Introduction to The Godhead: The Preexistence of The Son of God | Steve Benson

things as well and uh you know his his

attributes

uh and his humanity

you know I remember a camp last year we

looked at the the humanity and the deity

of Jesus and you can't separate them

first I was going to like well I'll do

one message and I'll do the other

message but it doesn't work like that

you know they're together his humanity

and his deity are are together the

prophecies about Jesus in the Old

Testament

uh and and uh the the theophies that we

have in the Old Testament, these all go

together. So this is his preexistence.

You know the you know we have a word

like eternal and when we think about man

the thing that we have that's eternal

was our soul. God gave us a he made us

and gave us a living soul that's going

to live forever.

So we have that eternal part in us. We

have eternal life in us. That's what

unsaved man needs is is life and eternal

life from God.

So here we see that you know that that's

who the son of God is. He is able to do

that. He is the light of the world. And

uh this pre-existence, it means that you

know somebody that doesn't have a

beginning

and somebody that doesn't have an

ending.

Well, that would have to be God, right?

So, you know, this goes hand in hand

with uh the deity and the attributes

of the son of God.

But you know Jesus, he's the very unique

person

and the God man who existed before he

existed.

You know, when he was born in the

manger, he he made he made all those

animals that were there Mary, you know,

he it's uh it's just an incredible

thought and an incredible thing to know

that he existed before he existed. So

this morning we're going to start out in

Genesis

and look at some of these um we call

them theophonies.

Uh and and that's what they are. That's

a good term for them. But you know these

things prove that Jesus existed

um before he existed

and uh come to us in the manger. And

we're going to start in Genesis chapter

Genesis 16 · chapter mention

16 this morning.

And here is Sarah.

And you know, God appeared directly

with Abraham. And Sarah, we're going to

see it happen with Abraham here uh in a

couple chapters.

But it says here, the angel of the Lord,

and the word angel, don't forget it

means messenger

with a message, you know. So, even

Jesus, we're going to see in the New

Testament, he's he's a messenger with a

message. And here he is with with Sarah

uh in Genesis chapter 16 appearing as

Genesis 16 · chapter mention

the angel of the Lord or the messenger

of the Lord, the Lord himself. And he

found her by the fountain of water in

the wilderness and by the fountain in

the way to shure. And he said, "Hagar,

um, Sarah's maid, where did you come

from, and where will you go?" And she

said, "I am from the face of this

mistress Sarah." And the angel of the

Lord said to her, "Return to your

mistress and submit yourself to her

hand." And the angel of the Lord said

unto her, "I will multiply your seed

exceedingly

uh, and it shall not be numbered for a

multitude." And the angel of the Lord

said, "Behold, you are with child.

You'll bear a son, and his name will be

Ishmael. And behold, the Lord will hear

your affliction, and he will be a wild

man. His hand will rest against every

man, and every man's hand against him,

and he will dwell in the presence of his

brethren. And she called the name of the

place that God uh seeth me, for uh I

have seen him, and that he sees me. So

God, the angel here is the Lord Jesus,

the pre-incarnate

Lord Jesus. Genesis is one of the

theophonies. I turn over to Genesis

Genesis 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18.

And here in verse one,

this is where Abraham was called the

friend of God because God visited him.

And this is the the pre-incarnate uh

Jesus Christ, the son of God.

And the Lord appeared unto him by the

oaks of Mamry and said unto him in the

tent door in the heat of the day. So

here is that appearance now as well with

Abraham. So these two kind of introduce

us to this thought of you know the son

of God appearing in the Old Testament uh

centuries before

uh his incarnation.

Now turn to chapter 22 of Genesis.

22

and verse 11.

