I want to thank Mark Henderson for filling in today for John Benham. John and Merity are away for a few days and should return the first of this week. We've just sung about the slow of heart. It said, Help me the slow of heart to move by some clear winning word of love. A man who was not merely slow of heart but stubborn of heart was Clive Staples Lewis. We know him as C.S. Lewis. He was a man who was very angry at God, so angry that he concluded God did not exist. He was an avowed atheist.
When he was ten years of age, his mother was suffering from cancer, and as a young boy, he prayed that his mother might live, but she didn't. His conclusion was that there had to be no God who would allow such a thing. There could be no God who would allow such a thing to happen. And therefore, from that sprout, atheism became full-blossomed in his life. He came to be respected as the chair of Medieval and Renaissance English Literature at Cambridge.
He was educated at Oxford, a man who had great intellectual ability. Throughout his life, although he ran from God, God pursued him. So finally, there was a night in 1929 when he gave his heart to the Savior. This is what he himself wrote. "'You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet.
That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity term of 1929 I gave in and admitted that God was God and knelt and prayed, perhaps that night the most dejected, reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing, the divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The prodigal son at least walked home on his own feet.
But who can duly adore that love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who has brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape?' The hounds of heaven pursued C.S. Lewis until he trusted in Jesus Christ as his Savior. He became, of course, an author of a number of classic Christian books.
Your conversion may have occurred quite differently than that of Lewis, but the fact is that at some point in your life you had an encounter with Jesus Christ. You had to come to some understanding of who Jesus of Nazareth was. Was he merely an historical human being or more? And you had to conclude that he was in fact much more than that, that he was deity, he was God come in human flesh. How do we know that Jesus Christ is such? How do we know that in fact he is God?
That has been a matter of our discussion together on three previous occasions. And tonight we come back to our source book, the Bible, for a final time to look at this theme of the deity of Jesus Christ. This is the only source book we have for this discussion. And so our assumption as we talk about it is the authority and authenticity of the words of this book.
From our previous studies we have shown that there is actually undeniable evidence of the deity of Jesus Christ, his own claims to such, his character, and that he was without sin. He never feared death, but met it head on and conquered it. That he was a perfectly balanced man or person. We looked at some of his works that evidence his deity. That he forgave sin, he had power over demons, disease, nature, and death. The fact that he even predicted the details of his own death and resurrection.
Tonight I'd like for us to think together concerning some of the names and titles that are ascribed to him. The first one that we will look at is one that was his very favorite. It is the title or the name, the Son of Man. This in fact was Jesus' favorite self-designation. You see it frequently in the Gospels, especially in the Gospel of Matthew. Eighty times in fact he is spoken of by this name, the Son of Man.
And the interesting thing is that 78 of the 80 times that name came from his own lips. This was the name he used for himself. Now he accepted the name also, Son of God, as we have talked before and will mention tonight again. But it was the name, the Son of Man, which he most frequently used regarding his own identity. And so we ask the question, what is the origin or the derivation of this name, the Son of Man? That term is used in both Ezekiel and in the book of Psalms.
It is employed there, but it is always used of a mere man as a weak and dependent creature of God. Is that the way Jesus was using this term? Was he thinking of himself merely as a creature, a created person of God? No, not at all. I believe that Jesus' use of the term Son of Man was rooted back to a particular record in the book of Daniel. And it's there I want to direct your attention first tonight. Book of Daniel. And when you find that right after Ezekiel, would you please turn to chapter 7.
And notice these words which record a most remarkable vision which Daniel had. We're actually coming in the last part of the vision as he describes it. He saw a fourth beast which had ten horns. And as he was looking at that, there was another horn which he described as a little one that came up among the ten and three of the first ten were pulled out by the roots before it. And he sees this horn in verse 8 as possessing eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.
And then in verse 9 he continues. He says, I kept looking until thrones were set up and the ancient of days took his seat. His vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels were a burning fire. What an amazing sight Daniel sees. Majestic. Verse 10. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before him. Tens upon thousands were attending him and myriads upon myriads were standing before him.
The court set and the books were opened. And so we see a sign certainly of deity. Here identified as the ancient of days who is seated upon a throne of judgment. Daniel goes on. He says, then I kept looking because the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire.
