men the title of my sermon this morning is Jesus equality with God Jesus
equality with God if you look down at verse number 18 there in John chapter
5 it says therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him because he had not
only broken the Sabbath but said also that God was his father making
himself equal with God so the Bible says here that Jesus Christ had made
himself equal with God and this made the Jews so angry that they want to kill him
over this very issue and yet in the following verses Jesus Christ actually
digs in and gives many examples and many situations in which he is equal to
God and further demonstrates his equality with God and before we look at
those we're going to go over to Philippians chapter 2 so if you would
flip over to Philippians chapter 2 and I just want to point out that when the Bible
says God was his father he said that God was his father making himself equal
with God then we understand that when it says equal with God it means equal
with God the Father because Jesus Christ is God okay but he is also
equal with God the Father sometimes when the Bible says the word God in
the New Testament it is just specifically referring to God the
Father other times it's referring to God in general in this context it's clearly
referring to God the Father God his father it says in the verse itself you
see Jesus Christ according to John chapter 1 verse 1 was in the beginning
with God and he was God it says in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8 but unto the
son he saith thy throne Oh God is forever and ever first Timothy 3 16
says that God was manifest in the flesh God was justified in the Spirit preached
a vain it pre or goodnight I'm quoting it wrong I got it I got to read it to
you because I don't want to get it wrong it's it's too too good of a verse
here it says God was manifest in the flesh justified in the spirit seen of
angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world received up
into glory now here's the thing about that God is the subject of all
of those verbs that's the important thing to realize so you could say well
God was manifest in the flesh but you know no no here's what it says God was
manifest in the flesh and then you have the same subject justified in the
spirit so you could literally read this as God was manifest in the flesh
God was justified in the spirit God was seen of angels God was preached
unto the Gentiles God was believed on in the world God was received up into
glory because God is the subject of all of those verbs in that sentence and
therefore clearly the one who's received up into glory is Jesus and
he's clearly being called God and so that's just a couple examples
obviously I could spend a whole sermon on the deity of Christ so we
understand that Jesus is God but this sermon is about Jesus equality with God
and specifically we're talking about his equality with God the Father what do
we mean by that well the first thing that we number one is that Jesus
Christ is equally divine Jesus is not any less God than God the Father is God
they're both equally divine they're both equally God Christ is not some
kind of a lesser deity Jesus is equal with God the Bible says in
Colossians chapter 2 you're there in Philippians 2 but in Colossians 2 it
says in him Jesus dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily okay
that's a pretty clear verse now the word Godhead is kind of an old word we
would say probably in 2024 something more like God hood Godness right but
this is an older word God head which means divinity or Godness or
Godhood sort of like there's an old word maidenhead which is a synonym for
virginity maidenhood maidenhead Godhead it's just an old suffix that we don't use
anymore and so in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily Jesus
Christ is fully God he is equally divine with God the Father look at
Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 here's another clear scripture that states
that Jesus is equal to God it says in verse 5 let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not
robbery to be equal with God now what does that mean he thought it not
robbery to be equal with God it means that by being equal with God or
by declaring himself to be equal with God or as it said in John chapter 5 by
making himself equal with God he's not stealing anything it's not a robbery
because that is a status that rightfully belongs to him and so he thought it not
robbery to be equal with God and get in spite of that look in the next
verse he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form
of a servant and was made in the likeness of men now look by the way
if Jesus Christ can be humble you can be humble too if Jesus Christ can
humble himself we can all humble ourselves because if anybody had the
right to just not humble himself and to just be proud and boastful as a human
being it would be Jesus he's God in the flesh and yet although he thought it
not robbery to be equal with God yet he made himself of no reputation took
upon in the form of servant you know sometimes you'll hear people defending
some of their really prideful and arrogant heroes of this world like
Donald Trump or Andrew Tate or some of these ultra prideful people and
here's what they'll say about them they'll say well you know he's got a
right to be prideful because look at his achievements I mean look what he's
done look what he's accomplished look what he owns you know they could say
