Yuba-Sutter Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Rick
Warda. We currently meet at the Yuba
County Library, located at 303 2nd Street in downtown Marysville,
California, on the corner of 2nd and C Street. Weekly services
are held on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the library. For more information,
visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Rick Warda. Our sermon today is entitled,
The Son of Man. The text of our sermon is taken
from John 3, verse 13. Jesus told Nicodemus, No man
hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven. Jesus Christ is the
Son of God. He is also the Son of Man. On
one occasion, Jesus asked his disciples, whom do men say that
I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, some say that
thou art John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or
one of the prophets. He said to them, but whom say
ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. Have you ever wondered what Jesus
meant when he called himself Son of Man? It means more than
that Jesus was a man. He was a man. And the title Son
of Man does teach that. But it teaches much, much more
than that. Jesus used this title to speak
of himself more often than he did by any other name, and there
is good reason for it. By the Son of Man, we learn about
the person and the office of our Lord Jesus Christ. We learn
about his person as God and man, and we learn about his designated
role as mediator. His office as mediator is the
place to which God the Father appointed Him from all eternity. Scripture teaches four things
primarily about the Son of Man. Let's summarize these four things
at the outset. First, Jesus Christ had glory
with the Father as Son of God and as Son of Man before He came
into the world, before He was born as a man. Second, Jesus
Christ voluntarily humbled himself and came into the world to suffer
humiliation that he might accomplish the eternal will of God to save
his people from their sins. He left his place in glory to
take the place of the lowest servant, to fulfill the highest
service ever performed in all of eternity, to forever take
to himself the nature of a man, a real body and soul, and as
a man to be made under the law and obey God's law in everything. He came to fulfill God's eternal
will, to offer Himself in sacrifice on the cross, to lay down His
life, to shed His blood that He might make atonement for the
sins of His people. He who had glory with the Father
took the place of the lowest servant to fulfill the highest
service of all, to do the eternal will of God. And third, Jesus
Christ, having fulfilled the will of God in His death, having
conquered sin and death and the devil, having saved His people
from their sins, rose from the dead and ascended back up to
heaven to sit on heaven's throne with power and great glory. Only this time, not as Son of
God only, but as Son of God and Son of man, both God and man,
the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Fourth, Jesus Christ, who now
rules over all things as Son of God and Son of Man, will return
to this world. He will return to separate the
sheep from the goats. He will return as the reigning
Savior to gather His people to Himself in heaven and to give
the kingdom prepared for them from eternity by His Father.
and He will judge the world in righteousness. Therefore, the
great conclusions from these four points are these. Jesus
Christ had glory with the Father from eternity. He is the eternal
Son of God. He was chosen and set up as the
Son of Man from eternity. In the time appointed by God,
He descended from heaven's throne. He took into union with himself
the body and soul of a man. In that human nature he fulfilled
the will of God. He suffered and died in humiliation
as a substitute to save his people from their sins. Having saved
his people from their sins, he rose from the dead in glorious
triumph. and he ascended back to heaven
to rule as lord and king of heaven and earth sitting on the right
hand of his father on his father's throne in power and great glory
and he will come again at the end of time and when he comes
he will gather his people to himself and he will separate
them from the unbelieving world. He will then judge the world
in righteousness. He is the only mediator between
God and men. He is the only one who fulfilled
the will of God. His obedience is the only righteousness
on earth. All who submit to His righteousness,
who come to God by Him alone, by His blood and righteousness
alone, are forgiven of all their sins. They have passed from death
to life. We must believe Christ. We must
submit to Him as our Lord and our only Savior. We must not
trust ourselves. We must not trust another. God
has laid upon Him the administration of this universe as Son of God
and Son of Man. Now, let us consider each of
these four things more carefully. Jesus spoke of himself more often
by the title Son of Man than by any other title, and there
is good reason for that. By the Son of Man, we learn the
following four things of the Lord Jesus Christ. First, the
Lord Jesus Christ, as Son of God and Son of Man, had glory
with the Father before time began. Jesus is the Son of God, and
He is the Son of Man. As Son of God, He is equal with
the Father. He is God over all, blessed forever. Romans 9, 5. He is the Almighty
God, one with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, the Maker of
heaven and earth. God the Father calls his Son,
God. He said, Unto the Son, he saith,
thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. Hebrews 1 verse 8.
