True Son

And it claimed that the man initially accused his wife of infidelity,

but then when the paternity test revealed that this was truly his children,

his wife then confessed that she had had a complete plastic makeover worth about $100,000,

which was the result of, which is what resulted supposedly in these children.

And the story was circulated along with this picture of two, I mean, really beautiful couple,

and then three admittedly not so pretty children.

It was circulated, but it turns out the story was an urban legend,

and the picture was not of a real family.

Rather, the two parents were actually models, which is why they were so good-looking,

and the children were Photoshopped to look suspiciously ugly.

And it was actually originally an advertisement of a Taiwanese plastic surgery center,

complete with the tagline,

the only thing you'll ever have to worry about is having to explain it to the kids.

So this appalling story, it's funny now that we know that it's fictional,

but it teaches us not only an important lesson about checking your sources,

whether you're a news agency that covered it or people who are reading it,

but even more, it illustrates the principle of paternity.

This story was plausible to us because we know instinctively,

we know from experience that children are supposed to resemble their parents.

They're supposed to look like their parents.

They're supposed to act like their parents.

And in this passage, we find the Jewish leaders and Jesus debating about the true paternity of the Son,

and saying, who is truly the Son of God?

And the question is of the utmost importance,

because it is only the true Son of God who can reveal God the Father to us.

And Jesus demonstrates convincingly in this passage

that He is the true Son of God who liberates those enslaved to sin and death.

That's the main point of this passage.

And He proves this with four things.

At first, He bears the Father's witness.

Second, He speaks the Father's words.

Three, Jesus does the Father's works.

And finally, He shares the Father's oneness.

So in these four proofs, Jesus demonstrates that He's the true Son of God

who liberates those enslaved to sin and death.

The Father's witness, Father's words, Father's works, and the Father's oneness.

And the first proof is that Jesus bears the Father's witness.

And Jesus makes this incredible claim in verse 12,

I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

And we know from chapter 7 that this setting is during the Feast of the Tabernacle,

or the Feast of Boots.

And during the celebration of the Jews,

they had an elaborate ceremony involving water and light.

And the light part, they lit four huge lamps in the temple courts,

and people danced and sang through the night while holding torches in their hands.

And the witnesses, ancient witnesses of this festival wrote that you could see the light

emanating from the temple precinct to all of Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles.

And this would go on for days.

And moreover, Zechariah 14, 5-7, prophesied,

and this passage was actually a part of the liturgy,

the passage that they read during this feast.

And it prophesied that there will be on the last day no more day or night

because the light of God will shine.

And so in light of this loaded context, Jesus says,

I am the light of the world.

So it's an audacious claim to say the least.

And so the Pharisees confront him in verse 13.

You are bearing witness about yourself.

Your testimony is not true.

And they're referring to what Jesus himself said earlier in chapter 5,

where he said,

If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.

There is another who bears witness about me,

and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.

So they're kind of quoting Jesus' words back to him,

saying, You're bearing witness about yourself, so this can't be true.

And what they're saying, in essence, is,

I mean, you could make up whatever you want about yourself, right?

You could invent stories.

I mean, so it's not really verifiable if you say it for yourself,

but if someone else corroborates it, then there's some weight.

It could hold water.

That's what they're saying.

And that's why we need, when we apply for jobs or colleges,

references to go along with resumes that we submit.

And so there is something futile about praising oneself,

bearing witness to oneself.

So the Pharisees jump on that, and they say to Jesus,

you're bearing witness about yourself, and so it's not true.

And Jesus answers them in verses 14 to 15.

Follow along with me.

Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true,

for I know where I came from and where I'm going.

But you do not know where I come from or where I am going.

You judge according to the flesh.

I judge no one.

So Jesus is not playing by their rules here.

So he says, in effect,

So what?

What if I am bearing witness about myself?

The fact that you cannot verify what I said doesn't mean that it's not true,

because in fact it is true, Jesus says.

