Framework Systematic Theology - 02 - Doctrine of Jesus Christ - His Deity

(This video is not meant to be sacrireligious. It was created to show how people can stereotypically fall into thinking about Jesus. Do we forget He is fully God along with His full humanity?)

In the last lesson, we looked at the storyline of Jesus Christ. It was about how we can understand Him throughout Scripture - from before the beginning of time through the time of future eternity. Why are we starting out with Jesus when looking into doctrines, and why are we looking so deeply into who He is? As people who are all about glorifying our great God, we must understand that Jesus is the glory of God (Philippians 2:11). So who IS (not “was”) Jesus?

Let’s first look at what the Deity of Jesus Christ means: Jesus as fully God. We have to remember that everyone has a view on this. Right now, if you realize it or not, you have thoughts on whether or not Jesus has always been fully God, if Jesus is fully God today, and if Jesus will always be fully God. All throughout history people have had views on this, such as:
Ebionism – People who believe this say that Jesus was a regular man who was born but chosen by God to become His Son at His baptism. The Spirit of God left this man near His death. This might sound crazy that people would believe that, but there is a man named Jose Luis today who believes He is now the “Christ” as the Spirit has entered him to be God’s Son. YouTube him!
Aryanism – People who believe this say that Jesus is not God because he is God’s Son who He created to be His firstborn over all creation. Jehovah’s Witnesses do hold to this thought today. When I meet other “Christians” throughout life, I normally love to ask them their thoughts on who Jesus is. I’ve gotten many answers saying that there is no way that Jesus is fully God and that God would never want Jesus to be worshipped because only God should be worshipped. The view of Aryanism is all over the place in many different people from bad teaching!

Are we crazy for thinking that God has a Son fully divine as He is? Are we the only ones who think this? Actually, Jesus claimed Himself to be God (John 10:30). Of course any yahoo can claim that, so what did others say about Him? Those who walked, talked, and lived with Him claimed His Deity as well (John 1:1). Again, any lunatic can claim that for himself and brainwash his followers to do this same. Did He actually display divine attributes? Yes! In the New Testament, Jesus displayed the divine attributes we normally think of: omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. But He also portrayed other important divine attributes: eternal existence, ability to forgive sins, faultless holiness, loving, just, etc.

Yet this article isn’t just to teach you that Jesus is fully God, but it is also to teach you that Jesus is the fullest physical revelation and fulfillment of who God was showing Himself to be all throughout the OT. God is creating and ruling by speaking in the OT. In John 1:1-14 Jesus is specifically called the Word of God. God is teaching and calling for living the way of wisdom in the OT such as in Proverbs. In the NT, Jesus is called both the Way (John 14:6), and the Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:30). As God is claiming Himself to be LORD in the OT, Jesus is constantly referred to as Lord in the NT (Philippians 2:10-11). God reveals Himself to Moses and His people in the OT as the “I AM”, and Jesus makes the same claim for Himself (John 8:58). Lastly, the greatest promise God gave to His OT people is that He would bless them with His presence. In Matthew 1:23, the author says that the angels’ proclamation took place to fulfill the OT prophecy that Jesus would be called “Emmanuel” meaning: “God is with us.” God is speaking of Himself in the OT to point us to His glory in the NT – His Son Jesus Christ.

What I want to leave with you is that Jesus is the difference maker. As we speak with friends and family about bringing meaning into their lives, we must be faithful to share the person and work of Jesus Christ for God to make a difference in their lives. Churches aren’t making a difference when they don’t point their people to Jesus Christ. So many people want to say that all religions are worshipping the same God but just from different angles. No! The glory of God is Jesus Christ and anyone who doesn’t believe in Christ isn’t a child of God the Father, rather they are a child of the Devil (2 Corinthians 4:1-6, John 8:42). Jesus is fully God.

Framework Systematic Theology 04 - Doctrine of Jesus Christ - His Offices

(Discernment from the Spirit of God is prompting me for a disclaimer here (haha)! Please understand that I realize this opening video is very controversial. In no way do I mean it to minimize the glory of our Lord, Jesus Christ. A youth ministry put this video together as an example of how people today stereotype Jesus' life on earth. I'm using it for both humor, but also as a wake-up call for us to view Jesus rightly! Also, the picture I placed on here is our fill-out sheet (filled in for you), and the weekly quiz I give to my students. If you are brave enough, take the quiz, email me for the answers, and I'll respond. Sounds like fun. Just click the picture to enlarge it. Disclaimer closed.)

