Vintage Jesus 2 Is Jesus the one true God? Lecture
- All right, it's 12 lectures, this is lecture number two. Today's question is Jesus, the one true God. You've got notes, if you're a note taker, you won't be able to keep up. There's 20 points. I'm union, I get paid by the point. There's 20 points, we're gonna try and get through it as fast as we can in one hour. Let me pray and we'll get to work. Father God, thank you so much for an opportunity to teach about Jesus. And Lord Jesus, there is no one like you, there is no one alongside of you, there is no one comparable to you, there is no one who says what you have said, there is no one who does what you can do. And so Jesus, please send the Holy Spirit to open our understanding as we open the word to learn about you, and we ask for this grace in your good name, Amen. Well, as we're talking about Jesus, I suddenly discovered when I first went off to college as a non-Christian that every single discipline at the state university was talking about Jesus; sociology, psychology, anthropology, philosophy. Every class felt some need to respond to who Jesus was and the Christian Church in his way, and it dawned on me, he must be a really big deal. I started examining for myself various claims about Christ to figure out who Jesus is and what Jesus said regarding himself. And as we're dealing with Christianity that is the movement that we're part of that is in the wake of Jesus. Christianity is the biggest movement, the longest standing movement, the most diverse global movement of any sort or kind in the history of the world. Christianity has gone from one nation to all the nations, from one language to all the languages, from one generation to all ensuing generations. And then it begs the question, who is this guy, Jesus, who is behind this entire movement to the Christian Church? Let me read a quote briefly from Napoleon Bonaparte. They were sort of praising him in his day regarding his conquest. And he compares himself to Jesus and says this, "There is between Christianity and whatever other religions, "the distance of infinity." "His religion is a revelation from an intelligence, "which certainly is not that of man." Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and myself founded empires, but upon what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. But Jesus Christ founded his upon love and at this hour, millions of men would die for him. In our day, it's billions. Billions of people on earth would point back and say, my ultimate allegiance and the change in my life is ultimately attributable solely to Jesus Christ. So we're gonna ask the question, who is Jesus? We're gonna look at some of the answers that others would give and then I'm gonna look at the answers that he would give. We'll start with eight concepts of Christ, and I wanna read to you 2 Corinthians 11:3-4. Some of you are non-Christians. We love you and we're glad to have you. Some of you are new Christians and you're trying to figure out who Jesus is. Some of you have learned about Jesus from other religions, cults, philosophies ideologies. Here's what Paul says, "I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning..." What he's saying is that in addition to God, there is a personal source and sense of evil called the serpent or Satan and his goal is deception, and he wants to deceive us about many things but the most important thing would be about who Jesus is. "Your thoughts will be led astray "from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ, "for if someone comes to proclaims another Jesus." So just because the name Jesus is being used does not mean that the person Jesus is being referenced. This is why I wanna get to the real Jesus and not a false Jesus. Goes on to say, or if you receive a different spirit, that would be the Holy Spirit, from the one you received or if you accepted different gospel, that's the story of the Bible, from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Paul writes to this church in a town called Corinth and he says, you need to
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com know who the real Jesus is. And there's lots of counterfeits because everything God has as creator, Satan counterfeits. Jesus Christ is creator and Satan counterfeits that with counterfeit concepts about who Jesus is. We'll look at some of them in session. Number one, alien Jesus. How many of you... Don't raise your hand 'cause we are in church, but you've watched something called the History Channel and all of those ancient aliens shows. I just find it humorous that people think that those are accurate depictions of anything. What happens with shows like the History Channel, they will do all these episodes on ancient aliens. So one of the fastest growing beliefs regarding Jesus, something that other generations didn't really struggle so much with, is this concept that Jesus is an alien. Meaning he did live, he did have superhuman powers, but they would attribute the source of his power not to him being God, but him being an alien life form. I'll give you a brief summary. Think of Jesus and Superman for a moment. Both are sent to earth by their fathers from other places, both were raised by poor parents in rural areas, neither started to publicize their powers until they were around 30 years of age. Both appeared to be ordinary people in every way. If you simply saw them coming and going about their business as a carpenter or news reporter, respectively, both had exemplary character, both were devoted to truth and justice, both help people in need by endangering their own lives, neither married, neither fathered children, both brought people back from death and both came back from death themselves, and both came into human history to rescue the people of earth. It's kind of interesting. It's interesting to me that at least this view of Jesus as an alien does denote that he live and do some extraordinary things. It's not entirely inaccurate, but it attributes to him, him being an alien being rather than a divine being. And Jesus, unlike Superman, is a historical figure who really did live and is not just a comic book fiction. But some would attribute Jesus' capacity and ability to him being an alien, being a being from another planet. He's not, he's God from another realm. There's also a concept of Jesus as an angel. This comes from a cult called the Jehovah's Witnesses, and it was started, I believe in Pittsburgh, if my memory serves me correct. Don't believe anything that comes from Pittsburgh. That's just the first thing. If your religion started where people like the Steelers, you're probably on the wrong team. I've just thrown it out there. Hey, I don't write the mail, I just deliver it. I'm just telling you what it says. Now that being said, the Jehovah's witnesses is a cult and they say that Jesus is not creator but a created being, that he's actually the divine Archangel Michael, who was one of the first created beings and then he aided God the Father in the creation of the rest of humanity. That is not the case. When Jesus Rose from death he said, a spirit does not have flesh and blood or flesh and bones rather as I do. He testified that he was a physical being, not just a spiritual being, creates or not just created. I think perhaps the most popular, prevalent and prominent, is the Jesus is a good man. He's a moral character, he is a humanitarian, he is one who advocates for the poor, the marginalized, the weak, and the outcast. Many world religions would receive Jesus as just sort of a good moral example. In addition, sort of liberal or progressive Christianity would posit Jesus as a humanitarian and a social advocate, but not as a savior and a sin forgiver. We'll deal with this as well as we get into the remainder of our talk. But this is also the popular misperception of the DaVinci code, which was false teaching in the form of a best-selling book and movie. It posited that Jesus wasn't a God man but he was just a good man and he ultimately married, had children, lived to some ripe old age and died without ever rising from death. It portrayed and postulated that Jesus was a good man but not the God-man. Also there is the evolved Jesus. In the Early Church, there was a heresy called adoptionism, and that was the Jesus was a mere mortal in a man, and at his baptism God anointed and appointed him with supernatural power and at that moment, he became a man who then became God. This was formalized in something called the