And he says,

the reason he gives for this is,

So this is not unlike, you know, in court when a witness is being cross-examined,

and the lawyer questions the witness saying,

well, how do you know that happened?

What do you know about this?

How can you say that?

And the witness simply responds,

well, I was there.

I mean, I was there.

I saw it with my eyes.

And Jesus is, in fact, saying,

I was there.

I was with the Father in heaven,

and now I'm going back to him soon,

to the glory and dominion I had before I came.

But you, on the other hand,

haven't a clue about the heavenly realities of which I speak.

So therefore, I can bear witness about myself, says Jesus.

And he continues,

You judge according to the flesh.

I judge no one.

Judging according to the flesh means that they were,

had the limitations incumbent on all human beings.

Their knowledge is finite.

Their character is flawed.

Therefore, their judgment also is fallible.

But Jesus says he doesn't judge like that.

He judges accurately.

And it's not saying here that he doesn't judge at all,

because he does judge.

But he's saying that he's not judging in an ultimate,

final sense at this time.

Because as he said in chapter 3, 17,

God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world,

but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus will come again to judge the world,

but this time around,

he has yet come to save the world.

And so he says,

You judge according to the flesh.

I judge no one.

But Jesus doesn't stop there.

He tells them that even by their own standards,

Jesus is not bearing witness to himself alone.

He does have someone that's corroborating his witness.

He says in verse 16,

Yet even if I do judge,

my judgment is true,

for it is not I alone who judge,

but I am the Father who sent me.

And he continues,

In your law it is written

that the testimony of two people is true.

I am the one who bears witness about myself,

and the Father who sent me

bears witness about me.

Now, the Father bore witness to Jesus at his baptism

when he spoke and said,

This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

The Father also continually bears witness to his son

with his presence.

It says in verse 29,

And he who sent me is with me.

He has not left me alone.

The Father is with the Son at all times.

But the Jews who are arguing with Jesus

is not satisfied with that answer.

Because they don't see the Father with their own eyes.

And so they ask him in verse 19,

Where is your Father?

And Jesus answers,

You know neither me nor my Father.

If you knew me,

you would know my Father also.

The reason Jesus gives

for why the Jewish leaders don't recognize his Father

is because they don't know him.

And Jesus is saying,

in fact,

that his family resemblance

is so obvious,

so plain,

that he resembles the Father,

God his Father,

that the fact that these Jews

don't recognize him

is a sure evidence

that they do not even know the Father.

Which is,

of course,

very offensive to the Jews.

And so they say in verse 20,

they wanted to arrest him,

but they could not.

Because his hour had not yet come.

So this is the first proof.

Jesus bears the Father's witness.

And the second proof Jesus offers

for his true sonship

is that he speaks the Father's words.

In verse 26,

26,

When you have lifted up the Son of Man,

then you will know that I am he,

and that I do nothing on my own authority,

but speak,

just as the Father taught me.

We know that he is the true Son of God

because he speaks precisely the words

of his own Father.

And he can do this

because he has heard the Father.

He's been with the Father.

And he's,

because he's from above,

from the heavenly realm of God,

as opposed to from the earth below,

like these Pharisees,

the creation that's in rebellion against God.

And what is the Father's word

that Jesus speaks?

It's in verse 23 and 24.

You are from below.

I am from above.

You are of this world.

I am not of this world.

I told you

that you would die in your sins.

For unless you believe

that I am he,

you will die in your sins.

That's the word of the Father,

the word of salvation

that Jesus had been proclaiming

from the beginning,

that Jesus was sent by the Father

to rescue us from our sin.

That's why he says,

unless you believe

that I am he,

you will die in your sins.

Now, this is a really

interesting way to phrase that

because what does I am he mean?

There's no context.

He just says,

I am he.

Who is he?

Who is Jesus speaking of?

And that's,

he says it twice

in verse 24 and 25

and also in verse 28.

