I am very concerned this morning
about the messages that I'm going to bring to you this Sunday and
next Sunday. I have two messages that I'd
like to bring One on the person of Christ, that's this Sunday,
and next Sunday on the work of Christ. Two messages on the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now these messages are going
to be on a cassette tape, both of them, one on the front, one
on the back. And I'll tell you at the end of the program how
you can get the tape. But listen carefully to the message
today and the one next Sunday. I believe they're most vital
messages and most important to you and to me. I'm looking at
a question. I'm looking at a question. Who
is Jesus Christ? Now, that's today's message,
the person of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? In Matthew 16, verse 13, our
Lord asked his disciples, whom do men say that I, the Son of
Man, am? And they said, well, some say
you're John the Baptist, and some say you're Elijah, and others
Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And then Christ said to them,
But whom say ye that I the Son of Man am?' And Peter answered
and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." That's
what I'm asking myself, and I'm asking you today. Who is Jesus
Christ? Now, this man Jesus of Nashville,
there's no denying that he was born and lived on this But this
man, Jesus of Nazareth, was born in poverty. He was born and laid
in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
And he was raised in obscurity in a simple village called Nazareth,
of which one man said, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
He was the son of an unmarried Jewish woman His foster father
was a carpenter, very inconspicuous man. Unknown man, very uninfluential. Jesus of Nazareth had no formal
training or college education. He never traveled over 90 miles
from his home. He never owned a house. He never
owned a piece of ground, a piece of property. He never held a
public office. His friends were all poor, unknown
people. Some of them were fishermen,
shepherds, other people. His only possession was the robe
on his back. He traveled about with these
disciples, preaching the kingdom of God and healing the sick,
and the scripture says he went about doing good. At thirty-three
years of age, he was accused of violating the law of Moses
He was accused of preaching heresy, and he was accused of seeking
to be king. And upon the testimony of false
witnesses, he was sentenced to be crucified on a Roman cross. Now, he had but twelve disciples,
that was the inner circle, and one of them sold him for eighteen
dollars. Another one denied that he ever
knew him, and the rest of them forsook him and fled. And during
his dying hour, according to his own words, his own testimony,
he was forsaken of God. He cried at the end of that six
hours of suffering, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was taken down from the cross
and buried in a borrowed tomb. Now this man, Jesus of Nazareth,
never wrote a book. And yet more books have been
written about him than any other subject. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
I'm talking about in his fleshly sojourn. I know that as God he
wrote the word, but in his fleshly sojourn on this earth, this man,
Jesus of Nazareth, never wrote a song. And yet he has been the
theme of more songs than all subjects combined. He never founded
a college. And yet all the colleges in the
world cannot boast of as many students as those who study at
his feet. He never went to medical school,
and yet he healed more broken hearts and broken bodies than
all physicians put together. Satan could not seduce him. Religious
leaders could not answer him. Lawyers and scribes could not
entangle him in his talk, though they tried. Pilate, when he was
on trial, said, I can find no fault in him. Death could not
destroy him, and the grave could not hold him. Who is this man? Who is Jesus Christ of Nazareth? Now, the whole world will admit
and agree that he's the most unusual man who ever lived. There's
never, as they said, never man spake like this man. Never. And the whole world will agree
that his life on this earth was holy and above reproach. And
his works were done by the power of God. Nicodemus said, no man
could do what you do except God be with him. And his teachings
were the purest and the holiest ever set forth. But since he
walked on this earth, the controversy has never ceased. There has been
no end to the controversy around his head. Who is this man, Jesus
of Nazareth? Four things, really, are asked.
