Jesus, The Way To God
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
INTRODUCTION
I. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
A. CONSIDER THE DIFFERENCE...
1. When we consider the nature of God as
revealed in the Bible and
nature, we see:
a. One with unlimited power, unlimited wisdom,
unlimited
holiness
b. One who is the creator of all things, the
sustainer of all
things, the knower of all things
c. One who is eternal, immortal, and invisible
d. Indeed, this Supreme Being fills the entire
universe with
His presence
“Am I God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God
afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Saith
the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? Saith the Lord.”
2. On the other hand, man is...
a. Mortal, finite in knowledge and understanding
b. The created one, sustained by God who
supplies all his needs
“God that made the world and all things therein,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with
hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing,
seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one
blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath
determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That
they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him,
though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and
have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also
his offspring.”
B. THE DIFFERENCE IS OVERWHELMING...
1. The difference between God and man is so
great, it ought to
overwhelm man with awe
2. Note the reflections of David as expressed in
Psalms
“{To the chief Musician, A Psalm
of David.} O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.2Thou
knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar
off.3Thou compassest my path
and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.4For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest
it altogether.5Thou
hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I
cannot attain unto it.7Whither
shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?8If I ascend up into
heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell,
behold, thou art there.9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the
sea;10Even there shall thy
hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.11If I
say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about
me.12Yea, the darkness hideth
not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”
3. In the Bible, whenever man came even close to
approaching God
in His Glory, it was terrifying!
a. E.g., when God first spoke to Moses, he was afraid
“Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he
was afraid to look upon God.”
b. E.g., the Israelites at Mount Sinai were terrified
“And all the people
saw the thundering, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the
mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off.
And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God
speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God
is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin
not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness
where God was.”
4. How then can man hope to comprehend God and
approach Him in a
close relationship during this life?
5. This difficulty was experienced and expressed
by Job
“For he is not a man, as I am, that I should
answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any
daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.”
[But what may have been true in Job's day (that
there is no "daysman",
or "mediator") is no longer true
today! Jesus is the means by which man
can comprehend God and also approach Him in such
a way as to enjoy a
loving relationship with Him! Let's see how...]
II. HOW JESUS IS THE WAY TO GOD
A. BY HELPING US COMPREHEND GOD...
1. In coming to this earth, Jesus declared or
manifested God to us
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
2. How was Jesus able to "declare"
(manifest) God?
a. For one thing, He came to this earth from
God, and is the
only one who has truly seen Him
“Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which
is of God, he hath seen the Father.”
c. But also, He is God Himself!
“In the beginning was the word, and the word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”
1) Who is this "Word" that was with
God and was God?
2) The One who came in the flesh!
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.”
3) The "Word" was Jesus!
3. Therefore, it is in seeing Jesus that we are
able to comprehend
the Father
a. Just as Jesus told His disciples
“If ye had known me, ye should have known my
father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”
b. In similar fashion, the apostles of Jesus
proclaimed that He
was the complete manifestation of God
“For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily.”
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom
also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he
had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high;”
4. Yes, it is in Jesus that God is revealed in
terms that mortal,
finite man can comprehend and personally relate
to
a. Therefore, as we study the gospels, we see
Jesus and His
attributes (power, wisdom, holiness, love,
mercy, divine
wrath)
b. As we see Jesus, we see God and His
attributes!
[But Jesus also provides the way to God...]
B. BY HELPING US APPROACH GOD...
1. This we touched upon in our previous lesson
2. How that by offering Himself as a
propitiation for our sins
Jesus has made it possible for a sinful man to
approach God who
is supremely holy and just
3. Jesus helps us to approach God in yet another
way, as our High
Priest in heaven
a. Though Jesus was truly God (as stated by John
and Paul), by
becoming man He fully understands our
difficulties
Hebrews 4:14-15
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest,
that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin.”
b. With such a wonderful high priest, One who is
both God and
has been man, Jesus makes it possible for us to
approach God
with great confidence
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
[Yes, through Jesus we can both comprehend God
and approach God, making
it possible to have a close relationship with
our Heavenly Father,
enjoying all the blessings such a relationship
provides!
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