear. So Jesus Christ must, and I repeat,
must be God, because salvation is in, by, and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the One who came
to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, He's the one who came and satisfied
the holy justice of God, and He did so completely. And He,
in Matthew 5, verse 17, said this Himself. Think not that
I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm not come
to destroy, but to fulfill. And that's what we must have,
the fulfillment of the law in our room instead. Without it,
no man, no woman will see God. Apart from the God-man, I love
to say that word, God-man, all God, all man, not half God, not
half man, all God, all man, the God-man, apart from His perfect
fulfillment of God's law, there's no redemption for any of us.
He, as God, is the only one who could fulfill it. Now, if Jesus
Christ is not God, then there's no hope for you, me, or anyone.
So this is a very serious allegation. It's not only a denial of the
Trinity, but it denies God's means of saving sinners. Now,
I believe that God is one. The Scripture teaches that. He's in three persons. He's one
in essence. He's one in being. He's one in
nature. But the scripture boldly declares
that within that one God, there are three distinct persons. The Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter
28, 18 said, all power is given to be in heaven and in earth.
And then he adds, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. So this affirms the Trinitarian
nature of God. God, one God, in three persons. Now do I understand that? No.
But I believe it, because that's what the Scriptures teach. Now
here in John 1, verse 1, you know the passage well. It states,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And what? And the Word was God. Jesus Christ is God. He's the
Word of God and He's God. The deity of Christ is declared
right there. Christ was in the beginning.
He was not made in the beginning. He wasn't created in the beginning. He was already there in the beginning
God. He's the one that created heaven
and earth. Jesus Christ is God eternal. He's Christ divine,
the word, who is Jesus Christ was God, not a God. not like God, He was God. Then down in verse 14, look at
it. It states very plainly, and the Word, the same Word that
was in the beginning with God, the same Word that was God, was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. Who
has glory but God? We beheld His glory, but glory
is the only begotten. Now begotten means born, the
child of the Father, full of grace and truth. Who but God
is full of grace and truth? The Lord Jesus, the Word, became
flesh, but He didn't stop being God. He's the God-man. He just simply added humanity
without sin to His divinity. Jesus Christ is fully God and
fully man. He's the God-man. Only God is
full of grace and truth. Well, you're repeating yourself.
Thank you. I mean to. We need to understand this. This
is not speaking of God the Father. This is speaking of the Word,
that Word that was in the beginning with God, that Word that was
in the beginning with God and was God, that God who was made
flesh and dwelt among us. There are three. John went on
to write in his epistle, for there are three that bear record
in heaven. the Father, the Word, Jesus Christ,
and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. That's not hard,
is it? Very plain, very simple. Turn
over a few pages to John chapter eight. Look at, I think verse 14 is where I'll
start. The Lord made many declarations of being God by using that phrase,
I am. That's how God revealed himself
to Moses, if you remember, in Exodus chapter three, verse 14. Moses said, now, when I come
unto the children of Israel that you're sending me to and say
that God, the God of their fathers has sent me, who? They're sure
to ask me, so who do I say sent me? And in verse 14, and God
said unto Moses, I am, but I am. And he said, God said, thou shalt
say unto the children of Israel, I am, hath sent me unto you. And God said, moreover unto Moses,
thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord
God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob hath sent me unto you. This is my name
forever. And this is my memorial unto
all generations. You see, I am is how God identifies
Himself. And this is how the Lord Jesus
Christ identified Himself. Look down at verse 24. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am,
Now the word he there is italicized, so it was added. He said, if
you don't believe that I am, if you don't believe that I'm
God, you're gonna die in your sin. The Lord Jesus said, for
if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins. If
you don't believe I am God, you're gonna die spiritually and eternally. Look down at verse 28. Then said
Jesus unto them, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then
shall you know that I am. He again is italicized. And that
I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak
these things. Here he admits he's doing nothing
of himself. He's not acting independently. His mission, his words, his work
are fully aligned with the will of the Father. Why? Because they're
one. They're one. They're one in mind,
they're one in spirit, they're one in power, they're one in
purpose. Look down at verse 53, the Jews said, art thou greater
than our father Abraham, which is dead, and the prophets are
dead? Whom makest thou thyself? And
in verse 56, the Lord said, your father Abraham, Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. And then said the Jews unto him,
well, you're not yet 50 years old. And how hast thou seen Abraham? And Jesus said unto them, barely,
barely, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. The Lord Jesus was God before
Abraham was ever born. The Lord Jesus was God long before
this world was ever created. The Lord Jesus was God long before
any of us ever believed, before we were born, before we had ever
done any good or evil. Why? That the purpose of God
according to election. The purpose of God. Not of works, but of him that
calleth. Now, in John chapter 10, The Word of God, that Word that
was in the beginning with God, that Word that was God, the same
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We're still talking
about Him. He said, I and my Father are
one. That's why whosoever denies the
Son does not have the Father. That's what the Lord Jesus said.
