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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
Is He Worthy? - Jesus Is Eternally Worthy
Ever wondered how a Christmas carol could ignite a spiritual transformation? Join us as we explore compelling insights from the esteemed Bible teacher Martin Lloyd-Jones, delving into the significance of divine encounters and the eternal worthiness of Jesus beyond human perceptions. We’ll reflect on the story of the woman at the well and how routine can mute the vibrant essence of Christianity. By sharing personal testimonies, we’ll challenge misconceptions about Jesus’ identity and celebrate His role as the everlasting King of Israel.
Journey with us into the profound theological concept of Jesus as the image of the invisible God, making the intangible tangible. We unravel the unity within the Godhead, drawing from the Hebrew understanding of "echad" to illuminate the concept of the Trinity. Through the lens of scriptures like Colossians 1:15 and John 10, we address the Jewish perspective on Jesus' claims to divinity and explore His unique role in revealing God to humanity. Don’t miss this enriching conversation that seeks to deepen your understanding of Jesus' divine nature and the unity of the Godhead.
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One of my favorite Bible teachers was Martin Lloyd-Jones. He was a pastor of a great church in London in the mid-60s and 70s, 1970s and 60s. He was a well-known preacher and he preached a sermon from the story of the woman at the well which, if you were here last weekend, tyler preached. From John 4 in the story of the woman at the well, which, if you were here last weekend, tyler preached from John 4 in the story of the woman at the well, but it's so appropriate to what God's already been speaking, let me read it to you. He said Possibly one of the most devastating things that can happen to us as Christians is that we cease to expect anything to happen. I am not sure, but that is not one of our greatest troubles today. We come to our services and they are orderly, they are nice, we come, we go and sometimes they are timed almost to the minute. And there it is. But that is not Christianity, my friends. Where is the Lord of glory? Where is the one sitting by the well? Are we expecting him? Do we anticipate this? Are we open to it? Are we aware that we are ever facing the glorious possibility of having the greatest surprise of our life? Or let me put it like this you may feel and say as many do I was converted and became a Christian. I've grown yes, I've grown in knowledge, I've been reading books, I've been listening to sermons, but I've arrived now at a sort of peak and all I do is maintain that For the rest of my life. I will go on like this. Now, my friend, you must get rid of it once and forever. That is religion. It is not Christianity. This is Christianity. The Lord appears suddenly in the midst of the strudgery and the routine and the sameness and the dullness and the drabness. Unexpectedly, surprisingly, he meets with you and he says something to you that changes the whole outlook of your life and your outlook and lifts you up to a level that you may not have ever conceived is possible. Oh, if we get nothing else from this story, I hope we will get this. Do not let the devil persuade you that you have got all you are going to get, still less that you have received all you are going to receive when you are converted. That has been a popular teaching, even among evangelicals. You get everything at your conversion, it's said, including the Spirit, and nothing further ever. Oh, do not believe it. It is not true. It is not true to the teaching of the scripture. It is not true. In the experience of the saints running down the centuries, there is always the glorious possibility of meeting with him in a new and dynamic way. Isn't that awesome Turn in your Bibles?
Neil Silveberg:To the Gospel of John, john 1. And I have the privilege of opening this new series. It's our Christmas series. Is Jesus Worthy? And I'm honored to be asked to open it?
Neil Silveberg:Let's read the first five verses of John 1. Would you mind standing as the word of God is preached and recited? Thank you. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made. That was made In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. Thank you for these words that opened the Gospel of John.
Neil Silveberg:Father, help us to penetrate into their meaning this morning and begin this great season of Christmas with a reminder that you are from eternity past. You have always been and you didn't have your beginnings in the manger. You did on earth, but that you had your beginnings in eternity past. In fact, that's not even accurate, father. You had no beginning. Your Son has no beginning. He is the great I Am. In Jesus' name. We pray, amen. You may be seated A couple of weeks.
