Rev. David Holwick ZF The Quest for the Real Jesus, #5
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 5, 2008
John 20:17
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I. What kind of relationship did Jesus have with God?
A. It has generated a lot of conflict.
1) Wars have been fought over this issue.
2) A teacher I had in seminary wrote a book about it - and
was fired.
a) J. Ramsey Michaels went a little too far in his
speculation, according to the board of directors.
B. In a world filled with competing religions, it is important.
1) How did Jesus come to believe in God?
2) What kind of God did he believe in?
3) What does he want us to believe?
II. Jesus developed in his understanding of God.
A. He was perfect, but not complete.
1) There were some things he did not know, like the date
of the Second Coming.
2) There were other things he had to learn.
a) He studied the Bible like we do.
b) Although he was certainly better at it!
1> At age 12, scholars were amazed at him.
B. This development did not necessarily stop at adulthood.
1) The gospels give the impression Jesus had "arrived" when
he began his ministry at age 30.
2) However, since he was like us in every way, he was
probably still learning of God to the end.
3) Every experience he had - the miracles, the rejections,
the temptations - taught him more about his Father.
a) As Hebrews 5:8 says, Jesus learned obedience from
what he suffered.
C. How static is your view of God?
1) Many continue with childish images of God.
2) What new thing have you learned from the Bible in the past
year? The past month?
3) What effect have your personal experiences had on your
faith recently?
III. What Jesus taught others about God.
A. Hints of God's character in Jesus' teaching.
1) God is all-knowing.
a) He sees what you do in secret. Mt 6:4
b) he knows what you need before you ask him. Mt 6:8
2) God has awesome power.
a) He rewards those who do good in secret. Mt 6:4
b) He can punish us, body and soul, in hell. Mt 10:28
3) God is a generous provider.
a) He looks after the animals of nature, and us. Mt 6:26
b) He meets those who ask, seek, knock. Mt 7:11
c) He answers prayer, especially if we are united. Mt 18:19
d) He gives better gifts than our human fathers. Mt 7:11
4) God is a champion of the little guy.
a) He reveals himself to children, not the elite. Mt 11:25
5) God demands our consistency.
a) You can't serve both God and Money. Mt 6:24
b) If you want God's forgiveness, you should be
forgiving others. Mt 6:14f
6) God reveals himself to those who accept his Son. Mt 11:27
a) If we receive Jesus, God receives us. Mt 10:40
b) We must know the Son to know the Father. Mt 11:27
B. God in Jesus' parables.
1) He is the father who embraces a prodigal son. Lk 15
2) He is the woman who rejoices in finding something lost.
3) He is the judge who grants justice to a widow. Lk 18:2
4) He is the king who forgives two debtors. Mt 18:23
C. Be careful handling the images in these stories!
1) God grants us justice like the judge, but he is not
rotten like that guy was.
a) The parable makes the comparison by contrast, not
similarity. (God gives justice "quickly") Lk 18:8
2) In the same way, the king who tortures the unforgiving
debtor is not exactly like God. Mt 18:34
a) Though there are severe consequences for "dissing"
God by our behavior.
IV. How did Jesus come to know God, if he already WAS God?
A. An area of much confusion, and mystery.
1) Christianity sees Jesus as divine, but he prayed to God.
a) Wouldn't this be redundant?
2) Every junior higher asks me this question, and every adult
thinks it (but is too chicken to ask).
B. The deity of Jesus is only hinted at in the gospels.
1) The final gospel, John, has much more than the first three
(the Synoptic gospels).
2) In John, Jesus says, "I and the Father am one." John 10:30
3) He calls himself the "I am," which alludes to God's
revelation of himself through the burning bush. Jn 8:57-59
4) He forgives sins, which is a prerogative of God. Luke 7:49
C. Jesus definitely saw his relationship with God as special.
1) John 20:17 - my God and your God are differentiated.
2) Jesus truly is the go-between, the mediator. 1 Tim 2:5
V. His ultimate experience of God.
A. Passion Week was Jesus' hardest test.
1) He prayed to his Father with tears, asking for a way out.
2) He is nailed to a cross and feels forsaken by God.
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
a) This has bothered Christians for 2,000 years.
b) Did Jesus lose his faith at that moment?
John Figgis, who lived a century ago, wrote:
Anyone can believe that Jesus was a god: what is so hard
to credit is that He who hung upon the cross was the God.
That is what you are asked as Christians to believe.
And it is the sword, glittering but fearful.
It must cut your life away from the standards of this world,
away from its thought..., no less than its aims and hopes.
#4294
B. He was raised from the dead and enthroned in heaven.
1) The Bible is clear - what the Father did for Jesus, he
can do for us.
2) His power can be our power.
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#4294 "Redemption, the Cost of Salvation," by John Neville Figgis (d. 1919),
"The Gospel and Human Needs", from the "Correct Quotes" program.
This and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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