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Sunday, September 19th… _______________________________________________ "Live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:1-3 Our life must authenticate our faith! _________________________________________________ 2021… A Journey of Faith Fall Series… What Do You Believe? last week: Truth this week: Jesus A very natural and appropriate progression! ________________________________________________ What do you believe about Jesus? 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:13-16 _______________________________________________ Life's most important question… "Who do you say that I am?" Lots of opinions, but only one correct answer… "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!" _____________________________________________ Colossians 1:15-20 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. ___________________________________________ Gospel of John the Greek word for "TRUTH" is used 25 times. ALETHIA = "the state of not being hidden; fully revealed, factual reality" For John, "truth" wasn't an abstract concept. It was tangible, relational, and embodied in the person of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. ___________________________________________ 1 John 1:1-3 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ___________________________________________ What does Jesus say about himself? 7 "I AM" statements by Jesus in the Gospel of John I AM the Bread of Life. I AM the Light of the world. I AM the Gate for the sheep. I AM the Good Shepherd. I AM the Resurrection and the Life. I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life. I AM the true Vine. __________________________________________ classic "trilemma" argument for Jesus' divinity "Lunatic, Liar, or Lord" C.S. Lewis… "Mere Christianity"… I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was 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 the 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. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. 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. ... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. ____________________________________ What's the alternative? Where else can you turn? No one else has the words of eternal life! The Scandal of Particularity "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 _________________________________________ The battle is ultimately around the King! That's where the war is won or lost. "Jesus is Lord!" Pledge your allegiance to King Jesus. ________________________________________