Neil Silveberg:A few weeks ago, when I preached, I recited again my testimony how the Lord saved my brother, who was a drug addict in Florida, and he began to chase after me, praying for me, and I was condemned to salvation and I succumbed in 1971. But looking back though, I realize now that that was not my first thought about Jesus, my brother's testimony. Actually, I grew up in Philadelphia in a Jewish home and in a Jewish Italian neighborhood, and when I was about seven or eight, one Christmas Eve, while walking past my Italian neighbor's house, I heard the words of the Christmas carol Noel. Noel born is the king of Israel and, being Jewish, I didn't know what that meant. I thought Noel was Leon spelled backwards. Didn't know what that meant. I thought Noel was Leon spelled backwards Because I had the typical ideas about Jesus that he was a Jew who somehow became a Gentile and converted to be a Catholic priest and went around Israel sprinkling people with holy water. I'm serious. That was my thoughts about Christianity. Nevertheless, I wondered why this song said he was born the king of Israel. It was much later, when I was almost 18, that I came to understand what it means that he is the king of Israel, and I surrendered my life to him.
Neil Silveberg:Now we're beginning our Christmas series this morning. The series asks the question and answers the question is Jesus worthy? The theme of this message is Jesus is eternally worthy. Jesus is eternally worthy. Sadly, many people still perceive him to be a mere human being, perhaps unique among men, yet still a mere human. Some of the cults, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, think of him as just a little more than a created being. In fact, the Watchtower Bible, the Bible of the Jehovah's Witnesses, starts and says in the beginning was the Word, the word was with God, the word was a God. And they insert the preposition a.
Neil Silveberg:But these verses in John set Jesus apart from every human being that had ever lived, not because he did extraordinary miracles or taught truth about God and man that far exceeded any other teachers. Rather, it was because of his place of origin that made him absolutely unique. Matthew in Luke's gospel tell us the story of his birth from the human perspective, that God chose to impregnate a virgin so she would give birth to a baby boy and that boy would experience the normal growth pattern of human development, luke tells us. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. By the way, this raises the question if the most important thing about Jesus was to come to earth to die on our behalf, why did he live into his 30s? Why not die as a baby or as a teenager? The answer is that his atonement required him not merely to die on our behalf, but to live on our behalf as well. He had to live a perfect life as a Jew under the law.
Neil Silveberg:Theologians give a term for this. They call it his active and passive obedience. Passive meant his death on the cross, while active meant his perfect life lived under the law. He never sinned and perfectly lived his life in obedience to the law. It's just amazing when you think about it, but that's not the perspective that John gives us when it comes to Jesus' point of origin. He begins his account not with Bethlehem and the babe born there, but with the fact that his own beginnings were an eternity past in the Godhead.
Neil Silveberg:So in these opening verses in John's gospel, it's clear that Jesus is eternally worthy for the following four reasons. Number one he is the word. In the beginning was the word. He is the word. Number two he was in fellowship with the members of the Godhead in eternity past. The Word was with God. Number three he is equal with the Father and the Spirit and the Word was God. And finally, number four, he was the agent through which all things exist, came into being, all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. So let's look at those four things in this message.
Neil Silveberg:First one John begins his account identifying him as the word In the beginning was the word, the Greek word. Translated word is the Greek word logos, and it has multiple meanings, including word, speech, utterance or message. In Greek philosophy, logos was an important personal force that represented the ultimate reality behind all things, logos. There was a Jewish Alexandrian philosopher who lived around the time of Jesus, named Philo. You may have heard of him. He used the term Logos to describe an intermediary between God and man, and many believe that John actually borrowed his concept of Logos from Philo. Now, it's true that there are many similarities between Philo and John's Logos, but there's one major difference John's Logos is a person who became flesh and blood and dwell among us. He was literally a man as well as God.
Neil Silveberg:The Apostle Paul in Colossians states that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1.15. Listen to that. He is the image of the invisible God. Did you know God is invisible, and did you know that Jesus is his image, the firstborn of all creation? God is invisible even as human thought is invisible. Until a word is spoken, thought cannot be understood. Let me demonstrate that I'm thinking of a word right now. Please tell me what it is Popcorn, bingo, popcorn? No, it wasn't popcorn. Can you tell me what my word is? You can't why? Because thought is invisible. But the moment I speak a word it was cat. The moment I speak a word, the concept becomes real and tangible, and I understand it.
Neil Silveberg:In verse 18 of John 1, john says this no one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side. He has made him known. No one has ever seen God. One translation of that is God only begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father. I love that he's in the bosom of the Father in eternity past. And then it reads only God who is in the bosom of the Father. He has interpreted him, or get this literally in Greek he has exegeted him. Exegese is a term used of interpreting texts of scripture and John tells us that Jesus exegetes the Father. There's no way to understand the Father except through the Son who is his exegete. The term exegete is a powerful term here. John uses it to teach that only the son interprets the father.
