6- The King in the Kingdom of God - Part 2 - Jesus, Who is He?
1. Jesus was with the Father in eternity.
While Jesus was in prayer before his death he spoke twice about his existence with the Father before creation.
John 17:5,24
Later, in his revelation to John, what three phases did he use to express his eternity?
Revelations 22:13
2. Jesus and the Father are ONE and therefore he is God.
Jesus was with God in the beginning.
John 1:1-2
By his own words He came down to earth from Heaven and therefore He knew God the Father.
John 3:13 / John 7:29
When the temple guards came to arrest Jesus where did he say he would be going?
John 7:33-34
Jesus may have been cryptic in some of the things he revealed to men but he was very direct on this point.
John 10:30 / John 12:44-45 / John 14:8-11
Why were the Jews outraged at this?
John 10:33
Why was it so upsetting to the Jews that Jesus called God his Father?
John 5:17-18
So we can see in these passages that the people of that time realized the claim that Jesus was making.
Then, when the Jewish leaders pressed Jesus as to where his father was, what did Jesus accuse them of?
John 8:19, 42
And why didn't they know God the Father according to Jesus?
John 8:43-47
Strong words that are the same today.
3.Jesus is the Son of God
This is a title given to Jesus that denotes his superiority. The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus is superior to:
A. All the prophets - Hebrews 1:1-3
B. All the angels- Hebrews 1:4-5
C. Moses - Hebrews 3:5-6
It's a title that shows the special relationship Jesus had with his Father because of his miraculous conception.
Luke 1:35
----and, the unique and close relationship they had because of his resurrection.
Acts 13:32-37
Through out Christ's ministry we see this title being used. Let's look at a few.
First, and most important was a title that God the Father used for Jesus. Two times God spoke audibly so that men could hear his voice. The first was at Christ's baptism.
Matthew 3:16-17
The second time was when Jesus had gone up a mountain with Peter, James and John.
Matthew 17:1-5
Both times God declared that Jesus was His Son.
When John the Baptist saw a dove (the Holy Spirit) hover over Jesus at his baptism, what did he declare?
John 1:33-34
When a demon possessed man saw Jesus, the demons within the man spoke up. What did they call Jesus?
Matthew 8:28-29
One night when the disciples were in a life threatening storm, they suddenly saw Jesus walking on the water towards them. Read what happened and then notice what the disciples did and said when the storm had stopped.
Matthew 14:25-33 (especially verse 33)
In a conversation with friend Martha about her dead brother Lazarus rising again, Jesus makes a declaration about Himself and asks if she believed what he said. What was Martha's response?
John 11:25-27
When Mark started to write his account of Christ's ministry (based on Peter's testimony) , how did he choose to start?
Mark 1:1
The great Apostle Paul had only been a believer a short while but within days of his conversion what was he preaching in Jewish synagogues?
Acts 9:20
But when Jesus said of himself "I am God's Son" what did the Jews accuse him of?
John 10:36
This shows us clearly that the Jews understood Jesus to be saying that He was divine and equal to God the Father. What happens when anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 4:14
4. Jesus is King
It is Kingdom protocol that when a king decides to expand his territory he sends his son to the new land to become the king of it. As long as the King Father stays in the home kingdom the son remains the king. If the father should choose to visit the son in the new land, then the father becomes King of it and the son reverts to being a prince again.
Jesus was predicted to come to earth hundreds of years before he did and to come as a righteous king who would rule with justice.
Isaiah 9:6-7a / Jeremiah 23:5-6a / Daniel 7:13-14 / Zechariah 9:9
Before Jesus had been conceived, what did the Angel Gabriel tell Mary about the Son she would give birth to?
Luke 1:31-33 (especially verse 33)
Around the time Jesus was born there was the sighting of a very bright star over Bethlehem. It occurred because of a conjunction of the planet Jupiter with Saturn in a portion of the skies called "the fishes". It was a phenomenon that occurred every 794 years. The stars held great meaning to the people of antiquity. Jupiter denoted a world ruler, Saturn was considered the Star of Palestine and "the fishes" indicated the last days. Put this altogether and it told the people that the ultimate world ruler would appear in Palestine that year. It was the reason that the three wise men set out on their journey to find this ruler.
Matthew 2:2
Jesus had grown up a carpenter's son -- a blue collar worker. When he started his ministry at age 30 he was certainly remarkable but not known as a king. Three years later, just days before his death, he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilling the verse you just read in Zechariah 9:9 above. A king riding on a donkey instead of a horse meant he was coming in peace.
Matthew 21:1-5
On the day of his sentencing Jesus and Roman Governor Pilate have a discussion about whether Jesus is King.
John 18:33-37
What do we learn from these verses about the Kingdom that Jesus is king over?
