One of a Kind!

Jesus is the only person who ever lived before he was born is the only person who ever existed before.

He was easy to say that he's gonna say that to the Jewish people who will confront Jesus and are you greater than our father Abraham what he said before Abraham was, I am not like that English radiology before Abraham was, I am in the Jews know exactly what he was saying as they picked up one stones to kill him. That was blasphemy, and he said you being a man are making yourself out to be God is the whole point to critically Skip weekend division. I don't remember exactly where I saw there was a gig a few years back 14 was telling his parents what I want to get attached to. He said I want to be an individual. You know like everybody else that's interesting.

It would be truly unique, while blending in with the grout is in that kind of mutually exclusive but one things for sure. Jesus does not blend in with the crowd.

People try to get them to do so by saying he was just a great moral teacher or wonderful philosopher. There's that whole pesky thing of them claim to be God in the flesh, and being ill effect that claim up. It's what makes Jesus truly one-of-a-kind for that s'more was Skip Heitzig today here and correctly Skip weekend edition but first let's see what's going on. Skip resource Center this month.

More fruitful walk with Jesus health for prominent women in the Bible, feasting struggles in a new teaching from my income cleans up the Bible on the Queen of Sheba hearing is the first step toward spiritual life right now, hearing that blessing as faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God hear more from lying, she explores the faith in the failings of four different queens in Scripture. The Queens of the Bible collection of teaching saying thank you $35 or more today to support this type of teaching ministry following Christ is to go wherever healing your copy of these unique teachings when you call hundred 98 or give online securely connectwithskip.com/offer connect the skip.com/offer John chapter 1 as you do so will catch up with skip-continues with our study and this is John saying I know I'm older, I know I started my ministry. First, you gotta know something this guy Jesus is God, he existed from eternity is the meaning of that little statement. He is supreme to give you little mind bender. Based on this Jesus is the only person who ever lived before he was born is the only person who ever existed before he was born to say that he's gonna say that to the Jewish people who will confront Jesus, and on one occasion does what they said to go okay. Are you greater than our father Abraham, nobody said, before Abraham was, I am in you. I go that's not like that English is great theology before Abraham was, I am in the Jews know exactly what he was saying because they picked up what stones to kill him.

That was blasphemy, and they said you being a man are making yourself out to be God is the whole point and John the Baptist is saying that he is performing existed long before I ever came greater than everyone in greater than me this noted preacher in Judeo is a book put out a few years ago by Michael Shapiro, a Jewish author was called the Jewish 100 subtitled a ranking of the most influential Jews of all time. Number one on Shapiro's list. Moses number two on Shapiro's list.

Jesus, number three, according to his book, Albert Einstein number four Sigmund Freud number six Paul the apostle number seven Karl Marx number nine the Virgin Mary and number 98 Sandy Koufax the pitching great for the Dodgers. Well, if John the Baptist had his last number one Jesus know why because that's God's list he was before me.

He's preferred before me, as he was before Jesus is supreme, here's my question to you and to I myself this morning. This is supreme in your life meters John the Baptist a great guy, a notable guy famous guy this time and he goes, I gotta take some thought about him. I look for him. I exist for him he was before me and he is the supreme one and so we who claim to be followers of Christ is key supreme or are we just once a week giving homage to the figurehead of Christ or twice a year, or is he supreme.

John said he is supreme and he deserves honor because of that third Jesus Christ is unique in his generosity and his Nativity number one, number two, according to John in chapter 15. His supremacy and now his generosity.

Look at verse 16 and his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth.

You like that word grace already four times in this paragraph he mentions grace but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Verse 16.

I will admit is a difficult verse to translate and that's because of the work fullness and his wife's difficult. John never uses that word in all of his writings play role monetize the wording never use it except right here.

But Paul does use the term effect. It's a favorite word of Paul. Paul uses it a lot.

John never uses it except here I think this is what he saying he means that Jesus Christ is the unique channel of God's blessing to us, and it's based upon grace. It's based upon grace, not what we deserve. It's based upon grace. Now, we all received grace of his fullness and says we've all received. Everybody receives what we call common grace whether Europe lever and unbeliever Muslim love Mormon not Catholic evangelical have no faith at all.

We all received common grace things like health air, knowledge, friendship, good times. That's common grace that God gives to all but once we say I believe in Jesus Christ and we come to him by faith we enjoy some else covenant grace. Salvation Holy Spirit living within us peace happen to boot. All of that is covenant grace and and listen carefully. Every single resource we need to live the Christian life is given to us when we come to Christ, everything.

