Jesus as the Begotten and Born Son of God

At the time of the day, Jesus as the begotten and born Son of God. Jesus as the begotten and born Son of God. So here we are on Christmas Day, as the world calls it. The day they claimed Jesus was born, yet they know very little about the pre-existence of Christ, how He actually came to be begotten in the flesh and born at His resurrection as the firstborn among many brethren. There's no more sentimental time of year for the general population of the Western world than Christmas Day. I know when we stopped started, well, stopped keeping Christmas, it was quite an emotional tug. Some of our dearest memories were Christmas Day, with all the family getting together and just seeing each other and fellowship and so on for a day or two, which only happened once or twice a year. It has a great emotional appeal to most people. It is filled with emotional nostalgia for those who have experienced it. The songs of Christmas, and many of the songs of Christmas, are scripturally correct. The shepherd's out attending the flocks in the field, and suddenly there was a chorus of angels singing, glory to God in the highest, and so on. So the Christmas songs and emotional appeal for most people is overwhelming. They just about can't resist it. Poets, songwriters, movie makers have stirred this emotional nostalgia through the centuries. But what about you and me? Do we really understand how the God being that we refer to as the word, oftentimes translated from the Greek word logos, was begotten by God in the womb of a fleshly woman, a flesh and blood person named Mary? You won't find Jesus referred to as a word in the Old Testament.

There are 134 places in the marginal references, the Massera and other places where the scribes changed the name of Yahweh to Adonai, Genesis 1827, as an example. The reason they did this, they did not, they wanted to preserve the sacredness of the name of God, Yahweh. And of course, in most Bibles for a century or more, Yahweh was translated as Jehovah. Then scholars began to think, well, really the correct pronunciation of Yahweh is of the tetragrammaton, I should say. The tetragrammaton, the YHWH, should be Yahweh instead of Yahova. And so today you hear a lot about Yahova, Yahweh, and the Hebrew Roots movement.

But the Jews did not want to anthropomorphize God. That is, what does anthropomorphize mean? It means to ascribe human-like characteristics to God. So in verses in the Bible in which it seemed like that you were talking to just a person, they oftentimes changed that. They are called emendations. And Bullinger in his Bible in Appendix 32 lists all 134 of these emendations. And they replaced the word Yahweh with the word memora in often cases. Now, it's not in the... you won't find memora in the text, like the Masoretic text, but in marginal references would change it to memora, which means word. So remember the name Yahweh, which also used for the one who became Jesus Christ. And I think that's where a lot of the confusion comes and has come in the past two or three years with identifying what some call the God of the Old Testament. The one who became Jesus Christ is the one who interfaced, that is, the one who conversed with interfaced with Israel and with Israel's leadership, and especially in their journey from Egypt to the promised land.

Look at Exodus 2320. I gave a sermon here, it's been... I'm sure it's been over a year ago. So in Exodus 2320 we see very clearly that the name of the Father is in the one who became Jesus Christ the Son. In Exodus 23 and verse 20. Behold, I send mine angel, or I send an angel before you, to keep you in the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Now you'll find, see, who is the I and who is doing the speaking? Well, in several places, God the Father speaks in the third person. Evidently, when Moses wrote this, that he was inspired to use the obviously correct person.

God was not called Yahweh during the days of Abraham. It was not a name that was even revealed until the time of Moses says, whom shall I say is leading us out of the land of Egypt? And the name Yahweh was revealed.

In a sermon like this, you have to go back into it in certain ways, and it's sometimes difficult to follow, but try to follow the best that you can, because you can't just lay all this out in perfect chronological order. So I'll send an angel before you, verse 21, beware of him and obey him, provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions. See, only a God being has the power to forgive transgressions. For my name is in him. My name is in him. Now, there are different places in which it shows this very clearly, and once again in a sermon, you're hitting highlights. You're hoping that people will follow up. They will search the scriptures daily whether these things be true. So we go to Jeremiah 23 in verse 5, and we find very clearly where the one who became Jesus Christ is referred to as Yahweh. In Jeremiah 23 and verse 5. Jeremiah 23 verse 5, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch. Now, several times in scriptures, the one who became Jesus Christ is referred to as the branch in the Old Testament. As is true in Zechariah 6 and 12, the branch will build the temple. It is true, as we'll read in just a moment in Isaiah 11. A righteous branch and a king will reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice. In his days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby he shall be called. This is his name, one of the names of the one who became the branch, who became Jesus Christ. The Lord, so you see all capsulor d, the Yahweh, our righteousness. Now you turn quickly back to Isaiah 11, and you'll see once again reference to the branch in Isaiah 11 and verse 1. And there shall come forth a root out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow up out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall be arrested upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel, and the Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Eternal, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the YHVH. And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. And he goes on to describe the works of the YHVH and some of the things that will be happening in the millennium.

