Christian Life Study Outlines

From The Open Bible (C) 1975 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers, Nashville, TN

Number 3 Jesus Christ the Son of God

Christianity differs from all religions, because it is more than a religion -- it is the life of the Son of God made living in man.  Christ is Christianity, and Christianity is Christ.  He is the supreme subject of each book of the New Testament, and fulfills all the promises of God in the Old Testament, from His incarnation to His Second Coming as “Lord of Lords and King of Kings” (Revelation 17:14).  He is the God-man Christ Jesus in glory, exalted above all creatures, having “all power in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).

During His earthly ministry, He claimed to be God incarnate (in human flesh).  He is all that He claimed to be, or He is less than the least (Revelation 1:8).  Before His claim can be denied, there are some things that must be accounted for:

·        His virgin birth

·        His holy, sinless life

·        His many miracles

·        His vicarious death and His bodily resurrection

A. The Deity of Jesus Christ (John 1:1)

The deity of Jesus Christ, or His God nature, is well established in the New Testament.  Some of the facts are:

1.  He is called God by the Apostle John (John 1:1).

2.  He is called God by the Apostle Thomas (John 20:28).

3.  He is called God by God the Father (Hebrews 1:8).

4.  He claimed to be God in that He was with the Father before

creation    (John 17:5).

                 5. He claimed to be God in that He was before Abraham. (John

8:51-59)

                 6. He received worship, and only God is to be worshipped (Matthew 7714:33).  Angels refused worship (Revelation 22: 8,9).  Man refused worship (Acts

10:25,26).

7.  He forgives sin (Mark 2:5-11).  Only God can forgive sin.

8.  He is the Creator and Maker of all things (Colossians 1:16).

9.  He is Sustainer of all things (Hebrews 1:3) Only God can control

the universe.

10. He claimed to have “all power in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).  Only God has all power.

11. He walked upon the blue waters of Galilee.  The winds and the waves obeyed His command.  He healed the sick and raised the dead.  He gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf.  He cast out demons and made the lame to walk.  He turned water into wine, and fed five thousand with the lunch of a lad.

B. The Humanity of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:3.4)

The humanity of Jesus Christ is seen in His human parentage (Matthew 2:11).

1.  He developed as a normal human being (Luke 2:52).

2.  He was subject to all the sinless infirmities of the human nature:

·        He hungered (Matthew 4:2).

·        He thirsted (John 19:28).

·        He was weary (John 4:6).

·        He wept (John 11:35).

·        He was tempted (Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus is man, and yet He is more than man.  He is not God and man, but the God-man.  He is God in human flesh.  His two natures are bound together in such a way that the two become one, having a single consciousness and will.

C.  The Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:26-35)

The virgin birth of Jesus Christ is without parallel in human history.  It was by the virgin birth that God became man, one perfect person but two natures: one nature being that of Almighty God, the other being that of man -- man without sin (Hebrews 4:15).  The union of the two natures became the God-man Christ Jesus.

    1.  The first hint of the virgin birth is found in Genesis 3:15.  The One to defeat Satan was to be born of the “Seed of the woman.” This is a biological miracle; there is no “seed of the woman.”  From this, we are to understand that One was to be born of a woman without a human father.

    2.  Isaiah prophesied that a “virgin would conceive, and bear a son and shall call His name Immanuel (God with us)” (Isaiah 7:14).

                   3.  Again Isaiah prophesied saying, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6,7).  This means that God gave His only  begotten Son who was with Him from eternity, and the Child Jesus was born of a virgin.   God gave His Son “unto us.”

                   4.  According to prophecy, He was to be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2).  Joseph went  with Mary went up to Bethlehem to be taxed, and to fulfill prophecy (Luke 2:1-7).

D.  The Death of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:8)

The death of Jesus Christ is mentioned more than one hundred twenty times in the New Testament, and is spoken of many times by the Prophets in the Old Testament.

1.  The death of Jesus Christ was vicarious (Matthew 20:28).  He was God's substitute for sinners (II Corinthians 5:21). On the cross, Christ was made sin for the sinner.  By faith in Him, the sinner is made righteous with the righteousness of God.

2.  The death of Jesus Christ was natural (John 19:31-37).  By a natural death, we mean that His spirit and soul were separated from His body.

3.  The death of Jesus Christ was unnatural (Romans 6:23).  By an unnatural death, we mean that since He was sinless, in that He "Did no sin" (I Peter 2:22) -- “Had no sin” (I John 3:5) - “knew no sin”(II Corinthians  5:21) -- before He could die He had to be “made sin for us.” Therefore, His death was unnatural.

4.  The death of Jesus Christ was preternatural (Revelation 13:8).  By this we mean that the death of Jesus Christ was not an afterthought with God, it was the forethought of God.

