I was discussing with my wife
what I was going to deal with this morning, and I told her,
I hope this is not too deep. And I began to think now that
it's all too deep. If I say God, I've spoken things
too wonderful for me already. And that's what Job said. I think of that all the time
before I get up, and especially afterward. Job, after 40 some
chapters of talking and hearing God and then finally hearing
God, he said, I've spoken that which I didn't understand. Things
too wonderful for me. But here we are. Look at Proverbs
8. Read with me. Let's read verse twenty-seven
through thirty-one again. When he prepared the heavens,
I was there. When he set a compass on the
face of the dead. When he established clouds above.
When he strengthened the fountains of the deep. when he gave to
the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment,
when he appointed the foundations of the earth. Then I was by him
as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him, and rejoicing in the habitable or inhabited
part of his earth." And my delights were with the sons of men. This will be, Lord willing, the
introduction and the first message of two or three or so messages
on Christ among the sons of men. Christ among the sons of men.
His delights with the sons of men. There are many Scripture
many times throughout the Old Testament. This is what we're
talking about Old Testament time that the Son of God the Lord
Jesus Christ appear. And that's what these are all
about. Are you interested? The passage that came to my mind
first Timothy three sixteen says without controversy. Great is
the mystery of God. God, he said, was manifest in
the flesh. What a mystery. God appeared
in human form. It's a great mystery. Great mystery. And he said, it's without controversy. But it does cause controversy,
doesn't it? You know this is. This is the
controversy. With most human beings who is
that man named Jesus. Who was that. Most believe. He's just a man. Some believe that he's a little
better than that son of God. But now few believe. that he's
got. I mean the one that made this
planet. That man. And Paul said it's
really without controversy there's no need to argue because it's
so. God was manifest in the flesh God did. Become a man. But he said it's a mystery. But
it wasn't the first time That he came to this plan. Said here,
and this just really jumped out at me. His delights were with
the sons of men. Delighted. Now this is not an
attempt to prove that he's God. But it's a confirmation, I hope.
To those who believe he is. Confirmation. Perhaps the Lord
will reveal him to someone who doesn't know and believe. And
it's for his glory. This is for his glory. And for
the edification, comfort, increase of our faith. So though there
is a controversy among human beings, there's none among God's
people. You've heard Some say these so-called
Jehovah's Witnesses. Say that he never said he was
God. That's what they all say, don't they? He never said he
was God. Well, he didn't say it to them. But he sure does to his people,
doesn't he? To his people. I said to him
one time, I came to him and said, who are you? He said even the
same that I said to you in the beginning. Beginning when? Way back in the beginning. When Moses said, Who are you?
I am. I am. So and here's what John
wrote later on. He said, We know. John wrote
to his God's people, fellow believers. He said, We know. that the son
of God is come. And have given us an understanding
that we might know him that is true and that we're in him that
is true even in his son Jesus Christ this is the true. Turn with me to proper revelation
twenty one revelation. Twenty one over there with Here's
what scripture says and. Out of the help of. The Lord is going to. Show you what scripture says
about this now here's what scripture says God God almighty. Is spirit our Lord said that
he says God is spirit. God, whom no man hath seen nor
can see. God, who dwelleth in light which
no man can approach unto. God, who's a consuming fire.
God is holy, holy, holy. Even the holy angels cover their
face before God. They don't see him. He's spirit. Man is flesh. Always has been,
always will be. Right, we always will be. We're
going to raise these bodies, we're going to dwell in these
same bodies, get to be perfect bodies. God has never been seen
by man in his purest sense, or ever will be. But the only begotten,
here's what Scripture says, the only begotten, the only bodily presence of God only begotten
son. He had declared. He had declared the only image
of God. OK, he had declared God. All right, look here at Revelation
21. You'll like this. Revelation 21. Verse 3 through
7, I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the
tabernacle of God, the dwelling of God. The covering of God is
with men, and he will dwell, who? God will dwell with them,
with men. He will dwell with them. They
shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and
be their God. Read on. And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes. There should be no more death,
neither sorrow, no crying, neither shall there be any more pain.
The former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne. Who? God. God's on his throne
and said, behold, I make all things new. He said unto me,
right. These words are true and faithful.
And he said unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I am. That I am. First and last. Now go back to Revelation 1. Who said that? God did. God on
the throne. OK? Well, look at Revelation
1. God said he would come be with
them. God himself. Verse 7. Behold,
he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him. Who? God. They also which pierced him. God. Remember when Paul said
to the Ephesians be the church of God which he purchased with
his own. Men can understand God died. Well. Read on. And verse 7 says, All kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of him, even so. Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and end, saith the Lord, which is, which was, and which is to
come, the Almighty. Look at verse 11. Saying, I am
Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Verse 17. When I saw
him, I fell at his feet as dead. He laid his right hand upon me,
said unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last. I am
he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am
alive evermore. God. Who? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. The only person,
the only one who would dispute that is an unbeliever. Right? This is why Christ said, he that
hath seen me hath seen the Father. Remember, Philip and the rest
of them were saying, Lord, show us the father. Just show us the
father. He was talking about the father many times. And they
said, show us. We know you're talking about
God. Show us God. He said, have I been so long
time with you? And you're heading out and you
know him and all. He that's seen me has seen the father. Child is born, son is given.