As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time. I kept looking in the night visions, he says, and behold with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming. And he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him.
And so we see here a distinction in his vision between the ancient of days who was seated on the throne and the one who is now identified as the son of man who is beheld with the clouds of heaven as he comes. He is presented to the one who is seated on the throne. And to him, that is the son of man, was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away.
And his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. There is no mistake about it that the son of man that is described here is the Messiah, the one prophesied in the Old Testament who would come and reign over the earth. Now it says further about him in this chapter after talking about the interpretation of the beasts which we will not take time to go into. The little horn he describes as the one in the end times that we call the Antichrist. The judgment finally comes for this one Antichrist.
In verse 26 it says, the court will sit for judgment and his Antichrist, the little horn's dominion will be taken away, annihilated, and destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all the dominion will serve and obey him.
It's interesting that we see a close association here between the son of man and the saints of the highest one here in the context referring to the Jews, the nation of Israel converted, redeemed. A close association between them in the reign that is promised to the son of man. I believe that it is this context that is in mind when Jesus is called by his own lips the son of man in the New Testament. Now why did he use this particular picture of sovereignty and dominion?
Well it was because in fact he was the king. The king of kings, the Lord of lords who was offering the kingdom to Israel in that day and who because of unbelief did not receive the kingdom.
But who today is establishing the secret kingdom, the hidden kingdom in the world through the church but who will one day come back to the earth to establish the visible kingdom and who will reign over Israel and the kingdom will then be extended beyond the thousand years to be an everlasting kingdom and dominion just as is described here. He was the king. That's why he called himself the son of man.
But I think also that he adopted this term because it was a term in that day that had no political or nationalistic association. That is it was not a term that was picked up on by the Roman authorities so that they would have been threatened by it. Jesus wished to avoid unnecessary conflict with the Roman authorities and so he called himself by this name which was basically to them a name that was non-threatening. They did not perceive this background from the book of Daniel.
However it was also a name which would be understood and apprehended by some. There would be those who would comprehend what he was saying when he called himself the son of man. But it may be that the most meaningful reason he called himself the son of man, at least meaningful to us, is the fact that by this name he was associating himself with mankind. As I said before, the term son of man was used elsewhere in the Old Testament of man as a creature weak and dependent upon God.
Jesus calling himself by the name son of man was associating himself with mankind in its creaturely weakness, in our dependence. And so he called himself the son of man, associating himself with you and me as man, as mankind, as humanity, but at the same time using a name that was rooted back into the Old Testament which had deep significance as the king who would come to reign over all of the earth, over the nations of the world. That was his favorite name for himself.
But another name is used of him frequently in the New Testament, and that is the name son of God. John especially enjoys calling him the son of God. This term son of God was used of angels in the book of Job. There he sees the sons of God rejoicing at God's creative work in the six days of creation, but it refers to the angelic creatures who were present to behold God creating the heavens and the earth. It is a name that is used for us, we who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
In chapter 1 and verse 12, but as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. But the name son of God when applied to Jesus is not used in the same sense. For Jesus is called the son of God in a unique sense. In fact, John five times uses a particular modifying phrase regarding this name son of God when he calls him the only begotten son of God. The only begotten son of God.
Now that phrase the only begotten is simply one word in the original language, monogonase, which means solitary, one, the only, offspring. Does that mean then that Jesus is somehow generated by God? That he is a creature, even if an angelic creature, that somehow God beget him at some point in time? No, that is not the meaning of it. This term the only begotten, monogonase, when applied to Jesus Christ simply means the unique, the only one of his kind, son of God. It embraces two ideas.
On the one hand, it is a word that embraces the idea of deepest affection. That is the significance I think when Isaac is called the only begotten son of Abraham. Abraham deeply loved his son Isaac. And there was a sense in which he was a unique son because of the manner in which he was born, fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham. Likewise, when applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a phrase which refers to the deep affection between God the Father and God the Son.
But secondly, this phrase the only begotten, according to Vine's dictionary, refers to him as the, quote, sole representative of the being and character of the one who sent him. And so he was the unique revelation of God, the only begotten son of God. Now, did Jesus Christ know of this special relationship to the Father as the Son of God? How early did he know that in his human life after the incarnation, after God the Son was united to sinless humanity?