If you deny one, you deny the other. Why? Because they are
one. That's why John said, whosoever
denies the Son does not have the Father. If you deny one,
You're denying all three. The Trinity of God. Now, this
is the meat and taters of this. The Trinity of God is the foundation
of the Gospel. Without the Trinity, there can
be no Gospel, you might ask. How so? First, God the Father
purposed salvation. Before the world was ever created,
God purposed to save some. God the Son obeyed, He suffered,
He voluntarily came, and He died in the room instead of His people
becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
And God the Holy Spirit regenerates the believer's heart and applies
redemption, making them a new creation. This is the work of
God. All three persons of the Godhead. Titus 3, 5, and 6, not by works
of righteousness, which we've done, but according to His mercy,
God's mercy, He saved us, Christ saved us by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost. He's got as much a part in salvation
as God the Father and God the Son. And it says, which He shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord. Who's the Savior
of His people? Christ, through the prophet Isaiah,
said, I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there's no Savior.
This book is full of proof that Jesus Christ is God. Tell ye
and bring them near, yea, let them take counsel together. Who
hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that
time? Hath not I, the Lord, and there's
no God else beside me, a just God, and what? A Savior. There's none beside me. Is God Savior or is Jesus Christ
Savior? Yes. Both of them. One God. Only God
can save sinners. Salvation is of who? The Lord. Who is the Lord? The Lord is
God, there is none else. Deuteronomy 4.35. The Lord, He
is God. 1 Kings 18.39. Know ye that the
Lord, He is God. Psalm 100 verse three. I am the
Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside me. Who
says, speaking of God, the Father? Yes. God, the Son? Absolutely. God, the Holy Spirit? You better believe it. In the Gospel of John alone,
the Lord professed Himself to be God through those words, I
am. In John 6, 35, He said, I am
the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never
hunger. In John 8, 12, in John chapter 9, verse 5, He said,
I am the light of the world. I am. God is. He who follows Me shall not walk
in darkness. In John 10, verses 7 and 9, He
said, I am the door of the sheep. I am. I'm God, the door of the
sheep. If anyone enters by Me, he will
be saved. In John 10, 11 and 14, He said,
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life
for the sheep. In John 11, 25, he said, I am
the resurrection and the life. I am. Who is, God is. Who is, Jesus Christ is. No one
comes to the Father but by me. Whoever believes in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. In John 15, one in verse, Verse
one and verse five, he said, I am the true vine. I am. And my father is the husband
then. We're in this together, we're
one. Salvation's of the Lord, God, the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. In John chapter 13, the Lord
Jesus said, I'll tell you things before they come to pass, so
that when they do come to pass, that you may believe But I am."
He said, Olin, when God promised Abraham and Sarah a son in their
old age, and I don't think we think about that much. He was
100, she was 90. God said, I've made thee a father
of many nations, and I am he who quickeneth the dead and calleth
those things which be not as though they were. You see, our
Lord knew what was in men and women's hearts. Only God can
do that. Jesus Christ is God. He said,
I am the great I Am. In John chapter 18, in the Garden
of Gethsemane, the soldiers came seeking Jesus of Nazareth. And
as soon as the Lord said, I Am, what happened to them? They fell
backwards. Why? Oh, the power that's found
in God's name, I am. In Revelation 1, verse 18, the
Lord Jesus said, I am Alpha and Omega. I am the first and the
last. I am the beginning and the end. I am He who lives and was dead. Now who's that talking about?