And here we have that again. The angel

of the Lord called

unto him out of heaven, Abraham,

Abraham, and he said, uh, here, here am

I. So, this again is the pre-incarnate

Christ. And again, the angel means a

messenger with a message. And that's

what the pre-incarnate Christ does here

is give Abraham this message um for you

know him him to know and to understand

these things. And it goes all the way on

down to verse 18 there. So Abraham

returned to his young men and they rose

up. They went together uh to Beersa and

Abraham dwelt there. So God, the son

appeared uh to to uh Hagar and to

Abraham here to get the program of God

going as God said back there in Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, I'll make you a great

nation. Well, here he is making them a

great nation. Now turn over to chapter

31,

Genesis 31

and verse 11.

Genesis 31:11.

Genesis 31:11

And here we see again

the angel of God. Here it's the angel of

God or the angel of the Lord. Now it's

the angel of God. You come to me in a

dream saying, you know, here I am. And

lift up now your eyes and see upon the

cattle are striped and speckled and

spotted. For I've seen all that Laban

has done unto thee. I am the God of

Bethl. So now we don't have to wonder

anymore who this angel is. God says it's

me. You know, God uh in the Old

Testament here sending uh this message

to Abraham to get this nation going that

he had promised them.

Now we go into the book of Exodus.

Exodus chapter 3.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

And here we see

in verse two, the angel of the Lord

appeared unto him in a flame

of fire out of the middle of the bush.

And remember

that, you know, we need to remember that

God reveals himself as fire.

And uh here we see this uh we're going

to see it uh some more as we go into the

New Testament. But remember that God, he

reveals himself to be fire, to be a

flame here out of the midst of the bush.

And look, behold, the bush burned with

fire, but the bush was not consumed. And

u Moses said, "I will now turn aside and

see thy great sight and why the bush is

not burnt." And when the Lord saw that

he turned aside, God called unto him in

the midst of the bush and to Moses and

he said, "Here I am or here am I." So

this is God, the pre-incarnate Christ

appearing uh to Moses. So he did to

Abraham, he did to Haggi,

Hagar. And here we go again to uh see

that he appeared to Moses here in the

burning bush. And verse four, you know,

leaves no doubt. Who is this? This is

God. A God appearing as a fire uh not

consuming um the bush. So this is the

pre-incarnate Christ here in the Old

Testament for us to see. Uh, now turn

over to Exodus chapter 14

Exodus 14 · chapter mention

and that's what you know

what happened when the Holy Spirit came

in the church age to the church. He he

came as a fire there. And you know

that's how God reveals himself to us

sometimes is it's by a fire. And he did

here with Moses.

And now if you will look in chapter 14

and verse 19.

And the angel of the Lord who went

before the camp of Israel, he moved and

went behind them uh and the pillar of

the cloud went from before their face

and stood behind them. So here get the

angel of the Lord and again this is the

pre-incarnate Christ.

So God has brought Abraham

uh to himself. God has brought Sarah and

and uh the whole program of God to

himself. And as well he continues now

with with the children of Israel and

with Moses. He appears here as a pillar

of fire.

Now turn to chapter 23 of Exodus.

Exodus 23 · chapter mention

Chapter 23

in verse

20.

Exodus 23:20 here says, "And behold, I

Exodus 23:20

send an angel before thee to keep thee

in thy way and to bring unto thee into

the place which I have prepared." So,

you know, it's it's God appearing to

them uh to bring this message and and uh

you know, the pre-incarnate Christ. So,

that's who he is and that's what he did

for the nation of Israel. We see God

continue to guide and direct them

through this journey that they're on.

Turn over to Exodus 32.

And you know, this is the one where Paul

in First Corinthians brings this up and

says that it was Christ.

So, you know, that was part of our

understanding in church history. You

know, once once we had the New Testament

and we had Paul saying, "Hey, that was

Christ." Then, you know, leaves no doubt

that it was him.

because the word Christ is not in the

Old Testament.

Um,

but he is in the Old Testament and we're

seeing him here as the angel of the

Lord. Exodus 32

and then verse 34.

Therefore, now go and lead the people

unto the place which I have spoken of.