In Isaiah chapter 11.

So once again, this YHVH of the Old Testament, both beings, the Father and Jesus Christ, are referred to as YHVH. But the one who became Jesus Christ was obviously the one who interfaced with Israel and her leaders in the Old Testament. Those places where the scribes noted these edits, that is, emendations, as I said, are in the appendices of Bullinger's companion Bible, Appendix number 32. And the companion Bible is online. It is free online. Sometimes it's hard to get to the exact right website. The Catholic Church venerates and worships Mary, and one of their sayings is, Blessed be Mary, mother of God. Well, the Bible is, they're correct in saying, Blessed be Mary. But Mary is not, of course, the mother of God. And as we shall see, there's biblical evidence whose support calling her blessed in that she would give birth to the seed, the one through whom all nations would be blessed. Now, you remember Genesis 12, verse 3, I'm not going to turn there, that Abraham was promised that through his seed all the nations would be blessed. Then in Galatians chapter 3, verses 16, well, starting in 15, 16, 17, it shows you clearly that that seed is Christ, that all the nations would be blessed through that seed, that is through Christ. And if you be in Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, regardless of your ethnic or national background. If you are in Christ, then you are of the seed of Abraham.

Mary surely is not the mother of God in the sense of creation or birth. The spirit essence of Jesus has always existed. Now, that is a very important statement. You need to note and to know the spirit essence of Jesus Christ has always existed. It exists in eternity. There's no end to it. There's no beginning and there's no end. Mary, on the other hand, she was the human mother of Jesus. As you can only imagine, Mary was very surprised when she was told that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and she would give birth to the promised Messiah, the one who would redeem Israel and redeem them from all of their oppressors. If you place yourself, especially if you're a woman, can you imagine going home and telling your mother that this angel appeared to me and told me that I would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit?

And I will give birth to the Messiah, the anointed one.

Think how that one might go over. It wouldn't go over at all in today's world. There were those who looked at the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament from a political, physical point of view. They were not looking for the Son of God. They were looking for a great geopolitical leader that would restore their fortunes. And there have been several pseudo-Messiahs through the years, physical people who claimed to be the Messiah.

So some looked for him as a deliverer in the geopolitical sense. There were those then who looked after, looked for him to come from a spiritual point of view. What would he do? Because there were numerous prophecies in the Old Testament about his begettle, his birth, and what he would do. Before we note New Testament passages of Scripture describing how Jesus was begotten and born, let's establish his pre-existence quickly. There are numerous passages in the Old Testament that prophesied of the birth and mission of the Messiah. So let's note some of those quickly. We're in Isaiah 11 in verse 1, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch that grow up out of his roots, which we've already read. So here's a reference to the one who became Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Now back to Isaiah 53. In Isaiah 53, we see another example. Isaiah 53 is one of the most graphic chapters we find in the whole Bible about what Jesus would go through in paying for our sins, along with Psalm 22. Psalm 22 pictures Jesus Christ on the stake. In Isaiah 53 and verse 1, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He has no form nor commonness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Then continuing in verse 5, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. And then in verse 10, similar, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put on him, he has put him to grief, when you shall make his soul and offering his life essence and offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. And there are many other messianic prophecies. Some are cataloged sixties or so prophecies of the Messiah. Perhaps the most direct proof of his preexistence is in the New Testament, the one that we quote in the church all the time, and that is John 1 in verse 1. So let's turn to John 1 in verse 1.