Who is he? What did he do? Really, what
did he do? Did he die as a frustrated reformer? Did he just give his life as
a martyr? Did he come to accomplish something
and fail? What did he do? And the third
issue concerning this man is, why did he do it? Why did he
come here? Why did he do what he did? And
then I ask this question, where is he now? Where is he now? Now, who is he? He stood outside
the judgment hall. They brought him that morning,
early in the morning, woke Pilate And these Jews, these Israelite
leaders, these religious people, would not go into the judgment
hall because it was approaching the Sabbath day, and they didn't
want to defile themselves on this holy season. So they brought
this man, Jesus of Nazareth, and stood outside the judgment
hall and called Pilate out early in the morning. And Pilate came
out there, and they had several accusations they brought against
him, but someone hollered out and said this. Someone said,
he said that he's the son of God. That's what he said, he's
the son of God. And the scripture says Pilate
was frightened, he was upset, this troubled him greatly. And
he called Jesus of Nazareth into the judgment hall. And he confronted
him and he said, who are you? And where'd you come from? I
want to know where you came from. That's the question that I'm
asking, who is he? Who is he, and where did he come
from? Well, he didn't answer Pilate,
answered him not a word. Scripture said he was led as
a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearer was his dung,
so he opened not his mouth. But he didn't answer him. And then what did he do? Another
one, when they brought him back out from the judgment hall before
the people, another fellow hollered out in the crowd and said, we
found this fellow stirring up the people. We found this fellow
perverting the people. He forbids people to pay tribute
to Caesar, saying that he himself is king. This man is a troublemaker. Is that what he did? The time
that he was here upon this earth, did he go about perverting people,
stirring up people, trying to take a throne from Caesar, trying
to establish a kingdom here on this earth? Is that what he did?
Is that what he did? And then thirdly, why did he
do it? Why did he allow them to abuse him when with just a
word he could have annihilated the whole crowd? He could have
called 10,000 angels. That's what he said to the disciples.
He said, Don't you know? Don't you know one of the disciples
pulled his sword and would defend the Master in the Garden of Gethsemane. And he said, Don't you know?
Put up your sword. Don't you know? that I could call on my
father and he'd send a legion of angels. Why did he put up
with it? Pilate asked him that, took him
back in the judgment hall and he said, why don't you answer
me? Why don't you answer me? Don't you know that I have the
power to crucify you or let you go? Why don't you answer me?
Why do you permit these people to lie on you and not defend
yourself? Why do you allow these soldiers
to slap your face and lacerate your back? Why do you allow these
folks to spit in your face? Why do you allow all of this
abuse and these indignities? Is it true you saved others and
you can't save yourself? Why do you put up with it? That's
my question. Who is he? What did he do? Why did he do it? And then the
question is, where is he now, when he was hanging on that cross?
These people walked around the cross mocking and laughing and
jeering. The scripture says they shot
out their lips and they said, he trusted God, let's see if
God will have him. Let's see if God will have him.
He calls on God, let's see if God will own him. Let's see if
God Almighty will own him. Where is he now? Did God own
him? Did God have him? We know he died. And we know
they took him down from the tree and put him in a tomb. But what
happened then? What happened then? Where is he now? I want
to answer these four vital questions for you. I want you to listen
to me very carefully, because he is the issue. Christ is the
issue. It's not a denomination. It's
not even a system of theology. It's not a program of prophecy.
Those aren't the issues. It's not even your attitude toward
the law or no law. It's who is Jesus Christ. What
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? God's going
to judge the world by that man whom you crucified and slain.
Because Peter said, the Lord hath made him both Lord and Christ. All right, here's the first question.
Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Who
is this man called the Christ? I answer that under three heads.
First of all, he is God Almighty. Now, don't misunderstand what
I'm saying. I'm not saying he's only the Son of God or only a
messenger of God or an ambassador of God. I'm saying that he himself
is God Almighty. Now, I know there are a lot of
people who reject and deny what we call the Trinity. And they
say the word Trinity does not occur in the Bible one time.
And you're right, it does not. But the truth of it does. You
go all the way back to Genesis when God said, Let us make man. With whom was he speaking? Let
us make man in our own image. And then when the Lord Jesus
Christ was here on the earth at his baptism, the son was in
the water and the father spake from heaven and said, This is
my beloved son. And the Holy Spirit descended
upon him in the form of a dove. And then when he was departing,
he told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the
gospel and baptize men in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. And then on another occasion
he said, As my Father sent me, even so send I you. And I will
pray the Holy Spirit, another Comforter, who will come. And
the scripture in 1 John says there are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit. So, my friends,
I don't understand the Trinity. The Lord our God is one God,
and there's one appearance of God, and that's Jesus Christ.
