Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20051120.htm

JOHN: TRUSTING JESUS AS MESSIAH AND GOD
Part XXVI: Trusting In Jesus As The ETERNAL Lord God
(John 8:56-59)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

(1) Two influential groups that regularly send their disciples to our doors to try to convert us to their beliefs claim that Jesus was created by the ETERNAL God, God the Father and is thus a lesser "deity" than is the Father (Williston Walker, A Hist. of the Christian Church, 1959, p. 107) as follows:

(a) Jehovah's Witnesses hold Jesus is a "spirit-creature named Michael, the first of God's creation, through whom God made the other created things," [Bruce M. Metzger, "The Jehovah's Witnesses and Jesus Christ," p. 70 (reprinted from the April 1953 Theology Today, The Theological Book Agency, N. J.)]. As a result, they claim that only God the Father -- not Jesus -- is the "Jehovah" God of the Old Testament ["Let God Be True," 2nd ed., p. 111 as cited in Van Baalen, The Chaos of Cults, 1973, p. 268.

(b) Mormons, who like to refer to themselves today as "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," and whose religion behind Islam is the second fastest growing religion in the world, hold to another form of Arianism; they claim that God, the "Adam" of the Garden of Eden, "the only God with whom we have to do," physically sired Jesus through Mary [cf. T. A. McMahon, "Mormon Fiction," The Berean Call, August 2003 issue, p. 1; Salem Kirban, Mormonism, 1973, p. 40 in citing Bringham Young, Journal of Discourses, p. 50 and Discourses of Bringham Young, p. 77]. As such, Jesus is thought to be a lesser deity than is God the Father [Ibid., Kirban, citing Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, I, 18].

(2) However, early Christian Church Father, Athanasius objected to Arius' view: he explained that if Christ is not coeternal and hence fails to be coequal with the Father, Christ can not fully represent the Father at the cross as Mediator between God and man like 1 Timothy 2:5 reveals; thus, Athanasius held Arianism undermines the doctrine of God's salvation of man from hell, Ibid., Walker, p. 110!



Thus, for the sake of the doctrine of God's salvation of man from hell, we must discern if Jesus is the ETERNAL God!



