is not that I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyberg. I want to let you know about
a Sovereign Grace Bible Conference that we will be hosting at the
Todd's Road Grace Church November 22nd through 24th. We're going to have eight different
speakers bringing a message of grace as God enables them. And
we'll begin Friday night at 7 o'clock. We'll have two speakers. Saturday
morning we'll begin at 10 o'clock. Two speakers. Saturday evening
at 6 o'clock. And Sunday morning at 10 o'clock.
And we'd love to have you come out and hear the gospel. A Sovereign Grace Bible Conference. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Who is Jesus Christ? it would not be possible for
us to consider any subject of greater weight than this. Who
is Jesus Christ? He was prophesied in the Old
Testament In Isaiah 9, verse 6, we read these words, For unto
us a child is born, and to us a son is given. The son was not
born. He's eternal. He was given. And
the scripture goes on to describe him. The government should be
upon his shoulders, and his name should be called Wonderful, Counselor. the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. He is the light spoken of in
creation story, who was before the creation of the sun and the
moon, which took place on the fourth day in the Genesis account.
God said, Light be. He's the uncreated light. Light
was. He's the same one who said, I
am the light of the world. Right after our first parents
fell in the garden, he was the promised woman seed who would
come and crush the serpent's head. When he was born, The angels
sang glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill
toward men. And that's God's goodwill toward
men in sending his son. He grew up in obscurity. working 30 years in a carpenter
shop. And nobody really understood
who he was except his mother and father because God had appeared
to them. But he grew up in obscurity, working out the perfect righteousness,
keeping God's law perfectly. The father looked on his son
all that time and said, oh, this is my beloved son in whom I'm
well pleased. Oh, how pleased his father was
with him. He said, I do always those things
that please him. And how pleased he was with his
father. Now, after 30 years, of living
in obscurity, he begins this public ministry and he said things
that people never heard before. We read in Luke chapter 4 verse
16, and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as
his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto
him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he opened the book,
he found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of the
sight to the blind. to set at liberty them that are
bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed
the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down.
And the eyes of all of them that were in the synagogue were fastened
on him. And he began to say unto them,
this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Now, along with
his preaching, he did things that only God can do. He controlled
the weather. He controlled the animal kingdom.
Fish get in the net, they got in the net. He brought matter
into existence that had not been there before, demonstrating creative
power, creating something from nothing. Only God can do that. Demons knew who he was. They
trembled in his presence and they said, are thou come to torment
us before the time? They were scared to death of
him and knew exactly who he was. He healed the sick. Not like
the faith healers of our day. He really healed them. He didn't wait to see if they
had enough faith. He healed them. He could go into
a hospital and heal everyone there. He gave sight to the blind. He raised the dead. Only God
can do that. The scripture says he went about
doing good. And yet men hated him. This one who is so altogether
lovely, beautiful to his father, men hated this one. In one place he said, many good
works have I showed you from my father, for which of these
do you stone me? The Jews answered him, for a
good work stone we thee not, but for blasphemy, because thou,
being a man, makest thyself God. It wasn't the good works that
people got upset with. It wasn't the works of power
and healing and so on that people got upset with, but it was the
claims he made concerning himself. When the crowd cried out, Hosanna,
blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, the
Pharisees said, Master, rebuke thy disciples. They shouldn't
be saying anything like this. And he replied, if these should
hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. He
was falsely accused. He was arrested. And even then,
He let them know that He was no victim. When they came to
take Him, He said, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And they were driven backward
by an unseen hand of invincible power. And they were made to
know that the only reason they would take Him is because He
permitted Him. He stands before Pilate. Pilate
is amazed at the demeanor of this man, and he's afraid of
him. His wife warned him. She said, I've suffered many
things in a dream because of this man. And he was afraid of
the Lord. And as the Lord remained in silence
when all of his accusers were speaking so many things, he said,
speakest thou not to me? Knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? And he
answered, Thou couldst have no power at all over me, except
it be given thee from above. You see, Pilate had no power
to release him because he was doing what he came to do. This
one came to die on Calvary's tree. So they nailed him to a
cross. And there it's lifted up and
dropped in a stand. And there he hangs. Listen to
his words. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And
everybody he prayed for was forgiven. This was no generic prayer. When he asked the father for
something, the father gives it to him. He said to his mother,
standing at the foot of the cross, woman, behold thy son, referring
to John. And he said to John, behold thy
mother. And he took her into his home
from that hour. All of a sudden, darkness covered
the earth while he was hanging there, and from the darkness
he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was
forsaken by God. Why? Because he was made sin,
and God's gonna forsake sin. He was dying as a substitute
for his people. He said, I thirst. And he said to a thief beside
him, today, When the thief said, Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. I know you have thief knew who
he was. He said, I know you're not going to remain on that cross,
but you're going to come back as a mighty reigning king. Remember
me when you come into your kingdom. And he said today, thou shalt
be with me in paradise. He said. It is finished. Whatever it is, he came to do,
he did it. And he finished it. Matthew 1.21
says, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His
people from their sins. That's what he did. And he bowed
his head and said, Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.
