2006-04-29 - Do you Accept or Reject Jesus' claim to be God?

Hello My Friends,

I want to talk briefly to you today about Jesus Claims to be God. Many people look at Jesus as just a good teacher. Many believe he was a liar, or that he had a demon in Him - or that he was crazy.

John 10:24-33 says, "The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." ²⁵ Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one." ³¹ Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, ³² but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" ³³ "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

When you look at Jesus' claims to be God, you can dismiss them as many have done - just ignore them and go about your own life, or you can sit and listen to them, and truly make an honest decision for yourself. There are three beliefs that lead to a choice.

The first belief is that Jesus claimed that he was God, knowing full well that he wasn't God. He made a deliberate misrepresentation and therefore he was a liar, a hypocrite, a demon and a fool because He knowingly invited the sentence of death and He died for it.

The second belief is that Jesus did not know that his claims were false, He was sincerely deluded and a lunatic who was put to death because of a mental illness.

The third belief is Jesus is Lord and God.

With these three beliefs, you only have two alternatives to choose from: you can accept Jesus, because you believe His claims to be true, or you can reject Jesus, because you believe His claims to be false.

Romans 5:12-18 says, "Sin entered the world because one man sinned. And death came because of sin. Everyone sinned, so death came to all people. ¹³ Before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not judged when there is no law. ¹⁴ Death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. Death ruled even over those who did not sin as Adam did. He broke God's command. But he also became a pattern of the One who was going to come. ¹⁵ God's gift is different from Adam's sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man. But it was even more sure that God's grace would also come through one man. That man is Jesus Christ. God's gift of grace was more than enough for the whole world. ¹⁶ The result of God's gift is different from the result of Adam's sin. God judged one sin. That brought guilt. But after many sins, God's gift made people right with him. ¹⁷ One man sinned, and death ruled because of his sin. But we are even more sure of what will happen because of what the one man, Jesus Christ, has done. Those who receive the rich supply of God's grace will rule with Christ in his kingdom. They have received God's gift and have been made right with him. ¹⁸ One man's sin brought guilt to all people. So also one right act made all people right with God. And all who are right with God will live."

Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

God bless you my friends!

Rob

cfdrobw@aol.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org

Rob - I want my life to just to be for the glory of God in Christ Jesus.

All scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted.

The "Trilemma - Liar, Lunatic, and Lord" concept is based on the apologetic works of Josh McDowell and C.S. Lewis.