Did Jesus Christ know as a babe in the manger that he was the Son of God? Or as someone has put it, did the babe in the manger know that the world was round? What did he know in his incarnation? Under the miracle, the miracle of the incarnation, is that when he was born into the world, while as God he can never know anything less than everything, nonetheless in his person, his incarnation, in his humanity, he was shielded from that knowledge.
So that as he was there in the manger, he knew what a baby knows, and he increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. He learned. He learned as he grew. He developed as the God-man. You say, that's mysterious to me. I don't understand it. Neither do I. The part of the humility of the Lord Jesus, you remember, is that though he was of the very nature of God, he emptied himself, as we studied about a month ago in Philippians chapter 2.
And that self-emptying was the voluntary laying aside of the independent use of his attributes, one of them being omniscience, his knowledge of everything. Temporarily, that was laid aside in his infancy and childhood so that as a man, as a babe, as a child, he grew into manhood, and as he did that, he developed.
However, because of his sinlessness, because he was perfect man, he developed very quickly, intellectually and emotionally, etc. So that by the age of 12, he was able to confound those who had their doctorates in Judaism. The scribes and the Pharisees in the temple sat in amazement as they listened to this child of 12 years of age expound to them their theology. At that age, the age of 12, he knew of this special relationship.
He was understanding who he was because he said to his parents who came looking for him, they call, don't you know that I must be about my Father's things, His business. And so he understood his uniqueness as the Son of God, even at that age. The name Son of God does not in any way imply that he was inferior to God the Father.
It does not mean that in some way he was created by God and begotten in that sense, but it is a title for him which distinguishes him from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He is God the Son, the Son of God. That brings me to a third title which we will look at just briefly. And to do that, would you turn please to the Gospel of John in the first chapter. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now who is the Word, the Logos?
Well, there is no question but that it is Jesus Christ. In verse 14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, His shekinah, as of the only begotten from the Father, says John. And he identifies Him here as Jesus Christ. So the Word is Jesus Christ, and John says in verse 1 as clearly as he could possibly state it in the Greek language, and the Word, who is Jesus Christ, was God. And so here He is called God. Is He God? Yes. The Bible declares that He is in fact God.
The Word was God. Now beyond the comments, the Spirit-led comments of John here, we have the words of Thomas later in the same Gospel. Who fell down before the risen Christ and called Him my Lord and my God? And Jesus did not rebuke Him because in fact Thomas was right on. Thomas was correct in identifying Him as God. I'd like you to turn to the book of Hebrews for a moment and look in the first chapter at the eighth verse.
Now the book of Hebrews is a book that argues for the deity of Jesus Christ and His superiority in every way over the Judaic religious system. And in Hebrews chapter 1 and in verse 8, the Spirit of God leads the writer of this book to say, but of the Son, He says, who says, God says, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. And so here we have presented God speaking to the Son. That is God the Father speaking to the Son.
And as God speaks to Him, and the quotation here is from Psalm 45, God says to the Son, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. And so God addresses the Son as God. There can be no question about the fact who is in view here. It is the Son, and He is called God. Let me point out to you another name, and that is the name Lord. It is true that the word Lord is used of mere human beings in some contexts.
The term Lord was used in that day as a courteous expression, such as we would call someone a sir. There were those who were called Lord in that day in that courteous, respectful manner. However, we must look at the context to understand whether this is being used merely of a man in a respectful way, or if in fact it is a declaration of the deity of the one who is so called. Would you please turn to Philippians chapter 2.
Don't go too far from Hebrews because I want to come back there in a moment, but do turn to Philippians chapter 2 for a moment.
I have already referred to the earlier verses in this chapter which speak about His incarnation, but because of His humility and His obedience to the point of death, even the death of the cross, therefore it says in verse 9, also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, that is of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. We probably shouldn't press those descriptions too far.
The point is that universally every knee will bow, whatever realm it may be. Not only will the knees bow, but he says every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. There is no mistaking it that in this context this term Lord is one that refers to the full deity of Jesus Christ.
