Jesus: Creed Series

“I AM: The Jesus We Think We Know”

Part 6 – Creed

NewSong Church – 08/26/07

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**NOTE: THIS IS A CONCEPT OUTLINE FOR THIS MESSAGE, NOT THE FULL MANUSCRIPT. GRAPHICS AND MULTIMEDIA ARE AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THIS SERIES.

Video Clip - “Names of Jesus”

Recap

This morning we conclude our series, “I AM: The Jesus We Think We Know.” Over the past few weeks, we have looked at the claims that Jesus made of himself and considered what they mean for us today.

I began this series by pointing out the roles that impression and preconception play in our decision making, and the incredible amount of influence that each holds. Over the past few weeks, we have looked at various impressions that people have about Jesus, and then compared those impressions to His own teachings and claims about himself.

John 17:3 - Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Claims

Jesus stands out because of his claims.

• He claimed to be the Light of the World.

• He claimed to be the Good Shepherd of all people.

• He claimed to be the Bread of Life.

• He said that He had been sent by God the Father

• That the words He spoke were the words of God

• He said, I am the Way, I am the Truth, and I am the Life.”

• He called himself the Resurrection and the Life; he claimed that if any believed in him, eternal life would be theirs.

• Jesus claimed to offer salvation for all of humanity.

• He claimed to be able to make all of creation right with God, and bring us into a relationship with God.

• Jesus claimed royalty as a returning King.

• He claimed divinity as God on earth.

He sought needy hearts and open minds. He spent his days with the destitute and downtrodden as well as the rich and powerful. He was a healer, a worker of miracles, a hope in troubled times, a friend to the lonely. He was and still is the greatest person the world has ever known.

The person Jesus Christ is the most significant figure in all of history. Who he claimed to be is unparalleled by any other religious figure. I remind you of a quote from David DeWitt:

“So let me ask you the question: what happens to our beliefs if Jesus is removed?

• Without Jesus there is no more purpose for the Bible

• Without Jesus there is no more forgiveness

• Without Jesus there is no more hope of salvation

• Without Jesus there is no restoration of our relationship with God

• Without Jesus there can be no heaven, which means Hell is our destiny

• Without Jesus we no longer have a genuine faith

Dare I say it without Jesus we have nothing? All of this begs a question that we desperately need to answer in light of all these attempts to steal the identity of Jesus: who is Jesus?”

In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes this statement, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us."

The Great Question

Jesus and his disciples were talking one day. Jesus had just performed an incredible miracle – while teaching a crowd of thousands, he had taken a small amount of bread and had multiplied it to feed each person there.

• The crowds who had followed him

• The religious leaders who were watching him

• Even his disciples who believed in him were astonished and amazed.

And a little later, Jesus sits with his disciples and asks a question: “So tell me, who do they say I am? What do they call me? How do they see, and know, and understand me?”

His disciples considered all the things they had seen and heard

• How so many people hung on Jesus’ words and teachings

• They remembered the great wonders and miracles that Jesus had performed.

• They had watched him debate with the religious leaders and amaze people with his teachings and words of wisdom.