December 9, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to doctor Jeff Swarzentrau with Pastor Jeff Ministries
on today's program. Pastor Jeff concludes his message the deity
of Christ from the series The Only God and helps
you see how the power of Jesus brings light in
life to all who believe. Before we get started with
(00:24):
today's teaching, we invite you to check out Pastorjeff dot
com for more resources to help you grow in your walk.
While you're there, be sure to sign up for Pastor
Jeff's weekly email devotion to receive encouragement right in your inbox.
That's Pastorjeff dot com. Now let's hear today's teaching of
God's Word from Pastor Jeff.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Jesus Christ is the Creator. I invite you to turn
over to Colossians chapter one or through the power of
the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul unpacks this in just
a little more detail for us and a Klaussian's one
verse fifteen, and it says this, let's just walk through.
It says he is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn overall creation. The image of the invisible God
(01:08):
means if you've seen Jesus, you've seen God. Why is
that important? Because one day, every single one of you
will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in all of
his glory. God is Spirit. You can't see spirit. You
can't see the Father. You can't see the Spirit. You
couldn't see the second person of the Trinity until he
became in carniate flesh and put it on for all eternity.
You'll see Jesus. And if you've seen Jesus, you've seen
(01:29):
the Godhead, because they are all of the same essence,
one God. Amen. And what does it say? Says this?
It says the firstborn overall creation. Firstborn does not mean
that he was created. There's a word for them in
the Greek. This is not what it means. Pro Tokos
is the word. It's sovereign priority and superiority over all creation.
(01:52):
It means he has the position of inheritance and honor.
When it says he's the firstborn overall creation means he's
the sovereign ruler. It means he's the one that created
it all. It means he's the one that did it all,
and nothing was created apart from him. That's what else
it says. Says the same as we just read. For
by him all things were created, both in the heavens
and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions,
(02:14):
or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through
him and for him. Everything that's been created that you
see and that you don't see, was created by him.
Things visible that you can see with your eyes, things
invisible that you can't see. He created them all. There's
nothing that's been created that Jesus Christ did not have
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his hand in. And why were they created? They were
created through him? And what for him? His creation was
created so that we would worship him. He wasn't created
so that he could do good stuff for us. He
created us so that we could worship him. Because there's
no greater satisfaction than giving your all to the Lord
(02:57):
Jesus Christ. Amen, let's continue. He says this verse seventeen.
He is before all things, and in him holds all
things together. That means he's before all things. That means
before anything was created, he was there. That means he's eternal.
He holds all things together. That means he's a sustainer.
(03:18):
Every atom in your body is being held together presently
by the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that your heart
is beating is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
fact that you have thoughts in your head right now
is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that
the earth is not completely blown up is because of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He holds it all together. He
created it all, and he holds it all together. How
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arrogant we are to think we're in charge of anything,
He's in charge of it all. He is also the
head of the body, the Church. What's the one institution
He created the church for what purpose? To receive glory, honor,
and praise from his people. And he is the beginning,
the first born from the dead. This does not mean
(04:00):
Jesus needed to be born again. It means that he
was the first to rise and conquer death permanently. Amen.
There are people Jesus raised from the dead. I mean
Lazarus was won after he had been dead for four days,
just raised him from the dead. But Lazarus had the
unfortunate proposition of dying twice. I mean, he was raised
from the dead once, but he died again. When Jesus
(04:22):
Christ came out of the tomb, it was his declaration
that death no longer has a hold on anyone because
I am King and Lord over death. That's who he is.
And even when Jesus died on the cross and said
it was paid in full, which we'll talk more about
as the series continues, he said to the thief that
was believing in him, truly, truly, I tell you today,
(04:43):
you'll be with me in paradise. Where did Jesus go
that very day that he died, went to heaven. Thief
went to heaven with him. And then when he came
back in his earthly body, he was demonstrating, I have
conquered death, and only in me can death be conquered.
There is no to conquer death than to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal God of the universe.
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It's the only way to overcome sin Amen verse nineteen.
It says at the end of verse eighteen, he will
come to have first place in everything, which means he
should have priority in all areas of your life. He
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permanently defeated death. Notice what it goes on to say
in verse nineteen, For it was a father's good pleasure
for all the fullness to dwell in him. That shows
that he had full deity his entire life. And then
what do we see in the Gospel of verse twenty
and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having
made peace through the blood of his cross. Through him,
I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven,
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the only way salvation could be provided for human beings
is through God. The only way God can provide salvation
is for God to do it himself. That's why Jesus
Christ had to be God. There were plenty of people
bleeding out on crosses in the first century. There are
plenty of pretenders. There's only one whose blood was satisfactory,
(06:08):
the god Man, Jesus Christ. There's only one who died
and three days later got up out of the grave.
