Back on the Blogroll!
Hello Friends, sorry that we’ve been silent from Oak Grove. We have been in the process of updating a number of things at OGBC, but now we are close to finishing our new website and its about time that I start sharing thoughts again. So, onto the Word.
Here are a few of my more recent thoughts about the peron of Jesus Christ. We are going through a sermon series titled: WHO IS JESUS. The reason I believe this series is greatly needed is because of the deeply rooted misconceptions about the person of Jesus found rampant in American Christianity and more so outside of Christianity. For example, George Barna lists the following statistics that He has found in American Christianity. He lists the following statistics among “Born Again” people who say they’ve made a decision to trust Christ that has lasted in their lives and that they are going to heaven because of the work of Christ on the cross. Here are the stats:
- 26% of born again Christians believe that Jesus sinned while he lived here on the earth.
- 33% of born again Christians believe that you can get to heaven if your good deeds outweigh your bad.
- 67% of all the youth in churches today will not return to a church when they leave their parents home.
These are staggering statistics, so I hope to address some of the questions about who Jesus really is through the gospel of John. I realize that I may not hit every question but feel free to ask me any questions you would like addressed. Here are a few thoughts from Hebrews 1 which also looks at Jesus.
Hebrews 1:1-4 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Over the next several posts, I will endeavor to dig through the truths of this passage with you as it gives us insight into who Jesus is! Each week we will take a small portion of the text and study it out. Today we will start with: “but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son.” The highest claim of the entire passage is this very one: that though God has revealed Himself through prophets in times past (referring to the Old Testament prophets and writers), now Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of those prophets and the greatest revelation of God available to man. This tells us that Jesus was meant to demonstrate God to the world. “He has spoken to us” tells us that God intended Jesus to provide the revelation of God in living color. It would be wise for us to now listen most closely to the Son of God!
Here is where the nitty gritty comes: Jesus is an accurate picture and representation of God Himself, because He really is in character and essence God Himself. He shows us what God is like when it comes to dealing with mankind and our problems. He shows us how God feels about cursing and sex, divorce and theft, religion and hypocrisy and the list goes on. So, if Jesus really sinned while He was living here on earth, what does that tell us about Jesus? Well, did Jesus sin? Absolutely not! Listen to the testimony of Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus is the perfect personal revelation of God the Father, and how great it is to know that as we look at the gospel of John, we find Him compassionate, loving, gracious, yet radically committed to holiness. If you are reading this and you don’t know much about Jesus, you need to know that He came to redeem and fix our messed up lives. That is the truth about God and Jesus!