Jesus Makes Christianity Unique.
Scripture Reading: John 14:1-7
Text: John 14:6
Sermon Idea: To explore what Jesus and the Christian faith have that makes them unique in our world full of religions.
Jews, Muslims and Christians have one thing in common. They all worship one God. But that is where the similarities end.
The Christian faith is based in a large part upon the belief that God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ, the God-Man.
Islam sees Muhammad as the greatest prophet to ever live. They consider him to be greater than Jesus. Whom they also consider just a prophet. They don’t see Muhammad as divine. To do so would be blasphemy to them.
Buddhism however is entirely different. Their great prophet Buddha did attain divine status. They believe that anyone who becomes a serious student of Buddhism can attain this enlightened state. Buddha is not unique he has only attained what others can attain.
So how does Jesus make Christianity unique. Well one way He makes Christianity unique is that He is both fully God and fully human. He is unconventional. He tells us who He is. He came to die for us. He rose again.
It would be convenient if Jesus fit neatly into the kind of categories we construct for people and things so that we can be comfortable. But He doesn’t and that is one of the things that makes Him unique.
I. The Unique Jesus. (v. 6)
For centuries people have been confused about Jesus. How could He be both man and God? In the first few centuries of Christianity, some Christian groups tried to explain this in simplified terms. They taught that Jesus was the adopted Son of God, not fully divine as God is. The adoption took place when the voice from heaven came at Jesus’ baptism, proclaiming, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). But first we need to take a look back and see where this teaching began. It came out of the passage which is known to the Jews as Shema. It has become the Jewish creed of faith. In Deuteronomy 6:4, it says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” They understood that God is one, they could not see how Jesus could be divine. As far as they were concerned, to say Jesus was God was to contradict the Old Testament affirmation that God is one. Eventually this view of Jesus’ adoption died out.
Another group tried to resolve the problem by arguing that Jesus was truly God, but He only appeared to be human. He was actually a spirit disguised as a person with a human body. He had all the power and knowledge but chose not to reveal them except in a limited way, in order to fit in with society and the culture of His time. Again this idea was rejected by the early church.
Most scholars say that 1 John was written to combat this way of thinking. John wrote, “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 Jn. 4:2-3).
John also declares, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). A little later we read, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14).
If we abandon the divine nature of Jesus, we end up rejecting the idea that God has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ, He remains remote and we cannot know Him in a personal and intimate way.
On the other hand, if we abandon the humanity of Jesus, we deny the incarnation. When we make Jesus all divine but not human, He would be far removed from where we live. Far from our trials and temptations, far from our pain and suffering, far from our finite existence. We could excuse our sinfulness by saying that the reason Jesus was able to live a holy life was because He was God. We might ask, How can I be holy when I’m only human? But Hebrews 4:15 reminds us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.”
Jesus got tired, thirsty, and hungry. John tells us He had normal limitations and emotions on His human body. He wept at the tomb of Lazarus. He enjoyed eating so much that He was accused of being a glutton. He experienced anger. He was bound by time and space. He lived at a particular time in history and lived according to the customs of that time. Even historians, such as Josephus of first-century Palestine, confirm that Jesus lived then there.
Jesus spoke more about the kingdom of God than about Himself, He did speak clearly about who He is. In John He makes several “I am” statements: “ I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9b). “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10:30).
In Luke we read of Him saying, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Lk 10:22).
When Jesus was asked if He was the Messiah during His trial, He said, “I am,” and then He quoted Daniel 7:13, which portrays the Son of Man at the right hand of God and coming with the clouds of heaven.
The early church was given no clear cut statement in the New Testament concerning Christ’s divine and human nature. So the church had to figure out a way to express this essential truth about Jesus. It wasn’t until A. D. 325 that this truth was expressed. It has become known as the Nicene Creed. In part, the creed explains that Christ is the “true God of true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father.”
It would be very convenient for Jesus to fit into a neatly constructed category. But He doesn’t. Let us explore some of the problems His uniqueness causes.
II. The Unconventional Jesus. (Rom. 6:6)
Jesus’ dying on the cross does not make Him unique. Thousands of Jews were crucified. His willingness to die does not make Him unique either. History is filled with tales of self-sacrifice. So what is it that makes Jesus unique? How would you answer that question? What would you say to someone to help them understand the importance of a crucifixion that took place over 2, 000 years ago? Why is that important today?
Paul tells us, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 3b-4). Mark quotes Jesus as saying, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).
In Gethsemane He prayed, “Take this cup from me” (Mk 14:36). If He believed that His death was essential for our salvation, why would He ask God to skip the cup?
Why would Jesus need to pray if He was God? That would be like talking to Himself wouldn’t it? We need to take a look at this question first.
Prayer is the tool that is used to have communion, communication, and expression of love and adoration from human beings to God and God to human beings. Christianity tells us that God is three distinct person in one. Father, Son and Holy Ghost. When Jesus prayed he was lovingly and willingly submitting Himself to the will of the Father. He was modeling that the Son was dependent upon the Father for everything. Jesus who is the second person of the Trinity, was and is in perfect harmony with the Father.
We must remember that Jesus, although He was the Son of God, was very aware of His limitations as a finite human being. He was also aware of His need for God’s presence and provision in His life through prayer.
