The Eternal Christ
Christ has been a most disturbing fact in the lives of men and Nations for 2,000 yrs. John 1:1-14, John 17:1-5, Rev. 1:1-15
The book of Hebrews causes us to take a new look at His past, present and future. “If any man will do his Will.” John 7:17
I: “In the Beginning.”
1. Was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
2. The 1st fact known to man is in the beginning. When one thinks back to the unbegun beginning, he becomes face to face with God.
3. Genesis takes us back to creation. John takes us back to the Creator.
4. Here in the unbegun beginning stands Christ.
5. Under the shadow of the Cross: “Oh Father, glorify me with tine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” John 17:5.
6. “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the Earth in a measure, and weighed the Mountains in scales and the Hills in a balance?” Isaiah 40:12.
II: Christ of Time.
1. Out of Eternity to a Manger.
2. From the glories of Heaven to Poverty of Earth.
3. From the Worship of Angels to the Curses of Men.
4. From the Powers of God to the Death on a cross.
5. To build a bridge between God and Man.
III: The Christ of the Eternal Future. Rev. 1:12-18
1. The difference between life and death.
2. The coming one.
3. The Judge of all the Earth.
4. Before Him every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.
5. The dead great and small stand before God… Rev. 20:12-15.
6. He will be crowned King of Kings.
He is much alive! We would rather keep Him a distant God or a babe than to Commit our lives to Him as Eternal All Powerful. “It would indeed be a mistake to suppose that the Eternal God is no bigger than Jesus of Nazareth limited as he was by time and space, and Circumstances.” J.B. Phillips
The Christ of Galilee was God of Eternity!
The Eternal Christ
The world in which we live is marked by constant change. The swiftness with which changes come to pass leave us breathless. Old customs and ways of life are swiftly passing away. Men long for something stable by which to direct our lives. One thing is needed by this sin-sick world, and that is a knowledge of an unchanging Savior.
Heb. 13:1-8, Prov. 30:1-4, and Rev. 1:10-18
I: Time Changes People and Places.
1. The family album tells us of unchanged we have made.
2. The eye that flashed fire has been drenched by tears.
3. The half has grown thin and turned grey.
4. The face that was unsealed in youth has been marked by time.
5. Time has slowed the pace and mellowed the heart. (Easier to get along with).
6. Opinions change and tempers cool.
7. Only the foolish ignore or try to keep from fading the facts of change. (Old women acting like girls, preachers using outdated pictures). Time never fades the picture of Jesus that lives on and on. The dead would say “This name Jesus …”
II: Moods Change Us.
1. Some people are like Oranges today and Lemons tomorrow.
2. You may ask some people today what you dare not mention tomorrow.
3. Jesus will be unchanged in love, and compassion for a lost people.
III: Circumstances Change Us.
1. Wealth may turn a friend of yesterday into a stranger. (Dr. Lee — a young man has just inherited a million dollars, let us pray for him).
2. The Butler soon forgot his promise to Joseph when he was back in the Palace.
3. Jesus has been crowned with horrors and glory, angels bow down before him, but He is the same Jesus that said, “Come unto me, all ye that Labor and are heavy laden.”
IV: Sin in Others, and Ourselves Change Us.
1. We may forgive 7 times, but balk at the 8th.
2. Often we can forgive, but choose to remind ourselves not to forget.
3. Jesus done punish sin but his love for His own remains. “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”
V: Jesus Never Changes. Eternal, One with God, Very God Creator, Source of all Spirituality.
1. The same spirit that chose a manger.
2. The same as when little children came to him.
3. The same one that wept at the grave and over a lost city.
4. The same one that made sin unlovely and died to save men from sin.
5. “This same Jesus.” Angels still could say.
He walks with us along the path to Emmaeus. He is in the storm tossed boat, He knows how to tell us to cast our nets for the best profit to life. Man’s nature has never changed, God’s remedy for sin is the same.
The Eternal Christ
John 1:18, Hebrews 1:1-3
1. What is a word?
A word is an expression of a thought or idea. By words we communicate words tell us much about people.
2. In what ways has God expressed himself to men?
Angels, Fire, Flood, Prophets. In battle, The Temple, Tabernacle, the rich that gave Water, Manna, wildness journey, Clouds of Fire, a donkey.
3. John said Jesus was the Word of God.
Christ is the expressed thought, idea, and will of God. The full and complete Will of God is found in Jesus.
4. The word is not all of that God had.
5. In what way was Christ a part of Creation?
John was not concerned as to the How of Creation, but to the Who.