And behold, my angel will go before

thee. And nevertheless, in the day when

I will visit, I will visit their sin

upon them. And the le the Lord's plagued

the people because they made a calf

which Aaron uh had made. So here God

continues to lead them uh into the

promised land or toward the promised

land um as a fire, as a light for them.

I turn to Numbers

22.

Numbers 22

Numbers 22:22

verse 22.

Numbers chapter 22 and verse 22. We read

Numbers 22 · chapter mention

here that

and and God's anger was kindled because

he went and the angel of the Lord stood

in the way for the adversaries against

him, you know, so God, you know, can

protect and there's just so many things

that that he did for them, you know,

just to secure, you know, who they were

and the promises that he had given to

them. And you know this is when we know

Balam come to curse Israel.

And um you know God was there uh and he

saw the angel of the Lord standing in

the way and with sword drawn in his hand

uh and uh the ass turned up aside out of

the way and he went into the field and

balam schmote the ass and he turned in

the way. But the angel of the Lord stood

in the path

uh of the vineyards and the wall on the

sides and the wall being on both sides.

And when the ass saw the angel of the

Lord,

she thrust herself into the wall and and

uh crushed Balam's foot against the wall

and smoked them. So here we see the

pillar uh here we see the fire. Here we

see the angel of God protecting

uh them from uh this idol of Balum and

his prophets.

Uh Judges chapter 6.

Judges 6 · chapter mention

Judges chapter 6. Here we have Gideon.

Judges 6 · chapter mention

And a similar thing,

you know, when these these guys went to

battle,

God was with them and protecting them,

you know, and that's what they need to

know that that, you know, God was going

to protect them.

And they needed to keep on trusting in

the God of the Bible.

And here's Gideon in Judges 6 and verse

11.

And there come an angel of the Lord. And

he sat under the oak, which was 04,

pertaining unto Joash, and the Abites,

and his son Gideon, threshed wheat by

the wine press to hide from the

Midionites. So here we see God, the the

son of God, the pre-incarnate son of

God, there with Gideon, even in this

battle uh to help him.

Um I'll just mention a few more. Uh

Monoah Judges chapter 13 helped the

Judges 13 · chapter mention

angel of the Lord helped find Samson a

wife. Uh the one appearance in 1

Chronicles 21 where you know David

sinned by numbering the people and you

know a similar thing happened. The Lord

appeared to him and here's one of my

favorites. Uh go to first Kings 19.

And remember the angel of the Lord was

he was a messenger with a message.

And here in first kings chapter 19

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

and verse 5

know this is so encouraging

prophet is depressed and wants to get

out of here

and you know we all can get in that

condition.

We're all human

and God comes

to help Elijah here.

And you know the story about if you

never read this, this is this is a good

one to read.

This is the battle between the false

prophets and the and the true prophet.

And um you know Jesus is the true

prophet. He's going to defeat all the

false prophets.

And here we see Elijah in chapter 19

verse 5.

He says, "And as he laid and he slept

under the juniper tree, behold, the

angel touched him and said unto him,

Arise and eat." And this angel was none

other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And

the angel of the Lord came again the

second time touched him and said, "Arise

and eat because the journey is too great

for thee." So God saw fit to come to

Elijah and say, "Hey, you better eat

before we leave. They're going to get

hungry." May seem little for us, but you

know, that's how much God cares for them

and God cares for us. So the angel of

the Lord here came with the message. So

you know, this kind of thing was over

and over in the Old Testament um for us

to clearly see, you know, this wasn't

just a one-time thing. It it happened

several times. Now turn to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah

31

Jeremiah 31:31

Jeremiah 31:31

Jeremiah 31

and verse 31.

Behold, the day come, sayeth the Lord,

that I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel and with the

house of Judah, not according to the

covenant that I made with them, uh, but

to bring them out of the land, uh, and

to the covenant which they broke,

although I was a husband unto them,

sayeth the Lord. So, seems like a

strange thing to call God our husband,

you know, but that's what he did to this

nation. That's what he did um for

Elijah. That's what he did for Moses.

