Live in the same way you were saved – by grace

Secured by God’s faithfulness, not our own

Fall in love with your Creator Redeemer

Bond Servant / Slave of Jesus Christ

Be Still and listen to God

Continually turn to God, confess sin, submit to God

Live a life of worship – Privately, as a Family, and as a People

Compassion for Widows and Orphans

Bucket and Pipe Theology

Abundant Life, Suffering, and Pain

The Five Solas – Sola Deo Gloria

Question to Ponder – How can I worship such a Glorious God?

In need of a Savior

Lord of Salvation

Salvation by Grace Alone

The Five Solas – Sola Grace

Salvation by Faith Alone

 head / heart

The Five Solas – Sola Faith

Not by works

Jesus is the author of our faith

Justification

A substitution

Clothed with the Righteousness of Christ

Sanctification

God will complete in you the work He began – Phil 1:6

now but not yet

Grow in Grace

God’s Purpose in Saving Us – the Praise of the Glory of His Grace Eph
1

Question to Ponder – Is God’s Grace Alone enough to rescue even me?

Creator God

Incarnate – Humble – Kenosis

God the Son, Son of God, Son of Man

Logos / Deity

Jesus’s Message: The Kingdom of God is here

The sinless man

Man of Sorrows

Tested, Tempted

Understands Us

The Promised Messiah/Christ

The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

Crucified, Died and was Buried

Resurrection – Conquered sin and Death

Prophet, Priest and King

Will come again

The Five Sola – Sola Christos

Question to Ponder – Is Jesus the Only Way?

The Kingdom of God as it was created

The Fall and rebellious broken People

The great commandment

The source of Pain

Death

God’s Promise of a Redeemer

Gen 3

Abraham

God’s Covenant to Bless all nations through Israel

Abraham’s Dream

Davidic Covenant

Psalms

All creation moans for the restoration of God’s Glory

now but not yet

Habakkuk 2:14

The Prophesied Messiah

Question to Ponder – Is Jesus God’s Anointed One?

Infinite, Eternal

Creator, Sustainer

Monotheism

Revealed to Abraham as the One God, Moses as I am who I Am

Shema

Not an amalgamation of the Cannonite gods – Psalm 29

Attributes of God

God is Good

God is Holy

God is Just

God is Love

All knowing, All powerful

Imminence and Transcendence of God

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

The Trinity Implicit

The Trinity Explicit

Question to Ponder – Is God Arrogant or Worthy of Glory?

Truths with little t’s

Our thoughts, hearts, feelings  are
not to be trusted

Our ability to determine truth by observing the world is skewed and broken

Don’t believe everything you think

Truth with a Capital T – Scripture

God-Breathed

God-Centered

Scripture is perfect, complete, sufficient

Some truths are hidden – belong to God

The Great Mystery of God

The Five Solas – Sola Scriptura

Essential Truths vs. Opinions

Apostles Creed

Chart listing Absolutes, Convictions, Opinions

Age of the Earth

Mode of Baptism

Tithing

Drinking Alcohol

Gifts of the Spirit

God Chooses us or we choose God

Worship Style

A few false gospels

Health and Wealth Prosperity Gospel

Repentance and rules Gospel

Minimal Christianity

Saved by the Sacraments

Saved by being a good person

All roads lead to the mountaintop

New Revelations

A Quick Intro to the Bible

66 books

Many authors, many types of literature

Selecting a Translation

Christ and Redemption is the main storyline of every page

Question to Ponder – Can God’s “Truth with a Capital T” be Trusted?

Week 1 – Truth with a Capital T – Can’s God’s Truth be trusted?

Week 2 - Worthy of Glory – Is God Arrogant or Worthy of Glory?

Week 3 – Crush the Serpent’s Head – What’s God’s plan to heal this broken, painful world?

Week 4 – Who do you say that I am? – Is Christ really the only way?

Week 5 – By Grace, Through Faith – Is God’s grace alone suficient to rescue even me?

Week 6 – Life with a capital L – How do I worship such a glorious God?

The central truth of Christianity is the incarnation and Deity of Jesus Christ. All of Christianity hinges on the person and redemptive message of hope found in the babe in the manger whom the Prophet Isaiah called “Mighty God”. The line in the sand between Christianity and cults is the doctrine of the Deity of Christ.

The Deity of Christ has the key dividing line between believers and heretics. During His earthly ministry, Christ was nearly stoned, accused by a mock trail, and then crucified for the crime of blasphemy. All because they understood so well, that His message was that He is YHWH, the living and true God, the Ancient of Days.