A little background with regard to John's use of word in the New Testament. The Greek philosophy had a tremendous impact on the ancient world, especially the Mediterranean world going all the way to Greece, touching on Rome, and then all the way back toward India. And the world was basically the, what they might call the civilized world, was basically Hellenize, which means it was the Greek culture was real supreme in that part of the world when Jesus came on the scene. And of course, the New Testament was written in Greek.

And as we look at this, the philosophers, the Greek philosophers, came to the point where they said there must be something greater in the universe than what we can see or touch or discern with our five senses. And they reasoned that it must be some kind of force through the universe, which some labeled as logos.

And then along came a Jew who tried to harmonize Greek philosophy with the Old Testament, with Jewish thought. And he spoke a lot about the logos. So when John came on the scene and using logos very often, it was known among the Jewish people that logos was a part of Greek philosophy, but he wanted to show who the true logos was, who was the true one that was responsible for so many things in the universe and so many things that they couldn't explain.

So this John 1 is one of the great anchor scriptures of all the Bible. In the beginning was the Word, the logos, and the Word was with God, and the Word was with God. So this shows three things. In the beginning was the Word. The Greek word there was is tantamount to equal to the English word to be or to exist. In the beginning the Word existed. The Word was with God, showing a relationship.

He was with God. We'll see how close that relationship was a little later, and the Word was God, identity. The Word was on the God plane. So that's like the anchor scripture that we often go to with regard to identifying the pre-existence of Jesus Christ and the Old Testament. I remember back, this was years ago, when I was late teens and studying the Bible that my uncle, who was a deacon in the Baptist Church, that I had come across John 1-1 and began to talk about it.

And I said, you know Jesus, he existed in eternity. And we talked about it, and there were many things like that that I asked about. One of the main things was the teaching that once saved, always saved, which never made sense. But continuing here, we're talking about now scriptures that show clearly the pre-existence of Christ. We read a couple from the Old Testament. Now, further in the New Testament, we look at John 17, verse 4.

In John 17, verse 4, this is the prayer that Jesus prayed before he was crucified on that night, in which he instituted the symbols of the New Covenant Passover. In John 17, verse 4, I have glorified you on the earth.

I have finished the work which you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify you, me with your own self, with the glory which I had with you before the cosmos was, before this world order was. One of the songs that we sang was slain from the foundation of the world, before this world even existed. Jesus Christ and the Father, of course, existed. Now we go to Philippians chapter 2, perhaps the the keystone, center, scripture that shows not only the pre-existence of Christ, but what he gave up in becoming the only begotten Son of God.

In Philippians 2 and verse 5, oftentimes ministers will read Philippians 2.5, and as a single sort of a prove my point in their sermon, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. You see a colon in the punctuation. Who, so what mind did he have?

Who being in the form of God, the form of God, and notice that word being, he was being, he was existing in the form of God, thought it not, robbery, or pogromos, which means a thing to be seized, to be equal, ISIS with God. So he was on the same plane of existence in eternity with God the Father, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the stake or the cross. Now it is very difficult to even begin to imagine the humility that this took. You're going from God-plane existence to taking on the form of a man.

And in so doing, you are going to be in the hands of the Father. You know, just before Jesus died, he says, Father, into your hands, commend I you my spirit essence.

And when we die, that spirit essence, the Holy Spirit that is in us, goes back to the Father. We will read that scripture probably later. Continuing here, verse 9, Wherefore God also highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, things in earth, as demons and all, and things under the earth, that every tongue should confess, Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So we have already noted that the one who became Jesus Christ was the angel of God's presence, and God's name was in him.

And we also noted from Isaiah that his name would be Yaveh, that the branch would also be Yaveh, our righteousness. Now we will focus on how Jesus was begotten, and then his physical birth, and then his spiritual birth as a spirit-born Son of God. The most detailed account of the birth of Jesus was given by Luke, so let's go to Luke 1.26.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth. So this was six months after Gabriel had appeared to Zacharias the father of John the Baptist, and told him that he and his wife were going to conceive and have a son that would prepare the way for this one. So six months later, this angel Gabriel, who is the messenger angel, verse 27, came to a virgin, a spouse to a man, a troll to be married, whose name was Joseph for the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. An angel came in unto her and said, Hail you! You are highly favored! The Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women! So the various religious groups might have this right, blessed are you among women. Can you imagine giving birth to the one, to not only a human being, but a God being existing in eternity?

