[0:00] Well, one of the, I suppose, obvious to some NOA privilege of being a minister is that you get to talk about Jesus. That's kind of the job description if you want to really simplify it.
[0:15] That's what I'm standing here for. That's why Colin's here. That's why other guys stand up here. We want to talk about Jesus. We want you to know Jesus. We want to know Jesus better ourselves.
[0:25] And in going through the Apostles' Creed, I have the happy task of talking about Jesus because where we've reached is, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our only begotten son, our Lord.
[0:42] That's what we believe in. Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord. That is where we are in the Apostles' Creed. And when I found out this is the one I'm doing, I was quite glad because this is really what we're trying to do all the time. And I hope tonight that we'll get at least just a taste of what a wonderful saviour Jesus is, what a wonderful person, what a wonderful God, a unique saviour Jesus is, the son of God and Lord of our lives. But then when I started to study and think about it a bit more, I realised that I'd been played because being given this one is one of the biggest, deepest topics you can imagine. It's wonderful. And yet there is so much that we could say about really each one of these clauses, Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord.
[1:42] There's a whole series probably in each one of these phrases. So with trepidation perhaps, I'm going to try and bring all three of these things into one, let's say, half hour sermon.
[1:58] And honestly, it's a little different to how I would normally do a sermon with these readings that really just get into our theme, usually one passage that we're just focusing on.
[2:09] But it's such a big topic. I want us to take kind of a bird's eye view of what we're talking about. But what I hope is that the door is being opened for you, for you yourself then to walk in and explore more and learn more and find out more about this Jesus. I hope this whets your appetite to learn more about each of these things and that we'll all be blessed by seeing something of this Savior Jesus. And I hope we see the depth of Jesus himself and his love for us.
[2:42] It's so much greater than we can pack into this. It's just a taste. But pick up your Bible, read more, find out more about this Jesus. These passages we read, I mean, there could have been countless ones we chose as we'll maybe see. But there's three things I want us to reflect. I just want to focus on what it says here. Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. But preachers like to alliterate, and I've done that. So we've got a Savior, a Son, and a Sovereign. That's the three things I want us to see tonight. A Savior, a Son, and a Sovereign. So first of all, a Savior. And of course, in most places in life, if we meet someone, the first thing we'll learn about them is their name. That's perfectly natural. I suppose it's the identifier for who we are. If I meet someone, I'm probably going to tell them my name and you're probably the same. And if I meet someone, I probably want to know their name. And they probably want to know mine. Admittedly, it's a bit of a meme, but men tend to know each other without actually knowing their names. We've got neighbors and I'll talk to them every day. Don't know their names, but that's not healthy because names matter. We felt that embarrassment, haven't we? Forgetting someone's name, being forgotten by someone else. But this name that we're learning about Jesus is more important than anything else. Because, well, names used to be at least an identifier of character, didn't they? Of who a person is. Not so much now. I was told that
[4:22] Duncan means dark-haired warrior. I don't know what plans my parents had for me, but it's probably not worked out how they imagined. I had the dark hair. Let's stick with that. And in the Bible, names are even more important. If we go back to the Old Testament, Abraham is the name given to Abram by God. And it means father of a multitude, which is exactly what Abraham was to be. From his line was the beginning of the people of Israel. He was the father Abraham. He was the head of the people of Israel. His name meant something and he lived it out. And I'm saying this because it is all the more true for this name Jesus. We're saying, I believe in Jesus Christ. His name tells us so much about him. It tells us exactly what he came for. And he came to save us. That is the key thing from this name, Jesus. And in Matthew's gospel in chapter one, you can read it later, verses 18 through 25. Maybe you just heard it recently at Christmas. The birth of Jesus is announced to Joseph. And Joseph is given clear instructions. He's to call the name of this child to be born of a virgin and more on that next week.
