Luke 9:18-20
The core of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ.
In a room full of people, if I say, "Will all those who believe in God please stand." Many will rise. If I continue on, "those who believe in the creator of heaven and earth, please remain standing." Some will start to sit down, especially those of the Hindu faith and eastern religions. Then if I say, "If you believe in Jesus Christ his only son, our Lord, please continue to stand." By now, you will notice that not too many people are standing. This statement further separates Christianity from Judaism and Islam.
When we think of Marxism, we associate it with a set of social and economic theories. Yes, Marx and Lenin first formulated such ideas, but they were not the core of Marxism. Buddhism is about meditation, achieving the nirvana state. Its about doing good works to accumulate merits for the next life.
When we come to the Christian faith, at first we may be attracted by its unselfish love as demonstrated by some Christians. Or the quiet, peaceful and solemn atmosphere of worship. But sooner or later, we find ourselves being confronted with this: what we are going to do about Jesus. You see, at the center of the Christian faith lies the person of Jesus Christ. The core of Christian faith is Jesus Christ.
Who is this Jesus? When Jesus was alive, he asked his followers: "Who do the crowds say I am?….Who do you say I am?" To this day, men are still trying to answer this question: Who is Jesus? Several months ago, Newsweek magazine’s cover story was: 2000 years of Jesus. Every generation has been trying to come up with a satisfactory answer. In the early 20th century, was a movement spear headed by Albert Schweitzer, to show that Jesus was nothing more than a human being. He was a great teacher, an example for modern men to follow. There are also those who advocate that Jesus was an imaginative figure created by a religious group in the 2nd century.
Who is this Jesus? What do we mean by, "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only son, our Lord"?
I. Jesus the historical man.
When we say, I believe in Jesus, it affirms that he was a historical person. He was Mary's son, from Nazareth in Galilee. He was a Jewish carpenter. During his last 3 years on earth, he was known as a teacher. Roman historian Tacitus explained that Christians derived their name from Christ. Then he wrote that this Christ was executed at the hand of the governor Pontus Pilot in the region of Tiberius.
Jesus was not a fictitious figure, but a real man who walked on this earth. He ate and slept. He was mistreated and misunderstood. We are told that when he was on the cross, he was thirsty, exhausted and he died. He was a man just like you and me.
II. Jesus the Christ.
Jesus was not only a real man, his name also tells us something about him. "I believe in Jesus Christ." The word 'Jesus' means God saves. Before his birth, his parents were told to call him Jesus, because he would save his people from sin.
He is also Jesus, the Christ. The word 'Christ' in the NT is the same as the word 'Messiah' in the OT. Christ or Messiah literally means 'the anointed one'. In the OT, the anointed person was regarded as having been singled out by God as having a special importance. The Messiah was considered as the divinely appointed king of Israel. As time passed, messiah was referred to a certain deliverer, who would restore Israel to her former glory. So when Peter recognized Jesus as ‘the Christ, the son of the living God", he was identifying Jesus with the long awaited Messiah. That Jesus was the one sent from God to deliver his people from sin. Even to this day, men still live under the dominion and bondage of sin.
Let’s take a look at our society. Every two years we would spend millions of dollars to elect state and federal lawmakers. They would then spend million of tax dollars to investigate the corruption and illegal behavior of other lawmakers that we have elected.
Not just the adults, but there are more and more juvenile criminals. Last week I was told that in the Sugar Land prison, there is a special section for 14 year olds.
Then we have the drug addiction, problems in many of the public schools, broken marriage and families, distorted priorities and value system. There is the rampant sexual immorality and pornography. Selling pornography via internet is a big time money maker. It is easily accessible to anyone.
Then at the personal level, lying, stealing, dishonesty, infidelity has become a part of daily life. Last week we heard that a governor who earlier severely criticized Clinton for his moral failure, is divorcing his wife of 44 years to marry his mistress. These are social and personal problems. But even more so, symptoms of a much deeper human problem. That is SIN. We sin, because we are under the bondage and dominion of Sin. Even to this day we still need a savior to save us from the dominion of sins.
III. Jesus the only Son of God.
However, the Christian faith is more than a historical Jesus. That he is the one sent from God to deliver men from the bondage of sins. In the movie Simon Birch, Simon was a handicapped youth. He was so certain that God had a purpose for his handicap. The movie was about his search for God’s purpose in his life. In the end, he realized that his special purpose was to save the lives of other children from a sinking bus. In the process of saving others, he himself died.
If Jesus was someone that God had sent to save his people, he could be just another Simon Birch. But the Christian creed continues: His only son. Jesus was sent from God, but he was also God’s only son.
In the gospels, on several occasions, God said, referring to Jesus, "this is my beloved son." John 3:16,"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son to them, whosoever believes in him, shall not perish but have life everlasting." Jesus himself in Matthew 11:27 acknowledged God as his father.
When we say Jesus is God's only son, what do we mean? In the OT, this phrase: God’s son is used to refer to angelic or supernatural persons. The OT also refers to the coming Messiah as the "Son of God". In the NT this term is used to highlight the unique nature of the Son-Father relationship between Jesus and God. It does not mean that he was created by, or originated from God. Rather that he is of the same kind, same nature and same essence as God. In other words, Jesus is also God. This separates him from all other religious leaders. He is God.
Here we come to a very basic truth in the Christian faith. Jesus is both God and man. He is the one sent by God to deliver us from sin’s bondage. At the same time, he is also God. There are two implications:
First, because he is both God and man, therefore we can know God. In John 1:18,'No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, had made him known." Hebrews 1:1-2,"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but these last days he has spoken to us by his son..."
By seeing Jesus and listening to him, we can know God.