And the point is that whether one may accept in this life His deity, there is coming a time when every person who has ever lived on the face of the earth will be confronted with Jesus Christ and will bow the knee and with his tongue confess the deity, the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In verse 9 when it says the name above every name, in verse 10 the name of Jesus, what that means is the name that belongs to Jesus. It is the name Lord. It is His name in a very special, special sense.
Now we won't take time to turn there, but in 1 Corinthians 2, 8 the same name is applied to Him, but there more fully it says the Lord of glory, identifying Him as the Lord with the Shekinah, the presence, the visible manifestation of God from the Old Testament, the Lord of glory. But I want to consider a couple of passages in closing which likewise strongly state the deity of Jesus Christ. There are several Christological passages in the New Testament.
By Christological we mean there are passages that deal with the intricacies of the doctrine of Christ. One of them is John 1 which we have seen very briefly. Another is the one that I want you to turn to now and that is Colossians chapter 1, just over a page or two in your Bible. Look at these words beginning in verse 15. In the context He is talking about God's beloved Son, verse 13. You notice that? And now it says in verse 15, and He, the Son, is the image of the invisible God.
This word image is the Greek word icon. The Greek idea here is that this one shares in the reality of what it represents. In other words, He is the full revelation or image. He is the expression of the invisible God. Furthermore it says He is the firstborn of all creation. Now there are certain cults that jump on that and they say, well you see here it says that He is the firstborn. That means that He must have been generated at some point. He had a beginning.
The only problem with that is that this word does not refer to that sort of thing at all. The term firstborn actually means He is the unique one, the preeminent one of all creation or with reference to creation. It is a word that adds to chronology means that this one is before all. He is before all of creation. With reference to character it means He is above all. He is above all of creation. That is the meaning of firstborn.
It goes on to say for by Him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authority. All things have been created by Him and for Him. Jesus Christ is the creator is what this verse clearly teaches. It says in verse 17, He is before all things. Now the way that Paul writes this by the Spirit is that after talking about His creative acts he says in verse 17, and He is Himself before all things.
In other words, before there was any creating done, Jesus Christ is. Not only is He the creator, it says that He is the sustainer. In Him all things hold together. He is the power that holds the atom in place. Scientists do not understand what keeps an atom from coming apart. But biblically and theologically we know where that power resides. It is in Jesus Christ who by His word holds all things together.
And it goes on then to give Him the title of head of the body with relation to the church of Jesus Christ. This is a brief look altogether, too brief indeed, at one of the key Christological passages of the New Testament. Before we leave Colossians I want you to simply jump over to the next chapter and look in verse 9 where it says regarding Christ, in Him all the fullness of deity dwells.
What that means is that all of the nature of God, all of the attributes of God, all of the fullness that God is dwells bodily in the person of Jesus Christ. This is an assertion of His deity. And then it makes the amazing statement, and in Him you have been made complete. And it says, and He is the head over all authority, or all rule and authority. Now there's another Christological passage that bears our looking at before we dismiss, and that is Hebrews chapter 1.
John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1. And you can throw in Philippians chapter 2 as well. But it's easy to remember the ones. John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1. God after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son. Now when the writer says that God has spoken in His Son, he puts that in such a tense, that verb in such a tense, that it means that God has spoken once and for all, fully, completely.
And the implication is He is no longer speaking. The point I'm making is that God is not today continuing to give revelation. God is no longer giving revelation because His revelation has been consummated. He has spoken fully in His Son, now regarding His Son. It says, Whom He appointed heir of all things. Now there is a title that boggles your mind. He is the heir of everything that is. And then it says, Through whom also He made the world.
Now the word world here is not the word for planet earth. That is true, that He made planet earth. But the word world here is the word actually age or ages. Through whom He made the ages. The concept of that is actually more than time. It refers to the whole universe, time, space, and matter. All of that is tied up in this Greek word that we call ages. The point is that through the Son, God created, He made the whole universe involving time and space and matter.
It all came into existence through the Son. And it says, He is the radiance of His, God's, glory. The word radiance is not just a reflection, like the sun reflects off of the moon. But it is a word that refers to the outshining. It is the brilliance of the Son itself, for example. It says, And Jesus Christ the Son is the shining forth, the outshining, the radiance of the very glory of God. Of course, that was veiled in His humanity. It was lived out in His teachings, in His deeds.
