Jesus: More than a Man

There is one thing the whole world agrees on: Jesus existed. History, literature and archaeology give credibility to the physical existence of a man named Jesus of Nazareth. That is about the end of the agreement though as the world is predetermined that Jesus is nothing more than a historical person of significant influence.

Was Jesus a great man or was He God incarnate? The answer is “Both!” which, to many, seems more preposterous than if we were to say Jesus was an angel or a prophet. I have been having some great discussions with leaders in the congregation this month over the current and next sermon series on “Biblical Worldview” and “What Does God Say About?” and we keep getting back to the place the Bible has in our lives. If we trust/believe the Bible, then the stuff we want to know about God is real easy to find out. If we don’t believe the Bible, then it is difficult to determine what truth is.

The Bible tells us Jesus was more than a man; He was a prophet, priest and king of God’s people. Jesus is also the long awaited Messiah promised to Adam and Eve shortly after the consequences of their sin in the Garden of Eden: “I will put enmity between you (serpent) and the woman (Eve), and between your offspring and her offspring; He (future Messiah) shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” Genesis 3:15. This Jesus is prophesied about throughout human history and “…. when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4.

More than the Bible, historians that are non-Christians have written about the works Jesus did and the testimonies of His followers. This is where it gets tricky. The testimonies about Jesus are remarkably consistent and have not “changed” throughout time. They have not gotten more mythical as some like to suggest. If anything, the accounts of Jesus are remarkably unflattering and straightforward. The Bible says Jesus was accused of being a drunkard, hanging with sinners, followed by high school dropouts. Isaiah prophesied in 53:3, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” The rest of the Scriptures confirm He and the disciples were “ordinary men” Acts 4:13.

Yet in the ordinary, God works the extraordinary! “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” Colossians 2:9. The Bible gives a very clear testimony about who Jesus is and what He has done! The question is, “Are we willing to believe it?” Many have said it is not possible; everyone who saw it agrees it was miraculous! What we can’t do is ride the fence. Jesus who is not God is pointless. Jesus with no Authority from heaven is like following the teachings of Oprah Winfrey, just another person with another agenda about how you should see things. The only thing left is to discern who do you say that Jesus is? Are you out? Or, are you willing to stand up like Peter before all men and declare, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16. It isn’t a decision; it is faith from the Holy Spirit given to us through the Word of God that allows us to declare this boldly! May God bless and grow your faith daily!

In His service and yours,

Pastor Erik Gauss

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Bible Heros

At a pastors’ conference in Chicago this summer, the speaker asked us who would win a battle between Spiderman and Batman. According to our culture, Batman always wins because the man with the most toys ALWAYS wins. In addition to recapturing my attention, this comment provoked two things for me.

First, it caused me to remember the difference between how God views the world and man views the world. As a person I often judge things in the way they appear or according to worldly success. Fun, strong, attractive, smart, popular, successful and rich are all important qualities to have in our friendships. God sees none of it. Read the Bible, pray, go to church, give 10%, Bible study and volunteer are all important things for a Christian to do. God sees none of it. Nice, loyal, respectful, honest, fair, kind, peaceful, loving, happy and hard-working are all things society values in humanity. God sees none of it. God sees the world in a very different way than we do; He sees it as broken with nothing to offer. The world is rebellious and prefers to be left alone to seek its own success rather than receive full restoration from God. But God’s love is too great. He can’t stand to see us suffer and so He saves us, like any superhero would, even at the cost of His own life.

Second, I was reminded of a sermon series I have wanted to do for quite some time: to revisit some childhood heroes of the Bible and see them in a new light, the way God sees them. Too often we overvalue the greatness of the Bible heroes and undervalue the grace of God. As a result, we find ourselves unworthy of being a faith hero because of our own sin and forget about the power of forgiveness.

In Him we have full value, not because of our great talent but because of His great mercy. We are given a great gift and charged to share it with others. I hope that these next few weeks highlight the power of God at work in all of us, and that is always super!

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His servant and yours, Pastor Erik Gauss