[5:41] But he's to call this child Jesus. And why Jesus? Why that name? And he's told by the angel because this name means, well, the angel says, for he will save his people from their sins. And Joseph here knows that, knows that Jesus means God saves. And he's told because this Jesus will save his people from their sins. And so when we're talking about Jesus Christ, we're talking about the one who saves us from our sins. And that means we have to acknowledge that we need a savior. And it's, I don't know if it was deliberate, but it's quite good. We were reading from the Heidelberg Catechism tonight talking about sin because that really gets to the root of who we are. Our problem is that we are sinners, that we are born in sin, that we can't save ourselves, that we need actually to be saved. That is the reality for every single person who has been born in this world apart from Jesus, that we need saved. And why did
[6:49] Jesus come? To save us from our sins. That's why he was born. That is who we believe in. That is the Jesus we are confessing in the apostles' creeds. And so that's the first thing we believe about Jesus.
[7:04] He saves us. He is the savior, that he's come to save us from our sins. But it's not just Jesus. We're still on the first point, but it's Jesus Christ. And Christ isn't his surname for anyone who's unclear on that. It would sound like, I suppose, if you'd never been to church before.
[7:26] But no, it's communicating something great about this salvation, about what he does. The word Christ, you'll see that there really was unlimited passages almost we could have used.
[7:40] Christ is used 514 times in the New Testament. It's important. It's a Greek word, and the Hebrew equivalent is Messiah, which is a word you've maybe heard before. And what it essentially means is someone who has been anointed. So a king would be anointed, a priest would be anointed with oil.
[8:05] And so when the Bible calls Jesus Christ, saying this is the one who's anointed to carry out that mission of saving people from their sins. He is the one that God has promised for his people all the way through the Old Testament to do the great redemptive work that would turn out to be dying in our place on the cross. No one else could do it. The whole Old Testament was pointing towards it.
[8:32] He was the one the Israelites were promised, were waiting for. He's the one who would be their king, who would be their priest, who would be their prophet. As we said, these were often anointed roles. Aaron the priest, David the king. We read about them being anointed. And in fact, Jesus is, you know, sometimes people talk about Jesus as prophet, priest, and king. Talking about the things that he did as a prophet, he would do the word, he brings word to us, he brings truth to us. As a priest, he's the one who makes the sacrifice of himself for us. As king, he's ruler, he's lord, as we'll get to.
[9:09] And he does all these things as he saves us. That's our complete savior. He sacrifices himself. It's a word that carries a massive meaning, a whole breadth and depth of meaning. That's what Christ carries. There is so much. There's no time. We want to say more, but there's no time. But that's why we read Matthew 16. Peter acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God, yes, but that he is the Christ.
[9:42] That he is the one that Peter and all the other Israelites, the Jews, had been waiting for. That he is exactly who they need. That this is the one who can save them. This is God's man to save his people. It is about his salvation, rescuing us from our sin, redeeming us. This is Jesus Christ.
[10:04] His name carries so much meaning. His title carries so much meaning. This is who we believe in. If you have placed your faith in Christ, this is who Jesus is, the one who saves you from your sins and the one who God has promised and sent to do that very thing. And so what does that mean for us?
[10:28] Well, we've said some of it already, but first of all, we need saved. He came to save people from their sins. That's us. That's me. That's you. He came to save us from the wrong that we do again.
[10:39] Read the Heidelberg Catechism again, and you see the depths of our sin. We need to acknowledge that we need this Jesus. Every single one of us, even if we've been brought up in church and gone to church every week, and we've said all the right things, and we turn up to the right meetings, and outwardly, our lives appear so good. We still need saved. We still need that same Jesus. We still need to confess our faith in Him. But then there's good news within that as well, because we can be saved.