There's only one way to heaven, and that is through
the Lord Jesus Christ, the god Man of the universe,
the creator of the universe, the eternal son of the universe.
That's it, Amen, That's who our God is. Jesus Christ
is our creator. When you talk about this God, this
(06:31):
is somewhat overwhelming when you think about it. We sing
that song Mary, did you know, Mary? Did you know
that that baby boy would someday, walk on water, rule
the nations, all those different things, did you know. I mean,
we talk about Christmas so often because people come only
on Christmas and Easter. They hear the story about Jesus
and a manger and they think, Okay, God became a baby.
(06:52):
I don't totally get it. This baby is the one
that created the heavens and the earth in six literal days.
This baby is the one the whole Old Testament reveals.
This baby is the king of the universe. This baby
is the one that's going to come back with fire
in his eyes and a sword coming out of his
mouth in judgment of the nations. This baby is the
one who laid down his life on a cross. This
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baby is the one who got up out of the grave.
This baby is the one who offers life to anybody
who repented their sins and trust Jesus. That's who this
baby is. That's why the incarnation that we'll talk about
is so miraculous. We're not talking about God made a
baby for a while for thirty three years. We're talking
about the second person of the Trinity, who's always existed,
who created everything, who humbled himself for all eternity by
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becoming a baby and existing among us and being with
us for the sole purpose of providing a way so
that we who are dead could get to heaven. That's
our God, and he's worthy of all of our worship, honor,
and praise. Amen. That's who he is. So when I
read through Colossians, or I see in John chapter one
and verse three, that all things were created by him
(07:58):
and threw him, and apart from him nothing come into being,
it means he's in charge of it all. He's worthy
of everything. He's God, he's eternal, He's Creator. Let me
give you a fourth one. Jesus Christ is life. Jesus
Christ is life. In him was life, and that life
(08:18):
was the light of men. In him was life. Why
did there need to be life in Jesus because you're dead?
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death.
The Bible says that all of sin and falling short
of the glory of God. Your problem from the time
you're conceived is not who your mom and dad are.
It's not what kind of world you're going to grow
(08:39):
up in. It's not what color skin you have, it's
not what ethnicity you have. It's the fact of this
that you're born dead. Even when you come out of
the womb and you're kicking and screaming and giggling and
crying and showing all sorts of signs of life, spiritually,
you're still born. And you spend your life trying to
find life and purpose in me in any other way
(09:01):
than in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we all have a resume to prove it. And
so Jesus Christ came because of one reason, and one
reason only, because we're dead. That's why he came. He
did not come to provide a way of loving, although
he showed people how to love. He did not come
just because he wanted to be a good God, although
(09:21):
he is a great and awesome God. He came because
his creation was dead, and the only way to make
his creation alive is if he himself took the punishment
and the wrath of God for the sin of humanity
and paved a way through the death of the Cross
and his resurrection from the dead, so that those who
were dead by faith could repent and believe that he's
(09:43):
the Christ, the son of the Living God, to be
made alive. That's why he came friends. He's the life.
Now there's commercials out there where you know, somebody's on
a fishing boat and they're talking like, man, this is
the life, and not being a camper. I'm telling you
that's not life. But some people say football is life,
(10:04):
and some people think money is life, and some people
think relationships is life. And some people think sex is life,
and some people think immorality is life, and some people
think drunkenness is life. Anytime you're trying to find life
and something other than the person of Jesus Christ, it's
not eternal and it's not lasting, which is why you
have to keep filling yourself with things that aren't the life,
because only Jesus is the life. Think about the most
(10:29):
famous scripture, perhaps in our entire Bible, or ones that
non believers would say, I've heard that one John chapter
three and verse sixteen. Sometimes you can see it behind
the goalposts still to this day and end zone so
that people will hopefully reopen their Bible and read it,
which says, for God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him
will not perish, but have eternal life.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
You're listening to Pastor Jeff Ministries and today's message the
Deity of Christ from the series The Only God, helping
you see how the power of Jesus brings light in
life to all who believe. We'll get back to Pastor
Jeff in just a moment, but first, generous listeners like
you make this program possible. And when you give this
(11:16):
month to make teachings like the one you're hearing today possible,
we'll send you the gift, a twenty five day Christmas
devotional special resource Pastor Jeff created to help you focus
on the significance of why Jesus came to Earth. In it,
you'll discover why Christ's coming was not just about the
very night he entered the world, but his entire life
and ministry that changed the way you and I can
(11:38):
relate to God. Request your copy today when you give
to Pastor Jeff Ministries just go to Pastorjeff dot com.
Now let's get back to Pastor Jeff for the conclusion
of today's message.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
To only Begotten. See Jeff, there was a time she
just didn't exist because he was begotten of the Father. No,
you don't understand I'm human. I have a beginning, and
I have an end. So when I beget children, they
have a beginning and have an end. The Father is eternal.
