The God-Man:
When sharing the message of Christianity, we must make it clear that Jesus Christ
is much more than a wonderful example and great teacher.
Here now is Gene Getz:
Jesus Christ is indeed a wonderful example. And Jesus Christ
also was a great teacher. And he continues to be a great teacher through
the Holy Spirit that He sent.
Through the Father. The Holy Spirit. A great teacher.
But Jesus Christ was and is
far more than a great example and a great teacher.
This psalm, by the way
brings back a lot of memories to me, personally,
because I became a Christian when I was in high school. About 16 years of age.
And I really wanted to be a witness. I wanted to be a testimony.
And I was in an English class.
And we had to memorize a classic piece of literature and recite it by memory in
front of the class. And I chose Psalm 24.
And I still remember,
as I got up there, trying to be intense. Trying to be dramatic. Trying to really
communicate the feeling that's here
in this Psalm. And there's a lot of feeling here. And basically, this is the way it reads.
It brings back a lot of memories to me as I worked through that process.
"The earth and everything in it, the world
and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord;
for He laid its foundation on the seas
[and] [He] established it on the rivers.
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in His holy place?"
And then David answers that:
"The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who has not set his mind on what is false,
and who has not sworn deceitfully."
Now I have to admit, that in sharing that psalm as a young person who had come to Christ,
I really didn't understand, totally, everything that was involved here.
Because I was still confused about faith and works.
And basically, if you really want interpret "standing in the presence of God,"
you've got to explain the fact that we are seen perfect in Christ because of Christ's gift
that we receive by faith.
But in view of that gift,
He sees us perfect. But in view of that gift,
He wants us to walk worthy of that incredible calling in Christ.
He wants us to have clean hands, as believers.
And that's symbolic, obviously, of purity.
He wants us to have pure hearts.
One thing I know: that day as I stood up there in that class and recited
this by memory, I really want to be a witness. And, in my heart, I really wanted
to have a pure heart. I really did. And as days when on,
and years, I began to understand, more fully, everything
that was being said here. But here's another interesting
thing about this psalm.
The rabbis really believe
that this psalm--and as they've studied Jewish history--they believe that this was used
in worship by the Jews on the first day of the week.
Which would be our Sunday. So,
what that means is, when Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
was riding on a donkey. Literally,
those people could have been singing this psalm.
Because in essence, they were saying, "The King who comes
is coming in the name of the Lord." And notice the words
beginning in verse 7 and 10. And you can imagine
the crowds, and the priests particularly, singing this psalm.
As Jesus is coming into Jerusalem.
"Lift up your heads, you gates!
Rise up, ancient doors!
Then the King of glory will come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up ancient doors!
Then that King of glory will come in. Who is He, this King of glory?
The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory."
And so the priests may have been singing the psalm. Not really understanding,
totally, the Messiah. Because later they rejected Him
as the King of glory. Now again, we have a messianic psalm.
Because David was not
the King of glory. He didn't claim to be the King of glory.
He was not the Lord of Hosts. Again, he's speaking prophetically
of the Messiah as he records these words.
These are references to Jesus the Messiah.
And when you read the opening verses of
Psalm 24, you see a tremendous correlation with the New Testament.
For example, in John chapter 1, first 3 verses:
"In the beginning was the Word, [John wrote],
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning."
Now notice, what he says,
"All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created
that has been created."
Compare that now, with the opening of this psalm. Look at the opening verses.
Verses 1 and 2 that we've looked at:
"The earth and everything in it,
the world and its inhabitants, belong to the LORD;
for He laid its foundation on the seas and established it on the rivers."
That's a prophecy
of what Jesus Christ did in eternity past
when He created the earth.
"In the beginning was the Word, [and] the Word was with God, [and] the Word was God."
And He was involved in the creation
of the universe. And so, David is projecting
that when he writes these words.
Again, a prophetic statement.
You know, some well-meaning people today say that Jesus,
"Yeah, He was a great man."
I mean, anybody who understands history would say he's a great man.
Unless you just want to deny reality.
They will say He was a moral man. He probably was the most
moral man that ever lived.
They also believe He's a great teacher. Like Nicodemus when he said,
"Rabbi, we know you are a teacher [who has] come from God."
And He was all of those things. But He's also the God-man.
And that's what we read in John. Continuing those verses in John, verse 14:
"The Word became flesh [and] took up [its] residence
among us. We observed His glory,
the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth."
