But We See Jesus
A biblical look at Jesus Christ.
We live in a world where Christ is seen in the fashion where He is made to fit our image instead of seeing Jesus as the Scriptures show Him.
It is my intention in today’s lesson to display Christ from Scripture and to help us in our view of Christ and who He is.
- We will discuss His nature as God.
- We will discuss His poverty.
- We will see Him in deep sorrow at times.
- We will notice His power.
- We’ll see His unfailing obedience.
- We will note His compassion.
- We will see Him as our Lord.
- We will conclude our study by seeing His glory.
I hope that this study will show Jesus as the Bible says and will help you to see Him as well
We See Jesus as God.
In John’s gospel, we find these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1, LSB). What does this mean?
It shows us that Jesus has always existed. He was not always known as Jesus, but has always been known as the Word. He is the second person of the Godhead.
John continued by saying, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, LSB). Jesus took on the form of a man and came to save mankind from eternal destruction (Luke 19:10). He came with the very purpose to die.
Consider the words of Hebrews,
“But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels — Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings…Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to help those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:9–10, 17–18, LSB).
Friend, do you believe that Jesus is Divine? Jesus Himself said, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24, LSB).
Will you believe? The choice is yours.
We See Jesus in Poverty.
Paul wrote, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though being rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9, LSB). Again, this speaks to His being made flesh (John 1:14). He left the glory of Heaven to take on human flesh so that He might gain our redemption.
He was also not wealthy in His life. At one point, our Lord said, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20, LSB). Jesus was more concerned about our spiritual being rather than His own life.
What a love our Lord had. We live in a world that is more concerned with money and popularity than it is with its own spiritual well-being.
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24, LSB). We cannot have both. We must make a choice.
Will we deny ourselves or will we be full of self? Jesus said:
“And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:23–25, LSB).
The choice is yours.
We See Jesus in Deep Sorrow.
“He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:3–4, LSB).
Isaiah pictures Jesus as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”. Jesus did have tears. He did have pain in His life. The Hebrews writer wrote, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, LSB).
Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus (John 11:35). Jesus wept in the Garden of Gethsemane.
“And being in agony He was praying very fervently, and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:44, LSB).
Jesus knows what it means to be in anguish. Therefore, He is able to help us in our anguish.
“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, LSB).
We See Jesus in Mighty Power.
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the full knowledge of Him, so that you — the eyes of your heart having been enlightened — will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of the might of His strength, which He worked in Christ, by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And HE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:17–23, LSB).
He is mighty.
He has all authority (Matthew 28:18).
It will be by His power that we will be raised from the dead (Romans 8:9–11). It is all thanks to His sacrifice and resurrection!
We See Jesus in Unfailing Obedience.
He came and did the will of His Father (John 6:38). We are to do the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21–23).
The Hebrews writer wrote:
“Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:8–9, LSB).
We must note here that His learning obedience means “to become personally and practically acquainted with the nature of such obedience in the midst of protracted woes” (Wilcox).
If Jesus was willing to go through all of His sufferings, then should we not be able to have unfailing obedience as well? Consider John 3:36.
We See Jesus as Our Lord.
The world wants Jesus as Savior, but not as their Lord.
The hardest thing for man to do is to let go of his pride and submit to the Lord’s will. Most of today’s issues stem from having sin and self on the throne of our lives instead of Jesus Christ. We must have Jesus as our Lord as well as Savior.
MacArthur wrote:
“He is Lord, and those who refuse Him as Lord cannot use Him as Savior. Everyone who receives Him must surrender to His authority, for to say we receive Christ when in fact we reject His right to reign over us is utter absurdity. It is a futile attempt to hold onto sin with one hand and take Jesus with the other. What kind of salvation is it if we are left in bondage?” (MacArthur, “The Gospel According to Jesus” p. 210).
Consider the words of Peter at the conclusion of the sermon on Pentecost: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36 LSB).
Consider this passage:
“As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ — He is Lord of all — you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. “And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. “And He commanded us to preach to the people, and solemnly to bear witness that this is the One who has been designated by God as Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:36–42, LSB).
He will one day judge us (Acts 17:30–31). We either submit now or face the wrath of God.
“For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you view your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, TO ME EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:7–12, LSB).
John MacArthur wrote:
“This, then, is the gospel we are to proclaim: That Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, humbled Himself to die on our behalf. Thus He became the sinless sacrifice to pay the penalty of our guilt. He rose from the dead to declare with power that He is Lord over all, and He offers eternal life freely to sinners who will surrender to Him in humble, repentant faith. This gospel promises nothing to the haughty rebel, but for broken, penitent sinners, it graciously offers everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)” (MacArthur, “The Gospel According to Jesus” p. 210).
Have you obeyed the gospel? Is Jesus Lord of your life?
We See Jesus in Great Glory.
“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He is manifested, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2–3, LSB).
Jesus has been glorified. He is King of all. He is coming back (John 14:106). Consider the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15;12–58).
When He returns, He will bring His church home. Our hope is in Jesus. It is because of His death, burial, and resurrection that we will be raised.
We should look forward to this day.
Now that we’ve seen Jesus, what is our response? Is it unfailing obedience or rejection?
Jameson here — I appreciate John Exum’s sharing this article with us on taking a biblical, closer look at Jesus Christ.
His article pairs so well with the study of Romans we’ve been doing together.
I hope all who read John’s article will obey the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16–17), turn from sin, and turn to the Savior by being immersed into His death (Romans 6:3–7). It is by His blood we are set free from sin, and it is by His life that we live to God (Romans 6:10–11)!
Jonathan Exum preaches for the Hannibal Church of Christ in Hannibal, Missouri. Jonathan also writes articles for the “Preacher’s Blog” and publishes them on the church website. He also has a website called the “Online School of Theology.”
Jonathan graduated from a couple of classes behind me at the Memphis School of Preaching. Jonathan does good work in our Lord’s kingdom, and I’m grateful for his writing!
