Who is Jesus?

[0:00] Who do you say I am? What do you think about the Christ, the Messiah? Whose son is he? These are questions that Jesus put to his disciples, his followers, and people that came to question and challenge him in Matthew.

[0:20] Do you have an answer ready for this kind of questions? Just don't let my phone echo. So, what do you think?

[0:35] When we were on a college mission back in 2018, we were asked to finish an unfinished sentence, Jesus is, and be ready to share with people that we met.

[0:50] So, someone wrote in and said that Jesus is worth checking out. And others say Jesus is hard to believe. One person wrote in and said Jesus is blue cheese.

[1:04] He said, In 2015, a survey of most hated foods in the UK found that over one-third of people hated blue cheese.

[1:16] It was a seventh on the list. Generally, cheese is loved, just not that variety. I don't think people would mind that others like blue cheese as long as the smell doesn't affect me.

[1:32] How is Jesus like blue cheese? If Christians want to believe in Jesus, then fine, but it's not for me. And I don't want them to leave me or talk about him.

[1:44] 2017 research showed that 68% of Australians follow a religion or have spiritual beliefs, and 45% identify with Christianity.

[1:58] The biggest changes in that survey is one-third of people don't identify themselves with any religion. People are still talking, though.

[2:10] Just over half of people reported having religious conversations with friends often or on occasion. Perhaps talking about the meaning of life with people you trust smell less.

[2:24] Today, my hope and wish are to help you come to an answer for those Jesus questions and to show you who is this Jesus that we believe in.

[2:38] If you do not know Jesus, I hope this introduction will whet your appetite towards him. If you are a follower, I hope you will be more equipped and ready to fill in the blank of Jesus is.

[2:52] As Apostle Peter told us in 1 Peter 3.15, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

[3:10] Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. We are spending time studying and investigating the Apostle Creek because it is a very good starting point for us to find an answer for who Jesus is.

[3:28] The Apostle Creek points us to the Trinity and how they are three persons and one God. And its structure places a lot of emphasis on the second person of the Trinity, Jesus.

[3:43] Because Christians are defined by one primary mark, we believe in, and are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's not enough for any Christian to simply say, I love Jesus, I follow Jesus.

[3:59] Many who say they love Jesus and follow Jesus do not follow Jesus as he has revealed himself in Scripture. They are following an image that is not the superior image of Jesus that we feel in the Bible.

[4:12] We read before in Hebrews 1, 34, the Son is a radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful words.

[4:26] He became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to this. If you do a search on Google, these are the image of Jesus that you will see.

[4:43] And if you are in China, going to a government-sanctioned church, you will be introduced to Jesus that looks like this. A Chinaman.

[4:57] And most scholars will refer to an image as this one. As the most accurate Jesus, taking into account the common features of the first century Middle Eastern men.

[5:14] If picture is worth a thousand words, which image of Jesus should we think of when we consider who Jesus is? Shall we worry and be concerned that Jesus has been presented as certain ethnicity?

[5:30] Is it really evil to present a Jesus that appeased Chinese to the Chinese people as people of color accused European and Americans of distorting the truth of Jesus by presenting a Jesus of light-colored skin?

[5:48] As we confess that we believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, according to the Apostle Creek, we are calling, we are being called to consider Jesus' true identity and his mission as they are revealed in Scripture, beyond any image we can come up with with our limited mind.

[6:09] As I have read out from, as we have read out from 1 Hebrews 1, 4, it says, Jesus became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

[6:31] So what is the name that Jesus has inherited? We have the first name Jesus, which is Greek for Josiah means God is Savior.

[6:43] But what about Jesus' last name? Have you ever thought about Jesus' last name? Is it Christ? Christ is not a surname.

[6:55] It's a title. It's the Greek word for Messiah, meaning the unhaunted one of God. So, Jesus Christ is not merely a name.

[7:07] It is a theological preposition. By saying Jesus Christ, we have made a profoundly theological statement. We are declaring Jesus is the atonement of God, the Savior.

[7:23] It is a claim that all the promises given to Israel regarding all human beings are fulfilled in this one incarnate man, Jesus Christ.

[7:34] God saved us by this specific person, Jesus, who is also God himself, because in Hebrews, it says, Jesus sustains all things by his powerful words.

[7:51] When you say Jesus Christ, even when you are using it in a cursing, non-Christian way, you are proposing a truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of sinners, the sustainer of all things.

