Foundations | The Identity of Jesus
Well, hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. We are starting a new series today called foundations. I wanted to do this series to help us understand and remind us of what we claim to believe. I think a lot of us say we believe certain things but haven't really established why we believe those things.
Matt:And I think for lots of people, our education in regard to our faith is either incomplete or at the very least just somewhat forgotten and maybe dim. And I'm hoping this series will help us all establish a good foundation of our faith and lead us not only to a more solidified conviction of what we believe, but also to a more prepared state to share the gospel with others. So before we jump into it, as always, we are gonna go ahead and pray, give this time to the Lord, and, then we'll jump right in. So let's pray.
Matt:Father Jesus, Holy Spirit, Lord, lead us in this time. Let our hearts and our minds be open to receive your word again. Let's be open to receive your word. Amen. Alright.
Matt:So I wanna start out by reading a verse, that has been the basis of my conviction to really know God's word for a really long time. And it's first Peter 3 verse 15. And this is what it says, but in your hearts, honor Christ, the lord, as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. So always being prepared always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope you that is in you. So he's just he he's saying, be prepared to defend your hope.
Matt:Okay? Be prepared to defend your your hope, your faith. And that's what this series is all about. It's understanding our faith more because you can't really defend something when you don't, you know, possess a good foundation of it. So we're gonna start with hope, this hope that Peter talks about.
Matt:What is what is this hope that we have? Well, I think if we just simplify it, our hope is the forgiveness of our sins and salvation through faith in Jesus. You know, that's our hope in a very condensed little nutshell. Forgiveness of our sins is basically just the wiping away of the debt that we owe for choosing ourselves instead of God and for the betrayal of him and his righteous standards through our selfishness. That debt is death because Romans 623, the the wages of sin is death.
Matt:So part of our hope is forgiveness of our sins, and another part of our hope is salvation through faith in Jesus. So not only do we receive eternal life after we die here, salvation. Right? John 316, for god so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Right?
Matt:So salvation, we have eternal life through faith in Jesus. So not only do we have eternal life, but we receive newness of life on this earth. That's 2nd Corinthians 5 17. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old has passed away.
Matt:Behold, the new has come. So that newness of life means that we don't have to struggle with sin the way we used to, to the degree that we used to, but we have been changed. We have been made new to live according to the spirit instead of according to the flesh. So that is that is our hope. And Peter is saying, you know, be ready to defend this and give an answer anytime someone asks you about this hope.
Matt:And, hopefully, people are asking you about this hope because, hopefully, people are seeing you as something in someone different than what they're used to seeing. They're seeing, a different element or an aspect of your life because of Jesus in you, because of the Holy Spirit in you, a different piece, a different strength, a different, I I don't know, just a different part of the fruits of the spirit that's coming out in you because of Jesus. And I think, excuse me, I think in order to explain this hope well, we have to be able to answer this question first. And that question is, who is Jesus? Who is Jesus?
Matt:Right? If we we talk about the hope that we have, we have to first explain who Jesus actually is. And if our only answer is, you know, he's the guy who died on the cross for our sins, I think our defense is going to be weak. Why? Because his identity is directly connected to the effectiveness of his death and his resurrection.
Matt:Anyone can die on a cross. Right? Anyone can die across. Many people did die on a cross, but what makes Jesus different is who he is. And who he is makes what he did the utmost significant thing in the history of the world.
Matt:Because only the son of God, God in the flesh, the author of life, Only he can willingly reclaim his life after death. Only he can do it willingly. So Jesus' identity, understanding and explaining who he is is of the utmost importance. And if you look at the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and even in the book of Acts, you can see that explaining and proving his identity is paramount, and everything comes back to Jesus being the son of God. Okay?
Matt:So we have to be able to explain who Jesus is before we can really defend our hope in him. So let's take a look at the gospels. Now the gospels again are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 4 different authors. 2 of them we know as disciples, and that's Matthew and John. The other 2, the authors are well, actually, we know who Luke is, but he wasn't one of the disciples.
Matt:Some think that Mark was, if I can remember correctly, John Mark from the book of acts, and he wrote down, an account, I think from Peter. Don't quote me on that. I'm just trying to think who it was. But, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the gospels, and they all kinda follow this this pattern that to me, just really, really is centralized on Jesus being who he said he was, the son of God. So I'm gonna go through this just kinda like 4 things to the gospel that help establish Jesus identity.
Matt:So I wanna go through, let's start in Matthew. Flip back over here. Matthew chapter 1, verse 1 through 16. I'm not gonna read all of 1 through 16, but Matthew 1 verse 1 says, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. So he mentions, first of all, that he's Christ, which is the messiah, which the Jews would understand what that means.
Matt:The son of David, also something that the Jews would understand, the son of Abraham. So first thing Matthew does is saying, number 1, Jesus is the Christ. So, again, identity, the son of David, again, identity because they knew that the messiah would come from the line of David according to, Moses, the book the the prophets and stuff, and then the son of Abraham, which goes all the way back to the promise that God made to Abraham. And then it goes through the genealogy, verses 1 through 16. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac, the father of Jacob, all the way through, you know, we get to David and we get down to Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
Matt:So Matthew, very, very first thing he's saying, this guy, this this this person named Jesus of Nazareth, he is the Messiah. And here is just a quick proof of the line that makes sense because we know the Messiah is supposed to come from the line of David. Okay. So that's Matthew. Let's flip to Mark.