[11:15] We can be saved by Jesus. And many people will see the problems of this world. They'll see it's evil, it's pain, it's sorrow. And if there is no Jesus Christ, if this promised Savior hasn't come, then this world truly is a hopeless place. Then the evil of this world remains undealt with. The wrong, the injustice of this world has the last say. It means that we ourselves cannot be saved, and we are in a hopeless, hopeless situation. But the good news, the Apostles' Creed saying, believe in Jesus Christ, tells us that we can be saved, that we're not abandoned, we're not forsaken, that there is real meaning to life, that there is hope for us and for this world, that God is good, and He cares for us.
[12:08] Finally, it tells us He keeps His promises. God keeps His promises. We said He's the Christ, the Messiah, and we said this is who they were waiting for. God doesn't forget. It was hundreds of years since a prophet had last spoken to the people of Israel, and Jesus came as that prophet, priest, and king. They were waiting for so long, and then He came. And we feel like that, don't we, often?
[12:35] Jesus has returned to heaven, we read in the Bible, and He promises He's coming back. Why are we left here? Why are we in this world? Why do we suffer? And I think Peter writes about this, God seems slow in keeping His promises, but He knows. He's doing what is right. And Jesus is the proof that even when it seems like He doesn't, that God is keeping His promises, that He will not forsake us, He will not forget us. So this is Jesus Christ. His name is Jesus. He is the Christ. He is the one we've been waiting for. He is the one we need. But secondly, He's the Son. And that's really His only begotten Son, or as some versions say, His only Son. And John 3.16 speaks about that, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son as one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. We read it in John 1, didn't we? That He's the Son, and that we can become children of God. It's a wonderful thing, though. I hope we'll see a little bit of why it's such a wonderful thing that Jesus is the Son of God. And it's not just that it humanizes Jesus, although it does, but it's wonderful for us. And at the same time, it's an offensive thing, and we'll go into that a little bit. But Jesus being Son communicates to us that Jesus is both God and man. Jesus came to save the Jews, and they outright rejected Him.
[14:08] Why? Well, if we were to read in John 5, Jesus calls His God Father. The Jews, they didn't like this. Again, you can go and read it later. Because they said it makes Him equal with God. He's claiming to be equal with God. This man here is saying that He is the Son of God, that He is equal with God.
[14:30] That He is, in other words, saying He is actually God. The child born at Christmas, the man, Jesus Christ, the one who lived as a human being, the one who would die on a cross. He's saying He's none other than God Himself, because He's saying He's the Son of God. He is man and God. Now, this has maybe come up in previous sermons, but this really brings us to what we call the Trinity, or as we read in John 1, the Word became flesh that He was in the beginning. Jesus, the Son of God. The Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That will come in later weeks. He is one God, what we call three persons. And Jesus is the second person, the Son. And they're all equal. I'm saying this because Jesus is claiming to be the Son of God, the Son of the Father. He's claiming to be equal with God. He is claiming then to be God
[15:33] Himself. He is this second person. And what that means is that when we talk about the Son of God, His only begotten Son, we are seeing one that shows us the love of God. The Trinity is important for many reasons. It's who God is, but it shows us where love has its source. This Jesus is the one who was there. This Jesus is the one who loves the Father, who is loved by the Father. This Jesus is where we find love begins because He is part of that Trinity, that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who love each other. And that love overflows to us. And as John 3, 16, as we just read, for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. And so on. Love reaches to us, comes down to us, but it has its source in God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the Son of God. This is
[16:36] God Himself, the second person of the Trinity who was in the beginning with God, as we read in John chapter 1, who is before all things. We'll see more of this moment. Who was there at creation even.
[16:55] This is that God, the Son of God in flesh, what we call the incarnation. They are with them, speaking to His people, living with His people, dying for His people. This is His love for us. This is God's love for us. His only Son there for us. His Son that He would give on the cross for us out of His deep love. And that is God's love for us. That is amazing. It is incredible. It is good news for us that the Son of God shows us God's love, that we can know the Son, that He is man and God, that He is someone we can know. And that makes Christianity unique. That is what makes Christianity so different to any other faith or religion, however you want to describe it. This great love story of God for us, that He gives His Son, that God loves us so much that He Himself comes to live amongst us and to die for us.