But that visible glory was veiled in His humanity most of the time, with the exception being the occasion of His transfiguration. Even that outshining of God's glory burst through His human skin, His flesh. And it says furthermore here, He is the exact representation of His nature, or God's essence. The exact representation is the word character. It refers to a stamp, or to an impress, as of a seal, or if you take your typewriter and you press down a key, a character is left on the page.
What's left there is the exact representation of that piece of metal that is down in the typewriter. Now in Jesus Christ there is a stamp. There is a character, the exact image of all that God is in His nature. God is invisible to us. But He is made visible in the one who is the exact representation of all His essence. And then it says, He upholds all things by the word of His power. This doesn't really mean that He holds it together. Colossians says that.
But the word here, upholds, means that He carries all things forward. He is bearing it. The point is that He is carrying all things forward to their appointed destiny. He is the one who is the moving force behind history. And because He is God, history will one day come to the conclusion that He Himself has purposed and appointed. He upholds, He carries forward all things by the word of His power.
And it says, when He, that's the Son, had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The right hand referring to the place of complete acceptance and equality, the place of designated power and authority.
Once more, this has been an altogether too brief a look, but for the purpose of this series, perhaps it will be sufficient to point out to you that the Bible clearly teaches and presents in the most forceful language that human beings can create, the deity of Jesus Christ. Now because He is God, as well as man, His atonement for our sins is sufficient. As it says in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 9, we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus.
Because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. How could His death provide atonement for people of all ages? How could there be sufficiency in the death of one person for all people who have ever lived? Only because He is God. Can He be the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world? There is sufficient merit in His death for the salvation of everyone who has ever lived.
It does not mean that all will be saved, sadly, because there are those who spurn Him and reject Him, and thus they miss the only hope of salvation there is. But the point that the Word of God makes that as far as sufficiency is concerned, the death of Jesus Christ because He is God, as well as man, was sufficient for all men. And for your sins, for my sins. Praise God for that. And then in verse 18, one final application.
Because He is God, as well as man, His understanding and sympathy of your trials, weaknesses, and temptations is perfect, and He is able to come to your aid. It says, for since He Himself was tempted in that which He suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Because He is man, He knows by experience what you and I pass through in this world, and He can identify with us in it. But because He is God, beloved, He is able to come to our aid.
He has all of the power and the grace that is necessary to meet our every need in every trial and every temptation. He is sufficient as our high priest because He is God, as well as man. Tonight, you and I worship one who is deity. Come in humanity. One diminished deity in perfect humanity and perfect humanity in one person. That is Jesus Christ, our Lord, the one whom we worship. I'd like for us to sing in closing a devotional hymn that comes out of this truth.
It is number 242. Notice the words of the composer, majestic sweetness sits enthroned upon the Savior's brow. Let's stand together as we sing number 242. Let's sing it together. Majestic sweetness sits enthroned upon the Savior's brow. His head with radiant glories crown, His lips with grace or flow, His lips with grace or flow. No mortal can with Him compare Among the sons of men. Fairer is He than all the fair Who fill the heavenly train, Who fill the heavenly train.
He saw me plunged in deep distress And flew to my relief. For me He bore the shameful cross And carried all my grief, And carried all my grief. To Him I owe my life and breath And all the joys I have. He gave me my honor and blessed me with all my grief, And saved me from the grief. Notice the words on the last verse as we sing it. Since from His bounty I received Such proofs of love divine, Had I a thousand hearts to give, Lord, they should all be Thine. Lord, they should all be Thine.
Let's bow together. Jesus Christ, we acknowledge You as Lord, as Deity, and we worship You. Indeed, if we had a thousand hearts, they should all be Yours. But all we have is one heart, and what we have we bring to You. And we offer to You the living sacrifice of ourselves. All that we are, all that we have, all of our potential. It is right that we do this because of who You are and what You've done. Lord Jesus, thank You. Thank You for coming into the world as Son of Man and Son of God.
We agree with the hymn writer who said, Fairest, Lord Jesus, You are the fairest of all to us. And we love You. And we give You ourselves afresh tonight in love and surrender. Amen.