THE INCARNATION (1): LIAR, LUNATIC OR LORD (John 1:14) Introduction In the middle of the movie Butch Cassidy

y and the Sundance Kid, the two outlaws, played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, are on the run from a posse. Unbeknown to the outlaws, the railroad has imported the best lawmen. At one point in the chase, sure that they have ridden their followers into the ground, they stop and Butch peeks over a rock to check. He is amazed to see the posse right on their tail in the valley below. He looks at Sundance and says, Who are those guys? a phrase he repeats several times before they finally make a narrow escape by leaping from a high cliff into a raging river below. I want to pose a similar question as we enter the Christmas season Who is that baby we celebrate and why does He matter? The most profound answer to that question is found in the first five words of John 1:14: And the Word became flesh. I think nowhere in all of the worlds literature is so much packed into so few words. In 4 words it expresses the reality of the incarnation that in the birth of Christ, God took on humanity; the infinite merged with the finite; eternity entered time; the invisible became visible; the inexpressible was expressed. Hebrews 1 tells us that God spoke through prophets in the OT 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. That baby, born in that humble manger 2,000 years ago was even then the most exact representation of an infinite, invisible God. In life and death, He radiated the glory of God; He is infinitely superior to anyone else who ever lived, so we are welladvised to ask, Who in the world is that baby and why does He matter? Three questions we will address in the next three weeks: I. Is Jesus Fully God? II. Is Jesus Fully Man? III. Why Does it Matter? I. Is Jesus Fully God? The incarnation, like the Trinity, defies human logic. Thus it is no surprise that for the first five centuries after Christ, erroneous teachings with regard to the hypostatic union (the theological term for the union of divine and human natures in Christ) were constantly put forth, examined and rejected. Some overemphasized the deity of Christ to the detriment of His humanity; others
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emphasized His humanity at the expense of His deity. Some saw the two natures correctly, but not as inextricably bound together. So they taught that at the cross, the divine nature abandoned the body and literally laughed at the spectacle of the crucifixion. Now, the main body of the church got this right all the time, the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) issued one of the most important statement in church history defining the orthodox and biblical position regarding the person of Christ by saying in part He should be recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence. So, while the incarnation is not fully explainable, yet, the Bible allows us to define it with precision. Yet, even now, we have the errors being repeated in new disguises many denying the deity of Christ; some denying His humanity; and the most popular liberal position that the natures were divisible thus there was a resurrection of the Spirit of Christ, but not of the body. So, today we ask, Was Jesus truly and fully God according to Bible? A. He is Identified as God Most religions happily admire Jesus as a great prophet. But they deny His deity. The same is true of most cults like Mormons, Jehovahs Witnesses and others. The truth is the Bible is crystal clear in presenting the deity of Christ. Lets just start at John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John calls Jesus the Word depicting Him as the ultimate communication of God to man. He is Gods Word in human form. Verse 1 tells us three things about this Word. First, he was in the beginning. Well come back to that. Second, the Word was with God. The word with is the Greek word , the root of which means face. Literally, the Word was face-to-face with God. Distinct from, but equal to. He envisions two persons of the Trinity in intimate fellowship. Then, he states explicity, the Word was God. This statement is unambiguous. It is even stronger in the original. The last two phrases literally read, the Word was with God, and God was the Word. No grammatical gymnastics can negate the obvious meaning of this passage. And it is one of many such in the New Testament. Col 1:15: He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God. By virtue of His incarnation, He makes visible the inherently invisible God. In Hebrews 1, the writer quotes multiple
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OT passages that demonstrate the equality between Messiah (Christ) and God. In Heb 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. John says in I John 4:2-3, By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. Not only does he claim deity for Christ; he makes it a test of faith. He does the same in I John 5:1: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. The Bible affirms throughout that not only is Christ God, but it matter that we believe that Christ is God. B. He Has Eternal Existence This takes us back to that first phrase of John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word. The verb was in imperfect tense. You could translate, In the beginning already was the Word. When the beginning began, the Word already was. He pre-exists the beginning. He is eternal just like the Father. That can only be true if He is God. Look at verse 2: He was [same imperf tense already was] in the beginning with God. Jesus Himself makes that point in John 17:24 when He reminds the Father in His intercessory prayer, you loved me before the foundation of the world. Jesus is fully God as shown by His eternal existence. C. He Has Creative Power Look at verse 3, All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. A host of other passages testify to the same truth. Col 1:16: For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authoritiesall things were created through him and for him. Heb 1:2, but in these last days he [God] has spoken to us by his Son [Jesus], whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. Check Genesis 1 and you find 7 times the words And God said to spark creation. Hebrews 11:3 affirms: By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God. Go back to John 1:3 where that all things were made through him the Word of God and we have come full circle. Through the spoken word of God, mediated by the One who would one day be His visible, living Word creation was accomplished. You could not find a stronger indication of the deity of Christ. He is the ultimate expression of the creative Word of God. Jesus is fully God.