[18:02] Now, other religions may say there is one God, as we do, but then you introduce the idea of the Trinity, and that's where things start to fall apart for them. They don't like that idea. In fact, it's offensive to some that God could be three persons, that God could become man as well is offensive to many people. This is what makes Christianity unique, that Jesus, the Son of God, became a man. But it's wonderfully unique. When you think about it, that God Himself came to this world, that God Himself was born as a baby, that the Son was born, that the One who was there at the beginning of all things, the One who has always existed, that this Jesus, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, was born in this world so that we could be rescued, so that we could be saved. Do you see the love that God has for us? Do you see the care, the concern, the lengths that God will go to for His children? It's heavy stuff, honestly, the Trinity. It's a lot to talk about in one evening, but what I want us to just understand, this is God's love for us. This is what God has done, the Son of God for us, one who identifies with us. It tells us that this unique Son of God, He's the one who's able to save us. I have many things I would like to do. I would like to be able to run a marathon, not happening.
[19:52] I would like to be able to eat without consequences. Again, it can't work, can it? We're limited, we're human. We can't do the things we want to do. We'd like to do things, but we're people, we fail every day. That's being human. Jesus is God, as we've said. He is also man, and these two together, being the unique Son of God, fully God and fully man, means that He is able to save us.
[20:21] He experienced the same pains and temptations and struggles that we do. He was hungry. He sympathizes with us in every way, as the book of Hebrews says, but He did it all without sin. He never gave into that temptation. If you read Luke's Gospel, chapter 4, you'll see a bit of that. The devil tempts Jesus, and he responds with God's words, and he trusts, and he doesn't waver. Even as he went to the cross, even as he prayed, if it's possible, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours. He never wavered from his mission. He was tempted, but he kept going, and he was able to do it because he is God and man.
[21:11] He does not sin. He does what we cannot. He does the things we are unable to do, while at the same time experiencing all that we experience, and so he's able to save us. He's able to live the life that we could not.
[21:26] He's able to die the death that we could not. This is the Son of God. This is who he is. This is God's only begotten Son, and so what we do with this information is we must acknowledge who he is.
[21:41] This is how we apply. He's not just some good guy. He's not a great teacher. He is a great teacher. He's not just a great teacher. That Jesus in the Bible, and people will tell you, I believe in Jesus, that he existed, but he was just a teacher, or I like the idea of Jesus, and I like his ideas, but I don't think he was actually a historical person. No, this is the Son of God. This is God made man. This is him, and if that's true, we need to acknowledge who he is, and that changes the whole story of our world, the whole story of our lives, that God has become man, and we must acknowledge that that is who he is, and it makes this world a place where there is hope, where there is love, where there is life, where there is a future for us. We need to acknowledge that he is God, that he is exactly who he says he is. Peter could acknowledge it, even though it went against his whole background, his whole theology, however you want, his whole culture, however you want to put it, that this is the Son of God. We must do the same. See as well, though, that Jesus identifies with you in all our struggles, in all our pains. He knows what it's like to be us, that he is not distant. Know tonight that Jesus is close to you, if you have faith in him, that he is with us, and he loves us.
[23:10] See as well, that this is the God who is love. We don't water down God's love. See the great love he has in himself, Father, Son, and Spirit, and rejoice that he invites us to experience, to know that love through Jesus. And as well, we praise that we have the Son of God. And sometimes I know I forget this, but what a wonderful thing to praise God for. What a wonderful thing to praise Jesus, that he is the Son, that he is the one that can save us, that he is God, and that we have such a wonderful Savior, a wonderful salvation. Let's lift up our voices in praise.
[23:50] Now, last of all, he is, first of all, the Son, the Savior. He is, second of all, the Son who saves. Third of all, he's the Sovereign. And that's really saying he is Lord, our Lord. That's that great truth.