[8:06] when Christians declare we believe in Jesus Christ, we are declaring that we do not believe in a Christ of our own imagination, but in a Christ of Scripture.

[8:18] We are declaring that we believe in the Christ, the Messiah, the Atonement Savior, they are believed in and declared by every generation of true Christians.

[8:30] If you are a Christian, it says true of you when you make that declaration. At this point, if you are non-Christian, you might say, this is exactly why I don't want to be a Christian.

[8:42] This is why I think I don't need to be a Christian, because I'm okay. I'm looking after myself and my family well. I don't need a Savior. And in fact, I'm doing something actively to save this planet and humankind.

[9:00] All this talk about needing a Savior's own name, and I will think about religion when I need a question. I want to congratulate you on your success in life.

[9:13] It's not easy, even now a day, to achieve stability in life. And you are willing to make sacrifice to not just look after your immediate family, but the wider community.

[9:25] But at the same time, I would like to ask you to think again about your need for Jesus. Of course, being saved does not necessarily mean all your life's trouble and problems will go away.

[9:39] But also, being successful in life also does not mean you don't need to be saved. If you're honest to yourself, or if we are honest to ourselves, we will admit that there's a lot of things and issues beyond our control.

[9:56] things like greed, jealousy, unforgiving, injustice, and cruelty. Those are things that Christians call sins.

[10:09] They are beyond our ability to deal with. We need to be saved from sin, and salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

[10:24] We read in Hebrew that Jesus' name is much superior to the angels. Our understanding of who Christ is defined how we live our life.

[10:39] Living in the certainty and assurance of Christ as our savior and sustainer is so much different to living in the uncertainty and fear of Christ as our judge.

[10:52] When we say we believe in Jesus Christ, we are making a theological statement that Jesus is the only means of our salvation, and there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

[11:13] Jesus is our only salvation because he is God's only son, and that is what Christians cherish and treasure. we have a God that came to us and become part of what he has created so to free us from our sins, from the troubles we have caused to ourselves.

[11:37] Jesus is God's only son, means God the son, Jesus, and God the father are both God and of the same being.

[11:47] at Nicene Creed, which was written after Apostle Creed to give further explanation. It says, Jesus is the only son of God, eternally begotten of the father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made of one being with the father.

[12:10] Through him all things were made. Jesus and God the father made this world together. He is begotten not made, which means he is not part of but superior to the creation.

[12:27] Being outside of the fallen creation was what enabled him to purify this fallen world that we live in. He did it by becoming one of us to restore mankind's rebellion, to a perfect obedience.

[12:46] Hebrews chapter 2 from 2nd verse 9 tells us that Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death so that by the grace of God he may taste death for everyone.

[13:06] In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God for whom and through whom everything exists shall make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.

[13:20] Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family so that Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.

[13:31] Spurgeon once said when we think of Jesus we can say that we have a brother in heaven.

[13:46] I may be poor but I have a brother who is rich and is a king. Will he permit me to be in need when he is on his throne? Oh no!

[13:58] He loves me. He is my brother. Jesus is the only son of God and only through him we become sons and daughters of God.

[14:10] He is the only son of God in the sense that he is the only one person in the whole world past, present and future capable to fully obey what God the Father commanded and stipulated for his children.

[14:26] He is the only one that can please the Father perfectly because he has always been in that perfect loving glorifying honoring relationship within the trinity between the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.

[14:47] Hebrews chapter 2 further explains in verse 14 16 since the children have flesh and blood he too shared in the humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death that is the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death for this reason he had to be made like them fully human in every way in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people because he himself suffered when he was tempted he is able to help those who are being tempted it's important for Jesus to be 100% human to be born of Mary so that he can offer himself as a substitute for our disobedience and take on the punishment we deserve in verse 15 he further explained for we do not have a high priest who is unable to emphasize without weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet did not sin we have one that is able to emphasize empathize with us with our witnesses he's tempted in every way just as we are but he did not sin whatever sin you have committed with that heavy guilt that is burdening your heart

[16:38] Jesus can empathize with you he knows how hard you try to resist and know you have failed due to your weaknesses but most importantly he's now speaking to our father in heaven on our behalf to defend for us for you and for me Jesus is the only person lived on this earth that is never seen and therefore he's the only perfect sacrifice that is without blemish that can fully appease God perfectly paid the price required for the reconciliation between us the offender and God the offender living in metropolitan city in 2020 we may not be very familiar with the idea of having a high priest acting on our behalf you would like to understand more about the idea of high priest in the book of