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com
Mormon church. They get offended when you use that language, they say, no we're the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. I say, I don't like church 'cause you're not church, and I don't like Jesus 'cause you have a false Jesus. But nonetheless, they would teach that Jesus was a mere man who became God, which is the first lie that Satan told Adam and Eve, "You can become like God." It's not that a man became God, as we'll see in a moment, it's that God became a man, which is altogether different. Mormonism then teaches that you too, you men can become gods as Jesus did. That's an evolutionary view that he went from mere man to man who became God. This is also very popular in something called new spirituality or the new age, that Jesus evolved to higher levels of consciousness until he became one with the divine life source that fills all that is part of creation. Deepak Chopra, one time on ABC Nightline, he said something to this effect, "I see Christ as a state of consciousness "we can all aspire to." That Jesus worked through levels of consciousness until he evolved to be a higher version of a human being, also part divine. That's another false concept of Christ. There is the religious Jesus. And because Jesus is the most towering figure in the history of the world, we measure time, BC, Before Christ, AD, Anno Domini, the year of our Lord around Jesus. All the other religions feel some sense of need to try and speak about him or reference to him. I'll give you some brief summations Baha'i says that Jesus is a manifestation of God. He's not God, but he's a manifestation of God, and he's a prophet, but inferior to the prophets Muhammad and Baha'u'llah. Buddhism says that Jesus is not God but he's an enlightened man like the Buddha. The Dalai Lama once said that Jesus was either a fully enlightened being or a Bodhivista, a being who aids others to enlightenment of a very high spiritual realization. Christian science, which is neither by the way, it's neither, it's like grape nuts. Open the box, I can't find the grapes and I don't see the nuts. Christian sciences like that, you won't find Christians or science. But Christian Science founder, Mary Baker Eddy said, "Jesus Christ is not God." Hinduism has many views of Jesus but as a general rule, they don't consider him the only God because they believe in a Pantheon and a multitude of gods. Most believed that he was a wise man like Krishna. Mahatma Gandhi said, "I cannot say that Jesus was uniquely divine. "He was as much God as Krishna or Rama "or Muhammad or Zoraoster." Then in Islam it is said that he is a mere man and he is a prophet, but he is a prophet who is inferior to their prophet, and I use that language in quotes of Muhammad. Muhammad came in 570 AD and they almost have an evolutionary view of the prophets, that the longer the prophetic timeline moves forward, the one at the end is the greatest prophet and they would say God's final prophet was Muhammad and he is greater and supersedes Jesus. So they would make Jesus into a prophet but not even the greatest prophet. In addition, number six, the occult has perspectives on Jesus. Some of you may be familiar with Freemasonry or the masons. It's in a cultic group, it's demonic at its core. I think I've got here perhaps in the notes, but 14 United States' presidents, 18 vice presidents and five Supreme court chief justices were in the Masons. In a cultic group that when they get together for their private occultic ceremonies, I'm talking demonic and satanic, they will not say the name of Jesus because they are not rooted in Christ but they will borrow Christian language and principles. Levi Dowling said Jesus underwent seven degrees of initiation, which is in a cultic ceremony. So masonry would say that Jesus went through secret society meetings and then he became sort of superhuman, and they can do the same through their process. It goes on to say that Edgar Casey said that Jesus became the Christ in the 30th incarnation after shedding his blood karma. Different occultic groups will have private ceremonies where they will use biblical concepts, they will invite in demonic spirits, they will not say the name Jesus, and if you ask them about Jesus they will say that essentially he was empowered by some form of darkness or demonic forces and you can access them yourself by
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com being involved in their activities. Masons and Freemasonry, it's a cult. It just is and it has a counterfeit Christ. And then there were miscellaneous Jesus. Here's the reason, Jesus is the biggest person, the biggest movement of any sort or kind in the history of the world. So if you're wanting your movement to become popular, it's good to try and find a way to at least give the impression or appearance that Jesus is with you and for you. Let me give you some crazy examples. And this is the introduction, by the way. We'll get into the lecture in a few hours, few hours, we'll get into it. But I've got this in your notes, the atheist Frederick Nietzsche said, quote, "Jesus died too soon. "If he had lived to my age, he would have reputed doctrine." And I will tell you right now, Frederick Nietzsche is having a very bad day. This is a very bad day for Frederick Nietzsche 'cause what he said was, it's too bad Jesus died young. If he would have lived to a ripe old age, he would have realized that he was wrong and he'd be an atheist like me. I promise you this, Frederick Nietzsche is not an atheist today. He's standing before Jesus and he's having a very bad day, or he's kneeling before Jesus and having a very bad day. American existential psychologist, Rollo May said, "Christ is the therapist for all humanity." See how this works, whatever I am, I'll say that's what Jesus is and try and get Jesus to support me. Communist Fidel Castro says, "I never saw a contradiction "between the ideas that sustain me and the ideas "of that symbol of that extraordinary figure Jesus Christ." But all Castro says, well, I look at Jesus, I see a lot of myself. Socialist Mikhail Gorbachev says that Jesus was the first socialist. There you go. Self-described feminist bisexual egomaniac, Pastor Mark, tell me what that is. I can't, there are children here, but Camille Paglia said Jesus was a brilliance Jewish stand-up comedian. So let's get to it all fellows because we know if anyone's gonna land the dismount, it'll be this guy. He said in boundless love as a Christian, as a Christian and as a man, that's half, I read how terrific was his fight for the world against the Jewish poison. Jesus was Jewish and Hitler says, I look at Jesus and his whole life was committed to the eradication of those who are Jewish and therefore he is a Nazi. See, we read this and we wanna throw up in our mouth a little bit. Let's just be careful that whatever our political party, or course or orientation or our commitment, that we're not using Jesus, that we're serving Jesus and following Jesus and that commanding and demanding that Jesus follow us. Everybody does it. The Lakota native American tribes says that Jesus is the Buffalo calf of God. President Thomas Jefferson said, "Jesus did not mean to impose