The essence of Jesus Christ did not cease when he was begotten in the womb of Mary. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying. You can imagine, out of the blue, someone telling you this. And cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. I mean, what in the world is going on here? What is he saying? And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. Of course, we have this controversy of people talking about what is the right name of Jesus. And they read somewhere where Jesus, some derivation of this was used in the pagan sense. But in English, it means what the Hebrew word means. Yeshua, Jesus the Savior. He shall be a great and shall be called the Son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. Who has the throne of David?

Well, this says that Jesus Christ will be given the throne of his father David.

And he shall reign over the house of Jacob. And remember, Jacob is oftentimes used for all 10, all 12 tribes, sometimes 10, sometimes 12. He shall rule over the house of Jacob, over Israel, forever. And of the kingdom, his kingdom, there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this thing be? Saying, I know not a man. I'm a virgin. I've never known a man. How can this possibly happen? Now verse 35 then is the only scripture in the Bible that really tells you what happened. And to a large degree, this is a miracle. You know, God created the universe and everything therein. They're talking about a new telescope that they've sent out. It's going to really change science and our conception of the universe and all of that. There are a thousand planets out there wandering in space that we don't know anything about much about, and on and on it goes. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the highest shall overshadow you. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you, of course any holy thing, has God's active presence in it. Moses, take off your shoes because the ground on which you walk is holy, has God's active presence in it. The saints are called holy. God's active presence is in the saints. That holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God. Over and over in Scripture, Jesus emphasizes there are two points over and over again. One, that he was sent by the Father, not necessarily in order of hierarchy. Two, that he was the Son of God, that he was the Son of God. He was sent by the Father. He was the Son of God. And behold, your cousin Elizabeth, she has also conceived a sign in her old age, and this in the sixth month with her, who was called Baron. And so John the Baptist, six months older than Christ, a literature none canonical, says that John the Baptist and Jesus were first cousins. Now this verse 37, to me, relates heavily to both the birth of John, because Elizabeth was a bear and she was an old woman like Sarah, and I've been able to have children. And then the begettle of Jesus Christ. How can this be? Verse 37. But with God nothing shall be impossible.

With God all things are possible that are possible.

And Mary said, Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord be it unto you, me according to your word. And the angel departed from her, and Mary arose in those days, and went to the hill country with haste into a city of Judah. You can just imagine what was going through her mind and everything as she made this journey. And she entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth, and it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and Elizabeth began to prophesy. I'm not going to read all of this. You can read the rest of it. You should read the rest of it and consider it very carefully. There were several that gave testimony to the fact that Jesus was a promised Messiah. We're going to get to what Messiah means in a few minutes. That Jesus was a promised Messiah. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, moved by the Holy Spirit, prophesied of the birth of Jesus. Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias, and mother of John the Baptist, moved by the Holy Spirit, prophesied of the birth of Christ. And, of course, Mary was told by an angel that she was going to give birth to the Messiah. The shepherds gave witness. The shepherds were out in the field tending the flock, and suddenly a voice came, the Lord of God in the highest, and so on. Beautiful music, beautiful words, and it's in the Bible. And so, yeah, the witness of the angels that the Messiah has been born in Jerusalem. And then you have the witness of Simeon, an old man. And then you have Anna. Anna had been at the temple for about 80 years, waiting to see the Messiah, and she finally saw him and praised God. Then the wise men from the east came, and they brought him gifts.

And then an angel told Joseph to go down into Egypt to escape Herod's decree after the visit of the wise men, because Herod had said, oh, tell me, tell me where this one is that's going to be king of Israel, so I might worship him also.

Of course, the reason was he wanted to kill him as he did. Can you imagine going through the land, killing all the two years old, two-year-old and younger? This is unbelievable. And such tragedies like that are happening, similar to that are happening in our world today. Then we have the account of Jesus at age 12, conversing with the leaders in Jerusalem.