That's what he did for Abraham. That's

what he did for Hagar.

You know, he sent a message to them and

was their husband

uh in a sense of uh you know, bringing

this great message and direction to them

about this covenant that God was going

to make.

And but this shall be the covenant that

I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, say the Lord, I will

put my law in their inward parts. I will

write in their hearts, and I will be

their God, and they will be my people,

and they shall teach no more every man

his neighbor or his brother, saying,

"Know the Lord, for they shall know me

from the least to the greatest. And thus

sayeth the Lord, I will forgive their

iniquities and I will remember their

sins no more. So that's what God is

doing.

You know, if we go back to Genesis in

chapter 3, where was where it was uh

Adam and Eve?

Then then we can see there in chapter

three where God said he was going to do

this. I'm going to send a redeemer. I'm

going to send, you know, somebody to

crush Satan's head. You know, then he

told Abraham, I want to make you a great

nation. He brought he brought Moses. He

brought the the children out of Israel.

You know, God did all these things

through his word and through his

messengers. And these people followed

God and God took care of them and God

established this covenant, you know,

with them. And look at verse 35. Thus

sayith the Lord who give the sun for

light for day and the ordinances of the

moon for the night and the light will

drive into the sea and the Lord of hosts

his name. So God is going to give us

light

um from heaven and and that is his

precious son. Turn to uh Psalm 96.

Psalm 96.

Psalm 96 and verse one

here we see I'm sorry verse 11 9611

let the heavens rejoice

let the earth be glad

Let the sea roar in the fullness

thereof.

Let the field be joyful, and all that is

there in. Then shall the trees of the

forest rejoice before the Lord, for he

cometh, for he cometh to judge the

earth. He shall judge the world with

righteousness, and his people with his

truth. When when's God going to do this?

Well, that's what he's doing. He's

appeared to the nation of Israel. He's

brought out a people uh of his own. He's

blessed Abraham. And Abraham has come to

God by faith. He's been justified by

faith. So, you know, God is working this

covenant out uh with them and for them

and through his son. And then look, if

you will in in Psalm 98,

have a similar statement.

Let the sea roar in verse 7.

Let the sea roar and the fullness

thereof, the world and they that that

dwell therein, that's us,

you know. Let the flood floods clap

their hands. Let the hills rejoice

together before the Lord. For he comes

to judge the earth with righteousness,

and he will judge the world and the

people with his iniquity

uh with his equality.

And this is going to be the whole world,

not just the Jews. So here they are

reading this. Well, wait a minute. If

God God must have

program, God must have a plan if he's

going to include the whole world. He's

going to judge the whole world. And

that's what Jesus does. He comes now, as

we see in the New Testament, um he comes

to do this very thing, not only to judge

the world, but to save the world. Turn

over to Proverbs 8.

Proverbs 8

and you know if you know your Old

Testament you know that at some point

you know wisdom becomes incarnate

and and you know that's that's Jesus he

is wisdom incarnate right and here in

Proverbs chapter 8

Proverbs 8:22

verse 22 two, the Lord possessed me in

the beginning of his ways before his

works of old.

So this is Jesus. This is the the

theophies that we've been looking at in

the Old Testament is none other than

wisdom incarnate.

And now we see there in verse 8, I'm

sorry,

uh verse 22.

And now in verse 23, I will set up

from everlasting,

from the beginning, wherever the earth

was.

So God's had this plan all along. You

know, Adam and Eve didn't catch God off

guard. The devil didn't catch God off

guard.

So his everlasting plan has been from

the beginning where there is no

beginning.

And he says in verse uh uh 24 here when

there were no depths

there was no ocean. There was no Adam

and Eve. There was no Abraham.

There was God

and there was his son. There was the

Holy Spirit.

