Jesus - Mere Mortal Man or God in the Flesh?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Jesus - Mere Mortal Man or God in the Flesh?</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id612.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Can We Trust the New Testament?"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id614.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Resurrection Fact or Fiction"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"The Da Vinci Discussion: Jesus – Mere Mortal Man or God in the Flesh?"</B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, May 28, 2006</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.stanbaker.org/audio/Sermon-2006-05-28-Stan_Baker.mp3" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.stanbaker.org/audio/Sermon-20"><U><B>audio</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div>      Pierre Plantard said he was a descendant of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and claimed to be a descendant of a French royal line and heir to the French throne. In the 1950's, he invented the Priory of Sion, a supposedly ancient “secret organization” on which many of the claims of Dan Brown's <I>The Da Vinci Code</I> is based. "Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Plantard created a series of documents 'proving' the existence of a bloodline descending from Mary Magdalene, through the kings of France, down to the present day to include (surprise!) Pierre Plantard" (Garlow, <I>Cracking Da Vinci's Code</I>, pp. 112-113.). Based on his claims compared to who he <I>really</I> was, Pierre Plantard was an impostor.</div> <div>      But some would say <I>Jesus</I> was an impostor, not really who the New Testament makes him out to be; they might call it an ancient case of identity theft.</div> <div> <I>     The Da Vinci Code </I>makes the following claims about Jesus and Christianity:</div> <div>      - “Everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false" (p. 255, ch. 55).</div> <div>      - Jesus is just a great human being, not divine (p. 253, ch. 55; which the revelation of his marriage to Mary Magdalene would prove once and for all, which is supposedly why the church has been covering up this so-called “truth;” p. 274, ch. 60).</div> <div>      - The Gnostic gospels show the <I>humanity</I> of Jesus, while the New Testament gospels shroud Jesus behind this cloak of <I>divinity </I>(p. 253-254, ch. 55). Actually, the Gnostics believed that the <I>real</I> Jesus was only spirit, because the body was evil.</div> <div>      - The idea that Jesus was divine was created by Constantine at the Council of Nicea in A.D.325, and it passed by a relatively close vote (p. 253, ch. 55; which for the record was 316-2 in favor of Jesus being <I>recognized</I> as divine, as, we shall see, the church had believed for centuries).</div> <div>      So was Jesus an impostor? Did later followers of Jesus make up this idea that he was divine, while earlier followers of Jesus knew that he was merely a man, just like the rest of us?</div> <div>      <A HREF="id612.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Can We Trust the New Testament?"><U>Last week</U></A> we looked at the fact that we can trust the New Testament Scriptures as being true, accurate and authoritative for our lives.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Who was Jesus, really?</B></div> <div> <B>I. Jesus, in his own words and experiences.</B></div> <div>      In John 14:8-9 - “Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.' Jesus answered: 'Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”?'” If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father; that is, Jesus is equal to God the father. </div> <div>      In John 14:13-14, Jesus claimed to be able to answer prayer, an ability only God possesses. He said, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”</div> <div>      Please turn to <A HREF="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch.php?passage_request=Mark 2:1-11&tniv=yes" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch"><U>Mark 2:1-11</U></A>. Jesus claimed the power to forgive (something only God has the authority to do). And he backed up his claim by healing the man.</div> <div>      Please turn to <A HREF="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch.php?passage_request=John 8:48-59&tniv=yes" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch"><U>John 8:48-59</U></A><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >.<B> </B></FONT>Jesus claimed for himself the divine name of God in the Hebrew Scriptures, “I am” (Exodus 3:14). The people clearly got the message and picked up stones to kill him for blasphemy, because he claimed to be God.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. Jesus, in the words of Paul.</B></div> <div>      Please turn to <A HREF="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch.php?passage_request=Philippians 2:5-11&tniv=yes" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch"><U>Philippians 2:5-11</U></A>. This is an early Christian hymn, one that was already developed and in circulation by the early 50'sA.D. when this letter was written. It identified Jesus as being God, as having the same nature as God, and becoming a human being to die for us. This idea of Jesus' divinity was in circulation from the very beginning of the church.</div> <div>      (By the way, the historicity of Paul and the dates of his letters are beyond question, even among scholars who are not "conservative" Christians.)</div> <bR> <div> <B>III. Jesus in the words of the Early Church Fathers.</B></div> <div>      The writings of the leaders of the church in the 2nd century show that the early church even then widely regarded Jesus as God. For example, Clement said in 150A.D., “It is fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God.” Irenaeus wrote in A.D.180, “He is God, for the name Emmanuel indicates this.” (See Garlow, <I>Cracking Da Vinci's Code</I>, p. 94). </div> <bR> <div> <B>IV. Jesus according to the Council of Nicea (A.D.325).</B></div> <div> The first part of the Nicene Creed reads: </div> <div> We believe in one God,</div> <div> the Father, the Almighty,</div> <div> maker of heaven and earth,</div> <div> of all that is, seen and unseen.</div> <div> We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,</div> <div> the only Son of God,</div> <div> eternally begotten of the Father,</div> <div> God from God, light from light,</div> <div> true God from true God,</div> <div> begotten, not made,</div> <div> of one Being with the Father;</div> <div> through him all things were made.</div> <div> For us and for our salvation</div> <div> he came down from heaven,</div> <div> was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary</div> <div> and became truly human.</div> <div> For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >      </FONT>(for the full text please see <A HREF="http://www.makedisciples.com/nicene-c.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.makedisciples.com/nicene-c.ht"><U>The Nicene Creed</U></A>)</div> <div>      So did the claim of the divinity of Jesus get made up at Nicea to expand Constantine's political power?</div> <div>      “This council (Nicea, 325A.D.) and the creed represented what a sizable number of Christian communities had believed for years . . . The Nicene Creed put in precise philosophical and theological language what had been expressed in more general terms for years. It also affirmed which texts taught such views. What is more, the four Gospels highlighted as this council had been solidly established and recognized in these communities for more than a century before Nicea. The vote at Nicea, rather than establishing the church's beliefs, affirmed and officially recognized what was already the church's dominant view” (Bock, <I>Breaking the Da Vinci Code</I>, p. 102).</div> <bR> <div>      Author C. S. Lewis was right to narrow our options when it comes to Jesus. Either Jesus was God, or else by saying he was God he was either a liar or crazy and deluded. He could not claim to be God and be regarded as merely a great man or a good teacher. That option is not available. Either reject Jesus as being a waste of time or follow him wholeheartedly – there is no middle option. Don't be a Christian impostor – be the real thing: a fully committed follower of Jesus.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2006, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>