you know look at Donald Trump's great wealth and success and whatever look
at you know Andrew Tate or whatever you know that living piece of
excrement but anyway the point is people basically say well these men you
know you can kind of give them a pass for being prideful no my friend
because God in the flesh wasn't even prideful even God in the flesh even
Jesus Christ who thought it not robbery to be equal with God yet he
made himself of no reputation he took upon in the form of a servant and
Jesus said that I've given you an example that you should follow in my
steps and just as the Son of Man Jesus Christ came not to be minister
done too but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many Jesus
Christ washed the Saints feet he said you ought to wash one another's feet if
Jesus can be humble we can surely be humble because it's easy for us to see
all of our shortcomings and all of our inadequacies and failures unless
we're delusional like some of the people I just mentioned they can't see
any faults in themselves you're not the best you're not the smartest you're
not the best-looking you're not the most talented you're not the richest
you just aren't okay but even if you were you're not greater than Jesus and
even he was humble so you better be humble too so he says that he was made
in the likeness of man at the end of verse 7 verse 8 and being found in
fashion as a man and by the way this doesn't mean that he really had great
taste in clothes you know we don't misunderstand that when it says being
found in fashion as a man it's talking about he was formed and fasted his
physical body is that of a man being found in fashion as a man he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross
wherefore God also had highly exalted him and given him a name which is
above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things
in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth so right away we
see that number one Christ is equally divine not robbery to be equal with God
and him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily but number two we see
that Christ is equally worthy of worship because the Bible says here
that the proclamation is the proclamation from God the Father is
that every knee should bow and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord Jesus is the name that is above every other name there's
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be safe so I'm
just gonna bypass that name of Jesus and just kind of go you know go straight
to the top cut out the middleman nope no man cometh unto the Father
but by him and so you cannot cut out that middleman Jesus is that
mediator between God and men and it's God's will that everyone worship
Jesus that everyone bow the knee and worship Jesus now look this is because
Jesus is equal to God and God is not threatened by this it's not taking away
from the glory of God the Father rather it says that every knee should
bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father so worshiping Jesus Christ actually brings glory to God the
Father although God is a jealous God and he doesn't want to share his glory
with anyone else right yet worshiping Jesus Christ doesn't violate that
because of the fact that Jesus is equal with God Jesus was in the
beginning with God Jesus was God it's a trinity folks right the Father the
Son and the Holy Ghost these three are one three persons one God so with
that in mind let's go back to John chapter 5 and let's see what Jesus
tells these angry Jews who are so upset about him making himself equal
with God what is his response to them now what I've noticed is that when
people got mad at Jesus because of something that he preached he
typically just digs in and just preaches it more he just figures
okay well I guess we've touched a nerve here let's go I guess this is
what people need to hear I remember one time when Jesus is
preaching and the the lawyers come to him and they say master
thus saying thou reproaches us also you know you're preaching against the
scribes you're preaching against the Pharisees but you know it kind of
sounds like the stuff you're saying applies to us
we're offended here we lawyers and then he literally just switches the sermon
well woe unto you lawyers and then he just starts explicitly
calling out the lawyers right because Jesus Christ is preaching the truth
and it doesn't matter whether people like it or not we as
preachers in 2024 America we need to preach the truth we need to preach
what the Bible says popular or unpopular instant in
season out of season so in John chapter 5 he digs in
right verse 18 said that he had made himself equal with God
they're ready to kill him he says in verse 19 that answered Jesus and said
to them verily I say unto you verily
verily I say unto you the son can do nothing
of himself but what he seeth the father do
for what things soever he doeth these
also doeth the son likewise so the first point that I want to make here
is that Christ and God the father both have the same agenda right
it's not that Jesus Christ is is operating as some kind of a
you know a free agent doing his own thing on his own program
but rather he is doing the will of God the father so number one he's
equal in deity number two he's equally worthy
of worship and number three he and the father have the same
agenda the same plan the same will the same desire now some people will say
you know well there's there's one will between God and the father and in