[17:43] Hebrew if you read on from chapter 5 7 and 10 we actually have a lot more details in there but even though you may not be familiar about the sacrificial system that this passage is referred to have you ever heard the saying of someone being made a scapegoat someone taking the blame for the misdeeds of others being made a scapegoat is often an involuntary act done by some evil boss or superior someone who has no regard towards justice or fairness and only concerned about protecting their own interests or cover up their own incompetence is the opposite here God the offender offered himself as a sacrificial lamb going out of his way to defense us the offender offering himself to pay for the punishment that is due it was done because we have a

[18:45] Lord that is different to any boss we can find in this world it was through the obedience of God the Son to God the Father that we creatures are reconciled to our creator such a profound teaching that God is willing to obey and submit to God to God Apostle Paul explained it sustaining in Philippians 2 verse 5 to 8 a passage that we often read out here in St.

[19:20] Paul but today I would like us to read it slowly to really think about what it is saying about Jesus Jesus who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross being in very nature God made himself nothing by taking the very nature of human humble himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross this is a

[20:26] Jesus that we believe in we have looked into Jesus as a Christ and Jesus the God's only son and the final part of what I want to look into today with you is Jesus is our Lord once again in modern day Australia the concept of having a Lord over us seems out of place or outdated who would you consider as your Lord and what feeling do you have towards this Lord of yours who comes to your mind as your Lord anyone like to share their thought at this moment I am not going to pick on anyone I would be nice to you guys be charitable being a student and a married man I have two that come to my mind first one is my lecturer especially this is my last year of study and they will determine whether

[21:36] I graduate or not second one goes without saying being a married man if you are working or studying or think back to the time you were how do you feel when your boss or your lecturer is away do you feel more relaxed or even to a point that we often say no when the cats are away the mouths come out to play we all seem to have a love hate relationship with those people that we identify as our lord or master we love them when we want to get things of benefit from them and we hate them when they demand our loyalty or performance so we all seem to look over our shoulder and have our feet up when they are away looking at

[22:38] Hebrew looking back at the chapter that we have read today where does it say Jesus is located right now have you ever thought about that in chapter 1 verse 3 it says after he had provided purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven and the verse 13 it says sit at my right hand which is the right hand of God in heaven until I make your enemy a food stool for your feet Jesus right now is sitting next to God the father in heaven crowned crowned with glory how can we say Jesus is close to us is his absence means that we can put our feet up we declare with our mouth that Jesus is our Lord but how are we to live out what we have declared that Jesus is truly our

[23:39] Lord in our life back in 2018 one of the minister right one of minister from down self wrote the following about who Jesus is and in it I see that it's an example of how we can live out the belief that Jesus is our Lord he said this I'll just read out before my wife and I were Christian we had more disposable income but we also find more ways to spend it now Jesus has changed our financial priority I remember sitting with a mortgage salesman who was telling us how quickly we can own our home I then asked him to do the sums again taking into account the money we want to give to church student ministry overseas mission and child sponsorship should he he told us he can't afford the house now we are paying our mortgage off at an incredibly slow rate but we are supporting our local church now we only have one car but we are supporting university ministry around

[24:58] Australia now our holidays are fairly simple affairs but we are supporting overseas mission now we are spending less on restaurant and clothes but we are helping the poor in other parts of the world part of me wants more part of me want to give my family all the best holidays and experience part of me wants the self that other people have the truth is I feel the allure of fun family holidays and gadgets and new car and gadgets and paying off our mortgage and gadgets but Jesus helped keep our priority in perspective the gifts Jesus gives us is greater than those things it's a gift of contentment and ability to say no to something good for the sake of something better Jesus helped him to keep their priority in perspective enable him to say no to something good for something better

[26:07] Jesus gave up his equal status to God the father to become one of us to reconcile us to God in Philippians 2 it say therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every time acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father Jesus that we believe in is the Christ is God's only son is our Lord do you really know Jesus that he has revealed himself in scripture if not I would like to invite you to take this time this moment to ask him to reveal himself to you take this time and this moment to invite him to your life so that you will see him as who he is who he really is the most superior one an of of his his head to him he an man who especially his h would take