Sermon Central
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Christ's Divine Declarations
Contributed by Ron Freeman, Evangelist on Apr 5, 2025 (message contributor)
Summary: To establish that Christ has made several divine declarations that establish He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This lesson also deals with the false notions that there are other ways, truths, and means of obtaining eternal life.
ILLUSTRATION: “Kingdom of God is at Hand or Nigh,” Mark 9:1; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8.
NOTE: When did all this happen? When did the kingdom make its advent into the world? Here it is: On the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1-14; Luke 24:44-47; Acts 2:36-47. The kingdom was then and is still in existence, inviting believers into its Way of salvation. Observe that,
a. Philip preached the kingdom of God in Samaria and to the Treasure in Acts 8:12-34.
b. Paul wrote that the saints are in the kingdom of God, Colossians 1:13.
c. Jesus said: “He would send His angels to “Gather out of the kingdom all that offend and do iniquity…Then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of their Father,” Matthew 13:41-43. Question: "If the kingdom of God will not be established until Christ comes, can the angels gather the wicked and ungodly out of it?"
d. Jesus told Nicodemus: “Except a man is born of the water and Spirit…kingdom of God,” John 3:3-5.
5. Conclusion: Shouldn’t all men who preach the “kingdom of God” have the same message? Remember Paul: “Let us all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among us,” 1 Corinthians 1:10; Philippians 3:16.
ILLUSTRATION: Life Magazine, Dictionary, Reader’s Digest: we can read words, stories of fiction, history, and Romance. We read these and discuss them with agreement! However, when we pick up the Bible, you say: “You believe it your way, and I believe it mine.” How can that be?
C. Jesus's promise of the way. Our Lord states: “I am the way.” Please note that he does not say, I am a way” or “another way,” but; I am the way unto the Father.” Before we begin our fuller discussion of these “Divine Declarations,” we must determine who Jesus is in this text and other references, as John presents. Recall John noted that Jesus declared Himself to be the “I AM” who was before Abraham, as he spoke unto the Jewish leaders in John 8:58. Consider Jesus as the “I AM.” Observe,
1. First, Jehovah’s declaration unto Moses at the burning bush. Moses asks who should he tell the children of Israel it is that has sent him: “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you,” Exodus 3:14. Jesus declares Himself to be that “I AM” that spoke to Moses at the “burning bush,” John 8:58; John 1:1-3.
2. Further, Isaiah prophesied of the “Divinity of Christ” and the “preparatory preaching of the Way” before the coming of the Lord. Notice,
a. The divinity of Christ. Isaiah’s “First and the last.” He writes: “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he,” Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 43:13; Isaiah 44:6; and Isaiah 48:12. All these references identify the “Lord” as being the “first and the last.”
b. John in the Book of Revelations calls Jesus the “first and the last.” He writes:
1) Regarding Jesus, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty,” Revelation 1:8.