Who lived and was once dead? Jesus Christ. He's I Am, He's
God. That can only speak of Christ
as God. And when the Lord Jesus said,
I Am, He wasn't just identifying Himself, friends. He was claiming
eternal existence, divine authority, and the fulfillment of the Messiah.
The Old Testament said, One's coming. The New Testament said,
He's come. And it's God in the flesh. Thou
shalt call His name Jesus, Savior, for He shall save His people
from their sin. Who but God can forgive sin?
You know, the Lord Jesus said to a man with the palsy, He said,
Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. And the Pharisees, they got all
tore up. Did you hear what He said? They said, why did this
man speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? Exactly. Exactly. They were correct. Only God can
forgive sins. In Luke's account they ask, who
can forgive sins but God alone? No. No one. No one but God can. Only God can forgive sins. And
yet the Lord Jesus said, your sins be forgiven. He said, which
is easier to say? Rise up and walk or thy sins
be forgiven." It's the same thing, same result. Sin is what causes
our afflictions and trouble and health issues in this life. If
our sins are forgiven and gone, then we're healed, right? Those
who knew the Lord professed Him to be God. The apostles knew
that He was God. Remember what Thomas said? Thomas
wasn't there the first time that he came. They said, Thomas, the
Lord is here. And he said, I won't believe
it until I can put my finger in the holes of His hand. And
then the Lord came again. And what did Thomas say? My Lord
and my God! Paul wrote, Our great God and
Savior, God Himself said of Christ His beloved Son, Your throne,
O God, is forever and ever. That's what God the Father said
of God the Son. And you're a God forever and
ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. God the Father calls God the
Son God. He speaks of Christ's scepter.
He speaks of Christ's kingdom. Both a scepter and a kingdom
symbolize authority, symbolizes sovereignty, kingship, held by
a monarch or a ruler. And that's how God the Father
described His Son as God. That should prove beyond a shadow
of a doubt that Jesus Christ is God. Genesis 49, 10 says,
the scepter shall not depart from Judah. Those who know the
Lord Jesus professed Him to be God. The apostles did, as we
just saw. The prophets knew Jesus Christ
was God. Isaiah said, His name shall be
called the mighty God. The everlasting Father. Whose
name? Christ's name. Isaiah 9, 6. Isaiah said, they shall call
His name Immanuel. And then the angel of the Lord
added in Matthew chapter 1, verse 23, and they shall call His name
Immanuel, which being interpreted is what? God with us. God with us. Jesus Christ is
God. The apostles knew it. The prophets
knew it. The early church knew that Jesus Christ was God. The
word name, the title of the Lord that the early church of believers
referred to Christ was Kyrios. It was the divine name for Yahweh
in the Old Testament. Lord, the word Lord. It would
mean Yahweh. They were affirming their belief
that He was God. Lord, it means Yahweh. You're
God. Lord, God, they're one and the
same. Paul wrote, for in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of what? The Godhead bodily. And you're
complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and
power. Colossians 2.9. When Paul, speaking
of the Lord Jesus, wrote in Philippians 2 verse 6, who being in the form
of God, means that Christ existed as God, not merely in appearance,
but in essence and in nature. The Greek verb there for being
implies continuous existence. He was always God. The Lord Jesus
was always God. And He thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. You want to know why? Because
He was God. But being God, He made Himself
of no reputation. Did you hear that? He made Himself
of no reputation, meaning that He emptied Himself. He didn't
cease to be God. He laid aside all His privileges
and all His glory in the outward display of His divine majesty. He took upon Himself the form
of a servant. He didn't stop being in the form
of God. He simply added to Himself the
form of a servant. This shows His voluntary submission
to be a man and to die for man. He was made in the likeness of
man. He became truly human, yet without sin. He had to, in order
to put our sin away. He was God in human flesh. He
was truly Emmanuel, as Isaiah said. He was God with us. Have I told you that Jesus Christ
is God? So, in finishing up, let us take
everything that we've discussed and asked ourselves how Jesus
Christ, being God, saves us. The saving work of Jesus Christ
is only effective and sufficient because He is God. Anybody less than God could not
save. Again, I ask, whose salvation? The Lord. What does the word
Lord mean? God. Now, if He were only a man,
His death would be just another martyrdom. But because He is
God in the flesh, His sacrifice, His substitution has infinite
worth because of who He is. First and foremost, only God
can save. He said, I, even I am the Lord,
and beside me there's no Savior. We've already seen that. Salvation
is God's exclusive work. If Jesus Christ saves, and He
does, then He must be God. Secondly, God became a man in order to save
The Word became flesh, right? We've seen that. Only a man can
save man. The blood of bulls and goats
couldn't put away man's sin. A man must die for man. Man's
sin, so man's got to pay. God's justice demands that the
same nature that sinned must bear the penalty for that sin.