And the Jews apparently

had the exact same question

because they say to him,

who are you?

He said, I am he.

Who are you?

Tell us.

And this phrase,

I am he,

is an allusion to

Isaiah 43,

Isaiah 43:10–13

verses 10 to 13,

where God says to Israel,

his people,

you are my witnesses

and my servant

whom I have chosen,

that you may know

and believe me

and understand

that I am he.

Before me,

no God was formed,

nor shall there be

any after me.

I,

I am the Lord

and besides me,

there is no savior.

He declared

and saved

and proclaimed

when there was

no strange God

among you

and you are my witnesses,

declares the Lord.

And I am God

and henceforth,

I am he.

There is none

who can deliver

from my hand.

So,

it's kind of confusing

at first listen

because he goes

back and forth

with the first person pronoun

and third person pronoun.

And the reason why

God does that

is because he's declaring

that he is the only God.

No one existed,

no God existed before him,

no God exists after him.

He's the one

who always is.

He is.

And though the Israelites

had worshipped idols

in the past

and though they had

sought other gods,

the only God

that they had ever needed,

God declares,

I am he.

And Jesus

now appropriates

that

powerful claim

to divinity

for himself.

The savior

you've been waiting for.

The Messiah

you've been looking for.

The God

whom you've been calling out to.

I am he,

says Jesus.

And so,

the only way

we can escape

dying for our sins

is to believe in him

and entrust ourselves

to him.

And that's

what he's referring to

when he says,

when you have lifted up

the Son of Man.

The language of lifting up

refers to being lifted up

on the cross,

Jesus' death

on our behalf

for our sins.

And this is

the message we proclaim

week in and week out,

but this is not something

that we can take for granted.

There was a study

published by

Ligonier Ministries.

It was commissioned

by,

they commissioned it

and had

Lifeway Research

conducted it.

And they surveyed

3,000 Americans

to see what their

theological beliefs were.

And 45% of Americans

believe

that there are

many ways

to get to heaven.

And what's

even more alarming

is that 11%

of self-proclaimed

evangelicals,

people who

profess to believe

in the gospel

of Jesus Christ,

say that they also

believe that there

are many ways

to get to heaven.

It's 1 in 10,

which means

if that holds

for this group,

that's about four of us

sitting here right now

believe that.

There are many ways

to get to heaven.

But Jesus says

very clearly,

there's only one way

to get to heaven

and that is through Him.

Unless you believe

that I am He

who will die

in your sins,

Jesus says,

we will die

in our sins.

This may sound

exclusive

to some of us,

especially in Cambridge

where we like to

a diversity of ideas,

we like to learn

from different cultures,

we like to read

different news sources

and glean insights

from everyone.

But when it comes

to salvation,

when it comes

to belief in God,

there's only one

salvation.

As C.S. Lewis

writes about it

in his book

Mere Christianity,

that the question

of religion

is much like

arithmetic in this sense.

He writes,

there's only one

right answer

to a sum

and all other

answers are wrong.

So don't believe

someone when they say

what you believe

is true

but what I believe

is also true.

You can get to heaven

that way

but you could also

get to heaven

this way.

it's more

intellectually honest

to admit

that sometimes

the beliefs

that we hold

undermine

and contradict

other people's beliefs

and then we can

truly have

a meaningful conversation

and Jesus does

exactly that.

He is the true

son of God

who liberates people

who are enslaved

to sin and death.

And it says

in verse 30

when he said

these things

many believed in him

which is encouraging

because Jesus

has not had

a good track record

up to this point.

Many believe in him

but apparently

we can't quite

be encouraged by that

because it's

a superficial faith.

It seems to be

a faith

that's a simple

mental ascent

but there's no

real commitment

to Jesus

because if you

read along

we see that

these people

who believed in him

were also the same

people who

are seeking to kill him.

The same people

who are still dying

in their sins

as Jesus says.