What happens when people just sit around? The majority of the time what happens is storytelling. We enjoy recounting stories from our lives with others, and we also love hearing the stories of what others have gone through. God has created us that way in His image. As for the Bible, God is not giving us a bunch of ideas and then illustrating them with stories. Rather, God is architecting and narrating the storyline of all history (His story), and then interpreting that storyline with concepts. As we are seeking to understand who Jesus Christ was, is, and will be; and what He has done, is doing, and will do…it is easiest and most biblical to understand all of this in story. We are about to take a look at the offices of Jesus Christ. The offices of Jesus Christ wrap up who He is, what He does, and how He fulfills the narrative of all OT history (2 Kings 23:2). So let us take a look at Jesus Christ as The Prophet, The Priest, and The King.

First, Jesus Christ is The Prophet. Notice I didn’t just say that Jesus was a prophet but He is The Prophet. Personally, I think it would rock to live in the OT times and to hear the prophets speak for God. The prophets of the OT were literally God’s “mouthpieces” as God would speak His Word through them to His people. It would be so awesome to sit before a man who has literally heard from God a Word to communicate to me and to fellow followers of God. I think it is very important to understand that the office of prophet is closed today to all humans except for one Man. For those who may call themselves a prophet whether preachers, teachers, pastors, evangelists, etc…they are either mistaken, deceived, or deceivers. Even from the very first book of the Bible, God told Moses that there would be one final prophet to come to whom everyone would listen (Deuteronomy 18:15). That prophet finally came and eternally fulfilled the office of prophet as He replaced every prophet who existed throughout history. Jesus is The Prophet of God whom we listen to by going to the Word of God and realizing that every word of Scripture is ultimately coming with the authority of the Word Himself, Jesus Christ. Believe Him!

Second, Jesus Christ is The Priest. Like prophets, there were many priests throughout the OT, and the priests had many functions. The functions of the priests included making sacrifices for individuals, entering into the tabernacle, and praying for the people. How sweet would it be to lay our eyes on a man called by God to make sacrifices for all your sins and to watch them be washed away as a symbol of a greater sacrifice to come? No matter what people may tell you, the office of priest does not continue today except in one Man. In fact, our eternal priest is the final High Priest which means He can enter the Most Holy Places, and He can make a sacrifice for all the people. His sacrifice is one and done. Jesus is our ultimate High Priests that wipes away the need for any other priests today. His one-perfect sacrifice is enough for our forgiveness. He alone brings us to God. He is constantly interceding for us before the Father. In fact, Jesus as our High Priest isn’t even in the lineage of OT priests who were in the tribe of Levi. Our High Priest was in the order of Melchizedek. Why was Melchizedek the priest who pre-pictured God’s Christ to come? It is because he was both priest and king (Genesis 14:18).

Third, Jesus Christ is The King. There were many, many kings throughout the OT. Some were good, many were bad, some were righteous, many were unrighteous, some were respected, and many were untrustworthy. I’m afraid that as we think of the kingly office in the OT, we may see it as a big mistake. The people asked for a king, God warned them, and then allowed Saul to become king. Was God’s plan to have a king for his people? Yes! God had already told Abraham that kings would be a blessed part of his descendants (Genesis 17:6). Having a human king is good and part of God’s eternal plan because God had already purposed the kingship of His people to be passed on and fulfilled in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the final King who rules over God’s people in perfect justice, wisdom, righteousness, love, etc. And I can’t wait for the day of glorification when I will be like Him and serve Him perfectly!

Systematic Theology 01 - Doctrine of Jesus Christ - The Storyline

Have you ever thought to yourself that what you learn in church is difficult to remember? If you worship with the church in Sunday school, Sunday morning worship, Sunday evening worship, Sunday evening Discipleship Training, and Wednesday evening worship, then you may feel like its impossible to really remember everything you hear. If you think that, I’m with you! That is why there needs to be one central, overarching point to every message, sermon, and lesson just like there is one central theme in the Bible.