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D. He is the Source of Life Another characteristic of God. Jesus is the source of life. Verse 4: In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Let me ask you, do you know any mortals who can create life? The greatest scientist, with all his power, cannot produce life. That is the purview of God. We read in Genesis 2:7 that God formed man from the dust of the earth but there he lay, beautifully laid out, robustly designed, perfect but lifeless. Lifeless until God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Only God can produce life. But guess what? Jesus can produce life. He purposely delayed getting to the house of his friend Lazarus in John 11. He had been four days dead by the time the Lord arrived exactly the time that the law required to certify death. But Jesus told Sister Martha in John 11:25, I am the resurrection and the life. Then He proved it by raising dead Lazarus. E. He is Full of Grace and Truth This is taken from the last phrase of verse 14. They are wonderful words taken individually. But when John uses them together, he points us to the OT. These two words that were often connected in the Greek translation of the OT. They translated the Hebrew hesed we emet an expression used frequently of God most famously in Exodus 33. Moses has returned from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments written in stone, only to find that the Children of Israel conducting an orgy around the worship of a golden calf. God determines to wipe them out, but Moses intercedes and saves the people by his prayers. Lets pick up in verse 17 of Exodus 33: AND THE LORD said to Moses, This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. [God grants Moses request which seems to give Moses boldness to ask for the ultimate the best God can offer] 18 Moses said, Please show me your glory. [Moses has asked for it all. But note the reply.] 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness [Moses asked to see Gods glory; God volunteers to show His goodness indicating that His goodness and His glory are the same]. I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name The LORD. . . . 20 But, he said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. 21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be
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seen. Now, jump to 34:6-7 to see the fulfillment of this: The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. [or grace and truth] What describes God in Exod 33-34, describes the Word in John 1:14. Jesus is fully God. John knew exactly what he was doing when he assigned to Christ words that had been used so prominently to describe God Himself in the OT. Jesus was full of grace and truth deity to the brim! F. He Forgives sins This always got a reaction like the time that a woman of the streets anointed Jesus feet while He was eating with one of the Pharisees. She became an object lesson after which Jesus turned to her in Luke 7:48 and said, Your sins are forgiven. 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this, who even forgives sins? They had no category for a man who claimed to forgive sins. But its one thing to say you forgive sins. Any demented person with a godcomplex might do the same, right? Lets go to Mark 2:1: And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? Hes just a looney with a god-complex.] 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed and walk? [Obviously, its easier to say your sins are forgiven, right? No one can verify that one way or the other. But if you command someone to get up and walk, verifiable evidence is forthcoming, and thats just where Jesus goes with this] 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sinshe said to the paralytic 11 I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and
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go home. 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this! What Jesus was doing was no less than offering verifiable evidence that He is God a God who can both forgive sins and heal paralytic cripples. Hes more than a great prophet, Beloved. G. Accepts worship On several occasions during His ministry, people worshiped Jesus, and never once did He discourage them as one would expect if He were merely a great man. Perhaps the most telling occasion is the time that weve already alluded to when Thomas finally saw Him, examined the scars on His body and then declared, My Lord and my God! It was a cry of worship, and a declaration that equated Him in one sentence with the two main names used for God in the OT Yahweh and Elohim. And Jesus made no move to stop him. Why? Because He was and is God fully and completely. H. Shows Gods Glory Were back in John 1:14 now: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Once again, this reference to glory takes us back to Moses time. Its fascinating really. Remember how Gods presence with the Children of Israel was visibly represented in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night? Later they built a tabernacle, then a temple, in both of which Gods presence was represented by a visible cloud, called the Shekinah glory derived from the Hebrew word which means that which dwells. The cloud was Gods glory dwelling with His people. But, the glory did not stay forever. After hundreds of years during which God patiently bore periods of revival followed by periods of rebellion over and over, we get a vivid 6th century BC picture in Ezekiel 9-11 of the glory departing. Ezekiel sees it first at the threshold of the temple, then at the east gate, then again in the midst of the city almost as though hesitating then finally on the Mt east of the city (the Mt of Olives). And then it is gone, never to appear again, not in a re-built temple and not in Herods temple. It is gone until, John says, weve seen it we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father The word translated seen is only used of seeing with physical eyes. This is no spiritual experience. John is saying, the glory that departed, we saw we saw it in a person, the person of Jesus