In the fourth, fifth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries Christ’s claim to Deity continued to be attacked by many heresies. Yet, the scriptural proofs for the Deity of Christ are specific, throughout the Holy Scriptures, and simply overwhelming.

A Study of the Deity of Christ
Any study of the Deity of Christ must begin with the strong Scriptural doctrine that there is only one God, who has revealed Himself to us in three persons – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in Deity and power.

1 – Salvation is of the Lord
The first Biblical reason that Jesus is God comes from His name, Jeshua (same as Joshua, and Jesus in English), which literally means “Jehovah is Savior”. Jesus is repeatedly called savior.

http://www.thenazareneway.com/yeshua_jesus_real_name.htm

Throughout the Holy Scripture, the Lord God adamantly proclaims that there is no other savior besides Himself..

Salvation belongs to the LORD – Psalm 3:8 ESV

I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior  – Isaiah 43:11

Only God can save. The sin debt of the world is an infinite debt against an infinite God. Only God can possibly pay that debt. If Jesus is anything less than God then He could not have paid the debt, and there is no hope of salvation.

Christ’s Titles
Intro text

2 - Lord means Deity
The title Lord was first applied to Jesus by Simon Peter just prior to his declaration that “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God.” Thereafter, Lord is increasingly applied to Jesus. Although the title of Lord may mean simply a master, to the Jews “Lord” was a reverent title of Deity. The Bible of their day was the Septuagint – a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. The Septuagint translated the Hebrew word for God (YHWH) as the Greek word meaning Lord. In fact, it was the early church’s refusal to agree that Caesar was Lord that caused the Christians to be martyred.

3 – Christ means Messiah
The very title of Christ means God’s Holy One or God’s Anointed One. The Jews looked forward to this person’s coming as the Messiah.

4 – Son of God
When the scribes and Pharisees understood that Jesus was claiming to be the Son of God, they wanted to stone Him for blasphemy because he was claiming to be equal with God. Jesus and Hebrews also explain that the Son of God means deity.

5 – Son of Man
The Son of Man is Jesus favorite name for himself. This name reaches back to Daniel’s name for the Messiah. By calling Himself the son of Man, Jesus was identifying Himself as the anointed one – the Christ.

6 – Lord of Glory
When Jesus is called the Lord of Glory, this title refers specifically to His Deity.

Christ’s self-claims to Deity
Intro text

7)    Claimed to be One with the Father
There is a oneness to the triune God that is beyond our comprehension. Not only is the Father in Jesus, but Jesus is in the Father. Truly, the Lord is one.

8)    Claimed to Be Lord of The Sabbath
The Sabbath is the day is the day of rest at the completion of the creation. By claiming to be the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus is claiming to have been the one who rested on the seventh day.

9)    Claimed to be Lord over All
There can only be one supreme commander in chief. And there can only be one Lord over all. Jesus is not competing with the Father, because Jesus too is YHWH – the Lord over All.

10)  Claimed to be the Alpha and the Omega
Only six times in scripture does anyone claim to be the very first and the very last. Three times the LORD God makes this claim, and three times Jesus Christ makes the same claim.

11)  Made several “I Am” statements
It seems no coincidence that Jesus Christ, when asked question concerning His nature, replied with the same answer that the Lord God used when Moses asked questions.

12)  Christ dared to forgive Sins
Only one person can forgive a sin against God, and that’s God. Yet Jesus repeatedly completely forgave sin.

13)  Christ spoke with authority
All the other prophets spoke saying, “Thus Says the Lord,”. But not Jesus. When He taught, the listeners marveled at His authority.

Christ is worshiped
If the greatest sin is breaking the greatest commandment, then worshiping anyone or anything besides God is the greatest sin possible. Yet, Jesus regularly received worship, and blessed those who worshipped Him. Is this blasphemy, or obeying the greatest commandment?

14)  He is worshiped at His Birth
At His entry into His Earthly ministry, Jesus was worshipped by shepards, wise men and angels.

15)  His disciples worshiped him
Those closest to Christ, who heard His private teachings and prayed daily with Him, worshiped Christ!

16)  Those he healed worshiped him
Those Christ healed responded with appropriate worship for their God!

17)  The Holy Scriptures worship Him
So often a New Testament writer is explaining some aspect of God, or our salvation, and He breaks into a passage of worship and praise for God, and for Christ. That the God-breathed Holy Scriptures worship Christ is perhaps the most significant proof of the Deity of Jesus. If Christ is not God, then by this proof, the entire foundation of Christianity just came tumbling down!