himself "on mankind as the son of God." In fact, Thomas Jefferson did not believe that Jesus was God. He sat down in the White House with a razor in the Bible and he cut out all the miracles of Jesus and the things that he disagreed with. And he left it and what was remaining, he called the philosophy of Jesus Christ and he turned Jesus into a philosopher, from the desk of the White House. In addition, Prince Phillip said, Jesus might be described rather as an underprivileged working class victim of political and religious persecution. It's the bushwalk proletariat conflict and Jesus is of the lower classes and he represents oppression and how some people are mistreated. And then Malcolm X says, "Christ wasn't white, Christ wasn't black. "The poor brainwash Negro has been made to believe "Christ was white to maneuver him into worshiping white men; "a white Jesus, a white Virgin, white angels, "white everything, but a black devil of course." Every major political movement, ideology, sociology philosophy, religious commitment, they try to figure out what to do with Jesus. Some will just overtly oppose him, many try to redefine him. Back to second Corinthians 11, three through four, a different Jesus. The real Jesus doesn't fit but if we could convince Christians that he was on our team, we could recruit some of them onto our team so we'll present a different Jesus. What's interesting in the new Testament, there's one category of beings that get Jesus more clearly and cleanly than anyone. Who do you think that is? You would think it would be the disciples. No, it's the
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com demons. The people in the new Testament who know exactly who Jesus is, better than anyone, are the demons. I'll show it to you in a moment. The point is this, it's not just enough to know Jesus. You need to love Jesus. The problem with the demon is not that they don't know who Jesus is, they don't love who Jesus is. It's not just enough to know who Jesus is in your mind, you have to love who Jesus is in your heart. I'll give you some examples, Mark, which is a really good name for a book of the Bible, chapter one verse 34 says, "He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, why? They knew who he was. Sometimes the disciples get it right, sometimes they get it wrong, the demons always get it right. Satan knows who Jesus is, he just doesn't love who Jesus is. There are lots of people who are like Satan demons, they know who Jesus is but they don't love who Jesus is. Luke 4:33-34, there was a man who had the spirit from an unclean demon. He's demon possessed. And he cried out with a loud voice, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. What? The Holy one of God. The demon says, I know who you are. I know exactly who you are. And then Luke 4:40-41, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases, and medical doctor is writing this, Dr. Luke, brought them to him and he laid his hands on every one of them and he healed them. And demons came out of many crying, you are the son of God. That's absolutely bulls-eye right. But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ or the chosen and anointed one of God. All of these various views of Jesus, all of these various perspectives. What I wanna do in the remainder of our time together, let's ask the question, who did Jesus say he was? To me, it's only fair to let someone speak for themselves. In fact, the easiest way to get to know someone is to what? To ask them. So tell me about yourself. What we're gonna do, we're looking at 12 things that Jesus said about himself. And just by way of preface, each of them is a different way that Jesus tells us that he is the only God. One of these would be sufficient and God uses 12 as he does 12 tribes and 12 disciples because he loves us, and he knows that maybe one won't be convincing for you but any one is sufficient for you to come to know and love Jesus as the only God. Last thing I will say, and then we'll jump right in, of all the major world religions, there is only one religion that has is its founder, someone declared themselves to be God. Therefore, Jesus claimed to be God is without precedent or pier in the history of the world. No one makes this case, no one makes this claim. Furthermore, the only people who do, we tend not to think of good people or moral examples. Two examples, cult leader Jim Jones, said he was Jesus reincarnated, and cult leader David Koresh said that he was the son of God. When people get up and say, I am Jesus or the son of God, they are cult leaders. They are not to be admired. They are dangerous and deadly. We're not to aspire to admire their character, Amen? Like if I told you right now, I'm God, and the band's written some new songs about me. And we're gonna take four offerings and I'm gonna keep it all because as God, the tithe is mine. Then we're gonna take communion but we're gonna do a cheeseburgers 'cause that's kinda my thing as your God. You would all, I hope not just leave, but make me leave. That would probably be the better option. You wouldn't say, he's just a good guy, he has good moral character, we really appreciate him. Nobody's right all the time, we all make mistakes. What a great guy? You'd say, no, he's dangerous. If he says he's God and he wants us to devote our lives to him, and he wants us to pray to him, and he wants us to sing about him, and he wants to give our tithes to him, and he wants us to confess our sin to him, and he wants us to entrust our eternity to him. You better be that guy, and if you're not that guy you're Satan, you are demonic, you are evil, you are a liar, you are a cult leader, you are dangerous. With Jesus, the things that he says means this, he is God and the greatest person who has ever walked on the earth, he is
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com demonic and the worst person who has ever walked on the planet. These are the 12 things that he says about himself. Number one, Jesus said he came down from heaven. This is a big statement, you all came from various places. If Jesus walked in the room tonight, Lord Jesus, you're always welcome. You walked up to him, said, where are you from? He said, I came down from heaven. You say, Prescott? No, heaven. Here's what he says, John 6, For I've come down from where? Heaven. You know what that is? That's his home. That's where he lived before he was born. That's his residence, that's his dominion. I came down from heaven, not to do my will but the will of him who sent me. At this, they began to grumble about him because he said, I'm the bread that came down from heaven. They said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know your dad, we know your mom too. Our kids played little league with you. Some of our kids grew up with your kids. We didn't Want us together. You always won, but we knew you when you were a kid. They were like, how do you say you came down from heaven? We've known you since you were a boy. How can he say, I've come down from heaven? On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is hard teaching, who can accept it?" From that time many turned away and no longer followed him. They knew exactly what he was saying. I'm Jesus, I came down from heaven. They're like, yeah, that sounds weird, I'm out. Lots of people walked away. And saying that he came down from heaven, Jesus is giving the exact opposite experience of what most people would say. Have you ever heard of a near-death experience? It's that someone on earth, at least for a moment, has some sense of experience to where they believe they're in the unseen realm in the presence of God and then they come back. Jesus didn't Come from this world into that world, he came from that world into this world. In Islam, there is a record of the prophet, and I call him the false prophet Muhammad. The story is