many ways that's true because obviously you know they both want the
same thing there's there's one will of God you know that they're both
seeking to fulfill but at the same time
we have a very clear scripture in the garden of Gethsemane
where Jesus Christ says not my will but thine be done so you know what do we
do with that right so we have to understand that
sometimes these things aren't as simple or clear cut
as they at first seem I think the best way to understand this by taking
all scripture into account is that God the father and Jesus have
the same plan the same agenda they both want the
same thing ultimately but that Jesus Christ when
he's in the garden of Gethsemane obviously he's going through a different
experience than what God the father is experiencing
in heaven and so as the person down in the garden of Gethsemane
who's actually going to be beaten who's actually going to be spat upon
who's actually going to be crucified obviously
no one wants to go through that do they I mean nobody says
hey I want to be beaten up and whipped
and crucified nobody wants that and by the way
the bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross watch this despising
the shame so Jesus Christ despised the shame
he did not want to be mocked and ridiculed and beat and spat upon
and for the reproaches of them that reproached the father to fall upon
him but yet for the joy that was set before
him he endured the cross despising the shame and is set down on
the right hand of the throne of God and so what we
need to understand is that God the father
is not the one who suffered and died on the cross for us that was Jesus
who actually did that who had that experience
so God the father and Jesus Christ are having two different experiences
okay so Jesus Christ in the garden he's saying
well not my will not as I will but as thou will you know if it's possible for
this cup to pass from me let it pass from me but
not as I will but as thou will he's basically saying look I
don't want to do it because nobody wants to get beaten spat upon and
mocked but he's saying I'm willing to do it
because ultimately my will is in line with your will so
you know there's a nuance here when you want to just say
one will because sometimes people get a little carried away
and they start making it seem like oh God and
and Jesus and they're both just experiencing all the same things doing
all they're distinct persons there you know
the father isn't the one who suffered and died on the cross for us
that was the son the father sent the son to be the savior of the world
and so yes it is accurate in one sense to say that there is
one will of God because of the fact that the son
is on the father's program they're both on the same part they both want the
same thing but that's not contradicted by just a
human statement in the garden of of Gethsemane saying look you know I
don't want to do this in a sense right
not as I will but as thou wilt I'm going to do it
and also by doing that Jesus Christ is setting the example for us
guess what in life we're going to have to do some things that we don't
want to do if we're going to follow God
if we're going to serve Christ there are going to be some times that we end up
doing things that we don't want to do you might say
I don't really want to go to church today go to church anyway
well you know I don't really want to go sowing do it
I don't want to read my bible read your bible right
now ultimately though we could say well you know I'm
willing my will ultimately is to be a good Christian
but to be a good Christian and fulfill that will I kind of have to do some
things that in the short term or in the immediate term I don't really want to
do you know like I don't want to skip
this piece of chocolate cake but at the same time
you know my will is that I'd you know be healthy or whatever
and so uh some of these things are a little more complicated
but ultimately the key point to take away here
is that Christ and the Father both have the same plan
the same agenda Christ is not just operating on his own
but rather he is fulfilling the will of the Father he's sent by the Father
he's doing always those things which please the Father
and ultimately one overarching will of God
is being carried out or performed so number one
Christ is equally divine with God the Father number two he's equally worthy of
worship number three they both have the same
agenda the same plan the same will and then number four Christ
is equally able to give life look if you would
at John chapter 5 verse 20 the Bible reads for the Father loveth the Son
and showeth him all things that he himself doeth and he will show him
greater works than these that you may marvel watch this
for as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them
even so the Son quickeneth whom he will
right so just as the Father has the power
to give life so does Jesus Christ have that power to give life
now that's what the word quicken means right the word
quick in the Bible it's often not referring to
speed like hey that was quick that's a different meaning of quick right
when the Bible says that God has made him
to be the judge of the quick and the dead
the opposite of dead is quick quick means living
okay so the quick and the dead is a reference to the living
and the dead it's just an old word that we don't use in that way any
longer and so
so when the Bible says here the Father raises up the dead
and quickens them
even so the Son quickeneth whom he will now