There were no fountains abounding in the

water. Behold the mountains were set

forth. Before the hills was I brought

forth,

while as yet I had made the earth, nor

the fields, nor the highest part of the

dust of the world.

And when he prepared the heavens, I was

there. This is the pre-incarnate son of

God. This is Jesus. This is one who is

appearing in the theophanes to Abraham

and uh and and to Moses and guiding and

directing the children of Israel. He's

called a people to his own. I was there

when he set a compass upon the face of

the earth. In verse 27, when he

established the clouds above, among us,

he strengthened the fountains of the

deep. when he gave to the sea its

decrees and to the water should not pass

from these commandments. He was

appointed the foundations of the earth.

Then I was by him as one that was

brought up with him. I was daily his

delight

rejoicing before him. Sounds like his

childhood. It sounds like his ministry

on the earth. And you know, wisdom

becomes

the logos

here in John. We're going to look at

that in a second. But before that, turn

to

uh Hegi in in uh chapter one.

Hei chapter 1,

one of the minor prophets. And here in

chapter one,

you know, this thought of a message and

a messenger. That's what an angel is.

And that's what the pre-incarnate Christ

did. You know, he wasn't an angel. He's

God. But he appeared with a message

to them and for them. And here we see

in Hegi 1 and verse 13,

then spoke Hegi,

the Lord's messenger

in the Lord's message unto the people,

saying, I am with you, sayeth the Lord.

So here he brings brings it out real

good for us to see that that's that's

what's going on. The pre-incarnate

Christ

is the wisdom of God. He's the messenger

and he's the message as well. Michael

Carter has a song. It's

that thou art the promise and the keeper

of thy promise,

you know, and it's similar to what Hegi

says here that, you know, God is the

promise and God keeps his promise,

you know, and and we worship him and we

praise him for these amazing things. So

the prophets were dispatched by God. You

know, they had a message from God to the

people. And the great prophet Jesus, the

great apostle Jesus had a greater

message for us and a greater uh he was a

greater ambassador for us, wasn't he?

Turn to Micah chapter 5.

Micah 5 · chapter mention

Micah

Micah 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5.

Micah chapter 5.

Micah 5 · chapter mention

And I'm sure you're familiar with this

verse.

Micah chapter 5.

Micah 5 · chapter mention

And you know, he says what he's going to

do for Israel and what he's going to do

for the nations, what he's going to do

for the world.

And here he says, Bethlehem,

Epapra,

though thou be little among the

thousands of Judah,

all the places Jesus could have been

born. And when we look at the

prophecies,

um, this is obviously a key one.

Among the thousand of Judah, yet out of

these shall he come forth. Who is this?

This is the pre-incarnate Christ. This

is the angel of the Lord. This is the

the one who has appeared in these

theophies

in the Old Testament.

And you know, here's this divine, you

know, procession

that Jesus talks about that the word of

God talks about. God sent his son. God,

you know, God sent God into the world

and here he's doing it in Judah

and here he's doing it in Bethlehem.

We know that got fulfilled. What's it

going to be? The ruler of Israel. Wait a

minute. I thought he died on the cross.

Well, yeah, he has more than one advent.

He has more than one uh one thing to

accomplish. He's he's got this taken

care of first.

He's going to be the ruler. And but

notice what he says at the end. They

have been from old.

How old? From everlasting. And that word

means that just

everlasting in the sense that there's

never been a beginning.

It's just incredible, isn't it?

So the prophets represent God by

preaching God's message. And you know,

often times it's it's really good news.

And here when it comes to this, it's

really good news. And what did the

angels do in the New Testament when you

know everyone shows up in the manger?

We're going to look at the manger. We're

going to look at the incarnation.

What happened? The angels were like,

"Wow, God has become a man

and

landed exactly where he said he was

going to land and exactly when he was

supposed to land.

Only God can do these things." And it's

from the days of eternity. That's what

this everlasting means. That the son of

God is he is he is just that. He's from

everlasting. He's eternal. He's always

been.

So this is indeed good news.

