The Jesus That Always Was Series

Harry Reasoner, one Christmas years ago, gave the following closing to 60 minutes

[God would become a baby.] It is a startling idea, of course. My guess is that the whole story that a virgin was selected by God to bear His Son ... is not an idea that has been popular with theologians. It's a somewhat illogical idea, and theologians like logic almost as much as they like God. It's so revolutionary a thought that it probably could only come from a God that is beyond logic, and beyond theology.

It has a magnificent appeal. Almost nobody has seen God, and almost nobody has any real idea of what He is like. And the truth is that among men the idea of seeing God suddenly and standing in a very bright light is not necessarily a completely comforting and appealing idea.

But everyone has seen babies, and most people like them. If God wanted to be loved as well as feared, He moved correctly here, if He wanted to know His people as well as rule them. If God wanted to be intimately part of man, He moved correctly, for the experiences of birth and familyhood are our most intimate and precious experiences.

So it goes beyond logic. It is either all falsehood or it is the truest thing in the world. It's the story of the great innocence of God the baby -- God in the form of man -- and it has such a dramatic shock toward the heart that if it is not true, for Christians, nothing is true. reported in “The Examiner,” December 25, 2011. http://www.examiner.com/article/harry-reasoner-s-christmas-address

GOD became a MAN. This is the mystery of the gospel.

Today we begin a new sermon series titled, JESUS: B.C.

We use the phrase “B. C.” to designate before Christ. So, this series will examine what the Bible teaches about the person and ministry of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the eternal God-head, before the birth of Jesus, to Mary, his human mother. But we are only referring to his entrance into the world before he came to our world as a human. \

The only way that God could save us is if the Savior was truly GOD and truly HUMAN

These are the TWO SIDES of a great theological MYSTERY

He is TRULY GOD

“knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18–19, ESV)

He is TRUE MAN

“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17, ESV)

Regarding his divinity, today we will examine the eternal nature of Jesus Christ. One Scripture where we find this clearly presented is in Micah 5:2, the passage that foretold of the Messiah’s birth in a little town called Bethlehem.

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2, ESV)

The phrase “whose coming forth” indicates that the child born would be one that existed long ago. That is impossible - indeed it doesn’t even make sense for any ordinary person. But when ascribed to Jesus, it is a biblical indication that the son born to Mary existed in the past before he was born.

The RULER that would be BORN originated in the ETERNAL PAST

Other Scriptures also bear witness to the eternal nature of Jesus.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1, ESV)

“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”” (John 8:58)

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15–17, ESV)

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17, ESV)

He was God’s SON before he was sent! Before he was born!

“who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,” (Philippians 2:6, ESV)

As a person who existed in eternity past, Jesus was GOD. He emphasized that he was from HEAVEN.