He can begat that which is eternal. Begat means to
have the same essence as when he begat his son.
(12:14):
He didn't create his son. He didn't create Jiz. When
the Holy Spirit was begotten, he wasn't created. They had
all existed and all had the same essence from all
eternity and God. The Father sent his son to be
the savior of the world. He said, his only begotten son,
so those who believe in him would not perish, but
have what? So that dead people would not perish? But
have what? What? Did dead people need? They need eternal life.
(12:37):
It's not everlasting life that they needed. It's not, Hey,
you're gonna die, so you know, if you believe this prayer,
you live forever. He's like, you're dead, and you need
the very life of God in you presently now that
will live with you. Now, who will carry you all
the way through eternity. You need the eternal life. Jesus
John seventeen three says, now this is eternal life, that
they may know you and the only true God Jesus Christ,
(13:00):
to whom you have sinned. That's eternal life. It's knowing
the person and work of Jesus. Friends, here's what you're
looking for. Here's what you need more than anything else.
You need life. You need life, and you need it
in his name. Jesus said in John ten ten, I
have come that you might have life, and have it
more abundantly. John fourteen, verse six. Jesus said, I am
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the way the truth. Say it with me and the life.
There's no other way to the Father except through Jesus,
because there's no other God that can give you life
when you're dead. There's no other way to heaven except
through Jesus, because Jesus is a life and there is
no other life. And that's what he was proclaiming. And
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the reason people still get mad at that today is
because you've made up God in your own mind. The
reason they crucified Jesus is they didn't like who he
said God was, because he is God. And I'm just
proclaiming to you he's the only way. And I don't
care what your religious background is, what your skin, your
ethnicity is, your social status, your money status. You need
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Jesus Christ for your life. Amen, that's what he was saying.
Jesus Christ is life, and apart from him, you don't
have life. Or how about at Lazarus's funeral, she just
said this, I am the resurrection and the life. I
give life. What because y'all are dead? You need my life?
(14:30):
That's why all throughout the Bible, you know, we see
that Jesus and John three says you must be born again.
Everybody must be born again. Why because you're dead spiritually.
You may be alive physically, you may feel really good physically,
you may have lots of friendships, lots of friends, But
what does it profit you to gain the whole world
and you have forfeit your soul? Or what can a
man give in exchange for a soul? The Bible is
(14:52):
screaming to you that you're dead and that you need life,
and that the only place you can find life is
in Jesus. That's why when John writes a letter later
in First John, chapter five, verses eleven and twelve, he says,
he who has the Son has the life. He who
does not have the sun does not have the life.
It's so simple. The question is do you have life?
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And do you have the life of his son. And
notice what it says in him was life, and this
life what does it do? This life was the light
of men. What's light do? It provides guidance and direction.
This life provides guidance and direction. If you have the life,
you have guidance and direction in you that comes with
the package, because at the moment that you trust Jesus,
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God deposits the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity,
to live on the inside with you forever to guide
you into all truth. It's amazing to me. And I
don't want to paint a false picture of the early Church,
because the early Church had problems, like the twenty first
century church has problems, So I don't want to paint
a false picture like back then they had it all together.
But think about it. They didn't have budgets, they didn't
have buildings, they didn't have ordained pastors, they didn't have
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preaching classes, they didn't have seminars, they didn't have small
group lectures, they didn't have anything. And yet seemingly what
they had was the creator, eternal God who gave life,
and they trusted that he could provide guidance. So wherever
they went, they could call upon his name and allow
God to do what he needed to do. Now I'm
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here to tell you I'm a lifelong learner. I'm committed
to learning, which means this, I don't have it figured
out in any area of my life completely. I'm always
wanting to grow and always wanting to learn. I don't
think there's wrong with taking classes on marriage, or taking
classes on finances, or taking classes on health, or learning
new habits to do, or growing in your understanding of
the world. That's all good. But I find oftentimes in
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our culture when we have a problem, instead of running
to the eternal creator God, who has all the answers
and has all the life, instead of going to him first,
he's an afterthought. We think we need counseling and lectures
and all these answers, and then if that doesn't work,
we'll go to God. Here's what the Bible says, Go
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to God first. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added. Seek Jesus first,
Make Jesus the Lord, allow him to be the Lord.
Go to him with wisdom, depend upon him, and then
it's okay. The proverb says, it's good to have a
plethora of counselors. It's good to have other people speaking
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into your life, but they're not primary. Their secondary. Jesus
Christ is primary. And it's interesting that the church could
flourish without so many things that we have today. I'm
here to tell you I believe one of the reasons
the church doesn't flourish as much as God wants it
to is because we've not placed Jesus high enough in
our churches. She just said, if I'm high and lifted up,
(17:42):
I will draw all people unto myself. I'm the light
of the world. I'll provide guidance and direction for everything
you need if you preference me. You think about it.