So

when Jesus says

in verse 31

if you abide

in my word

you are truly

my disciples

and you will know

the truth

and the truth

will set you free

that foreshadows

what is to come.

It's not enough

to simply believe

in a mentalist

and you need to

abide in his word

and to abide

is to remain in it

to hold on to it.

and maybe some

of you guys

have been to

Mount Rushmore

in South Dakota.

I've not been there

myself

but I've read

about this

is that

there's apparently

two million

over two million

visitors every year

but as

that many people

go through

only few of them

understand the fact

that

the monument

doesn't just

stay that way

without effort.

There needs to be

rigorous maintenance

work each year

and so

workers have to

inspect the entire

face of the mountain

to remove bird nests

and then pull shrubs

growing in the crevices

of the rocks

and then they also

have to most importantly

fill the cracks

that form naturally

on the surface

of the mountain

because if they don't

fill that

with a special mixture

of granite dust

and linseed oil

I think that's

flaxseed oil

and white lead

and then it will

erode

when snow

and rain

seep in

and then freeze

it will shatter the rock

the image of the face

of the presidents

so we don't see

all the work

that's going in

we just simply enjoy

this monument

when we visit

and our faith

likewise

must be tended to

and maintained

we must abide

in God's word

and persevere

in our faith

because the world

the flesh

and the devil

have a wearing effect

on us

adversities

that we face

the disappointments

the gradual decay

of our hopes

and loves

the chronic temptations

that rear their ugly head

again and again

these have a wearing effect

on us

and that's one of the reasons

why it's so important

to gather as the body

of believers

each week

to be renewed

in our commitment

to be refreshed

and reminded

of the truth

and the same survey

I quoted earlier

also notes

high level of correlation

between church attendance

and theological

orthodoxy

that's why Jesus says

if you abide

in my word

you are truly

my disciples

and you will know

the truth

and the truth

will set you free

and the Jews

respond to Jesus

in verse 33

we are offspring

of Abraham

and have never been

enslaved to anyone

how is it that you say

you will become free

and they're taking offense

at the suggestion

that they might

potentially be enslaved

because they're proud people

who boasted of the fact

that they were descendants

of Abraham

and so their spiritual heritage

is really

something

that no one else

can claim

and so for that reason

they never thought

of themselves

as being spiritually enslaved

and they're referring

to spiritual enslavement here

because politically

I mean there was not

a major power

in the ancient world

that they had not

been enslaved

they've been enslaved

by a lot of people

right

I mean Egypt

Roman Empire

Syria

Babylon

Greeks

everyone

and so they're talking

about spiritual enslavement

and Judaism taught

that if you study

the Torah

which is the first

five books

of the Bible

that it would make

you free

so it's surprising then

that to these Jews

who had dedicated

their lives

to studying the Torah

Jesus says

that suggests

that they are enslaved

presently

that they need

to be free

and in doing so

he's of course

saying something

about himself

that he's the one

that the law

was pointing to

he's the one

the truth

that can set them free

and so he explains

this further

in verse 34

truly truly

I say to you

everyone who practices

sin

is a slave

to sin

while it is true

that they are

biologically offspring

of Abraham

they are not spiritually

the offspring

of Abraham

so they can't put

their confidence

in their heritage

and likewise

for us

it doesn't matter

whether we have

believing parents

or whether we grew up

in the church

maybe even our parents

are pastors

that's not enough

for us

we need to believe

so we need to be set free

from our own sin

and as I was preparing this

I was reminded of

a show on the

Discovery Channel

called Moments of Impact

are you guys family with?