But he is God. The angel said, Thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
And this is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, who said,
Behold, the Lord himself will give you a sign. A virgin shall
conceive and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Immanuel, which is being interpreted, God with us. The angels who announced
his birth to the shepherds said, Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And then
in John 10.30, he said, I and my Father are one. And the disciples
said, Well, show us the Father. He said, He that hath seen me
hath seen my Father. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by him. Without him was nothing made
that was made. And he said to the Father, Glorify
me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? He's
God incarnate. He's God in human flesh. And
the Father said to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Now, that's what I'm saying,
and that's what the scripture declares, that Jesus of Nazareth is God
who visited this earth in the likeness of sinful flesh. God
came to earth, and he reconciled us unto himself in Christ. God was in Christ. He purchased
the Church with his own blood. Now, secondly, he is God and
he is the Christ. He is the Christ. Now, that word
is used often in the New Testament. The nation of Israel was looking
for the Christ, all the way from Genesis 3.15, when God promised
that the seed of woman would bruise the serpent's head. The
Jewish nation, all the way back to that promise, was looking
for a Messiah who would be the seed of woman. the seed of Abraham,
the tribe of Judah, the family of Jesse, the household of David,
who would be a prophet like Moses, a priest like Melchizedek, and
a king like David. The whole Old Testament declares
that that someone is coming, that someone. And the four Gospels
say that that someone has come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
And the epistles say he's coming again. Christ is our prophet,
priest, and king. He is the Christ. Who is this
man, Jesus of Nazareth? He's God Almighty. And he's God
in human flesh. And he is the Christ. He is the
Redeemer. He is our righteousness. He is
the branch. He is the Lord our banner. He
is the Lord, the Lamb provided. He is Jehovah, God my Savior. And that's what Peter replied.
He said, Whom do you say that I, the Son of Man, am? And Peter
said, Thou art the Christ. Thou art the Christ. And the
woman at the well left her waterpot and went down to the village
and said, Come, see a man that's told me everything I've done.
Is not this the Christ? Is not this the Christ? Now, the scripture says in 1
John 2.22, Who is a liar? Who is a liar? We often say a man is a liar,
he lied, she lied, they lied. Do you know who a liar is? God
defines a liar. Who is a liar? But he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ. The same is both a liar and an
antichrist. Now let that sink in, and let
me give you that text again so you can go find it. 1 John 2,
verse 22, who is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus
of Nazareth is the Christ. And God doesn't stop there. He
said he's both a liar and he's an antichrist. And then thirdly,
he's God, he's the Christ, and he's our representative. He's
our federal head. Now, I teach imputation and impartation. I must because the Bible teaches
that. In Adam we die, in Christ we're
made alive. By man came death, by man came
the resurrection. As we are born in the image of
the earthy first Adam, we shall bear the image of the heavenly
second Adam. By one man's disobedience we
were made sinners, by another man's obedience we were made
righteous. That's what the word of God teaches. And that first
Adam is my federal head in the flesh, and the second Adam, Christ,
is my federal head in the spirit. He's my representative. And not
only that, he's my righteousness. He's my holiness, which I've
got to have before the Father, before the law, before God's
throne. I've got to have a holiness.
I've got to have a righteousness. And Christ provides it. Christ
purchased it. Christ Jesus fulfilled it in
his life on the earth. Then he's my sin offering. My
one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified,
and he's my life. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? He's
God. He's God. He is the Christ, and
he is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption.
Now, what did he do? Well, I'll tell you what he did.
Being God, he has done all that God has done and is doing and
will do, in that he is God. What the Father does, the Son
does. What the Son does, the Father does, and the Holy Spirit
does. Colossians 1.15 says he's the image of the invisible God.
He's the firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things created
that are created in heaven and earth, visible and invisible,
thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers. And he's before all
things, and by him all things consist. As God, what did he
do? He does everything that's done.
But I'm talking about as a man. I'm speaking of Jesus Christ
here on the earth in the flesh. What did he do? As our surety
and as a man, his office work started before the world began.
That's right, before the world began. His actual manifestation
and revelation and coming into the earth was 2,000 years ago.
But my friends, he was the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. Revelation 13.8 tells you that. And then he's the surety
of an eternal covenant. And then his blood is the blood
of an everlasting covenant. So as our representative and
as our surety in Lamb, Christ took up that work before he took
up the work of creating a world. That's right. And then in Old
Testament types, we're going to preach on this next Sunday
and talk about his work, but he stood in picture in those
Old Testament types. See, Christ is our Passover.
