CHRIST!

Exploring the Glory and Beauty of Christ Jesus

Pre-Existence

Hebrews 2:10

¹⁰ For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings

I.                   THE TRINITY

John 8:58

⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

1.     Elohim

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning, God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.

2.     United yet Separate

The Trinity denotes that Three persons share one nature.

The three Whos (Persons) each share the same What (Essence). So God is a unity of essence with a plurality of persons. Each person is different, yet they share a common nature. God is one in his substance. The unity is in his essence (What God is), and the plurality is in Gods persons (How he relates with himself). Norman Giesler

                        Ephesians 4:4-6

⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

                        2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

¹³ But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, ¹⁴ to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

                        1 Peter 1:1-2

To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

                        Jude 1:20-21

²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

II.               THEOPHANIES (THE ANGEL OF THE LORD)

God continually appeared to the Old Testament Patriarchs in the form of a man…these appearances are known as theophanies. This individual is always called “The Angel of God” or “The Angel of the Lord.” Not an Angel “The Angel…” This distinction sets Him apart as an Angel of Yahweh Himself.

Here’s a description from Fausset’s Bible Dictionary

The “Angel of God” often means the divine Word, “the image of the invisible God,” God Himself manifested (Col 1:15; Gen 22:11-12; 16:7,13;31:11, 13; 48:15-16; 33:14; compare Acts 23:11; Num 22:22, 32, 35); accepting as His due the worship which angels reject as mere creatures (Rev 19:10;22:9); this manifestation was as a man, an anticipation of the incarnation…”

1.     A Help to the Helpless (Hagar)

Genesis 16:9-11

⁹ The Angel of the Lord said to her (Hagar), “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” ¹⁰ Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” ¹¹ And the Angel of the Lord said to her: “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael Because the Lord has heard your affliction.

Genesis 21:17

¹⁷ And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.

2.     The Judge

Genesis 18:1-3, 16- 21

Then the Lord appeared to him (Abraham) by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. ² So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, ³ and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. ¹⁶ Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. ¹⁷ And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, ¹⁸ since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? …²⁰ And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, ²¹ I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

3.     The Great Provider

Genesis 22:11-14

¹¹ And The Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. ¹² And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” ¹³ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

4.     The God who wrestles with us

Genesis 32:24,30

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone, and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. ²⁵ Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. ²⁶ And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” ²⁷ So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. ³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

5.     The God who Guides you into Destiny

Exodus 3:2-4

² And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. ³ Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” ⁴ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

6.     The God who Corrects

Numbers 22:22-23

²² Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.

                                               

7.     The Solution to Impossible Problems

Judges 13:2-24

² Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. ³ And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son… ²⁴ So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson, and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him.

8.     The Advocate

Zechariah 3:1-2

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

III.            JESUS WAS SENT FROM HEAVEN

John 3:13

¹³ No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

John 6:51

⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

John 6:61-62

⁶¹ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?

John 8:42

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

John 17:3

³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:8

⁸ For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You, and they have believed that You sent Me.

John 17:18

¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

Romans 8:3

³ For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.

Galatians 4:4

⁴ But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.

Answer Key: Separate; Helpless; Great; wrestles; Co

THE THRONE III - THE THRONE IS A PLACE OF UNBRIDLED JUDGMENT/JUSTICE

THE THRONE III

I.                   THE THRONE IS A PLACE OF UNBRIDLED JUDGMENT/JUSTICE

Revelation 20:11-15

11 I saw a great white Throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. 12 I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened…the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Psalm 89:14

¹⁴ Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.

                   2 Kings 22:10-12, 19-23

¹⁰ The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne, at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria…¹² And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand…”

¹⁹ Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. ²⁰ And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. ²¹ Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ ²² The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ ²³ Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”

II.                OUR BUSINESS IS AT THE THRONE FIRST NOT THE BATTLEFIELD

1.     Jesus taught it

Luke 18:1-8

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, ² saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. ³ Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ ⁴ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, ⁵ yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” ⁶ Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. ⁷ And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? ⁸ I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

2.     Jesus demonstrated it

Luke 22:31-34

³¹ And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren.” ³³ But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death.” ³⁴ Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”

     

3.     Daniel learned it

Daniel 10:1-5, 12-14

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel…² In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. ³ I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. ⁴ Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is, the Tigris, ⁵ I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz!...I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground…¹² Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. ¹³ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”

4.     King David Encountered it

2 Samuel 21:1-3

Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.” ² So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. ³ Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you?

III.             HOW TO DO BUSINESS BEFORE THE THRONE

1.     We make our petition based on legal documents

a.      The Word of God

Hebrews 9:15

¹⁵ And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

b.     What’s written in our book

Daniel 7:10

¹⁰ A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.

Psalm 139:15-16

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

c.      Prophecy

Revelation 19:10

“…the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

1 Timothy1:18-19

¹⁸ This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, ¹⁹ having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck.

2.     Then we put God into remembrance

Isaiah 43:26

²⁶ Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted.

3.     We silence the Accuser

Revelation 12:10

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

a.      Agree with our adversary

Matthew 5:25

²⁵ Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

b.     Humble Ourselves

Psalm 51:17

¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

·        Repent of whatever you think may be an issue

·        Repent for your bloodline

·        Repent with words

Hosea 14:1-2

O Israel, return to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; ² Take words with you And return to the Lord. Say to Him,” Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.

Your words set things in motion. They Grant God legal right to fight on our behalf

c.      Agree with the voice of the blood of Jesus

Hebrews 12: 24

²⁴ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

4.     Resist the Devil

James 4:7-10

⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

*Binding and Loosing are legal terms. 

Matthew 16:19

¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

                       

5.     Making Decrees

Revelation 1:5-6

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶ and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

                        Job 22:28

²⁸ You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you;

So light will shine on your ways.