call his name. His name should be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. He kept saying, Nancy, he kept
calling them my little children, didn't he? That's what a father
says, my little children. As a thirty-year-old man, my
little children. And so Christ said, He that if
you believe not that I am. In him you and I know we know
that John a point. And it must be so you say it
must be so because all that Christ said. Depends on who he is. If he's just a man you can take
it or leave it. But if he's God, if forever,
oh Lord, he said this, he said, heaven and earth will pass away,
but not one word of mine. Why? Because forever, oh Lord
God, thy word is settled in heaven. The God who wrote the book came
down and quoted it. And all that he said and all
that he did, if he's just a man, he came here and tried to do
something. If he's God, known unto God are
all his works from the beginning. If he's God, he came down here
with a specific purpose, a job to do, that he had purposed before
the world began, and came down here to do it. And if he's God,
he did it. He didn't try. God doesn't try
anything. You hear people say things like
that. No, God's trying to tell me anything. Did God try to tell
the sun to exist? God said, let there be light,
and there was light. God said, come out. If he's God, what he said, goes. What he did, is done. You see? If he's not God, we're idolaters. We're worshiping
somebody other than God, right? But if he is God, and he is,
All he said, all he did is true and effectual. If he's not, he's
no different than us. No different than us. And you
can take your leave. Now, I want to do the best I can here,
OK? You've got the Father, you've got the Son, you've got the Holy
Spirit, and I wish there was somebody other than me to stand
up here and deal with it. You've got three distinct persons.
of the Godhead. You've got the Father, the Spirit,
you've got the Son, who was made flesh, and then you've got the
Holy Spirit. Who's He? A different person. These three are one in
essence. They're all God. The Father's
God, the Son's God, the Holy Spirit's God. They're all God
in glory and in power. We worship God the Father. We
worship God the Son. We worship God the Holy Spirit.
They're all sovereign. They're all eternal. These three, but they're one
God. God the Father is the one who
was the architect, purposed, willed, planned, if you will.
Salvation God author of salvation. Christ the son came sent by the
father to perform that salvation. To work it out to purchase. God purchased it. God the father
God the son purchased it. And he went back to glory in
a body God sent the Holy Spirit. who applies. It goes all over
looking for those elect the crash died or have blood on their door
and level like the children of it. But these three are one. These three are one. And God
the father. Now let's get into the first
part of the minute. It's all the introduction. Not necessary to say in the beginning
God Almighty made the heavens and the earth who did. Jesus
Christ. That's right go back to Genesis
chapter one. OK that's where we're going to
stay now. Throughout God's word is written
that God made the heavens and the Lord said the Lord came down
the Lord of hosts came dwelt spoke say shall come to this
earth with the one who did. Is Jesus Christ? He says his delights were with
the sons of man. Several appearances of the Lord
Jesus Christ, whose delights were with the sons of man. Here's
the Lord Jesus Christ in creation. You're going to like that. I
really do believe. Genesis chapter one. Now, you
remember, we read back there, it says when he prepared the
heavens, I was there. John one says in the beginning
was the word and the word was with God the word was God. All
things were made by him and without him was not the same was in the
beginning of God with God and all things were made by him without
him was not anything made that was made. Jesus Christ says the
word was made flesh there's no doubt who that is. Colossians
1 says that all things were made by him and for him. Hebrews 1
says that he made all things, by whom he made the world, didn't
he? Jesus Christ. Well, look here
at Genesis chapter 1 and the first three verses. In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth. Right here you have these three
persons in the Trinity. And in verse one, it says, In
the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and the
earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. There you have God the Father,
God who is Spirit, and the Spirit of God. There's the Holy Spirit
moved upon the face of the water. That's a distinct person. God,
didn't he say, is the Spirit of God. And then God said, God
spoke the word. That's Jesus Christ. God spoke. God spoke. And they said, look
down at verse 26. Here it is. This is wonderful.
God said, let us. God said, let us. Who? The angels? The seraphim? No,
no, no, no, no, no, no. These three. Let us make man in our image
after our likeness. Hold on. God's spirit, he doesn't
have an image. Apparently he does. God said, to whom will you liken
me? He must have a likeness, brother Stank, in the beginning. There must have been a likeness
or an image of God. There was. His name wasn't known
until 4,000 years later. But his name is Jesus Christ. He said, I was there. I was with
him. Delight. Before there ever was
anything, it was just us. We three. Father, Son, Spirit. Needing nothing and no one, but
God according to his infinite wisdom and purpose, purpose this
whole thing called planet, earth and the universe and salvation. Why? To the praise of the glory
of his grace and his son and so forth. He created it all for
his glory, by him, for him, to him, through him, for his glory.
