Jesus Christ, The Son of God

I want you to open your Bibles
with me first to John chapter 9. John the 9th chapter. Our Lord had restored sight to
a man who was born blind. An ignorant man, poor man, blind
man. And he made him to see. And they began to ask him questions
about this miracle. And he couldn't answer their
questions. He didn't know who Christ was. He just knew he said
that he was blind. And now he could see. And they
told him, they rebuked him for carrying his bed on the Sabbath
day. He said, well, the man that restored
my sight told me to carry this bed. I was blind and now I see. And they censured him. They put
him out of the synagogue. They took away all of his religious
privileges. And here in John 9, verse 35,
the Lord found him. The Lord found him, came back
to him. Verse 35, Jesus heard that they
had cast him out of the synagogue, took away his religious privileges,
and the Lord found him. And he asked him a question.
This is a question I want to deal with this morning. He asked
him a question. He said to this man who was born
blind, whom he had healed, he said, Do you believe on the Son
of God? Do you believe on the Son of
God? And the man asked him a question. He said, Well, who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?
And Jesus said to him, Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that
talketh with thee. Now, if we can get some light
on this This thing right here. Our Lord said, Do you believe
on the Son of God? The Scripture says, He that believeth
on the Son of God hath life. The Scripture says, He that believeth
on the Son of God shall not come into condemnation. He that believeth
on the Son of God is passed from death unto life. Well, who is He? I want to believe
on Him, don't you? Well, who is he, this son of
God, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said, it's he
that talketh with thee. So let's turn to John 1. You
know, the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, each of them seems to have a
prominent or dominant theme. The book of Matthew presents
the Lord Jesus Christ as King of the Jews. Mark seems to present the Lord
Jesus Christ as the servant. He came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister the servant. And Luke, his prominent theme
seems to be the Lord Jesus, the Son of Man. The birth of Christ was covered
so completely in the book of Luke. He was a man. But John just starts right off,
the book of John, chapter 1, just starts right off with the
Son of God. The Son of God. He's the Son
of God. And first of all, he shows us
the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, His relation, to time. It says, in the beginning was
the Word. It didn't say from the beginning.
Christ is not from the beginning. He's in the beginning. In the
beginning was the Word. John starts off this identification
of the Son of God like Moses began the Bible. In the beginning,
God. in beginning, God. Christ is
not in time. He never was in time. Time is
in Him. In describing His priesthood
over here in Hebrews, He said, without mother, without father,
without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of
life, but made like unto the Son of God, a priest forever. So His relation to time is at
times in Him. He's not in time. In beginning.
Not from the beginning, but in the beginning was the Word. And then He gives us His relation
to the Godhead, and the Word was with God. Now listen to me.
The Word was with God. Jesus of Nazareth, in the beginning,
with God. He's one of the Holy Trinity.
The Lord our God is one God, mind you, but He's three persons. We'll have to wait to understand
very much about that. But the Word teaches us that
He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our Lord told His disciples to
go and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. John said there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit. And these three are one. But here the Word was with God. Why is He called the Word? Why
is our Savior, the Lord Jesus, called the Word? Well, what is
a Word? A Word is an expression of a
thought. A Word is a revelation of an
idea. The Word is a manifestation of what a person is, what he's
thinking, what he purposes, what he plans. So no man has seen
God. God dwells in a light to which
no man can approach. But God has manifested Himself. Revealed Himself. Expressed Himself. He's the expression of the Father. No man has seen the Father at
any time. The Word, the Son, hath declared
Him. So Christ is deity expressing. himself, and the only way that
you can know God. Or you can look at the sky and
know there is a God. You can look at the sun and the
moon and the stars and know that he's a glorious, wise, and almighty
being. But you can't know what he thinks,
nor what he'll do with you and me, unless he gives us his word. And his word is Christ. God spoke
to our fathers, but the prophets have spoken to us by son. What
is a word? It's an expression of a thought. It's a manifestation of an idea. It's a revelation of a person.
And so Christ is the word. He's the word. He's Alpha and
Omega. He's the whole alphabet. of God. He's the beginning and the end.
