SERMON
“What It Is To Be Like God and Die”
Dells 3232

Intro: As we near the Passover, it is very useful to gain deep understanding of WHO it is that died for the sins of mankind, and us personally, then rose to live in His Church of called out ONES. What was He like before He did this ultimate sacrifice, and what was that experience like?

The preexistent Word, who later became Jesus Christ, was sent to earth by the Father in heaven. The Gospel of John bears record to this truth many times.

Yet as the world of manmade religions commemorates the death and resurrection of this Person called Jesus Christ – it is all treated as some kind of show. Bunnies, eggs, sunrise services, robes, movies of a long-haired blond sad rebel, all openly denying the only Sign He Himself gave mankind to know He is the Messiah. That is a terrible misunderstanding. This kind of misunderstanding is common in a world of selfishness …for instance.

Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were... A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. 

When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit. 

The complaint: 
'Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: 

Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 A.M, a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyn's early bird special? 

Any response would be appreciated. 

The response: 

Regarding 'A wake-up call from Luke's jets' On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m.. , a perfectly timed four-ship fly by of F-1 6s from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques. Capt Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day. 

At 9 a. m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son, and friend. Based on the letter writer's recount of the fly by, and because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured. 

A four-ship flyby is a display of respect the Air Force gives to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects. 

The letter writer asks, 'Whom do we thank for the morning air show'? The 56th Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.. 

Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you... Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom. 

Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr. 

Benefit Statement:   Does earthborn religion recognize what really happened that Day? NO. Mankind does not take that Death seriously. Not really.

We need to have that Day embedded in our very being, if we pick up His cross and follow after Him.

SPS:   Let’s deeply consider what it was like To Be Like GOD, and Die.

Body:

1)    First, we should more deeply grasp WHO Jesus of Nazareth was.

Where did Christ come from?

The book of John also makes this abundantly clear: "No one has ascended to heaven but He [ Christ ] who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who [since His ascension] is in heaven" (John 3:13).

Jesus further said, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38).

And He also told people of His day: "You are from beneath [the earth]; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world" (John 8:23).

Jesus explicitly stated: "I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father" (John 16:28)

Notice what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4: "All our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed [or accompanied] them, and that Rock was Christ."

Jesus was the One who spoke to Moses and told Him to return to Egypt to bring the Israelites to freedom. Jesus was the Lord ( Yhwh ) who caused the plagues to come on Egypt. He was the God who led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wanderings for 40 years. He was the Lawgiver who gave the laws to Moses and spoke to Moses on a regular basis. He was the Lord God who dealt with Israel throughout their national history.

The Son of God is the Being through whom God created the worlds (Hebrews 1:2) and who "sustains all things by his powerful word" (verse 3, NRSV). Only God is great enough to do such things.

Jesus was the divine Word through whom God created the universe: "All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3; see verses 1-3, 14).

Paul states directly that "God... created all things through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:9).

He elsewhere writes of Jesus: "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). He adds in verse 17, "and in Him, all things consist."

Jesus asked in prayer that the Father would return Him to divine glory: "O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (John 17:5).

In Revelation 1:17 Jesus says He is the first and the last, which is identical to what Yhwh says of Himself in Isaiah 44:6:"I am the First and I am the Last."

There is no question that Jesus understood Himself as the Lord ( Yhwh ) of the Old Testament.

When Jesus was arrested, His apparent use of the term "I AM" had an electrifying effect on those in the arresting party. "Now when He said to them, 'I am He,' they drew back and fell to the ground" (John 18:6). Notice here that "He" is in italics, meaning the word was added by the translators and isn't in the original wording. However, their attempt to make Jesus' answer more grammatically correct obscures the fact that He was likely again claiming to be the "I AM' "of the Old Testament Scriptures.

2)    Jesus claimed Divinity.

When He healed one paralyzed man, He also said to him, "Son, your sins are forgiven you" (Mark 2:5). The scribes who heard this reasoned He was blaspheming, because, as they rightly understood and pondered, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (verses 6-7).

Responding to the scribes, Jesus said: "Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? . . . But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—He then addressed the paralytic: "I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home" (verses 8-11, NRSV).

The scribes knew Jesus was claiming an authority that belonged to God only. Again, the Lord ( Yhwh ) is the One pictured in the Old -Testament who forgives sin (Jeremiah 31:34).

Jesus claimed yet another power that God alone possessed—to raise the dead. Notice His statements in John 5:25-29: "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live . . . All who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

There was no doubt about what He meant. He added in verse 21, "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will."

Before Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, He said to Lazarus' sister Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25). And He declared of each person the Father draws to Him in this age, "I will raise him up at the last day".

The apostle John opens his account of the life of Jesus Christ with this declaration: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-3, 14).

Thus, this "Word"—the Greek term here is Logos —became the flesh-and-blood human being Jesus Christ. And He still bears the name "The Word of God" (Revelation 19:13).

Jesus Christ is the One who spoke the universe into existence—but only at the Father's behest.

Jesus explained this in John 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I: "I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things."

And John 12:49-50 "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave a command, what I should say and what I should speak . . . Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."

Jesus is thus the Father's Spokesman, a role some have equated with the name Logos. This is quite legitimate

Let's consider again Christ's role as God's Messenger. Christ represented the Father exactly.

He lived everything the Father commanded and conveyed His Father's thoughts to human beings.

He spoke on His Father's behalf as God's Spokesman. But the message Christ brought entailed not only speaking. Rather, His whole life itself conveyed a message.

Indeed, Jesus Himself is both Messenger and Message.

