"The Greatest Gift Ever Given!" Series

When the Scripture tells us that Jesus is the "one and only," it is saying that there was no one else like Him!

1. Jesus Is The One And Only Son!

It has been said that a son is sure to resemble his father. Surely, this was true of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus was God come in human form to make Himself known to the world! As the Son of God, Jesus was the ultimate revelation of God to us.

The Bible tells us that, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being," (Hebrews 1:1-3a).

John tells us that Jesus was "the Word made flesh." "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," (John 1:1); and "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth," (John 1:14).

Prior to His incarnation Jesus Christ was indeed in existence, but only in an invisible form. That which is translated "Word" here is the Greek word "Logos." This word was first used by a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. This word was well suited to John’s purpose in speaking about Jesus.

When Christ came into this world, the Logos became flesh. That which was previously unknowable became knowable. Jesus was God "in the flesh." Indeed, no man has ever seen God in His spiritual essence (John 1:18). But Jesus said in John 14:9, "He who hath seen me hath seen the Father."

In the Rospigliosi Palace in Rome is Guido Reni*s famous fresco, "The Aurora," a work unequaled in that period for nobility of line and poetry and color. It is painted on a lofty ceiling. As you stand on the pavement and look up at it, your neck stiffens, your head grows dizzy, and the figures become hazy and indistinct. So the owner of the palace has placed a broad mirror near the floor. In it the picture is reflected and you are able to study that wonderful work of art in comfort.

Jesus Christ did precisely that for us. He came to us as God’s reflection. He is the mirror of deity. He is, as the writer of the book of Hebrews puts it, "the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being." In Him, God becomes visible and intelligible to us. Jesus was God "with skin on."

As such, He was 100% divine and 100% human, which would make Him the unique person of the universe! There has never been, nor will there ever be a revelation of God such as has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ! He is the one and only Son of God!

2. Jesus Is The One And Only Sacrifice!

Jesus not only came to provide a revelation of God to us. He also came to make possible a relationship with God for us! He accomplished this through His sacrifice on the cross.

You see, Jesus came to deal with the chief problem facing mankind, the problem of sin. Sin is something that each of us has in common with all people everywhere. The Bible tells us that "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23).

Often when we think of sin, we think of rules that we have violated in some way. We think of things we have done wrong that God is upset about. But the word actually comes from a Greek archery term used to measure the distance between the bull*s eye and where the archer*s arrow hit. That distance was called the "sin." It literally was a measurement of how far the archer had missed the mark. Our problem is not just that the bad things we are guilty of are offensive to God (which is true), but that the good things we do deserve credit for are simply not good enough.

In our high-tech culture, sin’s definition of "missing the mark" can be redefined with some help from the computer industry. T.J. Rodgers, founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, told his employees, "A computer chip is the result of literally a thousand multi-disciplinary tasks. Doing only 999 of them right, however, guarantees failure, not success." You see, just one defect in a computer chip renders it useless. Likewise, just one defect in our character is enough to make even the good things we do unacceptable to God.