this is not

it's not like

an ongoing show

I think

it's like older

it's

and there's a video

that I saw

on it one time

it showed

a teenager

with his friends

because

videoing themselves

because they had

a pet lion

which is

I mean really cool

I mean if you're a teenager

so he had a pet lion

and of course

they want a record of it

so they seem to have

fixed the tripod

and they were recording this

and there's three of them

just patting away

at this lion

and then

all of a sudden

the lion

turns his head

and then bites

the arm

of the teenage boy

and then starts

pulling him

away

and so everybody

is now up in arms

all the adults come

they try to pull him away

but the lion

is stronger than all of them

put together

keeps pulling him away

and so

the tug of war

of life

and death

begins

and this

and it's a fully grown lion

too

a 500 pound lion

and so

everyone in that situation

and people watching it

are shocked

right

oh I can't believe

that happened

but really

should we be shocked

at all

I mean this is

a lion

a lion is not a pet

right

and it's

lions are apex predators

right

they hunt

and kill

that's their instinct

that's what they've been

trained to do

and it's not

a freedom to enjoy

to have a lion

as a pet

that's rather

terrorizing

that's something

that's a tyranny

to live under

and sin

is like that as well

we think

that we can

indulge in sin

indulge our flesh

we think

that we can tame sin

and tell it to

sit

and stay

and roll over

but sin

always

eventually

consumes us

sin is by nature

enslaving

and that's

the slavery

that we should be

most concerned

about

and

this is

especially hard

for us

to remember

because we live

in the so-called

land of freedom

but when we remember

we can consider

this slavery to sin

really we live

in a land of slavery

and Dr. Eric Foley

who's the head

of the Voice of the Martyrs

Korea

which is

Voice of the Martyrs

is an organization

that brings attention

to Christians

being persecuted

throughout the world

and tries to provide

practical aid

and he once did

an interview

on a radio

and said

this about

North Korean Christians

he asked

he told them

one time

hey

you know

that the American

church is praying

for you

praying for Christians

in North Korea

and then they

responded this way

you pray for us

we pray for you

that's the problem

with

with

the American

Christians

and South Korean

Christians

you have so much

and you put your

faith

in your money

and in

your freedom

in North Korea

we have neither

money nor freedom

but we have

Christ

and we've found

he is sufficient

they don't pray

for the freedoms

that we have

because freedom

in Christ

they believe

can't be taken

away from them

they don't pray

for regime change

they pray

they don't pray

for freedom

and money

they pray

for more of Christ

in their lives

to experience

this freedom

that they have

in him

and that's

in a country

that's on the top

of the list

every year

for persecution

of Christians

being executed

for their faith

and being sent

to internment

camps

Christians

experiencing

true freedom

in Christ

and that's

the spiritual

freedom

that's promised

to us

by Christ

and Jesus

alone is able

to provide

that freedom

because he alone

is the true son

he says in

verses 35

to 36

the slave

does not remain

in the house

forever

the son

remains forever

so if the son

sets you free

you will be free

indeed

in this culture

a slave

was a hired

hand

they owed

some kind

of debt

so they

become a slave

and until they

pay that

they work

and once they

pay that debt

they're free

to go

and so they

are not a permanent

member of the household

but on the other hand

the son

who belongs

to the

who's part

of the owner's

family

is part of the

household forever

and so on that

basis Jesus

says

it's only the son

who can liberate

slaves

for good

and notice

the word

remain

he says

the son

remains

forever

that's the

very same

word that

Jesus used

earlier to

say

if you

abide

in my

word

you are

truly

my

disciples

we must

abide

in Christ's

word

because he

alone

is the

true son

who abides

forever

in God's

house

and in

this world

as we live

we might

follow

you know

the patterns

of this

world

we might

think

that

there's

power

in

the devil's

rule

and authority

exercised

here