Alpha is the first word. Omega, the last word. And that's
Christ. You can't go around Him and know
God. The only way you know God is
for Him to speak. And then He gives His relation
to the universe and the Word was God. He was God. He is God. He is God. The word God is common
to the three persons. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. To none of the angels said He
at any time, Thou art my Son. But to the Son He said, Thy throne,
O God, is forever. We only worship God, and God
said worship the Son. If any man worshiped, Any other
God, He's an idolatry. But we worship the Son because
He's God. Verse 2 says, The same was in
the beginning with God. He was in the beginning. The
beginning was in Him. And verse 3 gives us His relation. His relation to creation. And all things were made by Him.
All things. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. All things. Turn with me to Colossians 1.
We've got to read this here. In properly identifying. Dost
thou believe on the Son of God? Well, who is He? Well, He's God. He's the Creator. He's the Creator. He created
all things. Colossians 1 verse Verse 14. Well, verse 13. He hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His Son,
His dear Son, His beloved Son, the Son of His love, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of
sin. Who is the image of the invisible
God? The exact likeness. Revelation
of the invisible God. The only revelation of the invisible
God. The firstborn of every creature.
Watch now. For by Him were all things created. All things. That are in heaven,
that are on earth. Visible and invisible. Visible
and invisible. All things. Whether they be thrones,
thrones, even Satan's throne. Principalities, powers, rulers,
darkness, thrones, dominions, any dominion, nobody has any
dominion that he didn't give him, or principality or power, all
things beyond the light years and galaxies and eons and all
things, everything that wiggles and writhes and moves Has He any authority or power?
All things were created by Him and for Him. We're talking about
our Redeemer, Christ Jesus. Who is He? You believe on Him
as He is or you don't believe on Him. You can call anybody Jesus. Say,
I believe in Jesus. A hundred thousand little Mexican
boys named Jesus down there in Mexico. I don't believe on any
of them. Had one that played outfield for the San Francisco
Giants named Jesus. I don't believe in him. Just
simply putting the name Jesus on something of your imagination
is not God. This is God. This is Jesus of
Nazareth. All things were made by Him.
He was in the beginning, with God, was God, All things were
made for him. Listen, he's before all things
and by him all things consist. He proved that when he turned
water into wine. Plain, clear water. He spoke and it became the best
wine that ever tasted. He proved that all things were
made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made when He broke five loaves and two fishes and
fed five thousand people, not counting women and children,
and gathered up how many baskets full. He showed that when the
disciples came to the back of the boat and said, we're going
to drown. The storm is lashing this little ship. It's taking
on water. The waves are higher than the mask and we're going
down. Don't you care? And he stood
on the bow of the ship and said to the wind, be still. And said to the waves, lie down
at my feet. And that sea became like a looking
glass, smooth. And the disciples said, what
manner of man is this? Oh, what manner of man is this,
that even the wind and the waves obey his voice? God. Who is he that I might believe
on him? And then verse 4, his relation
to us. In him was life. In him was life. When it says that there in him
was life, L-I-F-E, that word life is used in the widest sense. In him is the life of a rose. I can make, if I had the talent,
a plastic rose. It might fool you, but he makes a rose that lives,
and in him is that life. That dog, animal, in him, that's
life. There's a heart in here that's
beating. Life makes it beat. That life's
from him. Everybody that's got a beating
heart. There's lungs that breathe. That life he gave is a seed that
grows. That life is life from him. All
life. In Him, in Him is life. You see that? In Him is life. Any life. The evolutionist has a major,
awesome stumbling block. He can't move out of his way.
He can talk about things appearing, but one question he can't answer
is, where did it get life? Where did it get I kill, I make a life. I the
Lord do these things. But here's another statement,
and the life was the light of men. Light of men. This light is a relationship
to men which is different from animals and flowers. This light, L-I-G-H-T, is knowledge. Knowledge of God. He is the light
that lighteth every man. Look down here at verse... There's
a light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Verse 9. There's some knowledge
of God in every man. But there's a true knowledge
of God that he gives to his own. He who spake and said, let there
be light, commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has
shined in our hearts to give us a knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus. My life is from Him and all life
is from Him. There is no life without Him.
