April 08, 2012
Jesus said he was God.
Jesus showed he was God.
JESUS SAID HE WAS GOD
Jesus said some things that if they’re not true, are absolutely insane.
Jesus said he came down from heaven
(John 6:38, 42)
Jesus said, “For I have come down from Heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me" (John 6:38).
This is Jesus saying that he, as God, came down from Heaven and became a man, so that he may accomplish what none of us can do: to live without sin, to die for sinners, to rise for salvation.
No other religious leaders make this claim.None of them has ever claimed to have come down from Heaven.
Jesus said he was sinless
(John 8:36)
Jesus said, "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?" (John 8:36)
Driscoll: Here’s what Jesus is saying. “I have no sin. Investigate my whole life. Follow me around. Listen to every word I’ve said. Witness every deed I’ve done. There is no sin whatsoever.”
Humanity can be divided into two categories: all the sinners, and Jesus. We are all on the side of “sinner” and need the one who is our sinless Savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus said he could forgive sin
Driscoll: This is different than every other religion. Some of you have wrongly been told Christianity is like other religions. No, it’s not. Every religion tells us what God wants us to do. Jesus tells us what has been done. It’s not about us. It’s about him. It’s not about what we do. It’s about what he does. It’s not about us earning God’s love and forgiveness. It’s about God just choosing to love us and being willing, glad to forgive us.
An example where Jesus forgave sin can be found in Mark 2:5-7: "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?'"
Even though his life had been hard and difficult, he still had a sin problem, not just a suffering problem, but a sin problem. And this is something we should all bear in mind as we face difficult times throughout our lives. We may suffer and believe that "we're even" with God through our sufferings, but the reality is, no matter how much we suffer, we are still sinners. Our sins still keep us apart from God, and we still need the blood of Jesus to cleanse us of our sins.
Driscoll: Back to the paralyzed man, Jesus doesn’t tell him, “Here’s what you need to do. Do these things so that you can be forgiven. Or go to this holy place, so that you can be forgiven. Or try harder, or do better, or punish yourself, or suffer to pay God back.” Here’s what he does say, simply, “Your sins are forgiven.”
We need to realize what Jesus is saying here. We are simply forgiven. There is nothing we need to do or have to do to earn His forgiveness! Jesus died on the cross willingly for us so that He can offer us eternal salvation. HE DID IT ALL. There is nothing more we can do! And frankly, there is nothing we can do that would be remotely good enough!
When the religious leaders heard Jesus forgiving sins, they asked, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Mark 2:7).
By forgiving the sins of the paralyzed man, Jesus just declared himself to be God.
Jesus said he was God
The religious and political leaders of Jesus' time murdered Jesus because He said He was God. They plotted against Jesus because what Jesus said would put an end to their religious superiority and political power, and they just could not let that happen. To me, this is very Satanic, because this was exactly what Satan tried, is still trying, and will continue to try to do until he is conquered by Jesus in due time.
An example where Jesus said He was God is found in John 10:30: Jesus said, "I and the Father are one."
Upon hearing this, the religious leaders got ready to stone Jesus. This was a lawful punishment for those who were found guilty of blaspheming: death by stoning.
But Jesus asked, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" (John 10:32)
"We are not stoning you for any good work," they replied, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God" (John 10:33).
Jesus was murdered because He claimed to be God.
No other religion has as its founder anyone who ever made this claim, and this claim is either true or false.
Driscoll: And had Jesus been misunderstood, he would have simply told others so. “Oh, you thought I said I was God. I’m dyslexic. I just got a dog. I’m very sorry that that was unclear. Okay? Please put the rocks down. Misunderstanding.” He never did that. They kept trying to kill him. He never corrected their accusation that he was claiming to be God. Some people say, “Well, well, Jesus kept saying he was God because he had ill motives.” Here’s my question. What did Jesus have to gain? At this point, he’s homeless. He’s broke. His family has, at this point, turned their back on him. His friends are beginning to doubt him. And if he’s not God, and he continues to claim to be God, he knows full well that he’s going to be murdered in a painful, brutal way.
JESUS SHOWED HE WAS GOD
Jesus said He was God, and He proved it through His resurrection from death.
Jesus predicted his death and resurrection
An example of Jesus predicting His death and resurrection is found in Mark 8:31: "[Jesus] then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again."
And as history records show, Jesus was illegally arrested without proper trial, Jesus was beaten, Jesus was flogged to a point where he was unrecognizable (Isaiah 52:14). This was prophesied by Isaiah 700 years BEFORE Jesus was flogged!
Christianity is not a philosophical speculation but a historical fact. Jesus lived. Jesus said he was God. Jesus died. Jesus rose from the dead to prove He was God.
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