So let's go there and look at that. And Luke forward there for Luke 2 and verse 46. And Luke 2 and verse 46. Of course, they had come to the feast and they were on their way home, and Mary and Joseph missed Jesus. He wasn't in the immediate company. And they asked around, didn't find him, so they went back to Jerusalem to find him. Verse 46, and Mary said, My soul, my very life essence, dost magnify the Lord, and the Spirit rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has regarded me. That's part of the magnificat of, I'm reading the wrong chapter. In chapter 2 and verse 46, in chapter 2 verse 46, And when they found him, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass that after these days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both learning, both hearing them and asking them questions. He's 12 years old, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto him, Son, why have you so dealt with us? Behold, your father and I have sought you sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that you sought me? Don't you know that I must be about my father's business? You know, Mary was told what this one was going to become, the one she would give birth to. And yet, I'm sure she didn't fully grasp the total significance of it. And then seeing Jesus grow and mature and having an experience like that was something to behold. Now we have a gap of 18 years. From the age of 12 to the age of 30, the Bible is silent on the life of Jesus. Now there are non-conical, that is, canonized sources. There's one now called Erestia that claims that this person in Chicago channeled messages that told about what Jesus did from age 12 to age 30. I'm not buying any of that. There are three theories that he was taught by the Buddhists for 18 years.

Another one that he went to where the Dead Sea Scrolls were being written. And that he was, since he was close to John, that he was an Essene, that he went where the Essenes were, and he was taught by them. And then, of course, that he just stayed there at home and grew up. Now, at this point, we have the question, so from age 12 to age 30, the Bible doesn't say what Jesus was doing in those 18 years. There are some that even speculated that he went to England and other places in Europe. But the scripture simply does not say. Now, according to scripture, John the Baptist had the Holy Spirit from birth in John 1.15. It says that. Maybe we want to turn there and read it. John, bear witness of him in Christ, saying, This was he of whom I spoke. He that comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. It's not the scripture I'm looking for, but it says that John had the Holy Spirit from birth. Jeremiah was chosen, apparently, before he was even conceived. God says in Jeremiah, when he turned there and read there in Jeremiah 1 verses 4 through 5, God says that before you were formed in the womb, I knew you.

Obviously, God the Father knew Jesus Christ in eternity. So way before he was formed in the womb, the Father knew him.

Verse 4 of Jeremiah 1, Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold, I formed you in the belly. I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb. I sanctified you, I set you apart, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah protested that he was just a child, but he went ahead and did what God had called him to do in the mission.

The Holy Spirit can come upon a person, and that person not be begotten to spirit life. For example, even an animal, the Holy Spirit came upon Balaam's donkey, and Balaam's donkey spoke and prophesied. The Holy Spirit came upon Saul, and he was a different man. But it doesn't say that he was begotten of God's spirit. Then, as Saul drifted away from God, an evil spirit, the spirit of God departed from Saul, and an evil spirit came upon him, and David would come and play, and the evil spirit would depart.

Saul's great sin, you know, was when he had been commanded to go slaughter the the king and all of his servants and everything that had to do with the king, including the animals, and Saul saved some and sacrificed them, which was only the duty of the priest.

So does Saul miss out on salvation because of one sin? I rather think not, but the Holy Spirit was on Saul for quite a long time before it departed, and I know that's debatable. If you wanted to debate, see somebody else. With Jesus, the question of his spirit essence, his being, was it like God the Father kept it at a certain place, and then when he was 30, he gave him the Holy Spirit when he was baptized.

Well, I don't believe that. So did it. The Father kept the Holy Spirit in abeyance, held it in store until he was baptized when God suddenly released it and came upon him. According to John 3.34, Jesus had the Holy Spirit without measure, and we've already read from Luke 1 that that which is in your womb is the holy thing. It is of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the prophesied Messiah. What does Messiah mean? Well, Messiah means the anointed one, and what are they anointed with? He's anointed with the Holy Spirit. Now, what we're about to read now shows you that a careful reading of the Old Testament be turning to Psalm 2. A careful reading of the Old Testament, you would see that you would see that there were two God beings. You would see that one was the Son and that this Son would have great power. So in Psalm 2, Psalm 2 is like a perfect description of the current situation in the world.