you say is that redundant to say he raises the dead
and quickens them those are actually two different things
believe it or not because on the surface they sound like the same thing
right raising the dead quickening them
well because it's possible to raise the dead without quickening them
okay i'm not trying to get weird here i'm not talking about zombies or
anything undead or something but if you want to
talk about the biblical undead the real scriptural undead the Bible
says that the final judgment there is going to be a resurrection of
the dead and the Bible says i saw the dead
small and great stand before God and the books were opened
and the dead were judged according to those things which were written in the
books according to their works and so we see here that the people
who are standing before God at the end of the world at the final
judgment those people are called dead and they're
standing before God they're not they have not been quickened they're not
alive they're dead and so the Bible says
that there's going to be a resurrection of life
and there's going to be a resurrection of damnation some are going to be
resurrected to eternal life others are going to be resurrected to
eternal damnation shame and everlasting contempt and so
God the Father has the power to raise up the dead and to quicken them
to give life to bring them to life so does the son also quicken whom he
will meaning who he wants to he also has the ability to quicken
to give life to so Christ is equally able to give life
now here's why this is significant back in Deuteronomy we just went
through Deuteronomy 32 on Wednesday night which is a really cool passage
but in verse 39 here's a review from Wednesday night
God said I even I am he and there is no God with me he's basically
saying I'm the only God there's no other God that exists
and he says I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there
any that can deliver out of my hand so
God the Father has life in himself the Son of God also has life in
himself he has the power to kill and he also
has the power to make alive even to bring back from the dead even to quicken
the dead that is what God the Father can do but
Jesus Christ can do that as well now it's interesting because in Deuteronomy
32 God is saying well I'm the only one who can do that
you know and again the reason why this is accurate is because Jesus Christ
is God right and also the Bible says for
example in the book of Isaiah that the Lord
Jehovah God says that I am he and there's none else
before me there was no God formed neither shall there be
any God after me he said I am he and there's none else
and beside me there is no savior so Jehovah says beside me there is no
savior of course we know Jesus Christ is our savior
because Jesus Christ is Jehovah because Jehovah
the Lord God these are overarching terms referring to God in general
who eternally exists as the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost and these three persons are one
God that's what the Bible teaches and so Christ is equally able to give life
look at verse 22 of John chapter 5 for the Father
judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment unto the Son and so here
we see number five Christ is equal in his authority to
judge just as God the Father is qualified
to judge has the authority to judge Jesus is equally qualified
and has equal authority to judge and in fact God the Father has
delegated judgment to the Son so that the Son is the one who actually carries
out that judgment it says in verse 22 that God the
Father has committed all judgment unto the Son
basically put it all in his hands he is
the one to whom that is delegated look at verse 23
that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father
he that honoreth not the Son honoreth not
the Father which sent him and so number six we see
that Christ is equally worthy of honor so remember
Jesus Christ had made himself equal to God the Jews are mad
the Jews want to kill him so Jesus starts explaining
how he's equal to God and we know of course that he's equally divine
he's equally worthy of worship but right here in John chapter 5
he explains that he and the Father have the same agenda
he is equally able to give life even as the Father is able to give life
he is equally in authority to judge and he is equally worthy of receiving
honor because the Bible says that all men
should honor the Son even as they honor the Father
I mean whatever honor you would give the Father you should honor the Son in
the same way why because the Son is equal to the
Father equally worthy of receiving worship
honor glory praise etc this is why it is his name
that has been exalted above all other names that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved
you know people out here want to de-emphasize the name of Jesus
are super misguided right because the you can't over emphasize the name Jesus
right Jesus is the name above all names according to the Bible
and so it says in uh verse number 20 did we read verse 23 yes we did look
at verse 24 the Bible says in verse 24 verily verily
I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on
him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come
into condemnation but is passed from death unto life
and so seventh and finally believing in Christ is equal to
believing in God the Father right so this is
the seventh way that we're going to go over this morning about how
Christ is equal to God flip over if you would to John
