Series: In Defense of Faith

Service: Gospel Meeting

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Kevin Clark

Summary In Defense of The Deity of Jesus

📘 Sermon Information

Course Title: Christian Apologetics
Preacher: Kevin Clark
Date: 2025-10-05 Sunday AM Worship

Chapter/Topic: The Deity of Jesus — Defending that Jesus is God

🧠Key Learnings

Knowledge point 1: Jesus claimed to be God

Summary: Jesus made explicit verbal claims that identify Himself with Yahweh and assert unique divine authority (e.g., “Before Abraham was, I am”; “I and the Father are one”; “I am the way, the truth, and the life”). These claims were understood by his contemporaries as claims to deity and provoked hostile reactions, including attempts to stone him.

Detailed explanation:

• John 8:48–58 — Jesus’ “Before Abraham was, I am” intentionally echoes Exodus 3:14 (“I AM”) and connects Him to the divine name Yahweh. The Jewish audience recognized this as blasphemy from a mere man, demonstrating they understood His claim to deity.
• John 5:18–19 — Jesus’ statements about God as His Father were seen as making Himself equal with God, further confirming that He claimed divine status.
• John 14:1–11 — Jesus’ “I am the way, the truth, and the life” and “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” explicitly identify His person and mission with the Father, indicating unique access to God and exclusive mediation for salvation.
• Logical implication (C.S. Lewis triad): Jesus’ self-claims force a decisive conclusion — either He was deceitful (liar), deluded (lunatic), or genuinely divine (Lord).

Example/Analogy:

• The lecturer referenced C.S. Lewis’s “Liar, Lunatic, or Lord” argument to show the existential and logical pressure of Jesus’ claims — one cannot reasonably accept Jesus as merely a great moral teacher if Jesus claimed deity. —— Kevin

Knowledge point 2: The resurrection validates Jesus’ divine claims

Summary: The resurrection functions as divine vindication of Jesus’ claims; Scripture (Romans 1:1–4) states that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by His resurrection, so God’s raising Him from the dead corroborates His identity.

Detailed explanation:

• Romans 1:1–4 — Paul explicitly links the resurrection with the declaration of Jesus as God’s Son “with power.” If Jesus foretold His death and resurrection, and God raised Him, God thereby attested to the truthfulness of Jesus’ identity and message.
• Analogy used: The healed blind man in John 9 argued that miraculous works show that Jesus is from God — similarly, the resurrection is God’s ultimate miracle that validates Jesus’ divine claims. It would be inconsistent for God to endorse a fraud by raising him from the dead.

Example/Case:

• John 9:28–33 — The formerly blind man reasons that a man who performs such a unique miracle must be from God; applied to the resurrection, if God raised Jesus, the resurrection is proof of God’s endorsement. —— Kevin

Knowledge point 3: Old and New Testament Scriptures teach Jesus’ deity

Summary: Both prophetic and apostolic Scriptures identify the coming Messiah as divine. Isaiah foretold a child called “Mighty God”; John and Paul affirm the Word’s preexistence and incarnation and Jesus’ equality with God.

Detailed explanation:

• Isaiah 9:6 — Messianic prophecy names the child “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father,” indicating divine attributes applied to the coming king.
• John 1:1–14 — “In the beginning was the Word... and the Word was God... and the Word became flesh” identifies the incarnate Jesus as the preexistent divine Word who is Creator and became human.
• Philippians 2:5–7 — Paul teaches that Christ existed “in the form of God” and did not consider equality with God something to cling to, but emptied Himself and took the form of a servant, affirming both His preexistent deity and his incarnation as a man.

Example/Scriptural synthesis:

• Combining Isaiah’s prophecy, John’s prologue, and Paul’s hymn shows a consistent biblical witness: Jesus is both fully God and fully man — a theological tension affirmed by Scripture rather than denied. —— Kevin

Knowledge point 4: The theological and practical implications — God died on the cross; response required

Summary: If Jesus is truly God who died and rose, that elevates the significance of the cross — God Himself died for humanity. This obliges a concrete response: belief, repentance, confession, and baptism (obedience to the gospel), followed by a life dedicated to seeking and saving the lost.