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "Since two influential religions deny Jesus is the ETERNAL God, did Jesus or does Scripture view Him to be ETERNALLY God? Is He, then, our ADEQUATE representative of the ETERNAL God to the Father at the cross so that Christ's salvation of us is SURE?!"
  1. In the midst of Jesus' discussion with His unbelieving opponents at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:1-8:59), He implied He had been appreciated by Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, Jn. 8:56.
  2. Now, Abraham lived approximately from 2,166 to 1,991 B. C., so he had died 2,000 years prior to this conversation, cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., p. 2021 (timeline chart). So, naturally, Jesus' opponents asked how He Who was not yet fifty years old could have met Abraham and been appreciated by him, John 8:57.
  3. What followed this question from them shows Jesus both THOUGHT and also CLAIMED to be the ETERNAL GOD:
    1. When Jesus replied: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am," His foes took up stones to kill him for what they felt was an errant blasphemous claim to be God, John 8:58-59a KJV, Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to John 8:58. Jesus did not correct their view about His words, but rather hid Himself, indicating He had claimed to be God!
    2. Also, Jesus' words in John 8:58 within the historical context reveal He meant to assert He was the eternal God (as follows):
      1. The verb "was" (KJV, ESV) or "was born" (NIV) is genesthai, the 2nd aorist infinitive of ginomai, "to originate," cf. U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966 ed., p. 361; The Anal. Grk. Lex., p. 77; Arndt & Ging., A Grk.-Engl. Lex. of the N. T., p. 157.
      2. As this infinitive follows the adverb "before" [prin], "an adverb of time" (Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 707), Jesus spoke of His existence before Abraham CAME INTO EXISTENCE!
      3. Now, we know from Jesus' words in John 17:5 with the Genesis 1 record that He claimed He existed before the beginning of creation!
      4. Yet, were Jesus to have MEANT He began to exist ONLY BEFORE Abraham OR BEFORE the start of the universe, He would have used the IMPERFECT or the AORIST form of the verb to say either "I was existing" [imperfect] or "I was" [aorist].
      5. Yet, in CONTRAST to these tenses, Jesus used the PRESENT tense, the verb eimi, "I am being," Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T .; Ibid., Machan. That tense "denotes absolute eternal existence, not simply existence before Abraham. It is a claim to be Yahweh of the O. T." according to Ryrie, Ibid., ftn. to John 8:58.
      6. This "I am being" claim of Jesus recalls Moses' meeting with God at the burning bush way back in Exodus 3:1-14, and further reveals Jesus asserted He was the Eternal God (as follows):
        1. The Feast of Tabernacles where Jesus made this John 8:58 statement (cf. John 7:2) was held to memorialize Israel's journey out of Egypt, cf. Leviticus 23:34, 42-43.
        2. That journey was instituted back in Exodus 3:6-10 where God told Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt for the Promised Land.
        3. At that time, God had revealed He was the God of Moses' father and of Israel's forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Ex. 3:6.
        4. That revelation meant He was also the God of creation by the words of godly Melchizedek to Abraham in Genesis 14:18-19.
        5. When Moses then asked God what He was to call Him when telling Israel he was to lead them out of Egypt, God replied, "I AM THAT I AM . . . Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath send me unto you," Exodus 3:13-14 KJV.
      7. So, for Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles in His era to claim that before Abraham existed He was "I AM" was to assert Himself to be the God Who both called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt and Who also was the ETERNAL Creator God of the Old Testament!
  4. Old Testament Scripture supports Jesus' claim, for, earlier in that same conversation, Jesus alluded to an Old Testament passage that revealed He HIMSELF was THE ETERNAL GOD :
    1. We learned in this sermon series that, in John 8:12 in view of John 7:52, Jesus claimed to be the Light of the World in fulfillment of Old Testament Isaiah 9:1-2 where a "Great Light" had been predicted to shine upon the spiritually destitute people of Galilee.
    2. Well, that "Great Light" is described in Isaiah 9:6 as the "Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace," (emphases ours) E. J. Young, Isaiah, 1974, vol. I, p. 322-342.
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ as Savior for salvation, John 3:16. (2) Then, may we realize He IS the ETERNAL God of all creation (3) so that His work of mediation at the cross FULLY met the righteous demands of God the Father! (4) May we thus REST in His great salvation of us as being effective!

Lesson: By (1) His response to His foes who tried to kill Him for supposed blasphemy, by (2) His words and by (3) the words of the Old Testament, Jesus and Scripture affirm He IS the ETERNAL God of all creation!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Scripture elsewhere very clearly holds to the eternality of Jesus, and counters the ancient Arian heresy reflected in the beliefs of the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons, and we note key passages on this:

(1) Isaiah 43:10 KJV states that there never was any other God formed before Israel's true God, and that there never will be one formed after Him. We cite the verse: "Ye are my witnesses, said the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."

(2) Summarizing this thought, Isaiah 44:6 KJV states: "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."

(3) Well, Revelation 1:1 tells us the book of Revelation was CHRIST'S revelation to his servants, and in Revelation 1:8, Jesus is recorded as saying: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." We have confirmation that Jesus made this statement by His words in Revelation 1:17b-18a as follows: "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen . . ."



Clearly, the risen Lord Jesus presented Himself in the book of Revelation as the LORD God Almighty of Isaiah 43:10 and 44:6 Who claimed He alone was God, and that no other God had been formed before Him nor would be formed after Him. Th e ARIAN error reflected in the beliefs of both the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons, the error that there was a time when Jesus did NOT exist, but was CREATED, is a FALSE view!



May we then trust Christ to be the ETERNAL and hence FULL God, that He in FULL ADEQUACY represented BOTH God the Father AND man at the cross! May we thus believe in Him to receive eternal life, and REST in the ASSURANCE that our salvation in Him is SURE!