that there was a day where a beast, sort of a divine beast called a Buraq showed up, and that the prophet Muhammad climbed on this animal and he was taken along with Gabriel, into God's presence. There, he got the pier into heaven and he came back, and today it's called the Dome of the Rock and it's the third holiest site in Islam. But even that is one day he got to go to heaven. Jesus is totally the opposite, he came down from heaven. As human beings, we're all trying to figure out how do you get to heaven. With Jesus, he brought heaven down to us. So his claim is unlike other religious leaders and near-death experiences. What we tend to see is that human religion is about this, how do we go up to God? What's Christianity? How does God come down to us? There is this infinite gap between a Holy God in heaven and we who are unholy on the earth, and there are only two options, we go up or he comes down. Every other religion is ultimately a religion of what I will call works or human performance, and it is like a ladder of performance where you climb up to God. This is not us climbing to God, this is God climbing down to us. He said he came down from heaven, so one else says this. Other religious leaders at the most will say, I went up. None say I lived there and I've come down here. Number two, Jesus said he was more than a good man. We hit this briefly in the introduction. Some people will say, Jesus wasn't the God man, but he was a good man. He was a good man. Mark 10:17-18, Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him, fell on his knees. "Good teacher," he asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asks, "why do you call me good? "No one is good except God alone." He comes up, he said, Jesus, you're a good man. Jesus is like, there's only one good man, that's the God man. All our centers except for one Don't call me good unless you call me God. Jesus does not allow himself to be defined solely as a good man. He requires that we receive him as the God man. That's very, very significant 'cause a lot of people say like, I'm not a Christian, I'm not a Bible Thumper, Jesus freak born again, but I think Jesus was a really good man with some good things to say. A guy came to Jesus and said that very thing and Jesus said, you've got two options. Call me God, and if you call me call me good.
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com
But if you can't call me God, you can't call me good. Why? Because he says he's God. If he says he's God and he's not, that's not good. He can't be good man if he tells us he's the God man, and he's not the God man. That would be a bad man. You get that? I just wrapped. I mean, that was a big moment for me. I don't know what I said, but a little hip hop moment. Okay, point number three Just said he was the son of man. So Daniel 7, we spent some time here. We spent 12 weeks going through Daniel. Many of you guys were here for that. It was an incredible study and thank you for joining us. But Daniel has this vision, and Daniel is between the seen and the unseen realm, that God has a divine family in the unseen realm that is just as real as human beings in the seen realm. What happens in Daniel is the scene shifts between the seen and the unseen realms. So we see God and angels and then we see earth and leaders, and it's similar in books of the Bible, revelation is quite similar. Prophetic books are like that. They shift between the seen and the unseen realms. So what happens is Daniel, this godly man, who's in Babylon and he's an exile and he's being persecuted, he keeps getting glimpses of God and glory. And here is one. In my vision at night, and a dream tends to happen when you're asleep and a vision tends to happen when you're awake, and I would assume and presume that for those who had visions, it would be like us watching television or a screen. We look at a screen you're like, I'm not there, but I see it. Before they had television, they had prophetic dreams, and God would show them things that they could not see unless he had revealed it to them. In my vision at night I looked and there before me was one like, what's the word? The son of man. So it's a man and he is a son, coming with the clouds of heaven. So where does this guy come from? He comes from heaven on the clouds, that's authority. He approached the ancient of days, that is God the Father, and was led into his presence. No one is allowed into the presence of God, God is altogether holy. But this son of man is allowed into the presence of God the Father. Just look at this resume. He was given, one, authority, glory, God should alone get glory. That's supposed to give glory to anyone except for the God. And sovereign power, not just power but ultimate power. All peoples, all nations and men of every language, what? Worshiped him. Who do we worship? God alone. The first two, the 10 commandments, all the way back in Exodus. Commandment number one, there's one God, commandment number two, you only worship that God. We're supposed to worship this guy. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away. He's not going to have a kingdom that comes and goes but endures forever. His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. That Title, son of man, was a messianic prophetic promise of the coming of Jesus Christ as the son of God. This may shock you. The title that Jesus uses to refer to himself most frequently in the four gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is one, son of man. Some roughly 80 times. It's not like there was one and it was debated 80 times. When Jesus introduces himself, the primary way that he introduces himself is Son of Man, saying that the promise and prophecy, the foreshadowing of the forthcoming, that ultimately was pointing to me and I am the son of man. I live in the kingdom of glory. I have been eternally present with the ancient of days. I have entered into human history and I rule over all peoples, nations, times, languages and cultures and you all should worship me. For a Jewish person to hear him say, son of man, he could not have picked a clearer title. And to say it 80 times means that he was unashamed of that title. Number four, Jesus performed miracles. There are things that Jesus did that only God can do. Jesus revealed himself to be God in two ways; with his words and with his works. With his words, he said he was God, with his works, he showed he was God. So in addition to his words, which speak, we have his works which show that he is God. Here's one example in John 10. "Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy?" What is blasphemy? A human being says that they're who? God. Jesus kept saying he was God. And he says, okay, you wanna accuse me of
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com blasphemy? Yes, 'cause you keep saying you're God. Because I said I am God's son. "Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does." He's like, am I doing anything that's inconsistent Or in congruent with the will of God? If I'm not doing anything wrong, then maybe what I'm saying is right. But if I do it, even though you did not believe me, believe the what? The miracles. Don't just look at the words that I say, but look at the deeds that I do. For you know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father. And again, they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. Why they tries to seize him? They said, here's our problem with you, it sounds like you were saying your God. I am, I am. I am the son of God and I do everything that God the Father tells me to do. And if you don't believe it, look at all the miracles that I do. They said, that's it, we're going to arrest you. We're going to ultimately execute you. So start to think about it. Since we're all here, what are some of the miracles that Jesus did? What comes to mind?
- [Man] Water in sea.