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Christ. He is the one and only, one of a kind (), unique Son of God. And in Him we saw the departed glory of God. Later, this human manifestation of the glory of God would depart from that same mountain the Mt of Olives where He will also reappear one day. But lets return to Johns claim to have seen the glory of God. Where did you see it, John? Chapter 2 where Jesus turns water into wine, and we have Johns commentary in John 2:11, This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. The miracles Jesus did were a manifestation of His glory. When Jesus hears of the illness of His friend Lazarus which becomes death, He says in John 11:4, This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. So, the glory that Jesus shared with the Father was manifested visibly in the miracles that followed Him everywhere. But there were two other times that John saw his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. The first was at the transfiguration. Matt 17:1 reads, And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. For a moment in time, to His select followers, Jesus glory as God is allowed to shine through. It was a stunning moment. But not even this was the ultimate display of His glory. John tells us in 7:37 that Jesus was not yet glorified. Not yet glorified? What do you mean, John? You said the miracles manifested His glory. Yes, but not in the ultimate sense. Often in His ministry Jesus said that His hour has not yet come. But then in 12:23 as He moves toward the Last Supper, everything changes, And Jesus answered them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Where is the glory of Jesus and the glory of God the Father displayed in its ultimate sense? Amazingly, it is on the cross. In John 13:31 as dinner neared its end, we read, When he (Judas, leaving to betray Christ) when he had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. Glorified in an ignoble, hideous death on the cross? How? How is God glorified on that bloody instrument of torture and humiliation? Well, as we saw earlier, Gods glory is equal to His goodness, and Gods goodness is most on display at the cross where Jesus became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Gods glory is most evident where Gods goodness was clearly displayed and if you
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remember, John, alone among the apostles, was eyewitness to it all to the miracles, the transfiguration and to the cross when everyone else had fled. Yes, John saw the glory of God in the person of Christ in every way there was to see it. He understood the incarnation inside and out. And he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus is fully God. I. He Claims to be God Jesus claims to be God throughout His ministry. In John 10:30, I and the Father are one. He tells the disciples on His last night with them, If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. But lets look in detail at just one example. In John 8 Jesus is hard at it with the Pharisees. He finally comments in 8:56, Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. 57 So the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? [They were aghast at His boldness, but He hadnt even gotten started yet]. 58 Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. Jesus could have easily said, Before Abraham was, I was. That would have been grammatically correct, right? But instead He says before Abraham was, I am. I am was the OT name for God. You remember in Exodus 3 that when God recruited Moses after 40 years of herding sheep to go back to Egypt, Moses asked, Who will I say sent me? Exod 3:14 God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And he said, Say this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. Gods OT covenant name Yahweh is just the Hebrew verb I am. Thats why the Jews stoned Jesus. They knew precisely what He was doing claiming to be God. So, He either is or He is not, right? But the Bible is clear beyond doubt. The baby in the manger was at once fully man, but He was also fully God. His claims left no middle ground. C. S. Lewis explains with great clarity why this matters: "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: Im ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I dont accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a
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demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." Jesus said in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me. It doesnt leaven much room for quibbling, does it? Hes either Liar, Lunatic or Lord. No middle ground. The question this morning is, have you bowed before this Christmas baby and confessed Him as Lord and God? You must if you will live eternally with Him in glory. Have you done so? Do you know beyond the shadow of a doubt? IF not, why not now? There has never been anyone like Him. His is deserving of all our love, our devotion and our obedience and service. Lets pray.