Heaven's armies are commanded to worship Him. Hebrews 1 verse
6. As Son of God, He is co-eternal
and co-equal with the Father. But He who is Son of God was
eternally chosen, ordained, set up and appointed, anointed by
God the Father as Son of Man. Not as Son of God only, but as
Son of God and Son of Man. He who is God the Son was set
up from eternity as Son of Man. He who is God the Son by nature
was set up from eternity in the purpose of God as Son of Man,
the One who alone is the image of the invisible God. Creation
was made to reveal Him. Adam was created as the figure
of Him who was to come. Jesus Christ is the Son of Man,
the Son of the Living God, the Chosen and Anointed of the Father. He was the One chosen by God
to be the Son of David. He who is Jehovah God, the Son,
was chosen by Jehovah God the Father to save His people from
their sins. To fulfill this work, in love,
Christ became servant to His Father. In love, He committed
Himself forever to serve His Father and His people. Because He was chosen from eternity
to be the Son of Man, He has forever been the one mediator
between God and men. In loving obedience to His Father
and in love for His own, He gave Himself for the sheep, His people,
the Church of the Living God. From eternity, God looked upon
His eternal Son and chose Him as the Son of Man, one person
in two natures. In the fullness of time, Christ
came into the world. He was born of a woman. God prepared
His eternal Son, a body, and joined His divine nature into
union with His human nature. This is a great mystery. 1 Timothy
3, verse 16. He is God with us. Matthew 1,
verse 23. He is the Lord, Jehovah, our
righteousness. Jeremiah 23, verse 6. all of
his people own him by this endearing epithet, the Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23 verse 1. And every believing
sinner rejoices in him, saying, The Lord Jehovah is become my
salvation. Isaiah 12 verse 2. He is the
husband and head of the church. Ephesians 5 verse 25. The whole
family in heaven and earth is named in him. Ephesians 3 verse
15. He is the head of the family
in heaven and earth, the firstborn of God, because he was set up
as son of man. He has preeminence in all things.
It pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell. As the head and firstborn, all
of God's people were chosen in Him. They are therefore saved
with an everlasting salvation. In summary, the first thing we
learn about the Son of Man is that He had glory with the Father
before time began, having been chosen in the person of the Son
of God. God speaks of it as done in heaven
before it was done on earth. Therefore, Christ was given all
glory and dominion over all things before He came into the world.
Daniel 7, verse 13 through 14. Now the second thing we learn
about the Son of Man is His humiliation. He who is the Son of God came
into the world as the Son of Man in voluntary submission and
humiliation. Though equal with the Father,
He made Himself of no reputation. He took upon Him the form of
a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Philippians
2 verse 6 through 7. He came to do the will of God,
to put away the sins of His people by the sacrifice of Himself.
Scripture says that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words
when He took our nature to Himself. In Hebrews chapter 10 it says,
When He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written
of me, to do thy will, O God. He who had glory with the Father
as Son of Man descended from his glory to the lowest place,
the place of the lowest servant, to serve his God for his people. Though He was and forever shall
be the Son of God, equal with the Father, yet the Son of Man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His
life a ransom for many. Matthew 20, verse 28. And being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2, verse
8. Therefore, the second thing we
learn about the Son of Man is that He descended from heaven's
throne to Calvary's cross in a voluntary service of love,
humiliation, suffering, and death. As the surety for His people,
as the Lamb of God, He offered Himself to God for them. He answered
every demand of God's justice with Himself. He fulfilled every
requirement of God's law by His obedience. He willingly offered
Himself. He took the sins of His people
as His own sins. and bearing their sins before
God, in all the guilt and shame of them, he suffered the full
punishment that God's justice demanded. He was made sin. He was cursed of God. And all
of this was by the eternal will of God. See Acts 2 verse 23 and
2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. This is what Jesus meant when
he told Nicodemus, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up upon the cross. He
who had glory with the Father from eternity came into the world. He took a human body and soul
into union with himself. He took the place of the lowest
servant of all to fulfill the highest service of all, to propitiate
God with his own blood, to offer himself for the sins of his people,
to establish their everlasting righteousness, to justify those
for whom he died, to sanctify them by his blood, to perfect
them forever by His one offering, and to do all of this according
to the will of God. 3. Scripture also reveals that
the Son of Man, who had glory with the Father, who descended
to do the will of God, having finished that work in triumph
over His enemies, ascended to heaven's throne in power and
great glory. God promised this to him by an
eternal oath. He swore by himself to his son
and to King David. He swore that he would exalt
David's son and David's Lord to heaven's throne. In Psalm
110, verse 1, David says, The Lord, Jehovah, said unto my Lord,
Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord, Jehovah, promised David,
When thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers,
I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out
of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a
house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
for ever. I will be his father, and he
shall be my son." Without question, this prophecy in 2 Samuel chapter
7 refers to Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man, the Christ of
God, who is the Son of God. God only calls Him, My Son. Hebrews 1 verse 4-8 Both the Old Testament and the
New Testament verify this interpretation. Psalm 132 verse 11 says, For
thy servant David's sake, turn not away the face of thine anointed,
which is Christ. The Lord Jehovah hath sworn in
truth to David. He will not turn from it. Of
the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. But the throne
of David on which Christ would sit is not a throne on earth. It is the throne of God the Father. He is seated on the right hand
of God. The Lord said unto my Lord, David
said in prophecy, sit thou on my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool. Therefore, the third thing Scripture
teaches is that Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, is exalted to
heaven's throne according to the eternal will of God revealed
in Scripture. Daniel spoke of this promise
of God as a thing already accomplished in heaven before it was done
on earth. Daniel chapter 7 verse 13 says, I saw in the night visions,
and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of
heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him
near before Him, and there was given Him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should
serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which
shall not be destroyed. When Jesus ascended after His
resurrection in the clouds, it was the fulfillment of this prophecy.
