Who Is Jesus?

SUBJECT: Jesus

TITLE: Who Is Jesus?

PROPOSITION: In this lesson we will answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” Jesus is the one who makes known God. He makes known God by being 1) The Teacher of truth, 2) The Warner of danger, and 3) The Forgiver of sins.

OBJECTIVES: Each person should be able to tell others who Jesus is and how he reveals God.

AIM: I want each hearer to be able to understand more about who Jesus is.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Read: John 1:18

2. About the Text:

1) In this marvelous passage, John sets forth the attributes of the divine LOGOS.

2) There are in John 1:1-18 no less than 42 distinct descriptions of who Jesus was.

3) Each one of these descriptions deserves merit and attention.

4) And I personally recommend that you study these descriptions carefully and prayerfully to get to know who Jesus is.

5) This morning, however, we are going to look at just one of these descriptions.

6) This is the description with which John ends the prologue.

7) Specifically, that Jesus is the one who has declared/made known/revealed the Father.

8) Jesus said to Philip in John 14:9-11 “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.”

9) In the life of Jesus we see divine revelation of not only what God’s will is for man, but who God is.

10) The question “Who is Jesus?” and “Who is God?” are indistinguishable as far as we are concerned.

11) But answering the question “Who is Jesus?” will help us understand the question “Who is God?”

12) NOTE: We will be discussing the great “I AM”s of the book of John in November.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

DISCUSSION:Jesus makes known (declares/reveals) to us God, by being . . .

I. The Teacher of The Truth

1. He was a teacher.

1) Mark 4:1 says that He taught by the sea side.

2) Luke 4:31; He taught on the Sabbath day.

3) Mark 6:2 says that He taught in the synagogue.

4) Mark 6:6 says that He went about the villages teaching.

5) Mark 6:34 says that He taught them many things.

6) Luke 11:1; He taught the disciples how to pray.

7) Luke 19:47 says that he taught daily in the temple.

8) He was described by Nicodemas as the “teacher come from God” John 3:2.

9) We often emphasize other attributes of Jesus such as His love, mercy, forgiveness, life of prayer, and the list can go on and on, but how often do we emphasize the fact that He was a teacher.

10)In fact, the largest parts of the gospel accounts are devoted to Jesus teaching.

a. Sermon on the mount (Matthew 5, 6, 7).

b. The Olivet discourse (Matthew 24, 25).

c. The teaching to the disciples on the night of His betrayal (John 13-17).

11)It is at least equally important not just WHAT Jesus taught, but THAT he taught.

12)How many of us are following this example?

13)Jesus was a teacher and this means that God is a teacher.

2. He taught that teaching is the foundation of being a Christian.

1) To come to God we must be taught: John 6:45 “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.”

2) To do God’s will we must be taught: John 7:17 “If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself.”

3) To make disciples they must be taught: Matthew 28:20; part of the Great commission is “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

3. He taught God’s TRUTH.

1) Jesus is the one who is full of truth and who brings truth (John 1:14, 17).

2) He taught that we must worship God in truth (John 4:24).

3) He taught that true freedom comes through knowing the truth (John 8:32).

4) He said that He was “the truth” (John 14:6).

5) He prayed that the disciples would be sanctified in the truth (John 17:17).

6) In answer to the question from Pilate, “Art thou a king,” Jesus said, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18:37).

4. Jesus is THE Teacher of THE Truth.

II. The Warner of Danger

1. He warns us concerning sin.

1) After healing a an impotent man at the Bethesda pool, Jesus said to him, “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” (John 5:14).

2) He says that committing sin makes sin our master, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” (John 8:34).

3) He implores us to repent of sin or perish. Luke 13:3, 5 “Except you repent you shall all likewise perish.”

2. He warns us concerning false teachers.

1) Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.”

2) Mark 13:21, 22 “And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ; or, Lo, there; believe it not: for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, the elect.”

3) Luke 6:26 “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets.”

3. He warns us concerning Hell.

1) Jesus speaks more concerning Hell than any other writer in the Bible.

2) He says to the disciples who would preach His message, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

3) He says to the Pharisees who fail to heed his message, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:33).

4) He warns all followers that even the most precious things in this life are not worth Hell. “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:43, 44)

5) He warns that everlasting punishment is reserved for those who do not commit themselves to Him (Matthew 25:46). “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment….”

4. Jesus is the Warner of ultimate danger.

III. The Forgiver of Sins

1. His mission was to save the lost.

1) His very name implies this: “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew1:21).

2) Mark 2:17 “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

3) Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

4) Luke 1:76, 77 “Yea and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people In the remission of their sins,”

2. He had the authority to forgive sins while on earth.

1) Matthew 9:2-6 “And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (then saith he to the sick of the palsy), Arise, and take up thy bed, and go up unto thy house.”

2) Luke 7:44-48 “And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.”

3. God gives Him the authority to forgive sins today.

1) Matthew 28:18 “All authority….”

2) John 20:22, 23 “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”

3) This forgiveness comes through Jesus blood (Matthew26:28). “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.”

4) This forgiveness was to be preached in His name–by his authority. (Luke 24:47) “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”