Well, and Jesus Christ, God had an image, God had a likeness.
And the scripture says over in Colossians 2, 9, commit this
to memory, OK? When you run into these people
who want to argue, just commit this to memory, all right? Colossians
2, 9. In Him, Jesus Christ, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. In a body, John the scripture
says, a body has self-appearance. In him, the express, Hebrews
1, 3 says, he's the express image of God. Image of God. So, God created man, verse 27,
so God created man in his own image, in the image of God, created
he him. Whose image? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. All right. And
that was Christ. Here's here's the beauty of it.
Chapter two. How did God create man? How did
God create man? How did he create the light?
Spoke it. How did he create the heavens
and the earth? Spoke it. How did he create the light and
the firmament? Spoke it. I had to create and spoke on. How to create man. Formed in. Chapter 2 verse 6 is delights
with the sons of man. There went up a mist. Out of
from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. The
Lord God formed man. Out of the dust the ground. like
a potter would the clay. They ring a bell. He said, I'm
the potter, you're the clay. I made you wet clay like a potter. It doesn't say God spoke and
man came. It says God formed it. Who did? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ with
his own hands. You know, Jesus Christ These foolish so-called preachers
are always saying God has no hands but your hand, no feet
but your feet, right? Well, God has hands and those
hands have always been Jesus Christ's hands. Not ours, but
Jesus Christ's. God walked this plant. God doesn't
have feet. Yes, he does. They got scars
in them. Jesus Christ. He's God with Mary
held him by those feet. We're going to see those feet.
God's going to be barefoot for all eternity. And we're going
to see his hands and his feet. It's the first thing he showed
the disciples. God does have hands and does have feet. And
they are Jesus Christ's hands and feet with his own hands.
So the Lord God with his own bare hands. took that clay, that
wet dust, and molded and sculpted a glorious image of himself. The likeness of God. You know,
an earthen vessel. We marvel We human beings are
easily impressed, aren't we? Marvel at these granite statues
that people like Michelangelo made and so on, don't we? They are beautiful. That's further
proof that we're created. Man can do things like that.
Only man, no other creature can do anything even remotely like
that, right? Creating the image of God. But
we marvel at those men who create those beautiful statues. We look
at them and we say, that looks lifelike. That's so real. Well, God did this. Christ did this. He took this
wet clay and formed this man. Then you know what he did? Beautiful. But an inanimate creature. It's
just a vessel of clay. Just a shell. Beautiful to look
at. No life in it. What'd he do then? Put his mouth up to that cricket. Can't believe it. A man. That's exactly what he did. Jesus
Christ. His delights were with the sons of men. Look at this.
This is when God said, this is very good. When he made man in
his own image, it was as he said, this is the best yet. I've saved
the best for last. But he was of the earth earthy,
this first man of the earth earthy. He breathed into the great sculptor,
the great potter made of the clay, this glorious creature
called man. Oh, but that image was marred
one day. We're going to look at that Wednesday
night, Lord willing. What about the woman? He wasn't
through. He made the man. This great potter,
sculptor, he made this image of himself, man. But male and
female created him. How did he create the woman?
Well, the great sculptor and potter is not only the great
potter, but he's the great physician. Look at it with me. Verse 21,
the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh
instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God
had taken from man, builded he, formed he, made he a woman. And in brought her both the man
brought in. And he stood back. This is good. Now this is good. This is really good. His delights
were with the sons of man and he dwelled with them in that
garden. In a habitable part of the garden. and walked with them, talked
with them, and instructed them, and so forth. And his delights
were with the sons of men. He made this woman. Now listen
to this. Four thousand years later, and
we're going to get to this, Lord willing, he who made woman was
made of a woman. It was made of a woman. And she,
this Mary as it was, he chose the one. She mistakenly said
to him one day. This I am, this Alpha, the one
who made her. Came from her, and so she mistakenly
said one day, son. And what did he say? Woman? What
have I to do? I have nothing to do. I'm not your son. You're my daughter. You're my
creature. Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it? And you know, most creatures
don't know him still. Still don't know him. That one
who came and all of these things like when he took and Paul wrote
one time, he said, I speak. Talking about man, God creating
man and creating a woman to becoming one and all this, and Christ
stood back and marveled and gloried his own creation, his delights
were with the sons of men. Paul said, I speak a great mystery. He said, I'm speaking of Christ
and his church. See, Barbara, this is the end,
the real purpose of all this is not just God's created glory,
but His redemptive glory. So great, much greater than the
work of creation is the work of recreation, regeneration,
salvation, eternal life. As glorious as that temporal,
human, physical life, eternal life is much more glorious. And
that whole mystery of the man and the woman being brought to
man, cleaving together and fruit and so forth and all things,
it is the mystery of Christ in the church. And we're going to
try to get into that. His delights were with the Son
of Man. He was there. He said, I was there. I made man. Do you believe that? That's why we worship him as
such. Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Creator,
the Potter, where the clay, where his creatures, and his delights
were with the sons of men. Thank God.