And we think about good news. Remember

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneo. Don't

turn to Daniel. You know, you remember

those three guys. What happened? Uh the

the outsiders looked in and said, "Wait

a minute, there's four in there." And

this was the pre-incarnate Christ. This

was the one who brought Abraham out of

uh his country. This is the one that

brought uh Hagar and Sarah uh and sent

them on their way. This is the one that

appeared to Moses in the burning bush.

Um this is the one who has appeared

numerous times. the message of God and

the messenger of God. Now turn over to

John chapter one.

The Old Testament says there's a message

coming and a messenger.

And here in John

chapter one,

now we see it's the son of God.

And in verse one, in the beginning,

what beginning? The beginning where

there was no beginning. The be the

beginning, this eternal beginning that

Proverbs talked about. this eternal

beginning that the prophets talked about

that you know the wisdom of God and the

man of God who Jesus is is going to come

um to this earth

and he will come as the word verse one

and the word was with God and the word I

don't like that word was is God

yeah it present tense tense. It's not

past tense. He is God.

So the son of God is God.

The one who the Old Testament told us

about. And uh you know again this is

this is part of who he is. This is not

all of who he is.

You know that the apostle said that

didn't he in John chapter 6. you have

John 6 · chapter mention

the words of light

and he is the light of the world. This

this logos

and um he he preexisted from eternity

past

and um

you know he is uh he had a childhood.

That's amazing.

God had a childhood and that was this

one who gained in wisdom as the Bible

says gained in his understanding of men

and these things. So from eternity past

come forth this little child. This is

the mystery that Paul's talked about in

Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

4. The mystery of Christ. Well, here it

is. This is the mystery of Christ that

God preexisted and he brought Abraham

out. He brought Moses out. He brought

the nation of Israel out. He was there

with Gideon.

You know, he was there uh you know, when

Samson chose his wife. And you know, God

was protecting his people and bringing

them a message and messenger. And now we

see that this great message and this

great messenger

um had no beginning and he is indeed he

is God. Look what it says in verse

three.

Most things some things no all things

were made by him and without him was not

anything made that was made. So this

savior, this logos

was was there in the beginning when

there was no beginning. Before there

were angels, before there was an earth,

before there was anything.

And in him was life.

And the life was the light of men.

Exactly what we need. Savior and a

redeemer. And the light shines in the

darkness and the darkness overcome it

not. Must be God.

That's what Paul says about the word of

God. You don't have to defend it. Just

turn it loose.

And then guess what? He God had a

forerunner who wasn't a God. He's just a

man.

And that's what that's what John the

Baptist said. I'm just a man. Don't

follow me. I'm pointing you to him. He

is the savior. He's the redeemer. He's

the He's the one who is going to go to

Calvar's cross and to die.

I turn over to John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

John

John chapter 12

John 12 · chapter mention

and verse 41.

Now here the Pharisees

and the Israelites and the Jews, they

really, you think they would have known,

right?

But you know, this God who made

everything, this God who brought Abraham

out, this God who brought Moses out,

this God who brought this nation out,

this God who has watched over this

nation and blessed this nation and kept

this nation, surely we would recognize

him when he got here. They didn't.

And here we see

that was predicted too.

Say, "Oh, too bad." No, it's not too

bad. It's good. No, the good news is

what he's about to say here.

Nevertheless,

among the chief rulers also, many

believed on him. But because of the

Pharisees, they did not confess him,

lest they should be put out of the

synagogue. It was pretty tough following

Jesus in the back in the day when he was

here

just kind of like it is now.

They love the praise of men more than

the praise of God just like it is now.

And Jesus cried out, "He that believeth

on me,

and who believeth not on me, but on him

that sent me, there it is."

Jesus said, "You guys should have known.

Go back, you know, look at every book in

the Old Testament. You guys should have

known,

but they didn't." He says, "But believe

on him that sent me." This is the

Father, "And he that seeth me sees him

that sent me." Jesus says, "You, I'm the

I'm the representation of the Father."