chapter 12 John chapter number 12 just a few pages to the right in your Bible
there since you're already in John 5 just hop over to John chapter 12
and we're going to start reading in verse number 44 believing in Christ is
equal to believing in God the Father now what do we mean when we say
that uh Jesus is equal to God and we're specifically in
context talking about God the Father now Jesus Christ and God the Father
are not the same in every way one of them is the Father and one of
them is the Son right one of them died on the cross
for us the other didn't the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the
world so they're not the same in every way
they are distinct persons but they're equal
what does that mean the Bible tells us what that means right
equally divine equally worthy of worship
equally worthy of honor right equal in their
will or plan or agenda equally able to give life
equally able to pass supreme and ultimate judgment
right these are the ways in which the Father and the Son
are equal and none of this takes glory away from
the Father the fact that the Son is equal with them but
what about other ways in which they are not equal
right because what about when Jesus said my Father
is greater than I like what does that mean because last time I checked
greater than symbol is different than the equal symbol
you know what's he talking about well here's the thing is that there is
a chain of command within the trinity because of the fact
that the Bible says in 1st Corinthians chapter number 11 this is a very
crystal clear verse that a lot of people choke on but it's true it's
real it says in 1st Corinthians 11 verse 3
but I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ
and the head of the woman is the man and the head
of Christ is God the head of Christ is God now
does the fact that the head of Christ is God
take away from Christ's glory absolutely not does it take away from
his honor no does it take away from his
divinity no it doesn't take away from his deity
or his divinity or his honor the fact
that the head of Christ is God that's a biblical
fact you say well that you know that was just while
while he was on this earth you know that was a temporary well last time I
checked 1st Corinthians 11 wasn't written while he was on this earth
last time I checked when 1st Corinthians 11 was written decades had
gone by since Christ was on this earth we
don't know exactly the date that it was written but it was
clearly written much later than the the the ascension of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is already seated at the right hand of the father
for many many years and yet the apostle Paul
in the present tense says the head of Christ is
God not only that in chapter 15 he explains that in the end times
after Christ has ruled and reign on this earth then he will ultimately
deliver up the kingdom to God even the father
and that he will deliver up the kingdom to the father and that the son
himself will be subject unto the father
even in the far future in the final
act of end times Jesus Christ is subject unto the father
that's what the bible says now does this take away from it no in
fact it just makes Jesus Christ even that much greater
this is part of the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ because the only
people who think that it's dishonorable or degrading to submit
to legitimate authority are just people who don't understand
Christianity they don't understand biblical doctrine they don't
understand life I mean do you think that it is degrading for a child
to submit to their parents or for a wife to submit to her husband
or for a boss or excuse me for an employee to submit to his boss at
work I mean this is godly this is virtuous
this is righteous okay
and here's the deal marriage in many ways
is a good analogy for the relationship between the father and the son and people
freak out about this but here I'm not the one who made
this up it's literally in the bible verse it
literally says that the head of the woman is the man
and the head of Christ is God like it's only the same breath
in the same verse it uses it as an illustration
now in what way is this an effective illustration
is that you could say in many ways that men and women are equal
now look if someone asked me do you think men and women are equal I would
say yes amen because I do not believe
that men are more valuable than women
I do not believe that men are better than women
okay I do not believe that men and women
are unequal in that way that you know well you know men are a little better a
little smarter a little more you know no that's stupid that's wrong men and
women are equally valuable in the sight of God
they're equally human they're equally important
they're of equal worth they're equally worthy of honor and respect and dignity
but but in what ways are they not equal well there's this thing of
authority right the Bible says wives submit yourselves
unto your own husbands the Bible says that wives should be obedient
unto their own husbands crystal clear Colossians chapter 3 Ephesians chapter
5 1 Peter chapter 3 I mean go check it
out my friend because it couldn't be any clearer
okay even as Sarah also obeyed Abraham
calling him Lord whose daughters you are as long as you do well
and are not afraid with any amazement but yet the Bible says
that the husband should give honor unto the wife
as unto the weaker vessel so here's another way that men and women are not
equal they're not equal in physical strength