Why do the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth, the leadership, set themselves, and the rulers take counsel against the Lord, the Yahweh, in this case, this guy the Father, and against his anointed. Who is his anointed? The one who became Jesus Christ.

The nations are saying, Let us break their bands asunder, that is, the bands of God and Christ, and cast away their cords from us. He that sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his swordless pleasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill. The holy hill is Zion, and Zion is symbolic of the church as well as being a geographical place. I have set my king, that's God the Father's, I am setting my king.

How do I know? Verse 7. I will declare the decree, the eternal, the Yahweh has set unto me, so the Yahweh has set unto the Messiah, You are my son. This day have I begotten you. This day I have begotten you. Now the word begotten there in Hebrew is yalad, Y-A-L-A-D. It's analogous to the Greek word genao, which means when used of the mother to bring forth, to give birth. When used of the father, it means to engender, to impregnate, to engender life. The Hebrew word for anointed is mashiach. In English we say messiah. It means the anointed one. And of course, all of us probably have been moved by Handel's great composition, the Messiah, the anointed one, what all he will do.

And upon conversion, we also receive this anointing. Look at 1 John 2.20.

I guess the argument that is made is, some would say, well, he wasn't, and we'll get to this, he wasn't really anointed with the Holy Spirit in the sense of being begotten in the Spirit until he was baptized, the way we are.

But I submit that how do you live a perfect life for 30 years without the Holy Spirit guiding and directing you? In 1 John 2.20, but you have an unction. And guess what that word, that Greek word is in the original, it is a charisma. It's not charisma, it is charisma, c-h-a-r-i-s-m-a, chrisma, not chrisma, but chrisma. It is used for an oil or an ointment. It means anointing, in this case. But you have an anointing, an unction, if it were an ointment, if you'd be rubbing it in, from the Holy One, and you know all things. I've not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it and that know lies of the truth.

Whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father, but he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Let us therefore abide in you. What is that Holy Spirit you have heard from the beginning, in that what you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you shall continue in the Son and in the Father. Now look at verse 27, but the anointing, the same word that is translated unction in verse 20, is the anointing. But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and its truth and its own lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in it. Of course, the Holy Spirit aids in the teaching of understanding. Does that mean that you don't need men to teach in the church? No, it does not. And one of the sad things that we have in the church, and it has grown over the years, is that brethren will steady things and then they will bounce it off each other. They won't bounce it off me. They won't bounce it off the ministry. They'll bounce it off somebody else, and they will have a grand conversation about it.

You need to go to those who have studied the Word of God for decades, and taught it for decades, and know what the truth is. Yes, everyone should study to show themselves approved of the Word of God that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

When Philip was reading the book of Isaiah, when the Ethiopian unit was reading the book of Isaiah, he was sitting in his chariot, returning from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. Philip approached him and said, do you understand what you're reading? And the eunuch said, how can I, unless some man teach me? So it is both the Holy Spirit and someone teaching and knowing what it really says.

We could ask ourselves a question. Was Jesus ever unconverted? Was there a certain point in his life in which he was converted? One cannot be unconverted and at the same time be perfect.