What is the Bible really all about? What is its central theme? Some would say it is a story that ultimately points to God and how God is working everything out for His own glory. This is a God-centered theology. The 15th century John Calvin said the central theme of the Bible is the glory of God. Others would say that the Bible ultimately points to God’s love for man. God created the world because He loves us, He sent Jesus to die for us, and He’s waiting for us in heaven. This is a man-centered theology. I don’t think we need to choose between the two. If we have a Christ-centered theology which the Bible is pointing to, then we have both a God and Man-centered theology! The point of Scripture is the Kingdom of Christ (Col 1:13-14).

Is Jesus really God’s point for all Scripture and all time? Let’s move through the storyline of Christ and see! First of all, the creation of the universe was all about the glory of Christ. When God created everything, He created it all through Jesus and for Jesus (Col 1:15-17). That is to mean that His purpose was for Christ to have dominion and rule over it all. Everything was originally put under Adam’s dominion, but he gave it all up to Satan when he fell into sin. It was given to Adam so that Christ would ultimately have it all in the end. This is why all of the stories, the people, the positions, the purposes, and the covenant in the OT point to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Christ’s Kingship was God’s purpose for creating everything.

Secondly, the incarnation (Jesus becoming human) was all about His glory (Col 1:18-19). Jesus took on human flesh to be the second Adam and overturn the curse. We see His dominion over creation through things like His miracles, His healings, raising people from the dead, etc. His incarnation was also necessary to be a proper human sacrifice for human sin against God.

Which brings us to the third section of Christ’s storyline: the cross of Christ was all about His glory (Col 1:18-19). We normally hear messages about how Jesus died for us and how He “thought of me above all.” It is true that Jesus died for us and that He thought of us, but God’s ultimate reason for the cross of Christ was so that He would be the firstborn (greatest) from the dead…resurrection! The cross is about Jesus getting the glory from His own victorious death.

Fourth, the church is all about the glory of Christ (Col 1:18). Paul says that Jesus is the head of His body. Well no duh! Then it also should be a no-brainer to us that He is the Head (the point) of the church as well. When we come to church, we should definitely think about worshipping God. We should definitely think about fellowshipping with each other. But those and everything else is for God’s glory: His Son being glorified by His people of faith.

Lastly, the consummation (eternity) is all about the glory of Christ. What will eternity be like? Will we be staring into a bright light? Will we be singing in choir rows every second? Will we be cloud hopping? Or is eternity a fulfillment of all history? Will eternity be us enjoying a renewed earth creation with a human Jesus Christ, worshipping Him through His death, together with all of His people (the bride), under His rule and reign forever and ever?

If we’re looking for a common theme in everything we’re learning with our church, we must look no further than the completed storyline within the Scriptures. The Kingdom of Christ is our focus as we must learn how to submit to Christ as our King, serve other Christians as our brothers and sisters, fight the enemy, and await the coming fullness of this Kingdom when Christ returns. Our view of the eternal Kingdom gives us insight as to how we are to live today.

Biblical Theology 01 - Genesis 1 - The Secret God Kept For Thousands of Years

If I wanted you to know more about me, I’d take you to my home. Not my house here, but I would take you to my old home in Tuscaloosa. I’d show you my house, where I used to shoot basketball for hours and hours during the summer. I’d show you my room where I played video games with friends all night long. Taking you to my home, my church, and my school where I grew up would give you a better understanding of why I am the way that I am. Moses is doing the exact same thing with the Israelites in Genesis. Genesis was written during the Exodus as God is revealing who He is as the Creator-Covenant God and who they are as His people.

Genesis is a book that is ultimately about God. As this series stemming from Luke 24:12-49 seeks to understand how all the Scriptures are speaking about Christ (specifically Luke 24:27, 44), we must never lose our understanding of God as Trinity. God the Father is always spoken of as Creator and Authority within the Trinity. The Son of God is not only spoken of as submissive to the Father, but also the very glory of the Father (John 17:24). The Spirit is spoken of as submissive to the Father and the Son (John 16:12-15). When we seek to understand Christ’s central place in all of Scripture, we should only do so in a Trinitarian framework.

The sovereign God is creating everything out of nothing. Moses repeats himself over and over by saying “And God said” (Gen 1:3, 6, 9, etc). Everything started with God’s authoritative Word. In order to understand anything about the universe, we first must understand God as Sovereign Lord over all. As God creates everything out of nothing, He has a specific system to it. He creates and divides in the first three days, and then He creates by filling on the second three days. Such as, on day 1 God divides the light from the dark, and on day 4 he fills with the sun, moon and stars. On day 2, God divides the waters from above and below, and on day 5 he fills them with birds and fish. On day 3 God divides the waters from land, and on day 6 He fills with land-animals and man. This theme is not uncommon to Scripture either. God divides humanity at the Tower of Babel in order to fill the earth. Jesus divides the bread and fish in order to fill the 5,000 listeners. God may even divide you from your church or your pastor from your church in order to fill another church to be used to glorify Christ. God’s dividing is to fill!