Second Peter chapter 1 he's given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Everything you will ever need to please him to live for him and to live victoriously is yours and you might be thinking, but I failed. I failed along the way that that's why it says right after that and grace. What grace for grace know that means grace on top of grace. On top of grace. On top of grace means when grace leaves more grace, sort of like the ocean you go look at the ocean one wave comes and then it crashes in the receives and another wave comes in crashes and receives in a car goes and more comes in go back and hours doing that and come back in a week and is doing this and come back in 20 years you know is happening. This keeps coming and send her grandkids 100 years and is doing this again. In other words it's inexhaustible. That's the point about of his fullness. We've all received. He's so generous grace for grace.

Some of you hearing that might think.

Skip, you don't know my problems. You're right.

I don't know your problems, but I know Christ and he has no problem and he's given us everything we need. You might be thinking, still, but you don't know what I've been through your right, but I know what he's been through and what is been true enables you to have all that he promises so no matter how bad you are or filthy or vile or hopeless. You are listen.

Grace can handle. You grace can handle. You will you know grace can handle.

You as a great text of Scripture in Romans five says this when sin abounds grace overflows. How cool is that literally when when sin reaches the high watermark and you go to this is just so bad. Grace comes higher lesson I was going to church as a young boy taking drugs and believing God wanted me to take drugs because it made me happy so far gone. My thinking and God's grace can handle me and so God's grace can handle. You verse 17 just continue that for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ is doing. He's drawing a line between the old covenant of law under Moses and the new covenant under grace under Christ, the log did come by Moses, grace and truth came through Christ.

The law just convicted sinners of their inability to keep God's perfect standard is what it people looked at the lawn said man of I blown it. I've done that I've done that and it says thou shall not, but I've done it so all it does is convict sinners of their inability to keep God's right to standard. It only takes one sin to make a sinner. It's all one sin. Yes, people you a sinner. Wow, I'm to check that center. I just your center. One thing wrong takes one sin and one sin under the law is enough to kill you. The law came by Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus we could exhaust this further. But I want to move on. Let me just sort of summed up by giving you the difference under the law, God demanded righteousness from man under grace, God gives righteousness to man in Christ. Huge difference.

One God demands it. Second, God gives it says I declare you righteous under the law of righteousness is based upon good works.

Yours under grace. Righteousness is based upon a good work.

His his good work on the cross is enough under the law, blessing the company's obedience. But under grace blessing now flows freely as gifts.

As it says her grace upon grace upon grace. You will never find another system of religious belief in all the world that has this kind of grace built into grace upon grace tremendous truths. Here's the bottom line really to sum up these two verses this what you need to know ready really profound. God loves you a lot is to be amazed, hearing Dr. Billy Graham preach every couple of minutes. You could almost time to watch what he would say.

And God loves you and the need say some more truth and don't forget God loves you and God loves you the coupon.

It's like okay I get it, but he wanted us to get it. Dr. Karl Barth 20th century theologian, one of the greatest theologians ever. I disagree with a lot of his premises, but nonetheless a brilliant thinker and he was interviewed by a reporter, said Dr. Barth of all of the thoughts you have ever had in that brain of yours. What is the deepest and most profound truth you've ever come across, and the reporter waited for some deep kind of wordy statement and Dr. Karl Barth paused a moment.

Is that okay here it is ready. Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so simple that a child can sing it profound and deep enough that a theologian could drown in it. It's that deep fourth, and finally Jesus Christ is unique in his clarity, verse 18. What I mean by that is you want to see God clearly you look at Jesus. He came to make him clear.

Verse 18 no one has seen God at any time, the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father is declared him. I gotta tell you about a translation issue. Some of the better newer translations render this differently and some of your Bibles perhaps already render it that way, the word son is and in the best manuscripts. It is thought, God is and that is really the thought of John, no one is seen God at any time, the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the father. The word was with God, he has declared him. It's a very powerful statement that Jesus Christ who is God, begotten human flesh came to make God perfectly clear to the world. What is he mean when he says nobody seen God, and remains means nobody seen God.

Nobody seen God, and is pure essence nobody seen God in his full and undiminished glory. Dino Moses had a vision of God and wanted to see the full glory of God. But God said you know Moses if you do that you know it's an apnea you'll die you can handle it. And other people got theophanies and visions, but they never really saw God and fullness, but the only begotten God, God the son, who's with God. He is declared him is made known the word declare means explained we get our word exegesis from that wordy. He broke it apart. He came in he explained any lived and he reflected, and so when Jesus came.

People who go get it.

That's what God is like. He moved into our neighborhood and we beheld his glory, now we know it is like without Jesus Christ, God would still be fuzzy and unclear and distant and unknowable. Jesus came in a way that men can understand God. That's the reason for Bethlehem.