Adam, a man, he brought sin and death into the world, Romans
5, 12. So only a man could rightly bear the judgment meant for man. Hebrews 2.17, listen, Wherefore
in all things it behooved Him, Christ, to be made like unto
His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for
the sins of His people. A holy and just God could Not simply overlook sin. He's too holy. He would cease
to be God. He must stand in the place of
a man in order for man to be saved. Thirdly, the substitute
for sinners must be sinless. Who do you know is going to be
able to die for you to put sin away? Who do you know that's
sinless? We were talking while we were reading in there
about sin. You know, sin is sin. David said,
"...against thee and me only, about sin, and none that is evil
in thy sight." Now, we think of big sins and little sins,
but listen, it's all sin. It's all against God. It's all
against God's law. God sees sin as sin. In God's
eyes, there is no little sin and big sin. In our eyes, there
is, but not God's. Substitute's got to be sinless. Couldn't be another sinner. If
it was, he would have to die for his own sins before he could
die for yours, and he couldn't even die to put his first one
sin away. Sin had to be put away by one
who was sinless, someone who met the laws of God Completely. That man was the God-man, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Don't tell me that I'm an idolater
because I believe that God is one in three persons. Jesus Christ
is God. That's my only hope. Fourthly,
only one who was himself God could bear the infinite wrath
of God's holy justice. Only God could pay for God's
justice. You could send me to hell for
eternity, and that's what God's going to do to those without
Christ. And it wouldn't pay my first sin. Not one. Ages rolled on in eternity. Okay,
well, how many sins has that taken care of? None, not one. They're all still
there. But by the sacrifice of Himself,
Christ put away all our sin, all of it. The substitute had to be a man
to represent mankind, and the value of the sacrifice had to
match the weight of the offense, friend. Our transgressions were
against an infinite God, so only God could bear the eternal weight
of judgment in a finite span of time, and it happened on the
cross. That's why the Savior had to
be both God and man. Had to be God and man to stand
in man's place, and at the same time, satisfy God's wrath and
defeat death. Divine justice demands a human
response representative. In Christ, our first representative
sold us under sin. In Christ, the last Adam, redeemed
sinners in righteousness and life. Christ became a man so
that he might share in our humanity and provide what the law required
that we could not. The law required a human death.
And in order for that requirement to be met, the man who stood
in the fallen and sinful man's place as his representative had
to be perfect. And only God is perfect. That's
why this is so crucial, so important. Jesus Christ, the God-man, is
the only one qualified to save. Well, that's pretty narrow-minded
there. Well, God's narrow-minded, right? God's very narrow-minded. There's
one way that leads to life. There's one mediator between
God and man, the man in Christ Jesus. There's only one road
that leads to heaven. And it is what? A narrow road. What about the gate to get in?