Genesis 1 tells us everything we need to know in order to understand Who created (God), what was created (everything), and how it was created (Word). But there is something very important that is missing. Moses didn’t know it. God kept His secret for thousands of years. In the midst of the many “And God said,” there was something God didn’t say! Listen closely.

It is crucially important to understand that God spoke creation into existence instead of blinking, twitching his nose, or even merely thinking. God created through His Word! Not until around 4,000 years after God created the universe does He reveal His purpose for doing so. After 33 A.D., John picks up the exact language of Gen 1 when he writes, “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). John writes on to say that God created everything through His Word, Jesus Christ. Further, the writer of Hebrews says that God created the universe through Jesus Christ so that Christ would inherit all of the cosmos that was made. This is exactly why Andrew created our CBSM logo the way it is. It is to represent how Jesus is the exact image of God, how everything revolves around Him as He is the nucleus of God’s purposes (Christocentrism), and how the entire universe is created so that He upholds it and rules over it as Lord and King.

John says that Jesus is the “Word” (John 1:1). Jesus calls Himself THE Truth (John 14:6). If God creates everything through His Word who is Christ, then we as Christians must be careful to continually listen to the Word, Message, and Truth of God…the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many competing messages (worldviews) in the world that we allow into our lives through education, books, movies, the media, and music. I wonder if we hear the Word of Christ as much as we hear the world’s words? What are the words of your music teaching you?

Biblical Theology - 2 - 1 Cor. 3:10-15 "Christocentrism: Jesus Christ is our Motivation"

When I went to Africa on a mission trip, it wasn’t the differences of Africans from Americans that shocked me. It was their similarities. Just like American teenagers, the Ugandan senior high boys seemed “too cool” to get involved, the senior high girls sat around giggling about the guys, and all the junior highers were enjoying the games shamelessly. I had to keep reminding myself, “Chip, your not in Kansas (USA) anymore!” Watching how teenage guys are prone to video games, wrestling, and grunting while teenage girls naturally love giggling, discussions, and frequent bathroom trips together…I’m convinced that both genders operate off different motivations. Teenage guys are motivated by action while teenage girls are motivated by affection.

Since we’re on the subject of motivation, it’s important to crack our chests open, and examine our hearts… spiritually! What is the central motivation of our lives? Why do we do what we do? I believe if we’re honest, we’ll all admit that sometimes we just get tired of doing the “Christian thing” whether it be church, singing, witnessing, studying, etc. Paul is addressing a church in the same condition that we often find ourselves. He points them back to the right motivation for life in 1 Corinthians 3:10 – 15.

Paul is writing his little heart out to the church in the city of Corinth saying that life isn’t about him or anyone else in ministry, but it’s about the foundation that every ministry should be built on. That foundation is Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ is the motivation for our salvation (vs. 10-11). The foundational motivation that God uses to bring everyone to faith in Christ is the desire to know and follow Christ. When I played high school basketball, the number one reason I played was for glory – the glory of the team and the glory of me. Glory is the reason I ran sprints, practiced until near exhaustion, shot more than a hundred times a day, and wore the embarrassingly tight hand-me-down uniform. God’s goal for salvation is that Jesus Christ would get the glory from our lives. God works in the heart of a sinner in a way that they see their sin, they see their need for Christ, and they want to be united to Him.

Not only salvation, but Paul also says that Jesus Christ is the motivation of our sanctification (vs. 12-15). Sanctification is a word talkin’ bout our spiritual growth. Paul rushes his readers way ahead to the Day of Judgment as he tells them that all of their works will be tested with fire. In the next chapter, Paul tells them that their works are being tested for the motivation - why they are done (1 Cor 4:5). So the motivation is crucial! All of this is a picture of our good works being put on a conveyor belt and passing through a fire. If they were done for the glory of Christ, they will come out the other side proven as valuable as gold, silver, and jewels. If even the best of someone’s good works weren’t done with the motivation of glorifying Christ (if done for self or someone else), then the worth will be proven by ashes of incinerated wood, hay, and straw. God’s desire is that we do everything for the glory of His Son, Jesus Christ. Change your mind to make Jesus’ glory the reason for everything you do. Decide to grow spiritually as a Christian because you want to glorify Christ with your life!