And so Jesus was put to death and Pilate, despite protests from the Jewish leadership, put a sign over his head. What did the sign say?
John 19:19
This was not to be the last word. Jesus would soon rise from the dead. He will come to earth again -- this time to take his role as ....
Revelations 17:14 / Revelations 19:16
5. Jesus as King has all power and authority in Heaven and on earth.
Who gave Jesus his power and authority -- and why?
John 5:22-23
What has Jesus all power and authority over?
John 13:3 / John 17:2
The verses below record just some of the situations in which Jesus displayed his power and authority. Make a list of the different ways he used it.
A. Mark 1:23-27/ Mark 9:25 / Luke 4:20
B. Mark 4:39 / John 6:16-21
C. Mark 6:1-2
D. Mark 6:7
E. Mark 11:15-17
F. Luke 5:20-26
G. Luke 11:40-41
H. John 11:40-44
The jealousy of the Jewish leaders in the demonstration of Christ's power and authority prompted them to demand where he got it. How did Jesus answer that question?
Mark 11:27-33
In the end, because they were men-pleasers, they rejected Christ's power and authority and thus rejected that He was God, had come from God and that He was the Messiah.
6. Jesus is Lord
The word "Lord" is not one used today except to describe the one we owe rent to -- our "landlord". So what is a lord?
King David in writing Psalm 110 begins with a verse repeated four times in the New Testament and will help us understand this concept of "lord".
Psalm 110:1
David was referring to the Messiah when he wrote this. The way it was quoted in the New Testament shows that it was the customary interpretation among the Jews. In the verse David uses the word "lord" two times:
"THE LORD" was YAHWAH in Hebrew and always written in small capital letters. It meant the self-existent eternal Jehovah. This word was never applied to anyone other than God in scripture. It was so sacred that this name was never spoken.
"My Lord" was ADONAI. It was a title of respect by an inferior to a superior. It was one who had rule or authority, an owner. It was a word applied to a king, princes, rulers and masters.
In Psalm 110:1 it was as if David was saying this: "Yahweh (or God) said to him, whom I David, acknowledge to be my superior and sovereign...."
David regarded Jesus as a descendant in the flesh but as his superior and Lord.
In a discussion with the Pharisees, Jesus sought to draw out their views regarding the Messiah or "the Christ", as regards to his authority, and they were quick to answer.
Matthew 22:41-42
But then he baffled them with a question that they couldn't answer when he quoted Psalm 110:1.
Matthew 22:43-46
We probably feel baffled too! But here was Jesus' logic:
A. If Jesus was David's lord, then Jesus was superior to David
B. If Jesus had an existence at that time, how could he be a descendant of David?
C. It could only mean that the Messiah was divine as well as human.
D. Therefore as divine, Jesus had an existence at the time of David and was his Lord and Maker, his God and King.
E. But as a man Jesus was David's descendant.
On the day of Pentecost (at the out pouring of the Holy Spirit) Peter stood up to preach and like Jesus he quoted Psalm 110:1
Acts 2:34-36
The Jews loved King David but Peter reminds them that David never rose from the dead or ascended into Heaven the way Jesus did. When David wrote his prophetic verse he was speaking of the Messiah who was his "lord" and should have been their lord as well. How did Peter's words affect the people?
Acts 2:37
Guilt bubbled up in the people with the realization that they killed the Messiah -- the one God had sent to be the hope of their nation. They had rejected Jesus and in doing so had rejected God. In refusing to serve Jesus as the Lord, they had refused to serve God. But the guilt did cause them to ask the question:
"What should we do?"
What is Jesus the Lord over? List each realm.
A. Matthew 12:1-13 (Also Mark 2:27-28 / Luke 6:5)
Note: The Sabbath was the most important day for all Jews. They were forbidden to do any work with death as the penalty for not keeping this day holy. They had made the Sabbath a strict and heartless observance of ceremonial laws. Jesus with dignity and power had used the day to heal and do good to man. No one but God can authorize people to do something contrary to divine laws and therefore He showed them his divinity and lordship over the Sabbath.
B. Romans 14:9
C. Ephesians 1:22
D. Colossians 1:18
E. 1 Peter 3:22
F. Hebrews 1:4
In short, Jesus is Lord over everything.
The Apostle Paul in this short verse is speaking to Christians.
1 Corinthians 8:6
We have ONE God (the Father) who planned and purposed that all things be made and he sustains them all. But it was Jesus who was the agent who produced all things -- the cosmic carpenter that took God's plans (the architect) and made them a reality. Therefore because we owe our existence to Jesus, we should live for his glory. He is King and Lord by right of creation. Notice that Paul speaks of ONE Lord (as opposed to the pagan's many) and therefore we owe Jesus our allegiance as Ruler and Lord over us.