But my light, understanding of what I'm saying here this morning,
what I'm reading here, that light, that knowledge is Christ. I couldn't understand anything
God says except in Christ. I couldn't understand anything
that God purposed or planned except in Christ because it's
all in Christ. That's the knowledge, and the
light was the knowledge of men. Animals, you can't teach these
things. Sons of Adam, natural sons of Adam, they have some,
we'll see in a few moments, some understanding, but not that understanding
which John talks about in 1 John 5. Turn over that 1 John 5. Listen
to this, 1 John 5, verse 20, and we know, In 1 John 5, 20,
we know that the Son of God has come and given us understanding,
knowledge. That we may know Him that is
true. We're in Him that is true. Even
in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God. This is
eternal life. Knowledge. Who is He that I might believe?
in the beginning, with God, Son of God, was God. All things were made by Him.
In Him is light, and light, and knowledge, and understanding. But verse 5 shows us the effects
of the fall of Adam, even upon these men who were created in
his image. And the light shineth in our
darkness, The light of the Lord Jesus came into the world. He shined in our darkness. God put a star in heaven over
His birthplace. God sent angels down to announce
His coming. God moved kings to try to destroy
Him and wise men to seek Him. And He came into this world and
walked among us. and healed the sick. We know
you from God. No man could do the miracles
you do except God be with him. He raised the dead and they knew
it. He fed thousands and they knew
it. He did no sin. Which of you convinces me of
sin? I find no fault in him, said their leader. He was in
the world. The world knew him not. The light,
the knowledge of God, the revelation of God, shineth in our darkness. And the darkness comprehended
it not. He was in the world, and the
world didn't know him. He came into his own temple,
the fulfillment of all Scripture. These fellows that were ministering
in the temple, the scribes and Pharisees, they read Moses and
the prophets and the Psalms. They talked about this one. Taught
these scriptures. Didn't know him. And when they'd
fulfilled everything that was written of him, they nailed him
to a tree. And then took him down. Put him
in a grave. Seal the grave that we're through
with him. No, it's just beginning. Just
beginning. And God sent a witness. He sent
one of our own. Verse 6, God sent a man and a
lot of other men. God sent a man whose name was
John, miraculously born when his parents were old, whose name
was John. God sent a man to tell us about
the light. He came, verse 7, as a witness,
to bear witness of the light. Who needs a witness to tell him
that the light's shining? A blind man. Who needs somebody to come and
tell him? Doris said to me this morning, come out here on the
porch and look at the sun coming up. Who needs somebody to tell
him the sun's coming up? A blind man. And that's what we are, blind.
Born blind. I've come that blind the blind
might see, he said, the blind might see. And John came to tell
the blind about the light. The preacher's office is a witness.
What's a witness? He knows what he says and says
what he knows. The preacher's theme, to bear
witness of the light, Christ. I determined to know nothing
among you, save Christ, in Him crucified." Verse 8, He was not
that light, the preacher is not the light. He's the witness of the light.
Don't look to the preacher, don't idolize him, don't immortalize
him, don't build statues to them. They're witnesses of the light.
They're not the light. What God sent them for? That
men through Him might believe that He's the Son of God? Verse 9 says, "...that's the
true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
There's a sense in which every man and woman, boy and girl,
is aware of Jesus of Nazareth. They may not believe on Him,
don't comprehend Him, Don't understand him. Don't understand his mission. But they're aware of him. The
calendar tells you that. The year 2000 A.D. Anno Domini
in the year of our Lord. 1400 B.C. B.C. before whom? Christ. Before Christ. You know what Paul said to one
of those a gripper of Felix, one of those rulers. He said,
let me tell you something, fellow. This man I'm preaching, you're
not ignorant of who he is. Listen, he said, this wasn't
done in a corner. This death of Jesus Christ was
not done in a corner. You turn to Romans 1, I'll show
you every man has some understanding of God's purpose and God's plan. Verse 19 of Romans 1, Because
that which may be known of God is manifest in them, God has
shown it to them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.