Matt:We're gonna mark 1 verse 9 through 11. Says in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Now I pause there real quick because, Mark does not go through the genealogy of Jesus, and instead of going through the genealogy and putting it all back to, you know, his line and where he came from, he goes straight to the deity of Jesus. So in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately, he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove.
Matt:Verse 11. And a voice came from heaven, you are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased. Now this is obviously God talking, and God is is audibly calling Jesus his son. So we get some identity here for sure, and some some deity in that identity as well.
Matt:Let's jump to Luke chapter 1. I'm gonna go verse 31. And this is I think this is the, yeah, birth of Jesus foretold. So Gabriel goes to Mary and tells her about what's getting ready to happen. So behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Matt:He will be great and will be called the son of the most high, and the Lord God will give him give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there will be no end. So this is Luke 131 and, oh, 1 through 30 goodness. 31 through 30 or 33. And there's a lot of stuff in here about the identity of Jesus.
Matt:We'll jump to Luke chapter 2 verse 10 through 11. And the angel said to them this is the birth of Jesus. And the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is, again, identity, Christ the lord. It's Christ the Lord.
Matt:Chapter 3 verses 21 and 22. Again, this is the book of Luke. Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove and a voice came from heaven. Again, this is God speaking. You are my beloved son.
Matt:With you, I am well pleased. So we get, again this identity of Jesus being the son of God, right here. And then Luke goes on, 23 through the end of chapter 3 38. And Luke goes into the genealogy of Jesus, to bring back again, like, this is we know he comes from the line of David. We know he comes from the promise of Abraham, etcetera.
Matt:And then after Luke, again, we're going through the gospels here. After Luke, we're gonna jump to oops. That was Acts. Went way too far. John chapter 1, and this is one of my favorites, favorite parts of scripture, John chapter 1 verses 1 through 5.
Matt:And it's my favorite because it goes all the way back to Genesis, and it really, really speaks, to the the deity of Jesus and the fact that he is God. Says in the beginning. Right? So immediate reference to Genesis 1. In the beginning was the word, capital w, and the word, capital w, was with God, and the word was God.
Matt:He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. So we know that God is the one that gives life.
Matt:We see that, when he made Adam and he breathes into his nostrils the breath of life. Again, references to gen Genesis 1 in the beginning. The word was with God and the word was God. And then, we jumped down here verse 14, and the word, again, capital w, became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth. So he's identifying Jesus as this this person, that was with God and that was that was God in the beginning.
Matt:Okay. That's verse 14. And then if we jump over to 32, again, 32 to 34, still John chapter 1. And John bore witness. I saw the spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
Matt:I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, he on whom you see the spirit descend and remain. This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, And I have seen and I have born witness that this is, identity, the son of God. This is the son of God. So we see all 4 gospels specifically come back to the identity of Jesus, because his identity is extremely important in establishing our hope in him. Because, again, anybody can die on a cross, but only God in the flesh, who is the author of life, can willingly take his life back up after dying.
Matt:So the gospels establish the identity of Jesus, and, they also number 2, I didn't really say that that was number 1, but there's 4 things here. One, they established the identity of Jesus. 2, they established the power of God within Jesus through the holy spirit and miracles. Right? So we see, we just read this, the holy spirit is on Jesus.
Matt:After Jesus, finishes up his temptation in the desert, we see that, he leaves, with the power of the holy spirit. And the the point of all the miracles and everything is to establish that he has the power of God within him. Right? And I do not have time to go through all the miracles in the gospels that would take forever. Even, I think, either John or Mark, I can't remember, says if we were to record everything that Jesus did, we wouldn't have time or enough pages and all that stuff.
Matt:It's it's it's abundant. So establishes the gospels, established the identity of Jesus. They established the power of God within Jesus. Number 3, they establish the final sacrifice for sin. Right?
Matt:They give us, his death and the reason for it. We see this in a couple of different places. Jesus talks about his death and and the purpose for it, in a few different places. We see it every time, they talk about, the baptism, John's baptism here, when John says, behold the lamb of God. And that phrase right there, lamb of God, would make sense to the Jewish people, especially in regards to sacrifice of sin.
Matt:So behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So and now we know, you know, through, the ends of the gospels where, you we get the crucifixion and everything, that this is a sacrifice for our sins. And then last thing, number 4, in regards to Jesus' identity, they established the proof of his identity and then the institution of the new covenant by his resurrection, which is super important, because, again, anybody can die on a cross, but not everybody can willingly take their life back after death. Since Jesus is God and he is the author of life, he can willingly take his life back, and prove that he is who he is. So the gospels, especially in regards to Jesus' identity, because there's a lot of stuff in the gospels, obviously.