That Passover is a picture of Christ. And that rock was Christ. And Abel's offering, the blood
sacrifice, was Christ. He gave to these sacrifices meaning,
life, and power. Without him, Abel had no forgiveness,
because the blood of that animal certainly could not put away
Abel's sin. You can't pacify a holy God with the blood of
a sheep, or a lamb, or a ram, or a goat. But Abel, by faith,
offered a lamb. And that faith was looking not
at this animal blood, but looking to the blood of God's lamb who
would come. That's what Abraham said to Isaac,
my son, God will provide himself a lamb, and in the meantime we'll
offer this one until that lamb comes. So you see, Christ gave
life and power and meaning to these Old Testament titles. And
then when he came here in the flesh and walked this earth,
listen to this scripture of Galatians 4. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. That is,
in submission to the law, under the rule of the law, in obedience
to the law. Christ was subject to the law.
He was made under the law that he might redeem them that were
born under the law. In other words, Jesus Christ
was subject to God's law as a man in the flesh. And he said, I
didn't come to destroy, I came to fulfill it. Every jot and
tittle must be fulfilled. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. As a man,
he fulfilled every law, every law. He was tempted in all points,
as we are, yet without sin. And then he took our sins and
died on the cross. Now, Christ on this earth must
not only work out for me a perfect righteousness and holiness by
his life, but the justice of God says I must die. God not
only will punish sin, he has to punish sin. He must punish
sin. He can in no way clear the guilty. And so Christ took our
sins and paid for them. By one sacrifice, by one sin
off, you say, well, how could one man die for so many men because
of who he is? Who he is. And then he was buried
and he rose again. He was buried as our scapegoat
and rose as our justifier. Who is he that condemned him?
It's Christ that died. Yea, rather, that's risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who intercedes for us."
That's what he did. Now the question comes, why did
he do it? Why did he subject himself to
such humiliation? You know, God condescended to
become a man. If an angel became a worm, you'd
say, my, what condescension. But that's not anything like
God becoming a man. And he came down here in the
flesh. He was born and lived on this earth and died for our
sins. Why did he take the spittle and
the persecution and the agony and the ridicule and the soul
agony, I'll tell you why, to save his people from their sins.
That's why he came. The angel said he shall save
his people from their sins. Paul said he came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. That's why he did it,
to save us from our sins, to fulfill the law and honor God's
justice. And I tell you, he did it because
we couldn't do it. We couldn't do it. Salvation's
impossible with me. We can't please a holy God. In
the flesh dwelleth no good thing. You can't with your rituals of
religion and your tithes and offerings and your do's and don'ts
pacify and satisfy a holy God. Christ did it through his perfect
obedience. He said, this is my son in whom
I'm well pleased. He was the only one who could
do it. Only one who could do it. Other foundation can no man
lay. than that which is laid in Christ,
none other name unto heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh to
the Father but by me." And he did these things that God may
be just and justify. That's why he did it. That's
why Christ suffered. He had to. If God Almighty is
to redeem a sinner, then he's got to redeem that sinner in
keeping with and in honor with his law and his justice. Now,
that's right. You need to look into that. Romans
chapter 3 will help you if you go over there and read the first
25 or 26 verses. All right, here's the fourth
question. Where is he now? Jesus Christ
is God. He became the God-man. He became
our representative. He suffered, bled, and died for
our sins. And he did it that God may be
just and justified. He was taken down from that cross
and placed in that tomb, a buried tomb in which no man had lain.
And when God rolled away the stone, he rose from the grave.
Where is he now? Listen to the scriptures, Hebrews
1, 3. Who being the brightness of God's glory and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself alone purged our sins, he sat
down on the right hand of the majesty on high." That's where
he is. He's on the right hand of the
majesty on high. The right hand. That's the hand
of love. That's the hand of acceptance.
That's the hand of glory and honor. And Christ, having finished
his work, is sat down. Hebrews 9.24, listen, For Christ
is not entered into the holy place made with hands, but into
heaven itself, heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. My friend, there's one God. You
say, I believe that. I believe that. and there is
one Mediator between God and man, and that's the man, Christ
Jesus. He is our Mediator, he is the
one Mediator. Therefore, the scripture says,
seeing we have such a high priest, let us come boldly before the
throne of grace, that we may find grace and mercy to help
in time of need, that we may find mercy and grace to help
in time of need." What's he doing at the right hand of God? He's
praying for us. He's praying for us. Who is he
that condemned? Christ died. Yea, rather, is
risen again, who is also at the right hand of God. who ever lived
to make intercession for us. He said, Peter, I pray for you. And he says the same thing to
every believer today, I pray for you.