Well, it's so narrow, you can't take nothing with you. You can't
take any righteousness of your own with you, any goodness of
your own with you. You've got to leave it all. You've
got to come naked, stripped open without any righteousness of
your own to get through that gate and get on this road. It's
narrow, narrow, narrow. Why is it that people go to such
great lengths to deny that Jesus Christ is God? Let me take it further than that. I'd give a person a new heart. They remain spiritually dead
and cannot see who Christ really is. Second thing, human pride
and rebellion. And it's in every one of us. You will not come to me, Christ
said, that you might have life. People don't want to submit to
the Lord. If Christ is God, then He has absolute authority, and
that means that all of us are accountable to Him. And men by
nature don't like that. What did they say? I will not
have this man to rule over me. Well, He is. Whether you like it or not, whether
you want it or not. He's the King of kings. You're
subject to Him. You'll bow to Him or you'll perish. He has absolute authority. And
our pride just resists that, doesn't it? Thirdly, misunderstanding
of the Scriptures. The Lord said, search the Scriptures.
In them you think that you have life eternal, but they are they
which testify of what? Me! The Scriptures are about
me. beginning in the Law of Moses
and in the Prophets and in the Psalms. He said, it's all concerning
me. They testify of me. And you will
not come to me that you might have life. Misunderstanding of
the Scriptures. Many search the Scriptures and
think they have life, but they never see that Christ, the Son
of God, is God the Son and equal with God. and that God and He
and the Holy Spirit are one. I don't have any problem with
it, because that's the only way this sinner can be saved. Fourth
reason, religious tradition and false teaching. The Lord said
in Mark 7, 13, you make the Word of God of non-effect through
your traditions. Traditions! Well, didn't that
pass in the Old and New Testament? No, it's still going on today.
Traditions, I guarantee it. Whether it's Judaism, or Islam,
or Jehovah Witnesses, or Unitarians, so to speak, that believe God
is one, not three in one. They all reject God's deity.
It's all based on human traditions, not Scripture. They reinterpret
clear passages of Scripture, or ignore them altogether. Many of, or all of the verses
of Scripture that we've looked at and considered this morning,
they consider, they don't consider. They say, well, that's not what
that means. How many people do you know that
continue in a false religion because the generation before
them believed the same false doctrine that they did? Well,
I go to the first Pentecostal church, because that's where
my great-grandmother went, and that's where my grandmother went,
and that's where my mom and dad go, and that's where I go, and
that's where my children are going to go. It's all tradition. Fifthly, the mystery of the incarnation
offends logic. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. People struggle with the idea
of God becoming a man, and they stumble over this mystery, but
faith accepts what God reveals, even when it surpasses our human
understanding and reason. Another reason men don't believe
Jesus Christ is God, because they love their sin. They love
it. There's pleasure in sin for a
season. I used to love my sin. Men love darkness rather than
light. Why? Because their deeds are evil.
If Christ is God, then He has the right to judge sin. Many
would rather deny who Christ is than to be convicted and to
turn from their sin. They like the way things are. I'm convinced that a lot of people
don't confess Christ because They're thinking, well, I've
got to change. I've got to give up this, and I've got to give
up that. You'll want to. You'll want to. You'll want to give up things
that aren't honoring to God. It won't be any struggle for
you. Well, it'll be a struggle, but
you know what I mean. They love their sin, and they don't know Him. John 18,
9, you neither know me, or my Father, if you had known me,
you should have known my Father also. To know Jesus Christ is
to see the Father in Him, and Him in the Father. If people
don't recognize Christ as God, it's because they're still in
darkness. And sadly, they don't know God at all. People deny
that Jesus Christ is God, not because the Bible's unclear.
It's clear as day. It's the nose on your face. It's
because their hearts are unclear. It's not a matter of evidence.
It's all through the Scripture. The Bible declares it, and the
Spirit of God confirms it to God's people. It's just a matter
of rebellion. It's a matter of blindness. It's
a matter of unbelief. Let's call it what it is. What think ye of Christ? Whose
Son is He? He's God's Son. He's the Son
of God, and He's God the Son. And He's the Word who was in
the beginning with God, and He's the Word who was God, and He
is the Word that's still God. Those who believe in Him are
not idolaters. They are adorers. I'm not an
idolater. I'm one who adores the One who
loved me and gave Himself for me. I love him because he's Emmanuel! God with us.