Matt:But the gospels, they establish the identity of Jesus right at the beginning, but they also establish the identity of Jesus through the other three parts, by establishing the power of God within Jesus, which, you know, still goes speaks to who Jesus is, establishes the final sacrifice for sin, giving us his death and resurrection, which is, again, part of the identity of who he is or who he claims to be. And then, again, establishes the proof of his identity and the institution of new covenant by his resurrection. The identity of Jesus, who Jesus claimed he was, who Jesus is, is so very important because without the acknowledgment of his deity, what he did is inconsequential. It doesn't it it just doesn't matter. Unless he is the son of God, unless he is God, unless he was resurrected.
Matt:His death on the cross does not matter. Without his resurrection, we don't have hope because he didn't beat death, and we're still enslaved to our sin, and we are still, enslaved to living this life in the flesh with no hope of eternity later. So without the acknowledgment of his deity, again, what he did is inconsequential. And I think, that's why Satan challenges his identity so much when he's in the desert. You know, he constantly goes I mean, we see it really twice, but he he, says, if you really are the son of god, then fill in the blank, then do this thing.
Matt:If you really are the son of god, his identity is extremely important. And I I think it's why the gospels are full of all the miracles because they give account to the proof that Jesus has the power of God within him because he is God. You know, he is the son of God. And I think it's why the gospels all end with the resurrection because the resurrection resurrection is the ultimate proof that Jesus is exactly who he said he was, the son of God. And I also think it's why we see the apostles in the book of Acts explaining who Jesus was.
Matt:You know, they had to convince people that Jesus was the son of God before they could talk about the hope they had. In acts chapter 3 flip there real quick. Here we go. Acts chapter 3, excuse me, verses 13 through 15, says, and this is Peter speaking in Solomon's portico. It says, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him.
Matt:But you denied the Holy and Righteous 1 very important that, you know, those are all capitalized, Holy and Righteous 1. You denied the Holy and Righteous 1 and asked for a murder to be granted to you, and you killed the author of life. Again, another identity, phrase title here. You killed the author of life whom God raised from the dead. To this, we are witnesses.
Matt:So he identifies Jesus as the holy and righteous one. He identifies him as the author of life. He identifies him as the the one that God raised from the dead, and then he says, we witnessed it all. We saw this happen. And then he jumps down to verse 19.
Matt:He doesn't jump down to verse 19. I'm jumping down to verse 19. So he precedes he precedes verse 19 with all this. In verse 19, he says, repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out. He says, you know, this Jesus is the son of God.
Matt:He is the author of life. He is the creator. He is the messiah that we were expecting, and you killed him. Therefore, since you killed him and I'm telling you who he is, repent for the forgiveness of your sins. Believe in him.
Matt:You know, they couldn't defend their faith without this foundation. And the only reason they could defend their faith was because of the foundation they had. They knew it. They understood it. They lived it.
Matt:You know, they were they were with Jesus. It's a little different for for us because we didn't live with Jesus when he was on this earth, but it's no more out of reach for us than it was for the apostles. We can still have that same foundation. We can still have that same faith they have. Their biggest strength was that they had been with Jesus.
Matt:That was their biggest strength. It wasn't that they were, you know, anything special. Acts 4 Acts 4 verse 13. This is let's see here. Peter yeah.
Matt:Peter and John talked before the council, you know, after so they heal, a lame person, I think. Yeah. A beggar healed. And they're brought before the council, and the council's like, you know, by what power or name do you do you do this? And then Peter starts talking about who who Jesus was.
Matt:They go through the whole thing. I'll just read it real quick. Acts, what am I in? Acts 4 chapter or verse 10. Let it be known to all of you, to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, again, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you.
Matt:Well, this Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone, and that's another phrase and title that they would understand. And there is salvation in no one else for there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. And then verse 13, it says, now when they saw, they, the council, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were what? They were uneducated common men. They weren't, like, super Christians or anything like that.
Matt:They weren't, you know, as knowledgeable about the, the Old Testament or anything like that as the Pharisees and Sadducees and all that. They were uneducated common men. They were astonished. When they saw the boldness and saw that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished. But they recognized, this is the last part of verse 13, they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Matt:That was their biggest strength. They had been with Jesus. The foundation of their faith was in Jesus and spent time with him, and it built what they understood and what they knew about him. Them being with Jesus was their biggest strength, and it should be ours too. Because without that foundation, we have no defense.
Matt:Without that foundation, we have no hope. The foundation in Jesus in not only what he did, but who he is is what we need to defend ourselves or not to defend ourselves, but to defend the hope that we have. Let's pray. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I give you my life, God. I give you my life.
Matt:I give you every part of my heart, every part of my mind, my ambitions, God, my desires. I give you my life. It's yours, and it is always yours. I pray, God, that you would increase my faith today and that you would help me by the power of the Holy Spirit. Just lay a foundation of faith on you, on you, the author of life, the cornerstone.
Matt:Help me to lay this foundation of faith on you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Alright. Take some time.
Matt:Pray, you know, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal things in your heart. Give your life to him, every part of it, and just lay this foundation. Alright. I'm gonna close in prayers, so let's, let's pray together. Well, again, Lord, I just give you my life.
Matt:I give you my life. May I, always have the hope that you give and the defense for it. In Jesus' name, amen.