[24:08] That's why we read Philippians 2. Calls for every tongue to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he is King, that he is all-powerful, that he is God, as we've been saying, that he has a power that cannot be matched. We've already seen he is a King, but let's see some other things that do show him as Lord. And he does have that Lord-like power. Again, this is one of the things that Jesus called so often, and of course, what God has called in the Old Testament. But when we read John 1, we saw, didn't we, without him was not anything made that was made. Colossians 1 makes a similar point.
[24:50] In other words, Jesus is the creator of all things. Jesus is God. He is Lord. He was there at the beginning of all things. He has that indescribable power and authority. He is Lord. He is our Lord.
[25:06] He is not less than God the Father. He's not even different. Just as he's the Son of God, making himself equal with God, he is Lord. He is God. He is the one who is the Lamb on the throne.
[25:21] He was there at the beginning. He has made all things. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, as it says elsewhere in the Bible. He's God. And it's so important that we grasp that Jesus is Lord, that he has always been, that he is not lesser in any way whatsoever. Even recently, people have twisted this and acted as if he was somehow less, that he wasn't quite Lord as much as the Father is Lord. There's some people, fortunately, I think it's mostly across the pond, but they'll say that somehow he's less. He's subordinate, they'll say, to the Father. And they'll say that this is just how creation works, and so women are subordinate to men. And they'll use this kind of theology that kind of subjugates, that twists the Bible. But no, what we are told, in the Apostles' Creed, and all throughout the Bible, is that Jesus is Lord, that he is God, that he has no equal, that he is that triune, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that he is not lesser in any way. He is all-powerful. He is Lord. He has that power. And his power, as well, is shown in his resurrection, that he is Lord. Philippians 2, we read it, the Father raised him up. Therefore,
[26:57] God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. His exaltation being resurrected from the dead.
[27:16] He is Lord, the one who has even defeated death, that death couldn't hold him, that death doesn't have the power over Jesus. He faced it physically for us, and yet he is more powerful than it because he is Lord's. And that every tongue should confess. And so if he is Lord, we can call on him. And that is what we must believe this evening, that Jesus is Lord, that he is God, that he is powerful, that he is there at the beginning, that he is eternal, that he is everything that God is. Romans 10 says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches in all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
[28:28] So the question we finish with is, is Jesus Lord to you? Who is our Lord, to put it another way? Do we confess that Jesus is Lord? Do we profess this is Lord? Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord.
[28:45] Can you say, I believe that, as the Apostles' Creed calls us to. If Jesus is Lord, that changes everything. It means that there is a greater authority that we need to listen to, that Jesus is more important than anything else in this world, that our attention, our lives are geared towards him, that we are his people, and he is our Lord. So many things will try and be our Lords in this life.
[29:13] They will grab our attention, promise so much, deliver so little. But no health regime, no bank balance, no popularity, no relationship, nothing can give what Jesus the Lord gives.
[29:26] We hold on to so many things. Our hearts are captured by so many things. But what we need is Jesus as Lord. What we need is to bow before the Jesus Lord, to confess, to call on his name, and to know that we will be saved. We started with Jesus the Savior. We finish with Jesus the Savior.
[29:49] That is who he is. And really, all these things show that he is Lord, that he is God, that he is the one who rescues us. Really, our last point is cheating because it's just going over everything that we said.
[30:02] But it's so important to get clear that this wonderful Jesus, this Savior is God, that he has shown his love for us, that he has done it. And what we must do is confess, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord. If we can say that, if we can believe that, if we can trust that, then we will be saved. We will be with him in his kingdom forever. We will know him as Lord forever. We will see new heavens and new earth. And if you can already say it tonight, then let's challenge ourselves. Let's live really as if it's true. I know for me so often living as if it's not true. Let's live with Jesus as Lord.
[30:49] Let's live with him front and center in absolutely everything that we do. Amen.