18)  Heaven worships him
The book of Revelation is an incredible glimpse into the worship of heaven. The focal point of the book is worship directed toward our Lord Jesus Christ. One hundred million angels, the twenty-four elders and the four heavenly being can’t be wrong.

19)  Angels are commanded to worship him
God commands the angels to worship Christ! Is the Lord God committing idolatry?

20)  Every Knee shall bow
In Paul’s great hymn of the incarnation, the song concludes with the bold statement that every knee, believer or not, all will bow before Christ – and declare that Jesus Christ is LORD!

Evidence of Christ’s Divine Nature
Intro text

21)  Self-Existent
Christ has no beginning – as only God can claim

22)  Omnipotent
Christ has all power – as only God can have!

23)  Omnipresent
Christ’s divine nature is infinite and without boundary – as only God can be!

24)  Omniscience
Christ knows every secret – as only God can know!

25)  Holy
Christ is holy and righteous – as only God is holy.

26)  Good
Christ is good – as only God is good.

27)  Just
Christ is fair and just, and judge of everyone – as only God shows justice.

28)  Eternal
Christ is eternal, pre-existent and the ancient of days – as only God is beyond the markers of time.

29)  Immutable
Christ is the same today, yesterday, and forever, consistent, unchanging – as only God is immutable.

30)  The Creator
Christ is no other than the one who spoke time, the universe, the laws of physics, and your soul into being – as only God can do!

31)  Sustainer of Life
Christ is the one who sustains all life – as God is the source of life

32)  The King
Christ is the King of the Universe – as only God can rule!

33)  sends forth the Holy Spirit
Christ sends forth the Comforter – as only God can send forth His Spirit.

34)  The Light of the World
Christ is the source of spiritual light and truth and the light of heaven – as only God is the source of truth.

The Old Testament Prophets Prepared for the Messiah as YHWH Himself
Intro text

35)  Isaiah
The Prophet spoke of the Messiah as the Mighty God!

36)  John the Baptist
The final prophet of the Old Testament made straight the path of the Lord

37)  Psalms
Several Psalms speak to the Son as God.

The Apostle John Taught that Jesus is God
Intro text

38)  John’s Gospel Prelude
The Gospel of John opens with the clearest possible way that John can say that Christ both “is God” and “is with God”. John say that the word became flesh and tabernacled among His people.

39)  John calls Jesus True God
In one of John’s letters, he directly calls Jesus the true God.

40)  Jesus blessed Thomas’ confession that Jesus was his God
John records Thomas’ confession that Jesus was his Lord and his God. And Jesus responds by blessing the confession.

The author of Hebrews taught the Deity of Christ
Intro text

1)    The letter to the Hebrews revels the Glory of Jesus’ Deity
Hebrews opens the Holy Scriptures (O.T.) and shows how Jesus is higher than the angels by showing that Jesus is God Himself.

42)  The Builder of all things
In my personal favorite passage of Deity, the writer of Hebrews weaves a wonderfully concise progression of logic explaining that Jesus is greater than Moses, because Jesus is the builder (of the law, and of the church)and the builder is God.

43)  The Father calls The Son God
The writer of Hebrews opens the Old Testament and shows points to a dialog between God the Father and God the son, wherein the Father calls the Son “Oh God”!

Paul the Apostle teaches that Jesus is God Incarnate
The Apostle Paul persecuted Christians before meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. The glory of God shinning from Jesus blinded Paul. Paul’s personal encounter with the Deity of Christ changed him. Paul became a bondservant of Jesus, an apostle called to preach the gospel.

44)  the Incarnation Hymn
Paul’s famous incarnation hymn guides the reader with Christ as Christ humbles Himself and becomes a man. Christ is then obedient to the cross and is then glorified by the Father.

45)  Jesus is our great God
Paul writes to his friend, Titus, with the great hope of the appearance of Jesus Christ, our Great God and Savior.

46)  Jesus is the bodily image of God
In several passages, Paul explains that Jesus is the God made visible.

47)  Christ is God of all
In a passage of praise and worship to Jesus Christ, Paul praises Christ as God, over all, blessed and eternal.

48)  It was God who bled on the cross
In a sad farewell to a beloved congregation Paul says the church was bought by God’s blood.

49)  The Incarnation is the Mystery of Godliness
To Timothy, Paul’s protege, he writes that the incarnation is the great mystery of Godliness.