- There is a raging storm on a sea and Jesus speaks to that raging storm and it stills. You know why? That same Voice that called creation into calm, call creation into existence. That the storm and the sea recognize that divine voice Of Jesus. What other miracles did Jesus do that come to mind?
- [Man] Raised Lazarus.
- Raise the guy from the dead. His friend Lazarus died, the King James Bible says that he stinketh. What that means is he was there for a while. And Jesus shows up and he weeps, and the shortest verse in the Bible is that Jesus wept. And he cries out, Lazarus come forth. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a great British preacher from a previous generation, he said, It's a good thing that he named Lazarus. Otherwise, he would have emptied the graveyard. If he just said, come forth, it would have been a parade. He said, Lazarus come forth, so it was one guy. But that's incredible power because who has authority over death? I mean, only God has authority over death. Only the living God has the ability to give life where there is death. Other examples of Jesus' miracles that leap into your mind?
- [Man] Cast out demons. Cast out demons, who does that? There's a group called the seven sons of Sceva. They're in the book of acts and their itinerant Jewish Exorcist, which is, I don't know what that is. I can't imagine you're signing up for college, you're like, what do you wanna be? I wanna be an itinerant Jewish exorcist. Not just Jewish exorcist, I wanna be an itinerant Jewish exorcist. So that's their thing. They're itinerant Jewish exorcist and they like going around and saying the name of Jesus and trying to exercise their spiritual authority over demons. And then they reach a guy who is filled with demons and they try to use Jesus' name but they don't have the Holy Spirit and they don't really love Jesus so they don't have access to Jesus divine power. It says that the demon possessed man overpowered them and beat them, strip them naked and they ran bleeding away from the battle. Hey, here's how you know you lost, you're naked, bleeding and running away. That's how you know you lost. Jesus shows up, he never loses one of these battles. Somebody is demonized, they dominate a whole region, he cast the demon out, the guy's in his right mind. Jesus never loses a battle with demons because God and demons are not equal in any way, and God has authority over them. Other people come along and they try to use the name of Jesus and they still don't have Jesus power, because only Jesus has power and we only
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com have power if we have the same Holy Spirit that empowered the life of Jesus. But it's incredible. Other examples of Jesus' miracles that come to mind?
- [Congregation] Water into wine.
- Water into wine. That was his first wedding. It was his first miracle rather. He was at a wedding and they ran out of wine, which in that day if you're entertaining and you're having guests and it was a multi-day celebration, it was kind of a dishonor on the family. So his mother goes over and says, hey Jesus, we need you to turn water into wine. And to do so, they grabbed these big bats filled with ceremonial water. This would be the equivalent. I know it's offensive, you're welcome. This would be the equivalent of going into a Baptist Church and turning the baptistry into wine. If you're baptized you're like If your brestania you're like, good. So what Jesus did he took the ceremonial washing basins of water and turned it into wine, because he can do things like that. And his mother knew it, that's why she asked him to do something. And the point of that first miracle and all of the miracles was ultimately pointing to the kingdom of God. Hear me in this, every miracle is a foreshadowing of the kingdom of God. When you see people healed, it's 'cause they're gonna be healed in the kingdom. When you see demons cast out it's because people will only be filled with the Holy Spirit in the kingdom. When you see people fed it's because God will provide for everyone in the kingdom. When you see God provide the choices of wines for feasting and celebration without drunkenness and debauchery, it's because the kingdom of God will be the party that never ends. When you see Jesus show up and do a miracle little wedding, it's because history culminates with a wedding supper of the lamb, where Jesus, the groom and his bride, the church, are reunited forever. So all of the miracles are pointing to the kingdom of God which ultimately reveals Jesus as the King. What Jesus is saying is he's like even if you don't like what I say, look at what I do and see if you see the power of God in the life that I live, incredibly powerful. Let me just say this to you. Some people come to Jesus through persuasion, some people come to Jesus through power. Those who come to Jesus through persuasion, they're more persuaded by his words. Oh, that's a good point, I like what he said. That makes sense to me. Other people, it's more about his demonstration of power. There are certain people you got to answer all their questions and objections and you've got to wade through their complex variables. There's other people, they just need God to show up in power and then they're convinced. This was my mom. My mom was a person who had an ailment and literally to permitting, they laid hands on her and God showed up and the Spirit of God fell on her and God healed her. And my mom believed in Jesus and has everyday sense. If you ask her why she wouldn't say because I read a book that answered all my objections, but because God showed up in power and healed me. You're only saved through Jesus but there are ways to get to Jesus, for some it's persuasion, for others it's power. Here Jesus is saying, okay, I've given you my persuasion, now look at my power. You see that? So think of your friends and family who don't know Jesus, Do they need persuasion? Answer all their questions or objections, or power, do you need to pray for them? And God just needs to show up and do something that only God can do to prove that he's real to them. Number five, Jesus said he was God. And again, what happens is oftentimes people will say, Jesus never said he was God, this is myth, legend, fable folklore. It was something that the church came up with many generations later, but it's nothing that Jesus actually said, not true. John 8:58-59, Jesus says, I tell you one, the truth. When he's gonna tell you something really important, he tells you, this is the truth. Some 40 times in John's gospel, Jesus tells us, I tell you the truth. And then he says, "I am the way the truth, the life,"
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com
John 14:6. "I tell you the truth, Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am." Abraham is way, way back in Genesis, and that was the father of their faith. It was a long time ago. He's like, I'm older than Abraham. What's he saying? I'm eternal. And he says, I am. Now that is a title for God out of Exodus 3:14. Remember Moses he's walking in the wilderness and what does he see? He sees a bush that's on fire and has a conversation with him. That's different. If you're hiking in the desert, you're like, Oh my gosh, that's a cool bush. Oh my gosh, it's on fire. Oh my gosh, I'm talking to it. That's different. So the bushes on fire and Moses has a conversation with it and the bush basically says, go back into Egypt, the greatest empire in the history of the world, military might prowess and power and tell the Pharaoh, who thinks he is literally the son of God. It's a counterfeit kingdom with a counterfeit son of God. Go in there and tell him that God says, let my people go. Moses has a great question, he's like, great, who should I say has sent me? Because if you show up and say, the bush is furious. You're there probably be like You need to put the leaves down, that's enough with the bush. And so he asked the bush, by what authority should I tell the highest human authority on the earth? And he says, tell him that I Am has sent you. That's the name for God. Jesus shows up and says, I'm older than Abraham, and by the way, my name is I Am. I was the guy