And he gave up the ghost. Death could not even take him
until he permitted it to. And when he died, the scripture
says the earth quaked. Tombs were opened and people
came out signifying that this is the way people live by his
death. And the veil in the temple was
rent from top to bottom, showing the way of access to God was
now open through his death. Now, a lifeless body is taken
down from the cross and laid in a tomb. And three days later,
he was raised from the dead. He showed himself alive after
his passion by many infallible proofs, the scripture says, being
seen of them 40 days. And after giving instructions
to his disciples, he was taken up and a cloud received him out
of their sight. I repeat, who is Jesus Christ? We read these glorious things
about him, but who is he? Now Paul said in Colossians 1,
verse 15, who is, speaking of Jesus Christ, who is the image
of the invisible God. The writer to the Hebrew says
he's the one through whom God has spoken, who being the brightness
of God's glory. and the express image of his
person, his substance, his essence, whatever God is. Jesus Christ
is the express image. What does God look like? Jesus
Christ. Who is God like? Well, he's really
not like anybody, but he is like Jesus Christ because he and the
Father are one. God is spirit. God is invisible. Jesus Christ is the visible representation
of God. He is the sole representative
of the being and the character of God. When it says he's the
firstborn of every creature, that doesn't mean he was created.
This is not a reference to a birth in time, but a fact. irrespective
of time. He, a person, possesses every
attribute of pure Godhood. He's not like God at all. He
is God. He is the image of the invisible
God, so much so that he said, he that has seen me hath seen
the Father. All you and I will ever see of
God is the man, Christ Jesus. He's the image of the invisible
God. He's the firstborn. Having all
the rights and privileges of the firstborn, that doesn't mean
he's a creature. It means he is the one who has
all privilege given to him. The scripture says in verse 16,
regarding him, who is Jesus Christ? He's the creator. 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. He is the creator. I love the way John begins his
gospel. In the beginning was the word.
And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. He made all
things visible. He made the earth, He made the
sun, the moon, the stars, the galaxies, the expanse of the
universe. He created it all, and He created
it all out of nothing. He spaked the universe into existence. He's the mighty God, the creator
of the universe. He created all things visible,
and He created all things invisible. The thrones, the seats of authority,
He created them. Whoever sits on a throne is there
simply because he put them there. Dominions is lordships. He's
the lord of lords and he's the king of kings. Principalities,
it means the beginnings. He's the beginning. John 1.1,
it also means rule. He rules whatever rules there
are. He made them. He's ruler of all. That's who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. He's the creator. He has all power and authority
and freedom of action. He's the power behind the power.
All things were created by him and for him, for his own glory. Oh, I love the way the Lord seeks
his own glory because all glory goes to him. Now, 17. Who is
Jesus Christ? Verse 17. Not only is He the
Creator, He is before all things. That means He is prior to all
things. He's in front of all things. He's superior to all things. Whatever there is, He's before
it. He said, before Abraham was,
I am. He is the great I am before all
things. He says I am that I am. Not a was, not a wanna be, not
a used to be, not a could be. I am that I am. His own isness. He is before
all things and by him, the scripture says, all things consist. They're
all held together by him. The writer to the Hebrews said
he upholds all things by the word of his power. simply by
a nod. You see, he is absolutely, immutably
sovereign. He controls all things. All things are held together
by Him. Whatsoever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven, in earth, in the seas, and in all deep places. The reason you just took that
last breath you took is because He willed it. And you'll quit
breathing when He causes you to quit breathing. He controls
everything, by Him all things consist. And then it says in
verse 18, and He is the head of the body, the church. He's
the head of the body. Now, there is such a thing as
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I know there's a
lot of religious institutions, and men call them churches. Well,
a church is a church if the gospel's preached there, and people believe
the gospel. That's what a church is. It's
not just a religious institution. There are plenty of those, and
they would call themselves churches. But if the gospel's not preached
there, it's not a church, whatever else it is. The church, okay,
we see the church in its local aspect, men and women who believe
the gospel and they get together to have fellowship with one another
and hear the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, and they love
one another. And then there's the church in its universal aspect,
that's all of God's elect, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the spirit of just men made perfect whose names are written in heaven.