now obviously you could find the exception of the weakest dude that you
can find and the biggest you know burliest
betty that you can find and basically you could show well this
particular man is weaker than this particular one
obviously if you find these outliers but in a general
right 99 percent men especially with respect to their upper body are
stronger than women now this doesn't make men
better than women it just makes men different than women women have
other abilities and strengths we're all different
different people have different strengths and weaknesses men are better at
certain things women are better at other things at the
end of the day men and women are equal because they they both have the same
value worth dignity humanity they're both
children of God through faith in Christ Jesus
and so in that way they're equal but does that mean there's no authority
there no chain of command in marriage that
there's no uh differences no and it's and that's a
good analogy for understanding the difference between the father and
the son the father and the son are not identical they're not exactly the same
they're distinct persons they're both co-equal in the sense
they're both equally divine equally worthy to be worshipped equally
worthy of honor and praise and glory that they both have the same
agenda the same will ultimately but also we need to understand that
when Jesus makes a statement like well you know my father's greater than
I what's he saying he's talking about
authority it's sort of like when Joseph says to Potiphar's wife
there's no one greater in this house than I am he's not saying like I'm the
greatest you know like like nobody's better than I am he's not
like look believe me he's not like pulling a Donald Trump like
hey look believe me you know you want to talk about people who are good
inside you know I'm the best in this house everybody knows it they know it
I know it my enemies know it I'm the best
that's not what he's saying when he says no man is greater than me in this
house what's he saying he's talking about the fact that all
authority has been committed unto him and that the only one who's greater
than him in that house is Potiphar the only one who's greater than him
in Egypt was Pharaoh because he was second in command to
Pharaoh right we're talking about authority and so
the father is not better than Jesus the father is not superior to Jesus
the father is not more divine or more
god or more ancient no they're both
equal in those ways it's just an authority
difference where the the the son is subject unto the father and this
doesn't take away from his deity and if you think it
does then I would question your heart and maybe your relationship with your
earthly authorities if you walk away saying well well
how could Jesus be submitted to God the father and still be equal with him
you know then I would suspect you might be a person
who thinks that you have to rebel against authority in order to prove
somehow that you're just as good or it
sounds like you've got a chip on your shoulder
and then you're trying to project that onto Jesus like Jesus has a chip on
his shoulder Jesus doesn't have a chip on his
shoulder Jesus always did those things which pleased the father
and there's no issue there right and and maybe if we would actually fully
grasp that doctrine about Jesus then we could actually apply that to our
own personal lives and then we would not have a chip on our shoulder
where we have to go around proving that I'm just as good as you are
you know it'd be like if a wife said to her husband well I'm just as good as
you are I'm just as smart as you are you know why can't I
make the decision it's not that you're not as good or as smart or as
effective it's just that you're not male
that's the problem
oh so just because you're male yeah right you got it right
just because you're biologically male yes
that's exactly right and again it's only degrading if you don't understand
the trinity don't understand the bible don't understand life okay so think
about that ponder that understand the trinity
and then use that as a model for how you can understand
other relationships in this world right because we have
father-son relationships in this world we have husband-wife relationships in this
world we have boss-employee relationships
there's a lot to learn from the trinity and scriptures about the
trinity
john chapter 12 is where I had you turn look down at your bible there in
verse 44 it says Jesus cried and said now here the word cried again this is
an older use of the word cry it's talking about shouting or yelling
it's not weeping when the bible is talking about tears
it's typically going to use the word weeping Jesus wept
but here it says Jesus cried and said he's basically
yelling out in a loud voice he that believeth on me
believeth not on me but on him that sent me and what was that seventh point
that I brought up believing in Christ is equal to
believing in God the father and here's the proof right here
because Jesus said he that believeth on me
believeth not on me but on him that sent me so if you believe on Jesus
who are you ultimately believing on you're believing on the one who sent him
which is God the father and the reverse of that is also true
if you don't believe in Jesus you don't believe in the one who sent him
that's what the bible is saying okay so in john 5 24 which is one of my
favorite verses in the whole bible it said verily verily I say to you he