He was both God and man. Perfect God. Perfect man.
Great mystery. But true. And here's the question:
How can we lead people to believe
that the Lord Jesus Christ is both perfect God and perfect man?
And one response to that,
I believe, is to let the Word of God work in their hearts.
That's why John wrote his gospel. And you remember, at the
end of his gospel, he stated the purpose for recording
that gospel. He said this:
"Jesus performed many other signs [or miracles]
in the presence of His disciples
that are not written in this book."
And there, he's talking about the book of John.
And there were 7 significant miracles
that are recorded to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is God.
And that's what we read here.
"But these," ... the ones that are included here
in the gospel. These 7 particularly.
... "are written so that you may believe Jesus
is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing
you may have life in His name."
I remember, I was going through a very severe period of doubt
and disillusionment in my my own Christian life. And I was able
to get into a study of the Gospel of John with Dr. Merle Tenney
in the Wheaton Graduate School. And it was just what I needed
as I studied through the Gospel of John. Because I was doubting
the reality of Christianity. And the reality of Jesus Christ.
And who He was. Because of disillusionment in my life.
As I studied the Word with this very godly man,
my faith was restored. I was
stabilized in my faith. I began to grow
in my faith. And one of the miracles that is recorded.
It's actually the 6th miracle that's recorded in the Gospel of John.
It's in John chapter 9, it has to do with a blind man.
And it's recorded there because, in some respects--
and I'll never forget Dr. Tenney saying-- John chapter 9 is just a vignette.
A little picture of the whole gospel of John.
And it's really fascinating as you read John chapter 9.
Because basically, what you have here, is a man who was born blind.
And he is there on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Jesus has said,
earlier, in [an] intense discussion
with the Pharisees-- who were criticizing Him.
And they were saying who do You think You are?
Did you come before Abraham? And Jesus said,
" I assure you: before Abraham was, I am."
And they knew exactly where Jesus was saying.
Jesus was saying exactly what God said there at the burning bush with Moses.
Tell them, "I AM" has sent you.
And with that word, "I AM,"
you see, Jesus was claiming to be God.
We say "I was." Past tense.
I am. I hope to be.
Jesus was saying, "I AM. I AM. I AM."
Without beginning and without end.
And they knew that. And so they picked up stones to throw at Him.
Well, He went outside the city.
He healed that blind man. Sent him to the pool of Siloam. He washed. He came back,
seeing Jesus was not there.
And they said who did this to you?
He said, "The man called Jesus." That's all he knew.
And they said, "Where is He?" "I don't know." Because Jesus was gone when he came back.
And now he came back seeing.
And then they said, "[Well,] what do you [think of] Him?"
And notice what he said. Well, "He's a prophet."
They were trying to convince him that Jesus was not a good man.
And he said, well, "I don't know," but it seems to me, "He's a prophet."
They were creating the opposite result in arguing
against Jesus. And he saw through that.
And basically, eventually,
they were just going to throw him out of the synagogue. They were rejecting Jesus.
And he said, look, "if this man were not from God," [He couldn't do these things].
You see the progression.
A man called Jesus. A prophet.
From God. And you ask people today and they'll tell you,
"Yeah, I believe Jesus was a good man."
He was. But He was more than that.
They say, "Well, He's a prophet." Even Islam,
the Koran, says He's a prophet.
But He's more than a prophet. But some would say,
"Well, He's definitely from God." And if you push them, they'll say,
"Well, we're all from God.
Jesus was just more from God."
Or at least He was more progressed in terms of becoming
like God. But you see what happened was--
when this man said "He's from God"-- they threw him out of the synagogue.
And Jesus found him. And said, "Do you believe?" And he said, "Who is He, [Lord]?"
And He said, well I'm talking to you, but I'm the one who healed you.
And notice what happened: "I believe, Lord!"
And that was his moment of redemption.
You see, Jesus is a man. A prophet from God.
But He is the God-man, Jesus Christ.
What a great testimony to who He is
through the Gospel of John.
And John 9 really summarizes the whole of the gospel
of John. Gives us that picture of the development
of faith and why John wrote the gospel. So in answer to that question,
as to how to help people to believe? You can't convince them.
But there's power in the Word of God. If they'll look at the Word of God,
through the Spirit of God, to create faith to respond to the message.
So here's the principal to live by:
When sharing the message of Christianity, we must make it clear
that Jesus Christ is much more than a wonderful example and [a] great teacher.
He was God.