As I’m writing this right now, you may be just as bothered as I am about the past. “What about all of those Christian, religious, great things I’ve done in my life? Are you saying they don’t count to God unless Jesus is first in my mind?” That’s not what I’m saying at all. I would never come up with anyone like that because I’m a sinner. But that is what God is saying through the Apostle Paul. If we find ourselves doing things not for Christ’s glory, we must stop, pray, and set our hearts on Him. Just like guys and girls, the motivation of Christians must be different from the world – Jesus Christ!

Biblical Theology - 1 - Luke 24 "Series Twenty Four: Through the Bible in 7 Miles"

It raised the phrase “a walk to remember” to a new level. When I was a youth leader in Tuscaloosa, the youth pastor and I took a group of graduated senior guys to the beach. The youth pastor warned them of my love to walk the beach for miles and hours, but they still joined me. We began our journey at 10am with the sun to our backs, and at high noon we headed back as the sun had crossed over the sky and was at our backs again. One not-so-lucky walker started feeling really hot later that night and found that he was severely sunburned. After being confined to a couch with a near-by fan, food, and a videogame controller for the rest of the week at the beach house, one of the guys found a strong pain reliever in his bag on the last night of the trip. It sure made my friend feel better, but he was ticked it wasn’t found until the last day!

I’m sure it’s hard to believe, but there is an even greater walk to remember in history. Three days after His death (ring a bell?), Jesus’ disciples were on a seven-mile walk of their own from Jerusalem to Emmaus when a stranger appears out of nowhere and joins them on their journey. Shhhh! It was Jesus in stealth-mode. Jesus asks the disciples what the topic of conversation for the day is. They thought surely he was some ignorant tourist with a camera around his neck since he hadn’t heard of the recent crucifixion and robbery of Jesus of Nazareth’s body. Jesus scolds them a bit by calling them foolish for their unbelief in the resurrection as He personally takes them through the OT to show them how Genesis through Malachi foretold the glorious resurrection He entered through His suffering of the cross. As night fell, they asked the strange traveler if he would stay with them. He did. He even broke bread with them and blessed it (ringing another bell?). At that very moment, they recognized who it was all this time! But then Jesus vanished. They both agreed that their hearts burned within them as He walked them through all the OT and interpreted it to be about Himself.

These disciples went running to the others to tell them that Jesus’ body wasn’t stolen, but He truly had been raised from the dead. Again, He appears in their midst. Jesus has got some great timing! He wanted to show them that He’s not a ghost, but He’s a real, risen human being with flesh, bones, blood, hair, and ear wax. And then to really show he’s a real human being, Jesus sits down and eats with them. I can only imagine how hungry He was after being dead 3 days. For a second time (but this time over dinner), Jesus takes them all back through the whole OT. He shows them how He fulfilled all of the prophecies, curses, and promises. He teaches them that His death provides forgiveness of sins through personal repentance, and that this great news (Gospel) must be told to all the nations through His witnesses…His disciples.

Side note - I walked into my bank one day. One of their cheesy drink coasters jumped off the counter at me (not quite literally). The bank was doing a promotion where every transaction would give the customer a point, and points could buy certain things. The coaster read: “Finally, it all has a point.” “Wow!” (That was me thinking loudly to myself) The world is sending a message that they all really are looking for the point of all life. What brings all of life together? What is the one point that makes sense of everything? It is Jesus Christ!

I think how teenagers are learning so many different subjects, sports, social skills, etc. They are begging with the question, “Yeah, but what’s the point?” Churched teens are learning so many different verses, doctrines, truths, stories, spiritual disciplines, etc. If they don’t get the point to it all, everything will just be a big disconnected jumbled mess in their lives. Jesus tells us how to interpret all of life, all of Scripture, and all of all things. The answer is Himself – Jesus Christ! God has created and designed all things to find their goal in Jesus (Eph 1:10-11), He finds His glory in Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:10-11), His will for our lives is that we are transformed into Christ’s image (Rom 8:29), and He wants us to experience our joy in Jesus. As you walk with Jesus through His Word, remember, He is the point to everything written there!