So they, without excuse, because when they knew God, they had
some knowledge of God, through creation, through providence,
and through conscience, they glorified him not as God, neither
were they thankful. but became vain in their imagination,
and their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible
God into an image made like the corruptible man, birds, beasts,
creeping things, and God gave them up." He was in the world, and the world knew him not. He
came to his own. They received it not. The light
shines and men comprehend it not. Who was in the world? The one
that made the world. Why was he in the world? He didn't
come to destroy the world, he came to save the world. He didn't
come to judge the world, he came to save it. He didn't come as
a lion. To devour them and destroy them,
He came as a Lamb. Behold the Lamb of God to save
them. What kind of reception did He
get? Crucified. We'll not have this man reign
over us. We have no king but Caesar. They really meant we have no
king. The fool has said in his heart,
No God for me. No God. No Jesus. No Savior. No Redeemer. Crucify Him. He was in the world, verse 10.
The world was made by Him. The world knew Him not. He came
into His own. His own received Him not. But. I'm glad that's there, don't
you? Aren't you? But. It's not over. But the kingdom
of God will be inhabited. The purpose of God will be fulfilled. The Son of God shall have a bride. The covenant of God will be accomplished. Totally fulfilled. The church
of God shall be redeemed. And heaven will be populated
with a people. like Christ, conformed to His
image, and heaven will resound with the praise and exultation
of the exalted victorious King. Unto Him shall every voice say,
of a number which cannot be numbered, out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, tongue, unto Him. Unto Him who loved us, and washed
us from our sins, and made us unto our God kings and priests.
Unto Him who's from the beginning, unto Him who's with God, unto
Him who is God, unto Him who created all things, unto Him
who loved us and died for us, unto Him the everlasting glory
forever and ever. Yeah. But as many as received Him,
dost thou believe on the Son of God? Who is He, Lord, that
I might believe? Here He is. Lord, I believe. I believe. To whom shall I go? Thou hast
the words of life. To whom shall I go? Thou art
the one mediator between God and me. To whom shall I go? Thou art the priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. To whom shall I go? Thou art
the seed of woman that is victorious over Satan and death and hell. To whom shall I go? Thou art
the forerunner who has entered in to conquer and establish a
place for us. To whom shall I go? As many as
received Him, as many as received Him, believed on Him, received
Him as the Light, the Savior. As many as received Him. Peter said, they are as many
as the Lord our God shall call. Paul said, they are as many as
are ordained to eternal life. Believe. The writer of Romans says, they
are as many as are led by the Holy Spirit. And verse 12 here says, they
are called sons of God. As many as received Him, believed
on Him, trusted Him, embraced Him, to them gave He the privilege to become sons of God. Even to them believe on His name. How did the Son of God become
a man? He was born of a woman. He was born of a woman. How can
this Son of Man become a Son of God? I got to be born of God. Look
at the next verse. Which were born? As many as received
Him. As many as He called. As many
as were ordained to life. As many as the Holy Spirit quickened. They were born. They were born. Not of blood, not of flesh. Not like we were born the first
time. And not even of the will of the
flesh, of our own will. It's not of Him that will it,
it's of God that shows mercy. My children were not born of
their will. We're not born of our wills.
We're not born of the will of any other man. Some of you sitting
here may will that your children have your grandchild, but that
won't do it. You're not going to will it,
but God can. God can. And that's how God became
a man. He willed it. He willed it. And he sent an angel to a virgin
and said, you're going to bear a son. That child will be called
the Son of God. And she brought forth a firstborn
son and called his name Jesus. Emmanuel, God with us, born of
a woman. Flesh and blood. And the light came into this
world, and the world's everybody was anybody turned thumbs down
on it. We don't have Him. Didn't know Him. Rejected Him. But, God gave life to some people.
They were born of God. And they, they believed Him. They believed Him. And it says
in verse 14, and closing, And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us, and we beheld, what we behold, His glory. His
glory. His glory. The glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We beheld
His glory. God gave us eyes to see and ears
to hear and a heart to believe. You're born of God. It's a miracle. It took a miracle to put the
stars in space. It took a miracle to hang the
world in place. But I tell you, when He saved
your soul, cleansed and made us whole, It took a miracle of
His love and His grace. Born of God. Born of God. And you'll never be unborn. I'm
my Father's Son. And whatever changes or whatever
takes place, I'll always be my Father's Son. And I'm my Heavenly
Father's Son. through Christ and whatever takes
place, I'm always my father's son. Always.

Jesus Christ, The Son of God

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Jesus Christ, The Son of God

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