So when you've seen me, you've seen the

father. You know those verses, don't

you? But here he goes back and he he

tells us exactly what Isaiah said would

happen happened.

But it happened for us, a good a good

thing for us because now we've been

grafted in. Now this was no mistake. Now

we know that God had this plan from

eternity. We need a redeemer. We need a

savior and God

provided one. And then you know Jesus is

talk he talks about a throne. How many

how many verses could we turn to where

he he speaks of a throne? Well that's

where he went back right? That's what

what happened in Acts chapter one.

Where's Jesus? He's on his throne

just like this book said. And he's going

to come back.

And that's what Hebrews turn to Hebrews

1.

Yeah, we

we shouldn't be ashamed of Jesus

after all he's done, who he is and what

he has said and promised.

I mean, he's the victor.

And here we see in Hebrews chapter 1

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

and in verse 8,

you know, the Old Testament never calls

um

the son of God Christ. You know that

English word means anointed

and you know that's who he is. Now the

New Testament does

you know the son

is what the Old Testament said that's

Psalm 2

you know you know the son of God and

that's what the writer of Hebrews brings

out here turn in Hebrews chapter 1 vers8

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

but unto his son he saith the throne oh

God

is forever and ever.

So before anything was ever created, the

son of God was there on the throne and

the son of God has returned to the

throne. And in between we have Genesis

to Revelation.

And we have God providing eternal life

to us sinful people, not just the Jews,

but the Gentiles as well forever and

ever. That's like our That's like what

uh Micah says about Bethlehem that he's

come forth from everlasting

to everlasting.

And now Colossians chapter 1, you guys

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

know this verse.

Colossians,

you know, this that's why it's so

important for us to get this right.

And

You know, people who deny the deity of

Jesus, they're not saved.

And I don't know how you could not

understand and see his preexistence, if

you will, that he's eternal without, you

know, ignoring the Bible.

But here in Colossians chapter 1,

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

you know, that that was the problem that

people struggled with even after Jesus

accomplished what he did was, well, is

don't I isn't there something else to

do? You know, don't I need to do this to

be saved? It's all been done. That's why

Jesus said, "It is finished." All of our

sins have been paid for in full. Every

one of them.

And and you know it took the blood of

God to take away our sin. It took the

blood of God to pay for our sin. And God

became a man man just for that purpose

and to overcome the evil one. And here

Colossians chapter 1

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

and and

verse 15.

And that's what Paul says before. you

know, well, I'm not going to back up and

read all this. We'll run out of time.

But that's what Paul says. It's over.

It's done.

You know, you you can't, you know,

observing a day doesn't make you holy.

Clothes can't make you holy. Uh, you

know, doing anything can't make you

holy. The only thing that can make us

holy is faith in the son of God who shed

his blood for our sins. That's verse 14.

in whom we have redemption through his

blood, the forgiveness of sin.

And now Paul says in verse 15, who is

the image of the invisible God, the

firstborn of all creation. That doesn't

mean he was he was created as a as a as

a man at the incarnation. He was a baby.

We're going to look at that. But before

he ever become a baby, he was man or

excuse me, he was God and he become a

man.

And that's what Paul says in first

Corinthians about there is one God. God

the Father, God the Son, and God the

Holy Spirit,

you know, and that's what John the

Baptist did. He said, "Believe on him

and follow him." And uh

Jesus existed supernaturally before

uh Bethlehem.

Go to John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

And you know, people say, "Well, Jesus

never said he was God."

Well, that's a lie.

That Jesus in the Bible said he was God.

And

here in chapter 6

in verse 33,

you know, he not only,

you know, he not only

was an incredible teacher

and an incredible example,

there's none better. He's God after all.

But here he says, you know, people get

it wrong sometimes.

And you know, if you don't believe in

the deity of Jesus,

you're not saved. I didn't say that.