that heareth my word right Christ is saying he
there my word and believeth on him that sent me
has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation
but is passed from death to life so if you have believed on the Lord Jesus
Christ as your savior you have also
automatically believed on the one who sent him God the father
and you have therefore been passed from death unto life it's done
it's over you've already made that transition you will not come into
condemnation you have been passed from death to
life you have everlasting life meaning that it will never end once you are
saved you are saved forever you are saved eternally and so he says
in verse 44 he that believeth on me believeth not on
me but on him that sent me and he that seeth me seeeth him
that sent me and so remember that Jesus Christ is the express
image of God the father's person which is why Jesus is able to say if
you've seen me you've seen the father right
because they're like show us the father well the problem is nobody can
see God the father's face and live right if anybody
were to see God the father's face they would die
and so this is why people in the old testament were so freaked out
even just by seeing an angel of the Lord or even uh old testament
appearances of Christ or something because of the fact they knew that no
man shall see God's face and live because that's what God told Moses
right and so he showed Moses just his hinder parts when he passed by
Moses and put Moses in the cleft of the rock and Moses just caught a glimpse
of the rear parts of God and his face shone
so brightly from that vision that he had to have a veil over his face
so that people could even be around Moses because his face was so bright
okay and so the way to see the father
is by seeing the sun because the sun is the express image of the father's
person right it'd be like if two people
were identical twins and somebody said hey i really want to see a picture of
your identical twin and you could just kind of say well you know if you've
seen me you've seen him
right because we both look the same i am the express image of his person
and so if you've seen one you've seen the other that's the idea here with
jesus saying he that seeth me seeth him that sent me verse 46 i'm come a
light into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not
abide in darkness if any men hear my words and believe
not i judge him not for i came not to judge the world but to save the
world he that rejected me and receiveth not my
words hath one that judgeth him the word that i have spoken the same
shall judge him in the last day so jesus is here specifically
explaining in what way judgment has been committed unto the sun
it's christ's word that will ultimately be the final judge in the
end times at the final judgment for i have not
spoken of myself but the father which sent me he gave
me a commandment what i should say and what i should speak and i know that
that his commandment is life everlasting
whatsoever i speak therefore even as the father said unto me
so i speak so again we see a lot of the earlier points
reiterated so let's close at the end of chapter five go back to chapter five
if you would verse 46 and we'll close on this
thought we've seen that jesus christ is equal
to god the father right how number one christ is equally divine number two
christ is equally worthy of worship number three
christ and the father both have the same agenda
the same goal the same will the same ultimate plan and purpose
number four christ is equally able to give life
as the father is able to quicken the dead number five christ is equal in his
authority to judge number six christ is equally worthy of
honor and number seven believing in christ is equal to believing in
god the father that's a lot of equality my friend
and jesus really explains this to them and makes this clear to them
right after they're mad about it he says well here let me just give you
even more details about this he doesn't back down from
his equality with god but the last point i want to
make in verse 46 here is that believing the new testament is
equal to believing the old testament the bible says in verse 46 for had you
believed moses you would have believed me
for he wrote of me but if you believe not his writings
how should you believe my words he said look if you would have believed moses
you would have believed me because he wrote of me
and if you don't believe one you don't believe
the other right i mean look if somebody came to me and said
well i only believe the new testament i don't believe the old testament's god's
word i would just say like this person's not
even saved i would just say that they're a liar because you either believe them
both or you believe neither just as much as the jew is a liar who
says oh i believe moses i believe the old
testament he's lying right so well there are lots of people
who only believe the old testament nope not a single one right there are
people who lie and say that they believe the old testament
but jesus says if you would have believed moses you would have believed me
you know and so believing the one is equivalent to believing the other
just as you cannot believe in only jesus or only god the father
you you either believe in both or neither
really you believe in all three or neither right because we got the father
the son and the holy ghost but at the same time you either
believe in both old and new testaments or neither
you can't just pick and choose and say well i