Christ’s Followers have always believed in the Deity of Christ
Intro text

50)  The Early Church Believed that Jesus is God tabernacling among his people
It is well documented that the early church believed in the Deity of Christ

51)  All branches of Christianity agree on the Jesus is God
The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Protestant Church all agree on the Deity of Christ.

52   The Reformers confirm the Deity of Christ
Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Zwingle all affirmed the Deity of Christ.

But what about?
Those who deny the deity of Christ offer the following objections.

1)    Jesus is the firstborn
The objection: If Jesus is the firstborn then he was born, right? So, how can a God have a beginning?
The answer: Firstborn is the position of greatest honor in the family and is more of a title than actually saying Christ is born. Also, firstborn refers to Christ as the first to be raised from the dead with a glorified body.

2)    Jesus is the mediator between man and God
The objection: How can Jesus be between God and man and be God at the same time?
The answer: Christ is the perfect mediator because He is both man and God. How could a mere man serve as God’s mediator?

3)    Jesus prayed to the Father
The objection: If Christ is God he would not need to pray to communicate with the Father.
The answer: Jesus prayed in submission and worship to His Father.

4)    Jesus Called God His God.
The objection: Jesus worshiped God as His God. If Jesus thought God was God why don’t we take the same position and simply worship God and not Jesus?
The answer: In submission and worship to the Father, Jesus called God the Father His God. (see Psalm 45.)

5)    Jesus said he didn’t know the hour of His return and Jesus learned as a human would learn.
The objection: If Jesus is God how can He not know the hour of His return? And how come Jesus had to learn anything at all?
The answer: Jesus set aside some of the glory of deity when he chose to become human (Phil 2).

6)    How could God die?
The objection: God can’t die. But Jesus died. How is that?
The answer:

link to Scripture Index

Poll: How do you answer Jesus’ question?
Make your voice heard:
You are my Lord and my God.
You are a political rebel.
You were a good and moral teacher.
You are one of many gods.
I have my own ideas about who you are.
You are a mystery to me. I don’t know for sure who you are.

How arrogant we are to think we can describe Your glory with our words.
How foolish to think that we can understand Your Deity with an outline.

Lord, have mercy on us.
Never let us fail to be awed by You.
Never let us think too highly of ourselves.

We praise You, Lord Jesus Christ, YHWH. You are our rock, our refuge, and our fortress.
Only in Your mercy can we find hope from Your wrath and Your terrible Holiness.
Amen.

http://www.acoustiyah.com/

Now Unto Jehovah

Chorus
Now unto Jehovah, ye sons of the mighty, all glory and strength and dominion accord;
Ascribe to Him glory, and render Him honor. In beauty of holiness, worship the Lord.

The voice of Jehovah comes down on the water; In thunder the God of the glory draws nigh;
lo, over the waves of the wide flowing waters, Jehovah as King is enthroned on high!

Chorus

The voice of Jehovah is mighty, is mighty; the voice of Jehovah in majesty speaks.
The voice of Jehovah the cedars is breaking. Jehovah the cedars of Lebanon breaks.

Chorus

Each on in His temple His glory proclaimeth. He sat on the flood; He is King on His throne.
Jehovah all strength to His people imparteth; Jehovah with peace ever blesseth His own.

Chorus

The song is based on Psalm 29 – one of my favorite passages. It’s a very cool Psalm and there’s more to it than meets the modern western eye. To fully understand scripture, it’s important to read it through the eyes of the original readers by seeing it in the light of the context of its original culture, and to understand its genre.

Polemic

Psalm 29 is a polemic type of Psalm. The word “polemic” means  to aggressive attack, refuting  the opinions or principles of another. To see the attack that’s woven throughout Psalm 29 requires knowing a little about the enemies of Israel – the Cannonites and their gods, specifically the god Ba’al.

The Cannonite Pantheon

Israel’s monotheism was unique in the ancient near east. The Cannonites worshiped a polytheistic pantheon of at least 23 gods. They believed their gods lived in the mountains of Lebanon, similar to how Israel believed the Lord dwelt in the Mountain of Zion.

The head of the Cannonite pantheon was El Elyon (literally god most high). El Elyon’s wife was Athirat (or Atirat)  which means “walker of the seas” or “she who treads on the seas”  To the Hebrews she was known as Asherah, with the title of  “Queen of Heaven”.  Athirat may be the same goddess as the Egyptian goddess Hathor and referred to in Jeremiah 7:44 when the Lord is angry with the women for baking cakes for the Queen of Heaven.  