in this

world

we might

indulge

our sinful

flesh

and follow

that

because we

think

that those

things

will remain

with us

but only

the son

remains

only the

son is a

permanent

member of

God's

household

and so he

says

when the

son sets

you free

you will

be free

indeed

and Jesus

is the

true son

of God

who liberates

those enslaved

to sin

and death

so Jesus

bears the

father's

witness

Jesus

speaks the

father's

words

and now

Jesus

also

does

the

father's

works

in stark

contrast

the Jews

who

in this

passage

are seeking

to kill

him

verses

39

to 41

Jesus

says to

them

if you

were

Abraham's

children

you would

be doing

the works

Abraham

did

but now

you seek

to kill

me

a man

who has

told you

the truth

that I

heard from

God

this is

not what

Abraham

did

you are

doing

the works

your father

did

so Jesus

is saying

that true

paternity

true heritage

comes not

from biological

descent

rather we

must do

the works

of our

father

and Jesus

does the

works of

the father

which is

to save

and to

liberate

enslaved

those who

are enslaved

to sin

and death

but these

Jews

are doing

the works

of their

father

in seeking

to kill

him

and so

they object

in verse 41

we were not

born of sexual

immorality

we have one

father

even God

now that kind of

seems to come out of

the blue

doesn't it

why are they

talking about

sexual immorality

in this situation

and the reason

there might be

two different

reasons

and the first

is

they might be

making a snide

remark

being cheeky

here

referring to

Jesus

birth

because you

know he

was conceived

by virgin

Mary

and which

to the

unbelieving

eyes

looks very

much like

you know

illegitimate

child

you know

marriage

infidelity

and so

they might be

a cheeky way

of saying

well we

were not

born of

sexual

immorality

we have

one father

even God

and a

second

reference

maybe to

a Samaritan

folklore

Samaritans

as you know

were considered

by Jews

to be

racial

half-breeds

and political

rebels

who had

adulterated

religion

that's how

the Jews

viewed the

Samaritans

and the

Samaritans

returned the

animosity

and so

they did

not get

along

with each

other

and they

both

circulated

these

slandering

stories

about the

biological

origin

of Jews

and Samaritans

and the

one that

Samaritans

liked to

throw around

was that

these Jews

were not

actually descended

from Abraham

but that

they were

descended

Abraham

was descended

from Seth

son of Adam

but they said

that Satan

seduced Eve

and gave birth

to Cain

and that they

are actually

descended from

Cain

the line

evil line

not the

promised line

so this was

a rumor

that the

Samaritans

had been

spreading

so the

Pharisees

might be

thinking of

that

and thinking

oh Jesus

is taking

side with

the Samaritans

so they're

saying no

we're not

born of

sexual immorality

we have

one father

even God

but of

course

they're

missing

the point

because

Jesus

isn't

speaking

about

biological

heritage

he's

speaking

about

spiritual

heritage

which is

the only

kind

that counts

for him

so read

verses

42 to

47

with me

if God

were your

father

you would

love me

for I

came from

God

and I

am here

I came

not of

my own

accord

but he

sent me

why do you

not understand

what I say

it is because

you cannot

bear to hear

my word

you are

of your

father

the devil

and your

will is to

do your

father's

desires

he was a

murderer from

the beginning

and does not

stand in the

truth because

there is no

truth in

him

when he

lies he

speaks out

of his

own

character

for he

is a

liar

and a

father

of

lies

but because

I tell

the truth

you do

not believe

me

whoever is

of God

hears the

words of

God

the reason

why you

do not

hear them

is that

you are

not

of

God

Jesus

lays bare

the unbelieving

hearts of

the Jews

right so he

says that

they are

just

their father

as

evidenced by

their actions

is the

devil

who deceived

Adam and

Eve

and led

them to

death

he was a

murderer

and a

liar

but unlike

these pseudo

children

of God

Jesus does

the father's

works

he is without

sin

as he says

which one of you

convicts me of

sin

no one can

Jesus is the

true son of

God who

liberates

those enslaved

to sin

and death

and now

after

imagine this

is a long

back and