only believe this part of the bible and this other part of the bible i don't
believe you know and and and you're picking and choosing no my
friend god's word is a package deal it's
not a smorgasbord where you just show up and and you
take the things that you like and you put certain things on your plate
and you skip other things nope my friend this is one of those
situations where you just you hand your dish
to the lunch lady and she's going to serve it up for you and she's giving
you a little bit of everything and you don't get to pick you
this isn't burger king have it your way all right you get
what is given and it's 66 books and that's what it is you take it or
leave it it's not a smorgasbord and and it's so funny how many
people we talk to and what do they say
uh well i believe parts of the bible
right you've had people say that to you right like well i believe the bible
i just don't believe all of it i believe most of it i believe a lot of
it but what do they mean when they
say i believe most of it or i believe a lot of it here's what they believe
here's what they're saying you know i believe it until it says something i
don't like
as long as it's saying stuff that i like as long as it's saying stuff that
i already agreed with going in then i believe it but as soon as it
says something that i disagree with well then that
must be the part that's not inspired you know thomas jefferson the third
president of the united states author of the declaration of independence
he famously came up with his own bible the jefferson bible
where he basically just went through and just took out all the stuff that he
didn't feel like jesus really said why because he's trying to make
god in his own image and he's thinking well i don't like this part
so i don't think jesus would have said this
and this is what he basically said he said well it's clear that a lot of
the stuff in the bible you know came from some some really
great minds and then other stuff in the bible came from some
really lesser minds and so he's going to be the final judge
who's going to go through and separate that out and
you know the parts of the bible that are inspired the parts that are good
the parts that are excellent versus the you know the parts no my friend
it's all excellent and what's funny is
like like even the idea of such a task
is bizarre to us who are actually saved because
we don't find ourselves reading the bible and just being like oh this part's
kind of lame like you know like man the gospel of luke's
lame i just love john you know nobody nobody thinks that way
you know what i mean nobody's like oh this part's super lame this part's
really good i really like this proverb this proverb's kind of dumb
like nobody thinks that way who's actually saved to those of us that are
actually saved god is speaking to us through the
word the holy ghost is within us teaching us and speaking to us and our
hearts burn within us as we read god's word
and we're not sitting there and thinking well you know half of this is
awesome and the other half isn't no we're just seeing continual
awesomeness you know i mean even when someone says
what's your favorite of the four gospels or what's your favorite book
of the bible you know sometimes i mean you know
everybody's got their favorite or whatever
but it's it's it's a tough decision it's not like oh well that's easy
the only one i even like is this one it's like well no
it's tough because you like them all you know when
you know typically my favorite of the four gospels is the one that i'm
reading right now you know because they're all great in
their own way and and also by the way
you go through different seasons of life where books are more and less
meaningful to you you know yeah of course teenagers love
and ecclesiastes
because they got a weird dark attitude sometimes
you know and when i was a teenager i often sought refuge in the book of
ecclesiastes about how meaningless it all is you
know you know so different books minister to you at different phases in
your life right other times when you're feeling a
little more positive and joyful about things
you know you're spending time and you know i don't know the book of song of
solomon or something right you're spending time in some of the more
positive psalms and then there are those times when you're like where's
that part about breaking my enemy's teeth and you know
and you know it just life has stages but it's not like oh this part about
breaking teeth is mean it's like well no it's just that it's for a
different stage it's for a different situation it's all
excellent in its own way and so believing in the old testament
is equivalent to believing in the new testament and vice versa
because it's just the word of god and all the people who truly believe the
old testament when jesus showed up they received him as the messiah
and the ones who did not receive jesus the messiah were simply being
made manifest that truly in their hearts they did not believe
what moses had prophesied and so make no mistake about it my friend
jesus christ is god jesus is divine but not only is he divine
he is also equal to god so he's not a lesser divinity
he is equally god just like god the father what's part of the word of
prayer father we thank you so much for your
word we thank you for our lord and savior jesus christ and
lord help us to honor and glorify him in all that we say and do
and to worship him and and praise him even as we worship and praise you
and it's in his name we pray amen