The way He lived taught us how to live. His humbling of Himself to come in the flesh and give His life in sacrifice speaks volumes about the unfathomable love of God. Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

Everything He said, everything He did, everything He went through is God's Word to us.

3)    "The Day Christ Died" (excerpts) from Jim Bishop, published by Harper Bros. New York.

{We cover the entire day except the Passover Service, because we will have gone through that account on Passover evening. The false trial, beatings, and unwarranted murder of the Savior of mankind is accounted from secular historians and scripture. Each reference is given in the Audio. Most of these references, and certainly all of the scriptural references are not included in Jim Bishop's bood "The Day Christ Died"}

Conclusion: This has always been about God’s Plan to “Bring Many Sons to Glory”

The Father and Jesus have, from the beginning, planned to increase Their kind.

The "God kind" is a Family!

It is headed by the Father and now consists of the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3:14-15 mentions "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."

The Father and Jesus Christ existed from the beginning and always will exist.

It is Their plan and desire to add to Their kind— "bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10).

Just as all life was made to reproduce after its own kind as stated throughout Genesis 1, so God patterned man after the God kind. This is the ultimate meaning of verse 26, where God says, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." 

This is a two-stage process. First, God made mankind physical, of the dust of the earth. Then, through conversion and faith in Christ and obedience to God's spiritual law of love, each person becomes spiritually a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:24).

This leads to the final birth of new children into the divine family, who are then "like" Christ, Himself the first born Son of God (Romans 8:29; Galatians 4:19; 1 John 3:2).

CLOSE: Now that we have seen the True Glory of Jesus Christ and His human Approach …

      Phil 2:1 1If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

 6Who, being in the form [mor-fay'Perhaps from the base of G3313 (through the idea of adjustment of parts); shape; figuratively nature:—form.] of God [theos theh'-os Of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with G3588) the supreme Divinity; figuratively a magistrate; by Hebraism very:—X exceeding, God, god [-ly, -ward].], thought [hayg-eh'-om-ahee Middle voice of a (presumed) strengthened form of G71; to lead, that is, command (with official authority); figuratively to deem, that is, consider:—account, (be) chief, count, esteem, governor, judge, have the rule over, suppose, think.]   it not robbery [har-pag-mos' From G726; plunder (properly concrete):—robbery.] to be equal [ee'-sos Probably from G1492 (through the idea of seeming); similar (in amount or kind):—+ agree, as much, equal, like.] with God [theh'-os Of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with G3588) the supreme Divinity; figuratively a magistrate; by Hebraism very:—X exceeding, God, god [-ly, -ward].]:   7But made [ghin'-om-ahee A prolonged and middle form of a primary verb; to cause to be (“gen” -erate), that is, (reflexively) to become (come into being),]    himself of no [tap-i-no'-o From G5011; to depress; figuratively to humiliate (in condition or heart):—abase, bring low, humble (self).]    reputation [ken-o'-o From G2756; to make empty, that is, (figuratively) to abase, neutralize, falsify:—make (of none effect, of no reputation, void), be in vain.],     and took [lam-ban'-o A prolonged form of a primary verb, which is used only as an alternate in certain tenses; to take (in very many applications, literally and figuratively [probably objective or active, to get hold of; whereas G1209 is rather subjective or passive, to have offered to one; while G138 is more violent, to seize or remove]):—] upon him the form [mor-fay' Perhaps from the base of G3313 (through the idea of adjustment of parts); shape; figuratively nature:—form.] of a servant [doo'-los From G1210; a slave (literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily; frequently therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency):—bond (-man), servant.],     and was made in the likeness [hom-oy'-o-mah From G3666; a form; abstractly resemblance:—made like to, likeness, shape, similitude.]     of men [anth'-ro-pos From G435 and ὤψ ōps (the countenance; from G3700); manfaced, that is, a human being:—certain, man.]:        8And being found in fashion [skhay'-mah From the alternate of G2192; a figure (as a mode or circumstance), that is, (by implication) external condition:—fashion.]      as a man, he humbled [tap-i-no'-o From G5011; to depress; figuratively to humiliate (in condition or heart):—abase, bring low, humble (self).]       himself, and became obedient [hoop-ay'-ko-os From G5219; attentively listening, that is, (by implication) submissive:—obedient.]    unto death [than'-at-os From G2348; (properly an adjective used as a noun) death (literally or figuratively):—X deadly, (be . . .) death.],    even the death of the cross [stow-ros' From the base of G2476; a stake or post (as set upright), that is, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment);].

9Wherefore God also hath highly [hoop-er-oop-so'-o From G5228 and G5312; to elevate above others, that is, raise to the highest position:—highly exalt.]     exalted [hoop-er-oop-so'-o From G5228 and G5312; to elevate above others, that is, raise to the highest position:—highly exalt.]       him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work [kat-er-gad'-zom-ahee From G2596 and G2038; to work fully, that is, accomplish; by implication to finish, fashion:—cause, do (deed), perform, work (out).]     out your own [personal]   salvation [so-tay-ree'-ah Feminine of a derivative of G4990 as (properly abstract) noun; rescue or safety (physically or morally):—deliver, health, salvation, save, saving.]    with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who works [en-erg-eh'-o From G1756; to be active, efficient:—do, (be) effectual (fervent), be mighty in, shew forth self, work (effectually in).]     in you both [cumulatively]     to will and to do [fervently energizing ]   for His good pleasure.

Take All care to work with God as HE ‘energizes’ you …respond to that FAITH of Christ

14Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast the word of life,      

 …so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.