Ba’al Hadad was the storm and rain god in the pantheon and known for lightning and thunder. He is called the “cloud rider” The Cannonites depended on Ba’al Hadad for their crops. Ba’al is literally the title master or Lord and could be used to refer to any of the Cannonite Gods. Only the priests were allowed to say his divine name “Hadad” so the people would refer to him as simply Ba’al.

The Cannonites feared Ba’al because he was the god of the storms. When the annual storms came they sacrificed to Ba’al. When the subsequent floods came the again sacrificed to appease Ba’al. The sacrifices included boiling goat kids in their mother’s milk which is why the Lord commanded Israel to not boil goats milk in (Exodus 23:19). Archaeological evidence also shows that the Cannonites sacrificed children.

Yam (or Yw, Yaw), also known as Judge Nahar, the god of the sea and rivers, and the god of chaos, is Ba’al’s enemy. Yam is sometimes pictured as a multi-headed dragon or Leviathan. Some think that the serpent in Genesis 3:16 and dragon in Revelation 12:9 is Yam.

Mot is the Cannonite god of death.

The Ba’al Epic

Papyrus in the Mediterranean doesn’t survive as well so many of the Cannonite myths have been lost, but some clay tablets found in the 1920s in the Tell of Ras Shamra near the modern city of Latakia on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria. On the tables are fragments of the Epic of Ba’al. El makes Yam the king of the gods, but Yam is an evil king. Athirat tries to trick Ba’al regarding the secret of lightning. Ba’al is angry with Yam, rallies the other gods and defeats Yam. El then battles Mot and goes to Mot’s underground  and defeats death. In the end Ba’al builds a victory palace made out of ceders from Mt. Lebanon and Sirion.

Psalm 29 (NIV)

The Hebrews knew all about the Cannonites and Ba’al worship. They know about lightning and thunder and what that meant to their enemies. They knew where the Cannonites thought Ba’al lived.  

 1 Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,
       ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Literally, the mighty ones is “sons of God”. New Living Translation renders it as “heavenly beings”.  To the Cannonites, the mighty ones were the lesser gods under El

 2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
       worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

The Ba’al myth opens ascribing glory to Yam.

 3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
       the God of glory thunders,
       the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.

This is a rebuttal of Ba’al. It isn’t Ba’al who controls the storms, but the Lord.

 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful;
       the voice of the LORD is majestic.

 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
       the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

The Lord’s voice will destroy the victory palace that Ba’al built.

 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
       Sirion like a young wild ox.

Ba’al’s palace (Mt. Lebanon and Sirion) represents Ba’al. The Lord is so powerful their Ba’al will run away as weak as a calf or an easily frightened young wild ox. This also gives more background to Jesus’ statement that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.

 7 The voice of the LORD strikes
       with flashes of lightning.

Lightning doesn’t come from Ba’al, it comes from the Lord.

 8 The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
       the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

The desert of Kadesh is literally “Holy Desert”, it’s location is unknown.

 9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks
       and strips the forests bare.
       And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

 10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
       the LORD is enthroned as King forever.

The floods aren’t controlled by Yam or Ba’al but by the Lord.

 11 The LORD gives strength to his people;
       the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Sacrifice children to Ba’al won’t kep the Cannonites safe. The Lord’s people are strong because the Lord blesses them.

This song of praise elevates Yahweh above Ba’al and proclaims Yahweh’s glory.

Some commentaries claim that Psalm 29 is a parody of an Ugaritic (Cannonite) song. While Psalm 29 is definitely a polemic Psalm attacking Ba’al, it’s doubtful that Psalm 29 is that dependent on a Cannonite song and some scholars have made a strong case against a direct dependency on a Ugaritic song. While I found attributes of Ba’al that are ascribed the Lord in Psalm 29, I could not find any Ugaritic song that has exact parallels with Psalm 29.

It’s possible that Psalm 29 was song sung for battle against the Cannonites, or as a victory song. Maybe this is a song intended to win back Israelites who had left the worship of the Lord and were worshipping Ba’al. In any case, it’s a song about the power of the Lord over a Ba’al.

Application

Psalm 29 is more than an historical oddity.  Its polemic nature speaks boldly of the Lord’s ability to conquer a culture’s false gods and idols. In the face of storms and floods we are assured that it’s not the culture that’s in control, but the Lord. Our peace doesn’t come from what the culture says is the source of stability;  our strength and peace comes from the Lord.

 Bibliography

Dr. Dick Belcher, Reformed Theological Seminary Charlotte, OT 512 Poets

NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible (Zondervan, 2003)

Walton, Matthews & Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary (Intervarsity Press, 2000)