Neil Silveberg:Clearly, at first we might take issue with this statement. No one has ever seen God. But Moses was given a glance of God. Remember when he said to God at Sinai show me your glory. And God said I can't, no one can see my face, because if you do you'll die. But he said I'll hide you in the cleft of the rock and then you will see my back, but you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live. But Isaiah was allowed to see him. In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord. I think that was just quoted a little while ago. In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord, but who did they see? They only saw the one who is in the bosom of the Father. This is the only way that anyone has ever seen God Right.
Neil Silveberg:The second thing we note about John 1 is he was in not only the word, but the word was in fellowship with the other members of the Godhead in eternity past the word was with God. You know, I've heard people say the reason God created man is he was bored in heaven and he wanted someone to fellowship with. So he created human beings for that image. I can guarantee you God wasn't bored. You say, what was God doing in eternity past? Having fellowship, father, son and Holy Spirit. How can they be bored, having perfect fellowship with each other? But it was there in eternity past that the members of the Godhead worked out their perfect plan of redemption.
Neil Silveberg:Listen to a sermon from Charles Spurgeon who said in eternity past, the Father swore, quote I, the Most High Jehovah, do hereby give unto my only begotten and well-beloved son a people countless beyond the numbers of stars, who shall be by him washed from sin, preserved and kept and led, and by him at last presented before my throne without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. I covenant by oath and swear by myself, because I can swear by no greater that these whom I now give to Christ shall be forever the objects of my eternal love. Then I will forgive them. I will forgive through the merit of the blood. To these will I give a perfect righteousness, these will I adapt up and make my sons and daughters, and these shall reign with me through Christ eternally. The son says my father, on my part, I covenant that in the fullness of time I will become man.
Neil Silveberg:I will take upon myself the form and nature of the fallen race. I will live in their wretched world and for my people I will keep the law perfectly. Wretched world. And for my people I will keep the law perfectly. I will work out a spotless righteousness which shall be acceptable in the demands of thy just and holy law. In due time I will bear the sins of my people. They shall exact their debts on me. The chastisement of their peace I will endure, and by my stripes they shall be healed. My Father, I covenant and promise that I will be obedient to death, even the death of the cross. I will magnify thy law, make it honorable. I will suffer all they ought to have suffered. I will endure the curse of the law and all the vials of wrath shall be emptied and spent upon my head. I will then rise again, I will ascend into heaven. I will intercede into heaven. I will intercede for them at the right hand and I will make myself responsible for every one of them, that not one of them, whom thou has given me, shall ever be lost, but I will bring all my sheep on whom by my blood thou has constituted me shepherd. I will bring everyone safe to you at last.
Neil Silveberg:Wow, unbelievable. I think he was 21 when he preached that they determined the Godhead, that they would extend to the creatures made in their image and likeness the fellowship they enjoyed among themselves. He determined the Godhead that they would extend to the creatures made in their image and likeness, the fellowship they enjoyed among themselves. And that son, the son of the divine Trinity, was at the center of the plan, for he was with God, having perfect fellowship with him. You know, you can see this in another chapter in the book of Proverbs. Of all books, chapter 8 gives us a picture of the perfect fellowship that existed between the Son and the Father.
Neil Silveberg:It says the Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old Ages ago. I was set up as the first before the foundation of the world, when there were no depths. I was brought forth when there were no springs abounding with water before the foundation of the world, when there were no depths. I was brought forth when there were no springs abounding with water before the mountains had been shaped with water had been shaped before the hills. I was brought forth Before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep. I was there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep. I was there when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned the sea its limit so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the earth foundations of the earth, then I was beside him like a master workman and I was beside Wow.
Neil Silveberg:That's the son and his relationship to his father. That is what is meant by the statement. The Word was with God. That means before there was a beginning, the Word had been co -equal with God throughout all eternity. But what did John mean exactly when he says he was with God. The word with in Greek is pros P-R-O-S. It literally means toward, implying a face-to-face relationship. One translates it, states it best. It says, quote the word was face-to-face with God. Face-to-face with God.