forth between

the Jews

and Jesus

the Jews

that are arguing

with Jesus

are by this

point fully

incensed

they are

extremely angry

they say to

him in verse

48

are we not

right in

saying that

you are a

Samaritan

so that's

referring back

to the

accusations

they thought

Jesus was

leveling at

him

are we not

right in

saying that

you are a

Samaritan

and have

a demon

and Jesus

says

I do not

have a

demon

but I

honor my

father

and you

dishonor me

that I

do not

seek my

own

glory

there is

one who

seeks it

and he

is the

judge

and this

riles up

the Jews

even more

and they

say well

now we

know

that you

have a

demon

Abraham

died

as did

the

prophets

yet you

say

if anyone

keeps my

word

he will

never

taste

death

are you

greater

than our

father

Abraham

who died

and the

prophets

died

who do

you make

yourself

be

and they

can't

possibly

explain

such

audacity

without

resorting

to the

fact

that

Jesus

must be

insane

he must

be possessed

by a

demon

and then

Jesus

answers them

again

verses

54

and 56

if I

glorify

myself

my glory

is nothing

it is my

father who

glorifies me

of whom

you say

he is our

God

but you

have not

known him

I

know him

and he

says later

your father

Abraham

rejoiced

that he

would see

my day

he saw

it

and was

glad

now notice

the parallel

here

because in

verse 50

Jesus had

said of

God the

father

that he

is the

one who

seeks

glory

he is

the one

who seeks

glory

but now

here in

verse 54

he says

the father

seeks

the son's

glory

the father

is glorifying

the son

and so

in saying

that Jesus

is making

a unique

identification

with the

father

the father

is the

only one

who seeks

glory for

himself

who can

seek

rightly

seek

glory

for himself

yet

this

same

self

same

father

seeks

glory

for

the

son

so

he's

speaking

of their

unity

he shares

the father's

oneness

and the

Jews are

incredulous

and so

they scoff

at him

in verse

57

you are

not yet

50 years

old

and have

you seen

Abraham

and Jesus

responds

authoritatively

truly

truly I

say to

you

before

Abraham

was

I

am

Jesus

doesn't

simply say

before

Abraham

was

I

was

that would

simply mean

that he's

really old

but no

he says

I

am

he is

the God

who said

I am

who I

am

in Exodus

3

14

the eternal

God

the God

who always

is

the God

who is

sovereign

and not

accountable

to or

dependent

on anything

or anyone

he is

that sovereign

God

he shares

the father's

oneness

and that's

why he's

the true

son who

can liberate

us

liberate

those

enslaved

to sin

and death

and I

hope

this morning

and I

pray this

morning

that every

single one

of you

come to

terms

with the

full force

of what

Jesus

is saying

the claims

that he

is making

because if

I were to

stand here

and make

the same

claims

that Jesus

is making

I hope

you say

that I'm

a lunatic

I hope

you say

that I'm

possessed

by a demon

because that's

the right

assessment

if he

doesn't

back it

up

and that's

what C.S.

Lewis talks

about in his

book

he says

I am

trying here

to prevent

anyone

saying

the really

foolish

thing

that people

often say

about him

I'm ready

to accept

Jesus

as a great

moral teacher

but I don't

accept his

claim to be

God

that is the

one thing

we must not

say

a man who

was merely

a man

and said

the sort

of things

Jesus said

would not

be a great

moral teacher

he would

either be

a lunatic

on the level

with the man

who says

he is a

poached egg

or else

he would be

the devil

of hell

you must

make your

choice

either this

man was

and is

the son

of God

or else

a madman

or something

worse

you can shut

him up

for a fool

you can spit

at him

and kill

him as a

demon

or you can

fall at

his feet

and call

him Lord

and God

but let us

not come

with any

patronizing

nonsense

about his

being a

great human

teacher

he is not

left that

open to us

he did not

intend to

so who

do you

say

Jesus

is

Jesus

claimed

that he

is a

true

son

of God

who

liberates

those

enslaved

to sin

and death

and do

you believe

that

the ultimate

proof of

that he

gave when

he died

for our

sins

and rose

again

from the

dead

as the

first fruit

of resurrection

life that

he promises

us

and when

you believe

him we

will have

life

we'll have