We Beheld His Glory
John 1:14-18
As we saw last week, Bethlehem was not the beginning of the Son of God; He had always existed as the eternal Word of God, Jn 1:1.
Then and there He chose to veil His glory temporarily and take on the human nature. He laid aside His glory, but not His deity,...Jesus never ceased to be God.
It was the first time the angels ever saw Jesus because before He sat enthroned in Heaven in inaccessible light.
On earth Christ revealed His glory in three ways:
1. His moral perfection...He never sinned in any way; He never gave into temptation,
Then and there He chose to veil His glory temporarily and take on the human nature. He laid aside His glory, but not His deity,...Jesus never ceased to be God.
It was the first time the angels ever saw Jesus because before He sat enthroned in Heaven in inaccessible light.
On earth Christ revealed His glory in three ways:
1. His moral perfection...He never sinned in any way; He never gave into temptation,
I Peter 2:21
2. His radiance on Mount of Transfiguration, Matt 17:1,2; Lk 9:28
Bright as the sun; was proof to them He was the Son of God. Years later Peter wrote about this, II Peter 1:17,18
3. He is the only way of salvation, v. 13
If there was any other way of salvation, just one, there would really be nothing glorious or even worthwhile in Jesus because He would have to share that glory, and glory shared isn’t glory at all.
Three Ways By Which We Cannot be Saved:
1. Which were born, not of blood.
Even if your parents are the most devoted Christians who ever lived, they cannot pass on to you eternal life.
Salvation is not in the DNA and no one becomes a child of God by natural blood. You will not coast into Heaven on the coattails of your parents,...a personal relationship is required. You must receive Christ for yourself.
2. Nor of the will of the flesh.
You cannot make yourself a Christian by your own efforts and will, apart from the Holy Spirit. Rom 9:16
My problem with much of SBC evangelism; it leaves out the activity of the Holy Spirit who must:
Convict the person of sin,
Convince them of their need of the Savior, and
Convert the heart to faith in Christ.
To tell someone all you have to do is believe in God, or, just recite a canned prayer, and it’s OK to keep on living like the devil is gross sin. James 2:19; Rom. 6:1,2
It’s why we have 17 million members in the SBC and run about 7 million in attendance on any given Sunday. So many have made some sort of confession to feel good, or get out of trouble, or get something from God, or to satisfy someone else that they never meant in the first place. Just playing games and have never seen the glory of God.
ILLUS...Just putting on a uniform and saying “I’m a soldier” makes no one a soldier. Just saying “I’m a Christian” makes no one a Christian, the heart must be changed by repentance and faith.
3. Nor of the will of man.
No one on earth can make you a Christian; no minister, no pastor, nor priest can do it with rites and ceremonies.
All the holy water in the world will not forgive one sin.
Multiple baptisms and memberships in churches won’t do it either.
God alone produces new life in the Believer when they come to Christ in repentance and faith prompted by the Holy Spirit.
God is always previous, especially in the matter of salvation. Before any man can seek God, God must have first sought the man.
The same grace that saves you will change you and you cannot continue to live the same old sinful lifestyle.
The same grace that saves and changes you will also keep you saved as well, I Peter 1:5.
Too often, baptisms become the trophies; I’m more interested in conversions, than I am baptisms.
v. 12...The only way is by receiving Him by faith. Eph. 2:8,9; Gal 3:26
Grace...in the New Testament is "unmerited favor"
2. His radiance on Mount of Transfiguration, Matt 17:1,2; Lk 9:28
Bright as the sun; was proof to them He was the Son of God. Years later Peter wrote about this, II Peter 1:17,18
3. He is the only way of salvation, v. 13
If there was any other way of salvation, just one, there would really be nothing glorious or even worthwhile in Jesus because He would have to share that glory, and glory shared isn’t glory at all.
Three Ways By Which We Cannot be Saved:
1. Which were born, not of blood.
Even if your parents are the most devoted Christians who ever lived, they cannot pass on to you eternal life.
Salvation is not in the DNA and no one becomes a child of God by natural blood. You will not coast into Heaven on the coattails of your parents,...a personal relationship is required. You must receive Christ for yourself.
2. Nor of the will of the flesh.
You cannot make yourself a Christian by your own efforts and will, apart from the Holy Spirit. Rom 9:16
My problem with much of SBC evangelism; it leaves out the activity of the Holy Spirit who must:
Convict the person of sin,
Convince them of their need of the Savior, and
Convert the heart to faith in Christ.
To tell someone all you have to do is believe in God, or, just recite a canned prayer, and it’s OK to keep on living like the devil is gross sin. James 2:19; Rom. 6:1,2
It’s why we have 17 million members in the SBC and run about 7 million in attendance on any given Sunday. So many have made some sort of confession to feel good, or get out of trouble, or get something from God, or to satisfy someone else that they never meant in the first place. Just playing games and have never seen the glory of God.
ILLUS...Just putting on a uniform and saying “I’m a soldier” makes no one a soldier. Just saying “I’m a Christian” makes no one a Christian, the heart must be changed by repentance and faith.
3. Nor of the will of man.
No one on earth can make you a Christian; no minister, no pastor, nor priest can do it with rites and ceremonies.
All the holy water in the world will not forgive one sin.
Multiple baptisms and memberships in churches won’t do it either.
God alone produces new life in the Believer when they come to Christ in repentance and faith prompted by the Holy Spirit.
God is always previous, especially in the matter of salvation. Before any man can seek God, God must have first sought the man.
The same grace that saves you will change you and you cannot continue to live the same old sinful lifestyle.
The same grace that saves and changes you will also keep you saved as well, I Peter 1:5.
Too often, baptisms become the trophies; I’m more interested in conversions, than I am baptisms.
v. 12...The only way is by receiving Him by faith. Eph. 2:8,9; Gal 3:26
Grace...in the New Testament is "unmerited favor"
Grace...in the Old Testament means "to pitch your tent with...to live among"
...and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us
...and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us
Faith…in the New Testament is "belief or trust"
Faith ...in the Old Testament is "to drive a tent peg, to secure the tent...to secure, keep"
A tent peg is to a tent, as an anchor is to a ship,...and the same as what faith is to our Christian life. Faith - Trust - Truth are all the same in the Old Testament.
Faith keeps us anchored, it keeps us from being moved by every wind of doctrine.
Word...in the New Testament is "something spoken"
Word...in the Old Testament is "the source of food"
Matt 4:3,4...It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
There is more to life than just the physical aspect. There is also the spiritual aspect as well.
You have a body,...but the body is just temporary.
You also have a spirit and soul which will live forever somewhere. Either with God in Heaven sharing and beholding His eternal glory, or in Hell away from God knowing only torment forever.
Matt 4:3,4...It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
There is more to life than just the physical aspect. There is also the spiritual aspect as well.
You have a body,...but the body is just temporary.
You also have a spirit and soul which will live forever somewhere. Either with God in Heaven sharing and beholding His eternal glory, or in Hell away from God knowing only torment forever.
Through faith in Christ you may enjoy the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
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