who told Moses to go command Pharaoh because I'm the God of Moses and I'm the God of Abraham. Well, how do they respond? At this they picked up stones to stone him. What is that? That's the prescription for blasphemy. If you say you're God, and you're not, we kill you. This is not a repeat offense. There are no repeat blasts from, that's not how this works. They're going to kill him because he says he's God, but Jesus hid himself slipping away from the temple grounds. It wasn't his time, it wasn't his time. Another occasion, a little bit later in John 10:30-33, "I and the Father are one." In the Jewish ear, this would have wrong very clear. So Deuteronomy 6:4 is something called the Shema. And it says this, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. As a Jewish boy, he would have learned this. This would have been one of his first memory verses in a believing home. And for all Jewish people, this was like their pledge of allegiance. You learn this at a young age and you say it repeatedly. They would say it three times a day. They called it the Shema, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. And the word there for one is a Hebrew word Hen, and it means that out of the many are one. If you look at a cluster of grapes, it's one cluster of many grapes. It's the same language. It's literally saying our God is one Gods, and what it's talking about is the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Spirit are one God, that's literally. Every day you would say there's three times a day. And then Jesus shows up and he doesn't say, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. He shows up and he said, here, Israel, I am your one God. I and the Father are one, one. That's totally equal, sharing all the divine attributes and authority. Again, they picked up stones to stone him. Hear me in this, Jesus said he was God and they heard him say he was God. They pick up stones to stone him but Jesus said to them, I shown you many great miracles. I fed some homeless people, I healed some sick people. Didn't even take a copay or deductible. I've been really helpful. Why is all the uproar? I shown you many great miracles from the Father, for which of these do you stone me? We're not stoning you for any of these, but for what? Blasphemy. Here's the line friends, because you, a mere man, claim to be God. Did Jesus say he was God? Clearly, clearly. So they keep trying to put him to death and he escapes. Next slide. He publicly confirmed he was God. Not only did he say it, then they would approach him again and then he would publicly confirm. This is like, you're on trial and you say something and they said, okay, we're just gonna ask you one more time. Yeah, that's exactly what I said. I'm not changing my testimony. Mark 14:61-64. So he's on trial, this is a legal fiduciary context. He's under oath. Jesus remained silent and he gave no answer. Again, the high priest, this is the religious authority. He's on trial, asked him, are you the Christ the Son of
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com the blessed one? Christ means anointed. What does he say? I am. He quotes Exodus 3:14 again, I am. Jesus said, and you will see who? The son of man, where's that from? Daniel 7. You will see the son of man sitting on the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven. Is he backing down? No, he's doubling down. Under pressure, Jesus doesn't back down, he doubles down. The high priest tore his clothes, that's mourning and wailing, public declaration. Why do we need any more witnesses? He's like, we've got a whole bunch of people. They're gonna stand up and say, they heard Jesus say he was God, we don't need to call any of them to court, why? He just sat down and said guilty as charged, I'm God. At that point, you don't need any witnesses. The person has confessed. The question is, is what they're saying true or false? The question is not, did he say he was God? The question is, is that true or false? He asked, you've heard the blasphemy, what do you think? What do you think? In addition, if Jesus was not God, he is here violating the very first of the 10 commandments and that is what there's only one God. This is where you can't say Jesus isn't the God man, he's just a good man, because if a man says he's God and he's not good, that's not a good man. Number seven, Jesus said he was sinless. So this is open public scenario. John 8:46, can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I'm telling the truth, why do you not believe me? Can you even fathom today someone running for office. Let's just throw it out there and have a little fun. Anyone hypothetically running for office, I don't care about your political party, but if they got on television, they're like, is there anything you'd like to say? Yup, I've lived a perfect life. I have nothing to apologize for. In word, deed thought and motive, I have nailed everything. I am perfect, vote for me. How long would that candidacy last? 30 seconds most. Because immediately everyone would come forward and say, here's what he said, here's what he did, here's who he is. Jesus said this, crickets. No one came forth. Later on they're gonna get false witnesses who can't even agree with one another. So Jesus puts himself in a category that is his exclusively. In the history of the world, we tend to think that the people who are the holiest are those people who are most clear that they are not holy. If you say I'm not perfect, I've made mistakes, there's things I regret. I had a guy come up to me recently here at the church. He's like, I don't agree with everything you've said. I said, we're on the same team brother. I don't agree with everything I've said. You don't need to convince me of this, I live with me. I know who this is. I wake up every day, look at that guy in the mirror and like, you need some work. I understand this, this is I'm clear on this point. Jesus is putting himself in a completely different category. Mahatma Gandhi, mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Graham, people that we would consider to be moral examples to varying degrees, they all said, I'm not perfect. Jesus said, I am, I'm without sin. He alone is without sin. That puts him in a category unto himself. It means he's not just a good man, he's the God-man because God alone is perfect. Number eight, Jesus forgave sin. This is a really big one. When Jesus saw their faith, Mark chapter two verse five, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are what? Forgiven. What he doesn't say is God can forgive your sins, he says, your sins are forgiven, I am your God. And the next verse it says, they ask this question, who can forgive sins but God alone? The answer is, no one. Psalm 51:, he says against you, only Lord God have I sinned. We have sinned against God, we need God to forgive us. We can practice human forgiveness but ultimately we need God's forgiveness. And Jesus looks at this man that he just met. So let me ask you this question, had this man sinned against Jesus, at least during the earthly life? They just met, the guys a paralytic, Jesus is walking by stops. He says, the reason that he's sick, and this is not true of all sickness, but of some sickness, it's because of his sin that he is sick, therefore, I will forgive his sin and forgiving his sin will heal a sickness. They just met. The guy hadn't done anything personally, relationally to Jesus but Jesus is God so all of his sin is ultimately against God. So