Neil Silveberg:Commentator William Hendrickson, commenting on this verse, says the meaning is that the word existed in the closest possible fellowship with the Father. And then he took supreme delight in his communion. So deeply had the former joy impressed itself upon the Logos that it was never erased from his consciousness, as is evident from his high priestly prayer. And he quotes from John 17, five, where in prayer Jesus says now, father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed Wow, notice that phrase before the world existed. This is where the Son, the second person of the Godhead who was face to face with God, in cooperation with the Father, launched this divine plan that the Son would come to earth to die and redeem fallen human beings.
Neil Silveberg:The third area we learned from is the fact that he's eternally present with the Godhead. He was totally equal with the Father and the Spirit. The Word was with God and the Word was God. To all my Jehovah Witnesses, I'm sorry to tell you. He is very God of gods. You know, orthodox Christianity has this in common that it holds to the truth that Jesus of Nazareth is fully God. The Word was not only with God, he was fully divine. The one verse establishes the Word as being both divine and eternal in nature. Everything you read about Him after that initial statement in John 1 is to be filtered through this reality that the Word was God. And in this statement, john reveals three things about the Word. Number one that in the beginning, when the Word was created, he existed, that he existed with God and that he was in fact God and therefore made all things. In other words, the Logos extended eternally, distinct from the Father, yet equal to the Father.
Neil Silveberg:Now, jesus' divinity has been fiercely debated through the centuries. In fact, in the fourth century there was a church leader named Arius who denied the Trinity and the deity of Christ and in fact this led to a church council which was called the Council of Nicaea. The council was actually called by the Roman Emperor, constantine. He called it and Constantine became a Christian, or claimed to be a Christian, because he went out to battle against his enemies and had a vision of a cross, and the word came to him in this sign conquer, and so he put emblems of the cross on all of the emblems and ensigns of the Roman army, and they indeed won. And he said I embrace Christianity. And so many debate whether he truly became a Christian, but in some ways he promoted the Christian church.
Neil Silveberg:He presided over a council, the Council of Nicaea, that produced one of the most famous statements the early church ever wrote, called the Nicene Creed, and it was in response to Arius, who denied the deity of Christ. It defined the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. It beautifully defined the relationship between the Father and the Son. Here it is we believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth and of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, god from God, light from light, true God from true God. Begotten, not made of one being with the Father. Notice the beautiful phrase setting forth Messiah's deity begotten, not made of one being with the Father.
Neil Silveberg:Many wrongly believe that Nicene created the doctrine of the Trinity. But it didn't create the doctrine of the Trinity. It's not true. Nicene simply formulated what the apostles had already taught in their letters because all through the letters of Paul and even Peter, they described God as triune Father, son and Spirit, as triune Father, son and Spirit.
Neil Silveberg:You know, the people who have the most difficulty believing in the deity of Messiah are the Jewish people, my kinsmen according to the flesh. And that's because of the holiest verse in Judaism. Anybody know what the holiest verse in Judaism is? Shema Yisrael, adonai Eloheinu, adonai Echad, hear O Israel, the Lord, our God. The Lord is one, and that's the holiest verse in Judaism. But that verse actually affirms the Trinity, doesn't deny it.
Neil Silveberg:Did you know that the word one in Hebrew is not the word for a single word? That is the Hebrew word yachid. But that's not the word that Moses uses for one here. Rather he uses echad, which is a word for a composite group, one group, one flock, one theologian online says first, it is crucial to understand what Deuteronomy 6.4 means when it says the Lord is one.
Neil Silveberg:The Hebrew word, translated one, is echad. As I said before, it means unity, not singularity. It is used in Genesis 2.24 in referring to a husband and wife being one flesh. A husband and wife are not one as in singular being, they are in unity with each other. There is a Hebrew word that means absolute singularity, yachid, but it's never used in the scriptures in reference to God. With that said, it's impossible to affirm the biblical teaching of one God. From the very first words of scripture we are told there's only one God who created the heavens and the earth. The controversy is not whether there is only one God verse 2. The controversy is not whether there is only one God verse 2,. The discussion is how Christians understand Jesus as this true God. Christians believe that the Bible presents one God who exists in three persons Father, son and Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity does not contradict Deuteronomy 6, 4. As was said above, the Hebrew word echad means unity, not singularity. Christians believe the persons of the Trinity are united in the Godhead. Wow.