5.  The death of Jesus Christ was supernatural (John 10:17-18).  Jesus said, “No man taketh my life from me.” Then He said, “I lay it down to myself”  (supernaturally).  “I have power to take it up again” (superna­turally).  This He did on the cross, and three days and three nights later, He took life up again when He arose from the dead.  Only God in the form of man could die a vicarious, natural, unnatural, preternatural, and super­natural death.

E.  The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28: 1-20)

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).  The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the doctrine of every disciple, the faith of every true believer, the courage of every martyr, the theme of every sermon and the power of every evangelist.

Luke tells us that we have “many infallible proofs” of His resurrection (Acts 1:3).  Let us look at some of those infallible proofs according to eye witnesses:

1.  After His resurrection He appeared first to Mary Magdalene (John 20: 11-18).

2.  He appeared to the women returning from the sepulcher (Matthew 28:5-10).

3.  Then He appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34).

4.  To the Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:13-31).

5.  To the apostles, Thomas not present (Luke 24: 36-43)).

6.  Again to the apostles, Thomas present (John 20: 24-29).

7.  To the seven by the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-,23).

8.  To over five hundred brethren (I Corinthians 15:6).

9.  He was seen of James (I Corinthians 15:7).

10.  He was seen again by the eleven apostles (Matthew 28:16-20;

also Acts 1:3-12).

11.  He was seen of Stephen, the first martyr (Acts 7:55).

12.  He was seen of Paul on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6;

also I Corinthians 15:8).

Many of these eye witnesses died martyrs' deaths because they preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  They were glad to die for a living Christ.  They had the “infallible proofs.”

When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, all of His disciples “forsook Him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).  From this time until after His resurrection, the disciples lived in fear.  They did not believe that He would rise from the dead (John 20:9).  Had Jesus not come from the dead, the cross would have been the end of Christianity.  After the death of Jesus, we see His disciples dejected, discouraged and defeated.  The death of Jesus meant but one thing to them: the end.  How do we account for the great change that came into their lives three days and three nights later?  The only logical explanation is that they had the “infallible proofs” that He had risen from the dead, and was alive forevermore.  They saw Him, talked with Him, touched Him and ate with Him.

Now look at some “infallible proofs” according to circumstantial evidence:

          1.  The change that came into the lives of the disciples after the resurrection -- from fear to unlimited courage.  They rejoiced in persecution (Acts 5:40-42).  They chose death, with faith in the resurrected Christ, rather than to deny that faith and be delivered (Hebrews 11:35).

          2.  The early church began to worship on the first day of the week, the day of the resurrection.  It was not a law--it was spontaneous (Acts 20:7). For almost two thousand years, the church has worshipped on the first day.  For the Christian, every Sunday is Easter.

                       3. The early Christians went everywhere with the word of the resurrection (Acts 8:1-4).

          4.  The empty tomb -- for if Jesus is not alive, what happened to His body?  The Roman guards were paid to say, “His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we slept” (Matthew 28:12,13).  First, the disciples lacked the courage.  Had the disciples stolen His body, then how do you account for the fact that they all suffered, and most of them suffered a martyr's death?  In the face of death, one of them would have revealed the hiding place of the “stolen body” to save his own life.  Second, no one was ever arrested or tried for stealing the body of Jesus.  It is evident that the governing officials did not believe the story of the guards.  Third, the guard could have been put to death for sleeping while on watch.  Fourth, if they were asleep, how could they have known that it was the disciples who “stole” the body?  Fifth, had the enemies of Jesus moved the body, they could have produced it and brought a quick end to Christianity, and they would have!

          5. The grave clothes found in the empty tomb are proof of the resurrection (John 20: 1-10).  Had friend or foe stolen the body, they would not have removed the grave clothes, since He had been dead three days and nights.  When John saw the grave clothes and recognized that they were folded the same as when they were wrapped about the body, he knew that a miracle had taken place.  Jesus came out of the clothes, and they collapsed without disturbing the folds.  They were left in the empty tomb as “infal­lible proof,” and when John saw and understood, he believed that Jesus had come from the dead.

F.  The Ascension and Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:9-11).

After forty days of instructing His disciples, the risen Christ ascended up on high, and is seated at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 10:12).  Two men brought the message of His second Coming to the apostles: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner.” The message of the Second Coming of Jesus is so important, that it is mentioned over three hundred times in the New Testament.

          1.  He is coming to take His church to be with Him (I Thessalonians 4: 16,17; also John 14:1 - 6).

          2.  He is coming to judge the nations (Mattehw 25:31-46).

          3.  He is coming to save Israel (Romans 11:25,26).

          4.  He is coming to sit upon the throne of David (Luke 1:31-33;

          Isaiah. 9:6,7).

          5.  He is coming to bring righteous government to this earth (Hebrews

        1:8).

Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth again.  “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20)