The Bible does not say that Jesus received the Spirit of Beedel after he was baptized. The Spirit ascended upon him in the form of a dove, and twice a voice from heaven during the earthly ministry of Jesus proclaimed that Jesus was the beloved Son of God. So let's look at Matthew chapter 3 verse 13. Matthew 3.13, Matthew's account of the baptism. Matthew 3.13, Then came Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. And of course, John protested when Jesus asked him the question. But John forbade him saying, I have need to be baptized of you, and you are coming to me to be baptized? And Jesus answered and said unto him, Permit it to be so now, for it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness, all the right ways of doing things. Jesus set us an example. We should follow then his steps. Then he permitted him, that is, he permitted John to baptize him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight way out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened upon him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him, and lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Remember, I read a whole list of John the Baptist, Mary herself, Elizabeth, the angels singing to the shepherds in the field, Simeon, to Anna, the angel appearing to Joseph, go down into Egypt, a whole litany of witnesses that Jesus was the Son of God. Now, at the Mount of Transfiguration, the same thing happened. That Jesus took James, Peter, and John to the Mount of Transfiguration, and he was transfigured before them. And a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. So we have the heavenly witness, as well as the witness from angels and men. To say that Jesus did not know who he was until this point doesn't make sense to me. He knew that he was the Spirit, the Gothen Son of God, from an early age, as we have noted at age 12 in the temple, discussing where the elders and asking questions. How would he have known that he must be about his father's business? Who was his father? Which father was he talking about? Was he talking about Joseph, or was it the heavenly Father? And to believe that up to that point that he had lived a perfect life without the aid of the Holy Spirit is just not credible. Who knows when Jesus came to realize who he was? He was born a physical being. On the one hand, he was a physical being, yet he exists in eternity. On the other hand, he was subject to everything that human beings are subject to, and tried in all points, even as we are, and without sin. Mary was told before he was born, but apparently she didn't really grasp the significance of what the angel told her. And as we have noted, he gave up his glory when he took on the form of a man. But did he give up his divinity? No. He was God in the flesh. He was totally physical, subject to everything that humans are subject to, yet he was divine and dependent upon the Father. Jesus was the Son of God, demonstrated that man could be joined to the Holy Spirit, which is the essence of God. Remember Luke 1, 37, but with God, all things are possible. So you look at Romans chapter 8 and verse 14. Romans 8 and verse 14. In Romans 8 and verse 14, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship.

Why is it sonship? Because we receive, just as Jesus was I, the Holy Spirit, we receive the Holy Spirit upon being begotten by it. Therefore, we are viewed as sons and daughters, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are now the children of God. And if children then heirs of God and join heirs with Christ, so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified together with Him. I added that, of course, with Him.

The whole creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. So in many ways, God's Son was in the same way we are after He was begotten. Over and over during His ministry, Jesus emphasized that He was the Son of God. In fact, it is one of the dominant themes of His ministry. He was sent by God. He was the Son of God. That has great implications for us. He was the forerunner, captain of our salvation. He paved the way.

He went through the same process that we go through in coming to salvation and eventually resurrection. Look at Hebrews 2.10. Hebrews 2.10 is one of the most important scriptures in the Bible because it shows that we're all of one, that there is a family unit, and that Jesus Christ doesn't say it directly. We can read verses that do say it directly, that Jesus was the Son of God, Spirit-born Son of God. In Hebrews 2.10, for it became him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings, for both he that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren.

And that's why we can talk about Jesus being our elder brother. Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus stayed very close and in contact with the Father. He prayed long and often. Numerous times he stated that the Father was doing the wonderful and marvelous works through him. Jesus said he did not speak his own words. Jesus did not profess to know everything. He said, the time of my coming is in the hands of the Father.

Upon being betrayed, crucified, buried, and raised from the dead, he became the first Spirit-born person. That is very important to us. Look at Revelation 1.5. In Revelation 1 and verse 5, we'll see that he is the first-born from the dead. Revelation chapter 5, and when Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first-born of the dead, pro-Titikos, and the Prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. He is the first-born from the dead. Now look at Romans chapter 8 and verse no let's do one verse.

Romans chapter 1 and verse 1. Then we'll go to 8. In Romans 1 and verse 1, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures. We read about the Messiah coming on the scene. Considering his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

So he was the begotten Son of God, the spirit begotten Son of God. He was also physically begotten by the Holy Spirit, and now he is a glorious, radiant spirit being. Now we look at Romans 8 and verse 11. What's going to happen to you and me? What's going to happen to you and me? If we remain faithful, this is it. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also make alive your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.

In verse 29, the same chapter, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, D.P., to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called them he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified. At the resurrection, we will put on... Look at Isaiah 52 verse 1. At the resurrection, look at Isaiah 52 verse 1. At the resurrection, we will put on these beautiful garments. Isaiah 52 and verse 1. Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion, the church symbolic of Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for henceforth there shall no more come unto you the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Indeed, Jesus Christ is the anointed one, the Savior who came into the world to save us from our sins, the firstborn among many brethren, and you and I will come after. With a glorious time that will be. It won't be Christmas Day, but it will be a wonderful day.