Neil Silveberg:But many Jews still reject Jesus' deity, asserting that he never claimed to be God. It's a big belief in Judaism that he never proclaimed to be God, but in John, chapter 10, jesus does claim it. He was speaking with Jews in the temple. As a result of his teaching, they picked up stones to stone him. And he said in John 10, the Jews picked up stones to stone him. Jesus answered I have shown you many good works from the father. For which of them are you going to stone me? The Jews answered him it is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself to be God. So Jesus, clearly here, was accused by the Jewish people of claiming to be God. So Jesus, clearly here, was accused by the Jewish people of claiming to be God. You know, there's a running debate in Judaism as to who a Jew really is. Some say it's ethnic, some say it's religious, and this debate's been going on and no one in Judaism agrees on it. But there's one thing that all Jews in this symposium that were trying to answer the question what is a Jew? One thing they all believed. They all believed you cannot be a Jew and believe in Jesus. Well, here I am. Deal with it, get over it, get over it. And the fourth thing he was the agent through which all things exist, that came into being, all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. The son, who is in the bosom of the father, is the agent through which all things were created. John begins his gospel with familiar words In the beginning, the opening words of the Torah In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. Bereshit bara, elohim, elohim ha-shamayim v'chaaretz. In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. This teaches that the physical universe has an actual beginning and is not eternal. The universe was created, which does a frontal assault on the theory of evolution, that all things emerge out of some great cosmic accident. Ten times in the first chapter of Genesis it's stated that God said, God said and things occurred and came into being. But here in John's gospel it tells us that all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made, was not anything made that was made? This is meant by the repeated phrase in Genesis, god said, psalm 33, by the word of the Lord the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth all their hosts. The word of God spoken created all things. But the word of God, the second person that God had, was the agent through which all things came into being. The same thing is stated in the opening words of my favorite epistle, the epistle to the Hebrews, where it says, quote Long ago, at many times and in many ways, god spoke of our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. What a verse. It's another statement from Paul when he wrote to the Colossian church, for by him all things were created In heaven and earth, visible, invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. That statement adds another layer of meaning to the fact that God created everything through the Son. He also created all the things he created for him as a gift. Did you know that we sell this in the passage of Hebrews, when it's stated that he was appointed heir of all things? Bible commentator William Hendrickson says God appointed his son heir of all things. An heir rightfully inherits whatever the father has stipulated in his will. As the one and only Son, jesus thus inherits everything the Father possesses incomprehensible, unfathomable. Everything was created for him and one day will be given to him as a gift. Now, going back to Colossians 1.15, paul states that he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. That phrase, firstborn of all creation, has been misunderstood by Jehovah Witnesses and other cults. They understand it to mean that Jesus was the first created, being the firstborn of all creation. They concluded, therefore, that Jesus is not first created, being the firstborn of all creation. They concluded, therefore, that Jesus is not eternal, he is not God. When Paul states that Christ is the firstborn over all creation, he is not making the assertion that Christ is a created being. The word firstborn implies supremacy and priority in rank. The clear thrust of this argument is that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. He should have the supremacy in all things as the firstborn. So these four arguments, when taken together in the opening verses of John the four being number one, that he is the word. Number two, that he was in fellowship with the members of the Godhead. Number three, that he is the word Number two, that he was in fellowship with the members of the Godhead. Number three, that he himself is God. And number four, he therefore is the agent through which all things came into being Leads us to the conclusion that Jesus is eternally worthy. In eternity past, this son was worshiped by all the angelic hosts. Now that he's been born in Bethlehem's manger, lived a life of obedience to the Father, died and rose again, and now sits on the right hand of the majesty of high. Let us worship him. Would you stand and worship him with me? If you're comfortable lifting your hands? Just begin to worship him. Let's take a minute and sing. You can sing, you can worship. You can. Father, we worship you. We worship you. We worship you, father, for bringing your Son into this world. We worship you for the Son, who had no beginning, was in the beginning, with the Father and Spirit. Thank you, father, and thank you that the Word was with God and that the Word is God. We glorify you and we thank you in Jesus' name, amen. I feel an urgency to press what Tyler had pressed. I feel there's some here this morning that don't yet know Jesus. You've never really committed your life to him. I'll be up here at the end of the service. There'll be others up here praying. We have a prayer team that's going to come in a moment to pray for any needs you might have. And if you're here and you don't know Jesus, please respond this morning. Open your heart to the gospel. Father. We close by asking you to save those who don't believe. Save them through faith in Jesus. Open their eyes to see the Son of God. In Jesus' name, amen.