It is a fact today, especially in the west, that we have no desire to have a lord over us. We like our independence. Who does Paul say are the only ones who can call Jesus Lord?
1 Corinthians 12:3
A true Christian is one who has the Spirit of Jesus indwelling his own spirit. This is the only kind of person who can call Jesus "Lord" and who wants to live under his rule and authority.
If Jesus is truly Lord, then there is nothing we have, including our life, that is too good to give him.
Mark 14:1-9
7. Jesus is light.
Isaiah predicted in this verse a great light that would be seen -- by whom?
Isaiah 9:2
The "people walking in darkness" were the inhabitants of the region of Galilee. Commentator Albert Barnes wrote this: "They were walking in darkness because they were far from the capital (Jerusalem) and the temple, they had few religious privileges, they were intermingled with pagans and were comparatively rude and uncultivated in their manners and language..... It was like a thick darkness brooded over the country so that they lived, or walked amidst it."
It is really the same darkness that we see all over the world today.
Psalm 82:5 / Isaiah 59:9-10
God had created man to be the home of the His Spirit so that we would walk in partnership with Him while we developed His universe. When Adam and Eve chose independence from God instead, man lost God's Spirit. When the Bible speaks of light and darkness it's more than just physical. Without God's Spirit indwelling our own, we are dead spiritually. We don't have the knowledge, truth and wisdom that God would have given to us had we not sinned. And so all that we are left with is our own knowledge and resources -- which compared to what God would have given to us is darkness. Jesus tells us that the light we have within ourselves is great darkness.
Matthew 6:23
Then Satan, the god of this world has taken advantage of this darkness to add to it. What has he done?
2 Corinthians 4:4
As a result of his work on man what three things has this caused in the life of everyone without God?
Ephesians 4:17-18
Therefore when God sent Jesus to earth as His representative it was to bring back the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the first man back on earth that was like the first Adam -- a man filled with the Spirit of God. John expressed it like this:
John 1:4
We might rewrite this verse to read like this: "In Jesus was the life of God's Holy Spirit. His life shined through Christ's life so that Jesus was like a light for others to see God wherever he went."
How did Jesus describe himself?
John 8:12
The reason Jesus could proclaim when we look at his life we are seeing God's life ----was because He lived with the life of God within Him. As the light of God among men, what was Christ's mission?
John 12:44-47
Jesus, in bringing back the Holy Spirit to earth (within Himself) , would soon make the Holy Spirit available to any and all of us who would put their trust in Him -- which meant to love and obey Him. In this way, the light of God which was the light Jesus had within him, could now be our light.
John 14:15-17
When you and I receive the same Spirit of God that Jesus had, what do we become and to what end?
Matthew 5:14 / Acts 13:47
8. Jesus is good.
We showed in the last study that God is good and is like a benevolent Father to all his children. He sent Jesus to earth as the Son of God with the same power and authority that he had. And what did Jesus do with it?
Acts 10:38
Jesus loved men and women and he showed it by going around and doing good wherever he went. He was only doing what God would have been doing if God Himself had come to earth.
John 6:38
John records what Jesus called himself several times in his gospel. In this verse what does Jesus refer to himself as?
John 6:32
Where did He come from and what was his mission?
John 6:33
What does Jesus promise to anyone who will come to Him?
John 6:34-35
Jesus used physical examples to often explain spiritual truths. All of us have a hunger and thirst within us that wants to be satisfied. What does Jesus promise to any of us who are thirsty?
John 7:37-38
What does He mean by "living water"?
John 7:39
Jesus wants all of us to have his Spirit indwelling our own spirit so that our lives will be back on track to fulfill our purpose and do it in partnership with Him.
Now picture a pasture with some hedges around it. The shepherd would stand at the opening to the pasture as though he was the door keeper of it. One by one the sheep had to go past him and since the shepherd knew all his sheep, he would keep out any that didn't belong. What did Jesus call himself?
John 10:7
If we get past Jesus and into the pasture, what two things does he promise us?
John 10:8-9
Note: In verse 9 where it says, "whoever enters through me will be saved" -- it has the meaning that we will be kept safe because we are now under the watchful eye of Jesus.
And now Jesus contrasts himself with Satan -- the god of this world. What is Satan's purpose towards the sheep in his flock? What is Christ's purpose towards us?
John 10:10
Continuing on in the same chapter of John, John records another name that Jesus called himself. What qualifies Jesus to call himself by that name?
John 10:11-15
How does Jesus demonstrate what real love and thus real goodness is?
John 15:13 / 1 John 3:16
Jesus is truly good all the time and in every generation. Why?
Hebrews 13:8