Detailed explanation:

• Divine sacrifice: The uniqueness of the Christian claim is that God took on flesh and died; this demands a decisive human response (not mere intellectual assent).
• Obedience to the gospel: The lecturer emphasized the biblical pattern — hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized for the remission of sins (referencing promises like “he who believes and is baptized will be saved”).
• Life reorientation: Authentic response produces repentance (turning from self-rule to submission to God’s will), confession of Jesus as Lord, baptism (as God’s prescribed means for contacting Christ’s blood), and committed mission to win souls.

Examples/practical steps:

• Invitation to obey the gospel now (application to listeners present): immediate decision to be baptized, confess sin, or request prayer; invocation of James 5:16 (prayer of the righteous). —— Kevin

✏️ Key Concepts

Concept 1: Claim to Deity

Definition: Jesus’ own statements and actions in the Gospels assert His identity as divine and equal with the Father.

Key Points:

• Direct sayings: “I am” statements (e.g., I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life; “Before Abraham was, I am”).
• Reaction of contemporaries: Jewish leaders understood these as claims to Yahweh and sought to stone Him for blasphemy.
• Logical consequence: If these statements are true, Jesus must be accepted as Lord; if false, He would be morally disqualified from being a trustworthy teacher.

Example / Analogy:

• C.S. Lewis “Liar, Lunatic, or Lord” formulation used to illustrate the unavoidable conclusions from Jesus’ claims. —— Kevin

Concept 2: Resurrection as Divine Vindication

Definition: The resurrection is the decisive act by which God confirms Jesus’ identity and mission.

Key Points:

• Paul’s argument (Romans 1:4) ties the resurrection directly to the declaration of Jesus as Son of God “with power.”
• Miraculous endorsement: Miracles (including resurrection) indicate God’s approval; God would not validate a fraud by raising him.
• Historical implication: The empty tomb and appearances support the claim that God authenticated Jesus’ claims.

Example/Analogy:

• John 9 blind-man testimony: miraculous sign proves Jesus is from God; similarly, the resurrection proves Jesus’ divine claim. —— Kevin

Concept 3: Scriptural Testimony to the Incarnation

Definition: Both Old Testament prophecy and New Testament revelation present the Messiah as both divine and human.

Key Points:

• Isaiah 9:6 uses divine titles for the coming child (“Mighty God,” “Everlasting Father”).
• John 1:1–14 identifies the Word as both Creator and the incarnate Jesus.
• Philippians 2:5–7 teaches preexistence in the “form of God,” incarnation as a servant, and the paradox of divine humility.

Example/Analogy:

• The “Word becoming flesh” is the biblical way of explaining how preexistent deity entered human history — not a denial of deity but fulfillment of it. —— Kevin

Concept 4: Gospel Response — Belief, Repentance, Confession, Baptism, Mission

Definition: Biblical salvation involves an obedient response to the gospel, culminating in baptism and a life devoted to Christ’s mission.

Key Points:

• Belief and repentance are necessary but require outward expression (confession, baptism) as obedience to Christ’s commands.
• Baptism is presented as the divinely appointed means to contact Christ’s blood for remission of sins (the lecturer affirmed “he who believes and is baptized will be saved”).
• Conversion results in a transformed life: priorities shift to pursue God’s will and to participate in the mission of seeking and saving the lost.

Example/Analogy:

• The lecturer urged immediate application: respond now, be baptized, join the community of believers, and engage in soul-winning whether full-time minister or layperson. —— Kevin

🔄 Q&A/Discussion

Question 1: Are all religions essentially the same — just different expressions of moral teaching?
Answer 1: No. Christianity is distinct because it centers on the person and deity of Jesus Christ. Affirming Jesus as God is central and not merely an ethical system; it is exclusive and divisive by nature.

Question 2: How can Jesus be both fully God and fully man?
Answer 2: Scripture affirms both realities (e.g., Isaiah 9:6; John 1; Philippians 2). The mystery of the incarnation may surpass human comprehension (Deuteronomy 29:29, Job’s questioning), but it is a revealed truth to be accepted by faith rather than dismissed because it’s difficult.

Question 3: Why is baptism necessary if belief saves?
Answer 3: The lecturer emphasized biblical obedience: God prescribes baptism as part of obeying the gospel and receiving remission of sins. The promise “he who believes and is baptized will be saved” shows baptism’s prescribed role; God’s commands and promises should be trusted.

📚 Assignments

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