Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Home Sermons 2011 God the Saving Son (Part 2 of 'Who is God? The Trinity)
 
God the Saving Son (Part 2 of 'Who is God? The Trinity) PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Charlton   

Scripture

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
John 1:1-2 & 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God;… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
 Philippians 2:6-11
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  Summary and Purpose

Summary: The doctrine of the Trinity is a fundamental Christian truth. There is only one true God but He is made up of three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To worship one is to worship all three because the three make up the one true God. They are all equally divine.

The second person of the Trinity is God the Son. ‘The Son’ came down from heaven and became a human named Jesus. As a human, ‘The Son’ demonstrated a perfect relationship with ‘The Father’ and showed us what our relationship with God should look like. Also, as a human, ‘The Son’ willingly allowed Himself to be murdered on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. This makes it possible for us to receive God’s forgiveness and have a re-stored love relationship with God. Lastly, as a human, ‘The Son’ rose from the dead and conquered sin, death and evil on our behalf.

The bottom line is that Jesus is Lord!!! He’s Lord because He’s God in the flesh. Whether or not we acknowledge Him as Lord doesn’t matter. He is still Lord. Since He is Lord, it is in our best interest to recognize Him as Lord. Recognizing Him as Lord and Savior will result in our salvation and eventual triumph with God. However, it must also be understood that recognizing Jesus as Lord involves total self surrender, a willingness to sacrifice and self-denial.    

Purpose: To help the congregation understand Jesus as Lord and Savior by introducing Him as God the Son.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: The world’s problem: Not recognizing The Lord

     1. Have you ever seen the old ‘Three Stooges’ movies? Well, if you ever want to see a
         reenactment of those movies, just watch a bunch of Army 2nd Lieutenants trying to
         accomplish an assigned task.
  • In Officer Basic Course (OBC), I remember my class of 2nd Lieutenants having to erect a GP Medium tent. (These are like the tents you see in the M.A.S.H. television show.) 
  • With the exception of 1 or 2 prior enlisted folks, none of us knew what we were doing. Setting up a big Army tent for the first time can be complicated.
  • We all wanted to show the instructors how well we can take charge. So we were all telling each other what to do, even though almost none of us knew what we were doing.
  • The phrase, “Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians” comes to mind.
  • It quickly became a comedy of errors, like the three stooges. However, instead of only three stooges, there were about 20 stooges.
  • What should have taken 20 minutes took over three hours.
  • The problem was that we were not willing to recognize one person as being in charge. There was one or two 2nd Lieutenants in our group who knew what they were doing. We should have listened to one of them as the one in charge.
  • The world has the same problem.

     2. The world does not recognize the one person who is Lord of all creation.

  • There is one person who can claim to be Lord over all creation.
  • If the world would recognize this one person as Lord, then the people of the world would learn to cooperate with each other and solve all the world’s problems. 
  • For example, famines have been occurring throughout history. The earth, however, produces enough food to feed the world. We simply don’t cooperate enough to get the food distributed. There are too many Chiefs in this world and not enough Indians.
  • If the world would recognize the one person who actually is Lord, we would cooperate enough to distribute food and stop famines.

     3. So, who is this person who can claim to be Lord? He is Jesus Christ.

II. Jesus Christ is Lord

     1. Jesus is Lord because he is the only human who can claim to be God.

     2. Jesus is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity.

  • The Trinity: There is only one true God. The one true God is made up of three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To worship one is to worship all three because the three make up the one.
  • ‘The Son’ Became a human named Jesus.
  • As a human, ‘The Son’ demonstrated a perfect relationship with ‘The Father’ and showed us what our relationship with God should look like.
  • Also, as a human, ‘The Son’ willingly allowed Himself to be murdered on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. This makes it possible for us to receive God’s forgiveness and have a re-stored love relationship with God.
  • Lastly, as a human, ‘The Son’ rose from the dead and conquered sin, death and evil on our behalf.

     3. A sample of the Scripture passages demonstrating that Jesus is ‘God the Son’.

  • Isaiah 9:6 (The coming Messiah referred to as Mighty God.)
  • Throughout New Testament Jesus referred to as ‘Lord’. Only God is referred to as Lord by the Jews.
  • Matthew 14:33; 28:9 & 17 (Jesus received worship)
  • Matthew 28:19-20 (Jesus says to baptize in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
  • Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22 (Trinity demonstrated at Jesus’ baptism)
  • John 1:1-2 and 14 (The Word became flesh)
  • John 6:34, 41, 48, 51 (Jesus says ‘I am the bread of life’. Only God is the originator and sustainer of life)
  • John 8:12 (Jesus says ‘I am the light’. Only God can claim to be the light of the world.)
  • John 8:58 (Jesus calls Himself, “I am”. God refers to Himself as “I am’ in Exodus 3:14)
  • John 20:28 (Thomas refers to Jesus as ‘my Lord and my God’)
  • Philippians 2:6-7 (Jesus is equal with God. The only way to be equal with God is to be God.)
  • Colossians 1:15-16 (Jesus is the very image of God)
  • Titus 2:13 (Jesus referred to as ‘our great God and Savior’)
  • (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2; Philippians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1) In the salutations of Paul’s letters, he refers to ‘The Father’ and ‘The Son’ separately but as equals.
  • Revelation 1:8 & 17; 21:6; 22:13 (Both God and Jesus are identified as Alpha and Omega)
  • Revelation 5:13-14 (Both the Father and Jesus, depicted as the Lamb, are worshipped)

III. Jesus is Lord regardless of whether or not we acknowledge Him as Lord

     1. Jesus is Lord because He’s God in the flesh

     2. Therefore, it’s in our best interest to acknowledge Him as Lord

     3. Illustration: You don’t like Barak Obama so you refuse to acknowledge him as
         President
  • You threaten to assassinate Barak Obama
  • The Secret Service questions you and you say, “Yes, I threatened to hurt Barak Obama but I didn’t violate any federal laws because I don’t recognize Barak as president.”
  • The Secret Service will respond, “It doesn’t matter if you recognize Barak as President. The reality is that he is President.” Then they would proceed to arrest you for threatening the President.

     4. The same is true when it comes to us and Jesus.

  • One day, we all will be judged. We will be asked if we acknowledged Jesus as Lord.
  • Those of us who have repented and placed our trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior will be saved. Our sins will not be counted against us.
  • Those of you who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Lord will find out that He is Lord. It will, however, be too late. Your sins will be counted against you.
     5. So, with this in mind, we need to look at what it means to acknowledge Jesus as
         Lord.

IV. The ramifications of Jesus as Lord

     1. With Jesus as your Lord, He will also be your Savior

  • Your relationship with God is restored
  • You begin to change and become more like Jesus
  • Your sins are forgiven and you will go to heaven when you die
     2. With Jesus as your Lord, you fully surrender everything to Him. This begins the
         moment you accept Jesus as Lord. The more you walk with Jesus, the more you
         learn to surrender your life to Him.
  • The cost of following Jesus: Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 14:25-33
  • Matthew 16:24 - Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
  • Self-denial – You surrender your will to Jesus’ will. Your desires fall in line with Jesus’ desires. This happens as you walk with Jesus.
  • Taking up your cross – A willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Sacrifice money, time, prestige, power and even your own life.
     3. There’s a cost for following Jesus as Lord. The benefit (eternal life and victory with
         God) far outweighs the cost.

     4. So, we have a choice: Do you or do you not acknowledge Jesus as Lord?
 
Joomla Templates by Joomlashack