Secondly, because he is both God and man, therefore God knows us. There was a story about Charlie Chaplin in 1950. He directed a play at the Circle Theatre in Hollywood. During one of the rehearsals, he became frustrated with how things were going on the stage. To the surprise of all the actors, the director leapt out of his seat, jumped onto the stage, pushed one of the actors off a chair, sat down, and said, "Excuse me, please, I want to sit here for a while. I need to see how it feels." This is what the writer of the book of Hebrews meant when he wrote, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin."
The Christian God is not a distant deity unconnected to man. Nor is he so high above that he has no idea what we are going through. Rather, in the human person of Jesus, God stepped onto the stage of human history, sat down among us, and found out how it feels to be a human being.
When we look at our world and its abnormalities, the pain, brokenness, disappointment, despair, struggles in relationships; we often ask why? Why should this happen to me? What did I do to deserve them? There doesn't seem to be any good answers. No matter how much we study the bible, it seemed to be very silent on this issue. But one thing the bible is unmistakably clear, is: God too was touched by our pain. He knows how we feel. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is there walking with us. When we are in the waters and fires of life, he is there also.
He can certainly sympathize with us. He knows and understand our struggles and frustrations. Moreover, since he is also God, therefore we can approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
V. Jesus the Lord.
If Jesus is the savior, Messiah sent by God to deliver his people from sin, if he is indeed God, then what? In the book of Acts, we have an account of Paul.
When Paul was on his way to Damascus to arrest the Christians, a great light shone on him and a voice said, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He knew that the voice was from heaven, it must be God speaking to him. Paul responded by asking two questions: First, Lord who are you? The answer was, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." Paul knew that this Jesus must be God. As he recognized that this Jesus was God, he also realized that this Jesus was his lord. So he asked the second question, lord, what do you want me to do? You see, if Jesus is sent by God, is God, then he too must be the lord in our lives. So the Apostles’ creed states: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord.
While on earth, Jesus clearly claimed to be lord. "You call me lord, and rightly so...." And then there was this disciple, Thomas, who refused to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Later when Jesus appeared to him, showed him his scars, Thomas fell before him and said, "My lord and my God." Jesus accepted the title of lord.
Many have considered Jesus to be a moral teacher, or a good example of unselfish love. But is that adequate? C.S.Lewis wrote, "Any man who is 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 a 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. 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 has not left that open to us, he did not intend to."
Jesus is pushing us against the wall. He says, "I and the Father are one. If you've seen me, you've seen the father. If you see me, you see God. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father but by me." This is Jesus. Either he is the greatest liar or he is true to what he has claimed. No one has ever been able to call him a liar or lunatic. Or, if what he said is true, then the logical conclusion is that he not only is God, but also Lord.
But what does it mean to have Jesus as my lord?
Many of us, especially the younger ones, are busy planning for our future. We try to establish our career, change our resident status, saving money for our first house. Sending our children to the best school and all kinds of after school programs. The more mature ones are at times being forced to think of retirement. Even though you may have worked in this company for 20 years, but in times of mergers and downsizing, seniority doesn’t count anymore.
In the midst of such planning for future, have we ever stopped and asked, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" Generally speaking, we ask God to bless and expedite our plans. But if Christ is our lord, we must let him be the lord of our future. Asking him what does he want us to do in the days to come. You may ask, how do I know what he wants me to do? I don’t think we need to worry about this. You see, if we are willing to listen, when the right time arrives, he will make sure we understand what his desire for us is. The issue is often not whether or not we know what his desire for us is, but are we willing to submit ourselves to his lordship.
When Jesus is our Lord, then I will also ask him what he wants me to do in this spiritual community, spiritual home. What does he want me to do to help build this community into a place where people can come to know and worship God, to learn about Him, a place where God's love is experienced by loving each other, praying for each other, encouraging one another, and bearing one another's burden."
When he is my lord, my burning desire in life is to please him. The way I date, relating to people around us, my attitude towards work and church, are they pleasing to Jesus my lord?
When we believe in Jesus, the historical person, the savior, messiah and son of God, then the logical conclusion is that I also believe in him as my Lord. We are to avoid the danger and mistake of trying to separate Jesus the savior from Jesus the Lord. He is both my savior and lord.
I remember many years ago a young man came to our church in STL. He just got his Ph.D. and started working. He was not a Christian. Many explained the gospel message to him. One day he said, "I understand most of the messages you have shared with me. I agree with most of them. However, I also realized that if I am to believe in Jesus, became a Christian, I also need to accept him as my lord. I am to turn over the lordship of my life to him. At this moment, I don’t think I am ready to do it." Three months later, after one worship service, he came up to me and said, "Pastor, I am ready." He was ready to turn his life’s lordship to Jesus Christ. He clearly understand what was at stake. To be a Christian is more than embracing a set of ideas, doctrines and practices, but to recognize and accept that Jesus is the savior, he is God, and also the lord of my life.
In a few moments we will be receiving the holy communion. By taking the bread and the cup, we are expressing our acceptance of Jesus’ love for us. That he died on the cross to save us from the dominion of sin. That he is our savior. This is also the time for us to affirm his lordship in our lives. Lately you may be very busy planning for your future and daily activities, being the master of you ship. Maybe this is a good time to pause and ask: Lord, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do in this relationship, in this situation.
Then in our midst, we also have some who are not Christians. You have heard the gospel message. You know that Jesus is the savior, wanting to save you from sin’s dominion. And now you are ready to accept him as your lord and savior. If so, …………….
Sunday Aug 22nd, 1999, Rev. William Hsueh, Houston Chinese Church, Houston, Texas.