Now onto the question of why Jesus prayed to escape death. The Gospels tell us that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to proclaim the Kingdom of God. He knew very well that Jerusalem was a dangerous place for Him to preach His message. He was also very aware of the political and religious climate He was stepping into. The center of religious worship was there. The Romans were garrisoned there. They would move to crush any show of Jewish nationalism that would appear. The Roman and Jewish leaders could easily interpret that the Kingdom of God being proclaimed by Jesus was a threat to the social, political, and religious way of life.
Jesus was compelled to preach the same message He had preached in Galilee in Jerusalem, in spite of the risks. He was committed to the message He was proclaiming about the Kingdom of God, even if it meant His own death.
His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane prove that He had no desire to die. If there could be another way He was more than willing to let that happen. There was no other way to usher in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus’ death was both agonizing and humiliating. He was crying out to His father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Mk 15:34)? God was not abandoning Jesus. Jesus was not doubting God in His final moments. Jesus was fulfilling prophecy in His final moments. This fulfillment of prophecy led into fulfillment of still more prophecy in how His Crucifixion would impact the world: “Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn—for he has done it” (Ps. 22-30-31).
Jesus was not some disillusioned fool. He went willing to the Cross believing that His death would be the difference. Jesus died believing that His death was not the end but only the beginning. He believed that His death was the only way the Kingdom of God could come.
Jesus’ death wasn’t the end of His story. Like I said it was the beginning of the greatest event in history.
III. The Resurrected Jesus. (Rom. 6:11)
The single most important fact about the Resurrection is this, Jesus was raised by God the Father. This is something God did Himself. It didn’t just occur. Jesus didn’t just arise. It was God who reversed the death.
God acted in a mighty show of His power when He raised His Son from the dead, and offered us grace and salvation. All this after we sinful man had done everything in our power to send Jesus to His death.
Jesus’ death and resurrection are both demonstrations of God’s love and grace for us. John writes, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 Jn 4:10).
There are no shortages of opinions on the Resurrection. One says his body was resuscitated in the coolness of the tomb because of the trauma of Crucifixion. Some say that because some people are found still alive when they are delivered to the morgue or mortician.
Christ’s resurrection can in no way be compared to this. It was a dramatic demonstration of God’s power over sin and death. The end of life here on earth is not the end of life.
The Resurrection empowers us to stop living in sin. Evangelist Reuben Welch was preaching an outdoor Easter service in San Diego, CA, he said in his message, “The story of Jesus dying and God raising Him from the dead is not just a tragic story that has a happy ending. It is a story that shows how God provided a way for the human race to break out of its cycle of sinning.”
Reverend Welch went on to say that humanity was in a downward spiral. It took Jesus’ resurrection to break that downward spiral. This was the way that was provided for us to begin an upward spiral in a new life with Jesus.
The upward spiral spoken of is very evident in the life of Barry Gates. He grew up in the Appalachian Mountains in a family of ten children. Barry was beaten on a regular schedule by his alcoholic father. This was true for his brothers and sisters. His uncles were alcoholics as well as his grandfather.
Barry came to Christ as a teen in a mountain church. There was something that troubled Barry, he was beginning to see the same patterns developing in his own life, that were present in the other men of his family.
He feared that the result would be the same for him also. He feared that the cycle of abuse was stronger than he was. And he was right.
It was not stronger than the power of the resurrected Jesus. His family’s downward spiral was not changed in an instant. It took therapy with Christian counselors, involvement with support groups at the church, and most importantly Barry’s own commitment to a life with Christ.
Barry said, “The power of Christ has shown that the cycle can stop with me. My family now can start a new cycle toward serving God.”
Jesus didn’t wait for Barry to clean up his act before providing him with the power to break the cycle. He doesn’t wait for us to clean our act up either.
Jesus gave us more than hope when He went to the Cross and conquered sin and death. He gave us the life changing power of God available to whosoever.
Christianity is unique because Jesus is unique, being both
fully God and fully man. Christianity is unique because Jesus is unconventional, being an ever living founder who offers hope beyond the grave. Christianity is unique because Jesus was resurrected, He loved humanity so much that He demonstrated His love by giving His life for you and I.
This morning I would like you to take the opportunity to make the uniqueness of Jesus part of your life if you have done so already. If you have but somewhere along the way you have allowed other ways of thinking to enter your thought arena about Christ and His relationship in your life. You may ask how can I do that?
Very simply by coming to this place of prayer. We have counselors in the form of Salvation Army Cadets to meet you here at this place of prayer. You may have come with a friend or your own pastor I’m sure that they would be willing to join you here.
As we sing the song “Because He Lives” please feel free to come and meet with the Lord. Let us sing.
There are still some coming and probably some who still are struggling with their decisions. I would ask that we remain in an attitude of worship and praise as we sing the chorus “He is Lord.” Let us sing.
Works Cited
Blum, Edwin A. “John.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Downers Grove: Victor, 1997.
Dongell, Joseph. John A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. Indianapolis: Wesleyan, 1997.
Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary New Testament. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999.
Radmacher, Earl, Ronald B. Allen, and H. Wayne House.
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary. Nashville: Nelson, 2000.
Tenney, Merrill C. “John.” Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary. 2 vols. Eds. Barker, Kenneth L. & John R. Kohlenberger III. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.
The Spiritual Formation Bible New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999.
Zuck, Roy B. The Speaker’s Quote Book. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2000.