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com then those who were present like, nobody could say that, unless they're God. Then Jesus goes to the cross and he says the same thing, Father, forgive them. Jesus praise that you and I would be forgiven and then Jesus dies in our place for our sins to answer his prayer that we too like this man could be forgiven and healed. For the Jewish person that had the whole sacrificial system in the temple and the priesthood and the high Holy days and all of the complexity of an atonement system for Jesus to go, forgiven. What that means is the temple of the priesthood, the sacrifices, the atonement, the holidays, all of that's gone, all we need is Jesus. This is the whole point of Hebrews. He's the temple of the presence of God, he's our great high priest and mediator, he is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Everything that they had was to prepare them for Jesus. When he comes, that's all you need. You don't need to do anything, you just needed Jesus to forgive you. That's amazing. And no other religious leader says that. They'll all say, let me point out to you the path by which you can obtain God's forgiveness. Jesus said, I've taken care of that for you. Number nine, Jesus taught people to pray to him as God. Let me just say if Jesus isn't God, he's not a good man. John 14, 13 through 14, And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that's according to his will, so that the son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do. That's an incredible claim. If you do in my name, if you ask according to my will, the Father and I will say yes, and we will answer your prayers. Jesus said this in John 15:7 as well, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, "ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you." Again, today on planet earth, billions of people pray to Jesus Christ as God. On their death bed, people pray to Jesus Christ as their God. When we tuck our kids in at night, we teach them to pray to Jesus Christ as our God. Every time a Christian praise or virtually every time, we pray in Jesus' name because Jesus told us that our prayers need to be by the power and presence of the person of the Holy Spirit in us, and then Jesus is God and man who reconciles humanity with God and he takes our prayers into the presence of the Father. The Bible says that he lives to make intercession for us. The Holy spirit burdens us, we pray, Jesus takes the prayers, delivers them to the Father as our intercessor an advocate. The whole of Christian belief is founded on Jesus is alive, Jesus is the right hand of the father, Jesus is our intercessor and our advocate, and if we pray in his will according to his name, he and the Father will hear and answer our prayers. If that ain't true, he's a despicable person, because that means that everyone that has a need is praying to a liar and a counterfeit, and a deceitful damnedable person. Means that every person on their death bed who says, Lord Jesus, I trust you, they are trusting in a savior who cannot save. So praying to Jesus or praying through Jesus, would be more theologically accurate, pray by the spirit, through the Son, to the Father. He taught them to pray to him as God. And again, the first of the two 10 commandments, there's only one God, you worship him alone. Prayer is a form of worship and if you're praying to a false God, you are damming your soul to hell. Number 10, Jesus promised to judge all people as God. Sometimes you'll hear this from people, they'll say, no one can what? Judge me. Jesus says, I will. We tend to say that. I don't decide who goes to heaven and hell, Jesus says, I do. He says it this way, John 5, 22 through 24. Moreover, the father judges no one. In this father son language, you'll hear the... It's like a nomenclature in our culture, like father, like son. What he's saying here is that they share the same divine attributes. They do everything in union and communion, that they're fully aligned in every way. I've got five kids, I'll just use my sons as an example. If you met my sons and they talked, guess what their voice sounds like. Sounds like mine. My son now he's getting tall, and in our family that means five foot. So he's getting tall. My two sons are six foot tall and now my wife's here, my poor wife. It's the three boys and me, and if we're in the house and talking in the other room, she doesn't know which one of us it is, because my sons'
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com voices all sound like mine. There are similarities between a father and a son, sometimes it's physical, sometimes it's personality, sometimes it's intonation or vocal. What Jesus is saying here, God is my father. This is because Jesus had an earthly mother but he only had a heavenly father. This is the fulfillment to the promise that we looked at last time, in Isaiah 7:14 that the virgin would give birth to a son. So he doesn't have an earthly father, he has an adopted father in Joseph, but his true father is God the Father. That he is the son of God sent to represent the Father, to show us the Father. He says, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, that he is the image of the invisible God. I think it's Colossians 1:15 says, that he is the reflection of the Father, heart of God. When he's saying this, he's giving us the most intimate connection. He's saying, I and the Father are one. Everything we do is in unison, in agreement, I share all of his attributes, like father like son. Moreover, the father judges no one, but is entrusted all judgment to who? The Son. That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. You cannot have a higher claim to deity. Some people will say, I don't believe in Jesus, but I do love God. Jesus said, no, no, no, no. Actually the Father entrusts all judgment to me, he's delegated that responsibility and you cannot honor him unless you honor me. If someone came to me and they said, hey Mark, I want us to have a really good relationship, but I hate your sons. It doesn't work like that, we go together. It's even more so with the Father and the Son. You can't hate my sons and have a loving, close relationship with me 'cause I am loyal and loving to my sons. So it is with God the Father and God the Son. So people would say, I'm not into Jesus, but I am into God. Jesus says, no, no, no, the Father and I are one. We receive equal worship and glory and he has entrusted the judgment of your eternal fate and state to me. He who does not honor the Son, does not honor the Father who sent him. You can't love God and not love Jesus 'cause Jesus is the son of God. He says, I tell you the truth, "whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me "has eternal life and will not be condemned. "He has crossed over from death for life." What Jesus is saying is this, I and the Father are one, he has assigned judgment to me, you are to worship the father through me. All worship is by the spirit, through the Son, to the Father. And if you don't do that, I will judge you, there is no eternal life for you. If you will receive me and receive him, then he has sent me to declare salvation to you. People would tell me, I don't believe in Jesus, but I do believe in God. I'll say, well, when you die, you're gonna be in real danger because you're gonna before Jesus. You could say you believe in God, but again, the Bible says in James that even demons believe God, but they don't love him. So the goal is not just to know who God is, but to love who God is. Number 11, Jesus said he was the only way to heaven. Now let me say this, there are many ways to Jesus, and may we be very careful with this, and Jesus is the only way to heaven. Here's what I mean. Some of you, your grandma talk to you about Jesus when you were a little kid. That conversation with your grandma got you to Jesus. Some of you went to youth camp and they made a big powerful appeal and the spirit of God fell on you and your heart open to Jesus. For some of you, you were in college and you had a lot of questions and objections and you met a friend who studied and read a lot and they, through persuasion, answered your questions and removed your objections and so you came to Jesus. For some of you, it was power of God showed up in your life, a miracle, a dream, an angel, a healing, a supernatural vision or provision. So there are lots of ways to come to Jesus. Right now in the Muslim world, what we are hearing is that enclosed Muslim countries where missionaries cannot go, there is an outpouring of many revival among practicing Muslims who go to sleep and keep having the same dreams and visions, that they die and stand before Jesus Christ to give an account and they give themselves to Christ. Some people will be like, what about those that have never heard? I don't know who's never heard, I just know God's real creative. That's what I know.