Jesus said in Matthew 28 verse 18, All power is given unto me
in heaven and earth. And in Galatians chapter 4 verse
4 it says, When the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth His Son, born of a woman, made under the law, that He might
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
promise of the adoption of sons. This is He who had glory with
the Father from eternity. This is He who fulfilled the
will of God as the great surety to God for His people, in the
place of His people, fulfilling all of their righteousness. And
fourth, Scripture reveals that the Son of Man, who now reigns
over all in heaven, will come again in power and great glory. He will then judge the world
in righteousness. In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus
said this, When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and
all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne
of His glory. It is for this purpose that He
came into the world. Romans 14 verse 9 says, To this
end Christ both died and rose and revived, that He might be
Lord both of the dead and the living. In all of their sermons
in the book of Acts, Peter and John and Paul exhorted and warned
men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They told the Jews that
the one they crucified was both Lord and Christ. We must submit
to Him in all things. He is the seed of Abraham, to
whom God has given all promises, and through whom God's elect
in all nations of the world are blessed. He is the Son of God
and Son of Man by whose triumph over sin and by His sovereign
rule turns His people from their iniquities. Acts 3.26 There is
salvation only by His exalted name. Acts 4.10-12 He has been
exalted to be a Prince and a Savior to give repentance to Israel
and the forgiveness of their sins. Acts 5.31 And when Stephen
was stoned to death by the Jews, he saw Jesus in heaven, the Son
of Man, standing on the right hand of God. Acts 7 verse 55
and 56. Because he is Lord of all, Stephen
committed his spirit into his hands. And so does every believer. Peter told Cornelius and the
Gentiles with him, in Acts chapter 10, that Jesus of Nazareth went
about doing good, that he was approved of God. that He did
miracles and wonders, and yet the Jews crucified and killed
Him. But God raised Him from the dead
and showed Him openly to men chosen before. And Christ commanded
those chosen men to preach this message, it is He who was ordained
of God to be judge of both the living and the dead. Peter told
Cornelius and the Gentiles that by Jesus of Nazareth, who is
the Son of Man and the Son of God, the Christ of God, that
all who believe on Him receive the remission of their sins.
Paul also preached the same things to the Gentiles in his sermons
in the book of Acts. Paul told his hearers that the
rulers in Jerusalem, though they found no cause of death in Christ,
desired Pilate to crucify Him. Paul said that when they had
fulfilled all of God's will by killing the Lord Jesus Christ,
they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in the tomb. But
God raised Him from the dead. As Peter before him, Paul said
that the resurrection of Christ was in fulfillment of Scripture.