Jesus said that right here.

And the Bible says you're going to die

in your sins if you don't believe that

Jesus is God.

But to those who believe he is God,

we have the forgiveness of sin. And he

talks about laboring up there. And

that's what he did.

You know, he labored for God, you know,

as the message in the messenger.

And that's what he says in verse 29.

This is the work of God that you believe

on him whom he has sent. The father sent

the son. And the father says, "And the

son say,"Believe on me."

Then remember they got got some of this

wrong. Uh but he says down in verse 42,

he says, "Moses gave you not the bread

from heaven, but my father giveth you

the true bread from heaven." So not only

did Jesus say he was a bread of heaven,

he said, "I'm not what Moses and the

children had." That was just a a

something that was pointing to me.

For the bread of God is he who cometh

down from heaven and who giveth life

unto the world. So we need to eat Jesus

in a sense to have this life

because he's the bread of life and he

come from heaven and he's has existed

from eternity past. He's God in the

flesh. All these incredible and amazing

things.

And then he says in verse 38, I come

down from heaven, not to do my own will,

but the will of him who sent me. So at

some point in time in eternity past,

there was a conversation between the

father and the son. And the father says,

"I'm going to send you." And the son

said, "Okay, I'll go

and and become the bread from heaven."

And he says, "I don't do my own will,

but the will of him that sent me."

That's his father's will. You guys are

familiar with these things. And then

look in verse 41.

And the Jews murmured at him because he

said, "I am the bread that came down

from heaven." What? You're God? You're

not God. Jesus said, "Oh yeah, I'm God.

Eat, eat of me and see." They wouldn't

do it. That's the conflict here with the

Pharisees. Verse 50,

this is the bread that came down from

heaven. He says it again.

I existed before uh I existed.

And uh such incredible verses. This is

the bread that came down from heaven

that a man may eat of it and not die.

What?

Yeah. That's who Jesus is. We're all

going to die. We're born spiritually

dead.

And the only way you can get life is

through the son of God who became a man

and and was sacrificed for our sins.

That's John 3:16. For God so loved the

John 3:16

world that he gave his only begotten son

that whosoever believes in him will not

perish but have everlasting life.

Verse 51. I am the living bread that

come down from heaven. If any man eat of

this bread, he shall live forever.

And the bread that uh I will give him as

my flesh, and I will give my life for

the world. And that's what Jesus did. He

paid for our sins. He gave his body

for our to a payment for our sins. We're

going to look at the the incarnation.

We're going to look at the atonement.

We're going to look at all these great

things that the son of God did when he

come to earth.

Now verse 62,

Jesus said, "Not only did I come down

from heaven, I'm going to go back." That

was what was so hard for the apostles.

But

we we don't want you to leave, Lord.

And you guys know the story.

But here he says in verse 62, what if

you shall see the son of man ascending

up where he was before and it is the

spirit that gives life.

The flesh profits nothing. The words

that I speak unto you, they are spirit

and they are life. They go together.

So when you believe the promise of God,

you know, that's what happens. We are

born from above. We're born again.

uh by the spirit of God and by by the

word of God. So, you know, if if Jesus

were just like all the other prophets,

then he'd still be in the grave like all

the other prophets.

But he's not.

He's rose from the dead and someday

coming back for us. And we're going to

see what he does when he's here. his

divine nature. It's it's everywhere in

the word of God. How can we miss it?

We're looking forward to that. Let's

pray. Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit,

we thank you

uh for the word of God, the light from

heaven that shines on our dark world and

shines in our dark life. And we thank

you uh for the life and the light that

is Jesus, the word of God.

the logos, the message and the messenger

that has life in himself. And if we come

to him, we will never thirst. We thank

you for these divine supernatural

provisions

for us dead sinners on this earth.

And we worship you and we praise you in

Jesus name.

Lord, as we go from this place,

loving you more, trusting you more.

May the power of your love and the light

of your word shine

to sin darken world as we go from this