And that's the reason for the manger. And that's the reason for Christmas is to make God clear in a package we can understand he became like us know we asked the question toward the beginning. Why would God ever become a person. What's up with this whole incarnation.

Why would he do that now. I want to explain it. In closing, you and I are in the natural world and we are bound by the natural world. Our boundaries are time and space. We live in the time space continuum. We don't live outside of that that's the supernatural.

That's where God is.

We live in a confinement of space and time. The natural world. You may want to get out of the but you can't go on a phone booth and become Superman now the super nature use have a human nature, time and space are bound by, though I do want to escape my natural world I want to get in touch with God. Every now and then somebody will come by and say something like well if you read the Koran and pray five times a day toward Mecca you can poke a hole in that box and you be in the supernatural and somebody else will say now you can do that. That's not the way. But if you read the Bhagavad-Gita you can poke a hole through the box and are in the supernatural summary also say let's not true, but if you meditate on these crystals for a long period of time. You can poke a hole to the box and you're in the supernatural. You know what you can poke a hole through the box. The only solution is that God has to crawl inside the box and did he do that.

Boy did he keep blasted into our natural world as the Word became flesh and we checked him out and he was the only begotten God, full of grace and truth. So he brought the supernatural into the natural world. That's why Jesus could say, if you see me you seen the father with the same nature. I get lots of Christmas cards and eventually I throw them away you do to. When I get them. We do pray for the ones that send them make better policy but then we throw them away. Unless it's a very unusual card and I have kept a couple very unusual cards. Let me tell you about one the front of the card is alarming because there's a picture of world dictators Nazi tongue, Stalin adult Hitler on and on and on. That's enough to arrest most people Christmas and you open up the card and then is the explanation it says history is filled with men who would be God, but only one God who would be a man such a powerful statement are people who puff themselves up, but there's one God who humbled himself and became a man, and why CS Lewis said God or the son of God became a man, that men and women might become sons and daughters of God and that is the truth that is the truth, and it can't be divorced from grace because he's full of what grace and truth, and as mentioned twice. Grace and truth. So here's the deal about grace. This generous unmerited favor God gives you grace when you believe the truth if you don't believe the truth you won't enjoy the covenant grace you have air to breathe in friendships GoodTimes the covenant grace comes when you believe truth and when you believe truth grace becomes a part of.

That's what makes Jesus truly one-of-a-kind was just another historical figure is amazing as it may sound. He was truly God in the flesh, God walking beer God mingling among regular humans.

He wasn't a liar.

He was a lunatic and therefore he was truly Lord one-of-a-kind. That's all the time we have for today before we go here. Skip and his wife linear with the closing thought today, we explore a few things that make Jesus unique and of course he is utterly unique and he's a unique figure in history and why is it so important for Christians to understand Dino this supremacy. This different thing that Jesus is yeah that's it. That's really a great word unique. He said he was unique, singular, I think the Greek word is Monaghan Ace. He's the one and only begotten of God, and God singled him out and sentiment of the world and here's the here's the answer. The question I think why is it so important to understand the uniqueness of Christ and who he is, because without the sun.

You don't have the father there is no life in anyone or anything else other than God the son God sent his son and he is declared that if you don't have the sun you have no life and you can't say I know God in any capacity. Unless you trust and believe in Jesus so that's why it's important to to really get a grasp on who is Mary avocado, who was born in an obscure village own no home phone no property had no office and it is impacted the world greater than any other human being who's ever lived and it's good to ask why that is and only why that is what what you should do about his life and breath even divided time in the NetSuite recently celebrated their 80 NBC that to. He was so unique that it lists this beautiful demarcation and in the line of history and an understanding that I don't think you'll completely grasp it. I mean there's there's human limitations to dealing with a person who is totally divine and yet human and and the blending of these characters fully human, fully divine, but it's important that we believe that the minute central to the gospel of John 9% of Americans believe Jesus is divine.

Only 9% and that is because they say he embodies the best of humanity. That's as good as it gets in terms of what most Americans think about Christ. So the gospel of John sets him as unique and singular, and the one who is able to deal with all of our issues as the way, the truth of life, the bread of life.

The water of life, etc. when we go back to that idea. Unique figure in history. He's not just the unique figure in the Bible. He is the unique figure in history. I mean, it's not a time for comparative religions but he's different from Mohammed. He's different than Buddha. He's different. And he is completely unique from any human being that's live and all Old Testament history anticipated all post New Testament history looks back to him as that central figure because of what he came to do, and that what he's going to continue to do in terms of wrapping things up but but let's figure out who he is and and what he is to us. Well thanks N you for taking time to share with us today. As for today's study, we be happy to send you a copy of that for just four dollars plus shipping. When you call us at one 819 to 1880.

Continue with our series believe 879 book of John.

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