Paul said that David spoke as a prophet in the Psalms. David
spoke as Jesus would speak in his prayer, trusting his Father
to raise him from the dead. Paul preached that God raised
up Jesus to be a Savior and that all who believe him are justified
from all things from which they could never be justified by the
law of Moses. See Acts chapter 13 verse 39
through 48. Every sermon recorded in Acts and all of the epistles
declare the same message. The Son of Man is the Lord from
heaven. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 47. He went to Calvary's cross to
make atonement to God for the sins of his people. He was laid
in the grave. All of this was by the will of
God. But He rose again from the dead. He is the firstborn from
the dead. He ascended up to heaven. He
is now seated on heaven's throne. He rules over all things to save
His people to the uttermost, to bring them to glory, to subdue
their every enemy. in every part of their lives
by His saving victory and sovereign rule. They are more than conquerors
through the Lord Jesus Christ who loved them, who is the Son
of God, the Son of Man, our High Priest, our Mediator, our Surety,
the Lamb of God, our Prophet, Priest, and King. Now Jesus summarized
all of this when he spoke to Nicodemus and said, No man hath
ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even
the Son of man which is in heaven. He who ascended to heaven's throne
had to first descend from heaven's glory in humiliation as our sin-bearing
substitute, our surety, our mediator. Having descended, having fulfilled
the eternal will of God, he rose in triumph and ascended in glorious
honor and power. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus of his
exaltation as a thing already done when he said, even the Son
of Man which is in heaven. Peter also spoke of Christ's
exaltation in his first sermon. David, said Peter, is not ascended
into the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my
Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2, verse 34 through 36.
Therefore, to ascend to heaven means more than to merely go
up to heaven. Enoch and Elijah and Paul went
up to heaven. But no man can ascend to sit
on the right hand of God except he who came down from heaven.
This is Jesus' meaning in John 3 verse 13. He had glory with
the Father from eternity. He came down from heaven. He
descended in the humiliation of being made lower than the
angels as man. And he humbled himself as a servant
to take the debt of sins his people owed God and make satisfaction
to them to God's justice. He suffered and died. under the
stroke of God's justice. He that is from above is above
all. Adam could not ascend to heaven's
throne. Christ alone could do that. The
first man was of the earth earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 47. The one who ascended to sit on
heaven's throne first descended to the lower parts of the earth.
Ephesians 4, verse 9. he was in heaven with his father
in glory john six four sixty two he descended involuntary
humiliation having descended he triumphed over sin over death
the devil and this present evil world by his life and in his
death he rose again and ascended to heaven to take his god-ordained
place as son of man and son of god on the right hand of god
hebrews chapter one verse three By the eternal will of God, he
came from heaven's throne to Bethlehem's manger to Calvary's
cross. There he conquered death, rose
again, and ascended in exaltation and power to heaven's throne
to rule in glorious sovereign majesty as God and man, the one
mediator between God and men. Now Paul also wrote of the Son
of Man. In Romans 10, Paul lamented the
fact that his fellow Jews would not submit to the righteousness
of God. Though the Jews went about to
establish their own righteousness and would not submit to the righteousness
of God, Paul said, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. Romans 10, verse 4. Paul then
quoted Moses, who spoke of the righteousness which is of faith.
He said, Say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven,
that is, to bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend
into the deep, that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee in thy
mouth, and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which we
preach. that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10. Now, since none but Christ could
ascend up to heaven to reign forever on heaven's throne in
fulfillment of God's promise to David, and since only Christ,
the Son of God, could do that, therefore to speak of a man ascending
up to heaven is to speak of Christ, the Son of Man, who descended
first from heaven to redeem God's elect by the one offering of
Himself. Therefore, Moses and Paul said,
never think or speak in a way that suggests that any but Christ
could be accepted by God by His own obedience. Only Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness. He alone fulfilled God's law
by virtue of what He did when He descended as Son of God and
Son of Man. He made atonement for sin and
He justified His people by His obedience unto death. Therefore,
never speak of any man redeeming his brother. Only Christ, the
Son of God and the Son of Man has done that. But what we must
speak of is what God said concerning Christ. He is the one who came
from heaven, went to Calvary's cross, and now is seated in heaven
as Son of God and Son of Man, the King of glory, the Lord of
all. He is the Lord Jehovah, Isaiah
6 verse 5 and John 12 verse 41. And He is the King of Glory,
as Son of Man and Son of God, because He purged our sins. This is why, throughout the Book
of Acts, every sermon speaks of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son
of Man and the Son of God, who is both David's Son and David's
Lord, who rose from the dead in power and glorious triumph. He is the first begotten from
the dead, so that all for whom he died rise with him. The Son of Man is the end of
the law for righteousness. Therefore, by Him all who believe
are justified from all things that the law could never justify
them. There is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. He is judge
of the living and the dead. Do you believe Him? Do you confess
that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all and that He is your Lord,
as Thomas said, my Lord and my God? Do you trust Him as your
only Savior? All who believe Him shall never
be ashamed before God. May God give you and me this
great mercy to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, the Son of Man. You've just heard a sermon by
our pastor Rick Warda. You may contact us by email or
by phone or download a copy of this sermon by visiting our website
at YSGraceChurch.com