This is every believer from every time, the body of Christ. That's so mysterious. Christ
has a body, and His body is the members of His church, His bride,
and the scripture says He is the head of the body. What's
a body without a head? The body is identified by the
head. I'm identified by Christ. Who's
Todd Nybert? Look at Christ. That's who Todd
Nybert is. In him. He is my head. I'm simply his body. And his
life is my life before God. The head is the identification
of the body. It's what tells the body what
to do. He's the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning. He is the beginning or the cause. Do you know he's the cause of
causes? He's the firstborn from the dead. He's the one who was
raised from the dead. Now, understand this. He died. This one I'm speaking of, who
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature,
the one who made the worlds, this one who is God manifest
in the flesh, died. He died. He really died. Why did he die? There's only
one reason for death, and that reason is sin. The sins of God's
elect became his sin, so that he became guilty of it. It actually
became his sin. And he died because the wages
of sin is death. But you know what he did in that?
Hebrews 1.3 says he by himself purged our sin. He did it by Himself with no
help. He purged, He put away, He washed away, He cleansed our
sin. Everybody He died for, their
sin is washed away. He's the firstborn from the dead.
Why was He raised from the dead? Because God was satisfied with
what He did. Now there is a place called hell,
and hell is eternal. It will never end. And the reason
it's eternal is because sin is an infinite evil, and no man
can ever satisfy the justice of God in the punishment of their
sin. That's why it keeps going on and on and on. But he, when
he died, satisfied the justice of God. His death was like no
other death. He actually satisfied the justice
of God. He didn't even go through the
process of decay. Because as soon as he died, God's justice
was satisfied. And he laid in that grave for
three days. What all happened during those
three days, I have no idea. People try to speculate, and
it's foolish to speculate. We don't know what was going
on during those three days when he was dead. But he was raised
from the dead because God was satisfied with what he did, and
he completely put away all the sins of his people. He's the
firstborn from the dead. And then it goes on to say in
verse 18, that in all things, he might have the preeminence. This is who he is. He's the one
who in all things has the preeminence. I don't care what it is. He has
the preeminence in it. If you talk about the Bible,
it's a hymn book. It's all about him. Every doctrine
in the Bible can only be understood in light of him. Election, chosen
in Him. Justification, justified by His
righteousness. Redeemed, redeemed by His blood.
Preserved in Him, called by Him, kept by His power. Glorified
to be just like Him. He has the preeminence in all
things. He has the preeminence with His people, most especially.
I've got a wife that I love dearly, and she loves me. And if she
loved some other man better than me, we would have real problems.
I'm for her, she's with me. But you know what? There's one
that I want her to love more than me. I don't want the preeminence
with her, I want her to love the Lord Jesus Christ more than
she loves me. And she wants me to love the
Lord Jesus Christ more than I love her. Because in all things, he
is to have the preeminence. Verse 19 says, for it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. Now that's who He is. He's the
one in whom it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness
dwell. Now, it pleased the Father. In
1 Samuel chapter 12 we read where it pleased the Lord to make you
His people. If you're one of His people,
it's because He was pleased to make you that way. In Isaiah
53, verse 10, it says, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. When
He was on the cross, it was God the Father's wrath that was crushing
and bruising Him. I know men put Him there, but
it pleased God to do that in order to save His people from
their sins, in order to glorify Himself. It pleased God to do
that. David said in Psalm 40, My iniquities have taken hold
upon me, so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than
the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. Make haste, O Lord, to help me. Lord, let that be your pleasure.
Most especially, it says, it pleased the Father. that in Him
should all fullness dwell. In Him you have all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body. All that God is and all of His
glorious attributes, nothing partial, all the fullness of
God dwells in Him. And you know who else dwells
in Him? Every one of His people. The
fullness of the church, the fullness of all of God's elect. All things dwell in Him. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. I love that scripture in John
1, 16, of His fullness have we all received, and grace for grace. This is who Jesus Christ is.
He's the image of the invisible God. He's the firstborn of every
creature. He's the creator of the universe. He's before all things and by
him all things consist. He's the head of the body, the
church. He's the beginning of the cause. He's the firstborn
from the dead. He's the one who has all preeminence
and he's the one in whom it's pleased the father that in him
should all fullness dwell. Who is Jesus Christ? He's the one who loved me and
knows me and gave himself for me. How utterly amazing. that he loves me and he gave
himself for me. He's the one who said, come unto
me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, I'll give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I'm meek and lowly
in heart and you'll find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy
and my burden is light. Who is He? He's my Lord. He's my God. He's my Savior. He's my High King. He's the only one who really
knows me. He knows me altogether. And he's my friend. He's my best
friend. He's the altogether lovely one. This glorious savior is
the one who is called the friend of publicans and sinners. It was said of him, this man
receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And this was said
to cut him down. But oh, how glorious this is,
the sinner's friend. The one who came to save sinners. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.