Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20041024.htm

APPLYING OUR CHURCH'S STATEMENT OF BIBLICAL FAITH
Article III, Part IV Of The Nepaug Bible Church Bylaws: God The Son, Jesus Christ
A. The Person Of God The Son, Jesus Christ
(Colossians 2:9; John 1:1-3, 14; Philippians 2:5-8 et al.)
  1. Introduction
    1. Many cults and Liberal Theology scholars hold views that differ from our Statement of Faith re: Christ: (1) some deny Christ is fully God, asserting He is not God now or that He was not God in eternity past or that He is a "god" only in the sense of possessing godly qualities that any decent human being possesses. (b) Others deny He is God in denying that He was virgin born. (c) Others assert Jesus was God, but, in coming to earth and the cross, He emptied Himself of deity so that He is not fully God in the flesh!
    2. Yet, our Statement of Faith reads: "We believe that Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Godhead, God made known in the flesh as the unique God-man. As God incarnate, born through the virgin birth, He is the perfect man. He thereby voluntarily laid aside the visible expression of some of His divine attributes." We view our belief and the claims by cults and Liberal Theologians in light of Scripture:
  2. The Person Of God The Son, Jesus Christ, Colossians 2:9; John 1:1-3, 14; Philippians 2:5-8 et al.
    1. Colossians 2:9 with John 1:1-3 reveal Jesus is the ETERNAL God Who was never created:
      1. All the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ in human bodily form according to Colossians 2:9.
      2. This total deity applies to His eternality as the eternal God, for Jesus was never created, John 1:1-3:
        1. John wrote that Jesus as the Word in John 1:1 created all that was ever created, John 1:3.
        2. As it is impossible for a being to create Himself, Jesus is the eternal God Who was never created!
    2. Since Christ possesses all the fulness of the Godhead in bodily form according to Colossians 2:9, Jesus Christ can not be merely a "god" in being godly in character, but the full deity as Creator God, cf. Jn. 1:3.
    3. Being the eternal God, Jesus was virgin born in that he did not have His origin by a human father, but God miraculously produced the Incarnate God-man, Jesus in the womb of Mary, cf. Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:30-35:
      1. Note: Some conservative Christians object to the Revised Standard Version's translation of the Hebrew word, 'almah in Isaiah 7:14 as "a young woman," for it leaves the passage claiming "a young woman would conceive and bear a son" rather than a "virgin" would do so, presumably giving room to deny Christ's virgin birth. In reality, though 'almah is not the actual Hebrew word for "virgin" like betulah is, 'almah in the Old Testament is always "used of an unmarried woman of marriageable age" like we would use the word, "maiden" or "damsel," (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1048; B. D. B., Hebr.-Engl. Lex. of the O. T., p. 143-144) Thus, Matthew 1:18-25 relates the virgin conception and birth of Jesus Christ, freely citing Isaiah 7:14 as Old Testament proof of Christ's virgin birth.
      2. Luke 1:30-35 clearly supports the Matthew 1:18-25 account of Christ's virgin conception. It shows the angel, Gabriel explaining God's work of producing the Incarnation in the womb of the unwed, chaste Mary who wondered how she would produce the Messiah since she had not cohabited with a man.
    4. Then, when Christ was on earth, though He humbled Himself as Philippians 2:5-8 reveals, He did not lay aside His deity, but limited the use of His divine attributes to fulfill God's purpose in living among men with "their limitations," John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord, p. 143-144:
      1. Though Jesus was God on the earth, He proved He then possessed the divine attribute of omnipresence when He told Nathaniel He had seen him under the fig tree before they met, John 1:45-48. Note how Nathaniel, an Orthodox Jew, responded to this revelation by calling Jesus God, John 1:49 with 5:18!
      2. In Matthew 9:1-8, Jesus showed He was God in the body on the earth when He publicly forgave a man his sins to the objection of Jewish theologians who witnessed it; they thought Jesus thus blasphemed, putting Himself in the position of God (that they thought He was not) in stating this forgiveness, v. 3.
Lesson: Scripture vindicates our Statement of Faith that claims Jesus Christ is the ETERNAL God, the Second Person of the Godhead Who was made known in the flesh as the unique God-man through the virgin conception and birth, and that He only restricted the full use of some of His divine attributes on the earth to fulfill the will of God in living among men who knew only natural, human limitations.

Application: May we hold to the full deity and Incarnation of Christ in defense of Scripture's claims about Him and thus defend His work of redemption as God Incarnate in our behalf.