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com
What I'm saying is that there's many ways to Jesus, but Jesus is the only the way to heaven. He says it in John 14:6, Jesus said, and it's singular and exclusive. I am the... Multiples of the people like, well, Jesus is your way, he's not my way. Jesus works for you, he doesn't work for me. For some people, Jesus is their path, but he's not my path. Jesus says what, I am the way. What I would say is rather than arguing about the way, we should be glad that there is a way, to be like, I don't like the road to heaven. I'll tell you what, I like it a lot better than hell, so I'm gonna drive on that road. I am the way, the truth and the life. So there is no way to salvation, there is no truth about who God is and there is no eternal life apart from Jesus Christ. How many people come to the Father except through him? No one, at singular and exclusive. That is a statement that he alone is God. You're on earth, I came from heaven. If you will like to go from earth to heaven, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one gets there except through faith in me. It's clear, amen? The problem with many people is not that they don't understand what Jesus says, they don't like what Jesus says. I mean, this is clear. This is why they keep seeking to put him to death. John 11:25, Jesus said there, I am the singular exclusive resurrection in life, he who believes in me will live even though he dies. And then what Jesus does, he dies and he rises to conquer death, to forgive sin and to open up a way for sinners to also conquer death. And what Jesus is saying is, I have made a way and I am the only way, and through faith in me, death can be defeated, sin can be forgiven and eternal life can be granted. And I'll give you the last one. Number 12, and this is a statement of total authority, complete total utter authority. Again, imagine a religious leader, a political leader, a social cause leader making a claim like this. Jesus claimed authority and supremacy over all people, political parties, races, genders, nations, religions, cultures, beliefs and sexual orientations. Matthew 28:18, after his resurrection, Jesus came to them and said what? How much authority?
- [Congregation] All.
- All. Friends, let me just tell you, that's a big statement. Some of you have a little bit of authority. You're like, I'm a manager, congratulations. They gave me a vest at Walmart and I make people's schedules. Okay, that's awesome, congratulations. It's another thing to have all authority. You know what that means is, ultimately, it doesn't matter what level of authority you have, you're still Under authority. It means that, ultimately, no one is an authority under themselves. And it means that all authority is derivative authority, it comes down from on high. Therefore, as we exercise authority, we are to exercise authority according to the way that the highest authority gives us, according to his example and his instruction of how authority is to be exercised. All authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. What he say talking about there is the seen and the unseen realm. Earth is the seen realm, heaven is the unseen realm. He is saying all the human beings and all the divine beings, all that you see and all that you don't see, all of that, all of that, everyone, everything, everywhere, all the time, under my authority. And ultimately, when Jesus returns, this will all be seen by all of humanity for all of eternity. You just need to know that right now Jesus has all authority. He's just not shown up for the second time to establish his kingdom, to sit upon his throne and to unveil himself in glory for everyone forever. But that day is coming, that day is coming. I've called this a cumulative case theory. A cumulative case theory is taking the preponderance of the evidence and looking toward points question, looking at the evidence, what does it say? Jesus said he was God. There was a judge in New York, his name was judge Gaynor. He looked at all of the biblical evidence in the cumulative case and then he looked at why Jesus was put on trial at the end of his life. Why did
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com they put Jesus on trial? Why was he sentenced to death? And why did the Jewish and the religious leaders conspired together? 'Cause they never agreed or aligned on anything except for his death. And he came to this conclusion, this judge did, it is plain from each of the gospel narratives that the alleged crime which Jesus was tried and convicted was blasphemy. Why did the religious leaders and the political leaders, who never agreed on anything, agree on one thing and that is the together they needed to murder Jesus because he said he was God. That put him over religious and political authority as the highest authority so they sought together to literally destroy him, and then he rises from death to prove that he is who he said that he was. So let me give you one question at the end. It is an incredibly important question from the Lord Jesus. And his question simply this, Matthew 16:15, "Who do you say I am?" Jesus told us who he is and he's asking us who we will say that he is. The most important decision you can ever make is how you will answer this question. The answer to this question is more important than who you marry, it is more important than the degree that you choose, it is more important than any decision you will make or any relationship you will have. Jesus presents a clear, compelling, I would say convincing case, that he is the Christ and then he leaves it to us to make a decision who we think he is. I would ask, if you're here or hearing this, don't just hear this information, but receive Jesus. Don't be like the demons who knew exactly who he was but didn't love who he was. Don't be like those who heard what he said but didn't pursue a relationship with him. And you simply do that by acknowledging that, I am a sinner and Jesus is God. And that I cannot earn my way up to God but the God in humility has come down to love me. He has become a human being to live the life I have not lived, the perfect sinless life just like he said in John 8:46. And then he went to the cross and he died in my place for my sins. Three days later, he rose from death to conquer death, to forgive sin, to defeat the demonic. And he says that he is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one makes it into the kingdom apart from him. Therefore, I am trusting in him. He is the resurrection in the life, though I believe in him, though I die, I shall live. That's the bedrock of Christian faith. A lot of times people will say, well, I have a problem with Christianity, I'll just focus on Christ. There's only one perfect Christian and his name is Jesus, and it really is ultimately about who you say that he is, amen?
Mark Driscoll || RealFaith.com