The Coming Of The Son Of Man Series

(2 Peter 3:1-18)

Introduction:

Most people get in trouble when they only know irrelevant bits and pieces of the story. If you do not know the whole story, it is possible to spin it in any direction that you possibly can spin it. This is good for those who have a personal agenda in mind.

The more important the story, more important the details are of that story and the more devastating the outcome when key pieces are missing.

Luke establishes the purpose and the procedure of his writing this gospel. (1:1-4).

There is very little that we know about Luke.

Colossians 4:14, “Luke, the beloved physician…”

He was a frequent companion of the apostle Paul. Whether he came to saving faith in Christ through Paul’s ministry or not we are not told. But he seems to have been a very important part of Paul’s ministry team.

We also know that Luke wrote the book of Acts.

“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he filled the Holy Ghost had given commandment to the apostles whom he had chosen.”

Then he goes on and gives us the story of the church following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The book of Acts is one of the most important books in understanding the church as conceived by Christ and as developed by the apostle Paul.

The key verse in the gospel of Luke is 19:10, “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

This verse gives us insight into the whole theme of the gospel of Luke. The theme of the gospel of Luke is the gospel of the Human Divine One, as the Gospel of John is of the Divine Human One.

Luke gives us the most comprehensive look at the mother of Jesus and his infancy and boyhood. The genealogy of Jesus, quite interesting, in Luke’s gospel is traced through Mary. There is a reason for that and when we come to that passage will delve into it.

Theme…

The purpose of Christ coming into this world was to so identify with mankind that he could lift mankind out of the despondency of sin and depravity.

If you had to come up with the most important aspect of the human side of the Lord Jesus Christ, what would you say? The gospel of Luke presents Jesus as God in the flesh. This has to be the most important aspect.

If God is going to reconcile man in a way that is going to bring permanence, legal and eternal relief to mankind has to come down to man’s level. No easy job.

We can sympathize with Christ hanging on the cross and understand the horrific agony that that brought to him. But we little realize what it meant for Christ to become a man. All the other Gospels have their place. Perhaps we could even say that the Gospel of John is the greatest of the Gospels but what we have here in the gospel of Luke is the unfolding of God’s great love for humanity. He was so great that he stepped out of eternity and fit himself into a vessel of clay in order to redeem all mankind.

Luke emphasizes the importance of his Gospel by saying, “it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”

What is it that we will see throughout the gospel of Luke?

I believe it will all be boiled down to three important aspects.

I. The Divine Personality - “For the Son of Man…”

Luke clearly identifies Jesus Christ as the “Son of Man.”

In other places, the apostle Paul refers to him as the “second Adam.” This is what I believe Luke is getting at. Jesus Christ is the second Adam and as such has come to undo everything the first Adam did.

The plight of humanity is a downward spiral because of Adam’s sin. Everything that is wrong about humanity today can be traced back to the fall in the garden.

Jesus Christ now has come as the second Adam to correct that in such a way as to lift up humanity to where God wants it to be. Only through Jesus Christ, the second Adam, do we see any hope for humanity at all.

This is the one that has come and he has come with a purpose in mind.

II. The Divine Purpose of Christ Coming - “came to…”

Jesus Christ has come into the world with a well-defined purpose. As we travel through the gospel of Luke and see Jesus at work, we will find that everything he does supports one purpose.