This eternal God, this creator, this lifegiver, is still with
us to this day. I'm going to give you a
fifth one. It says this light shines in the darkness,
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and the darkness does not comprehend it. This word that
says comprehend it can mean understood. I mean it could
mean that this light shined in the darkness. But they
didn't really understand who Jesus was. Although some people did
understand who Jesus was, and some of us here today
understand who Jesus was, but The word can also mean
overcome or overtaken. I think a better translation is the
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light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not
overtaken it. Let me give you a fifth one about
this eternal creator, life giving God, and that is this
Jesus Christ is unstoppable. He's unstoppable. Even when the light
shines in darkness. Who wins. Light always beats darkness. It's
(18:51):
always beat darkness for generations. It will always beat darkness
in every generation. There will always be people rise up
and say Jesus can't be real, the Bible's not. That
happens in every generation, and Jesus continues to win. The
darkness has no hold over the light. It can't overtake it.
It can't overcome it. Because Jesus is unstoppable. He's victorious,
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He's powerful, omnipotent. He made a public display of our
sin on the cross. And here's what I want you
to see that he is still our hope and glory.
When we talk about being born again, I'm not talking
about Hey, declare this pray, this simple prayer. Just mouth
these words and hopes that if you mouth them just right,
God will take you to heaven. I'm talking about you,
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who are dead in your sins, and me, who was
dead in my sin. That the God of the universe
is willing to forgive all of that, and one better
than that, not only forgive us, cleanse us from the
inside out, but come and make his home inside of us.
Who wants to come live inside of you? The eternal creator,
God that's the life giving of the universe, wants to
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make his home inside of you. If that doesn't blow
you away, nothing will. People always want to debate Christianity
and debate all this stuff and have arguments, And I
don't need to debate anything. I know Christ lives in me.
Say whatever you want. Jesus Christ is Lord to the
glory of God the Father. Think about this statement and Colaussians,
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it's so powerful Clausans one twenty seven. To whom God
willed to make known, what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the gentiles? What is the
mystery which is Christ in you? The hope of glory,
his power, his wisdom, his hope, his life, his joy,
his authority, his righteousness and truth all reside in those
(20:37):
who believe in Him. When you give the Lord all
of your sin, and he gives you all of his life,
and all of his righteousness, and all his authority and
all his power. It doesn't make you a little g God.
You're still dependent upon God. But that God lives in you.
Where's God inside every single person who believes the life
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for Jesus Christ, the light of the world, lives on
the inside. Amen. Why because Jesus Christ is unstoppable. The
apostle Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, order
this way. In Galatians two twenty, he says, I have
been crucified with Christ. Is no longer I who live,
but Christ, who lives in me. The life I live now,
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I live by faith and the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. Paul's not saying
I am all these things. He's saying Christ is all
these things, and that Christ lives in me. He says,
for if righteousness could be gained through observation of the law,
then Christ died for nothing. In other words, if there
were things that you could do on your own to
get yourself perfectly right with God, if there were things
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that you could do to prepare yourself for heaven, then
Jesus Christ died for no reason at all. You don't
even need him. But I'm here to tell you there's
no one in existence who's taken a breath, who's come
out of the womb, who is prepared for All are
still born, all will die, All are in need of
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being born again. And how can you be born again
by believing that eternal God of the universe Jesus Christ
put on flesh, came and fulfilled the law, took the
wrath of his father for all your sin, died on
the cross, rose three days later, and offers life to
anyone through repentance and faith. Repentance is knowing I need
to leave my life of sin because I can't stay
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dead anymore, and turning my faith into Christ because He's
the only one who can make me alive. And when
that happens, he grabs you forever. No one can snatch
you out of his hand. He deposits his Holy Spirit
in your life. So you have the life of Christ
and the light of the world on the inside, who
is growing you into all holiness, righteousness and truth. That's
good news, right, I mean, you think about it, you
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study the gospels, and you see everything that Jesus did
and taught, and then you see him continue that on
the earth through the church. And he's still doing it
through his church. He's still building his church, he's still
saving people, he's still sanctifying people, he's still manifesting his
presence in his kingdom through people. In Amen, Jesus Christ
is coming again soon. But when we talk about Jesus,
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this is who we're talking about. Do you believe in
that Jesus, not that Jesus that you make up in
your own mind. Well, I kind of like Jesus to
be like this, and I kind of like Jesus to
be like that, and I kind of wish Jesus was
more this way. And he's loving and he would never
send anybody to hell, and he's this, and that's the Jesus.
I like, I'm not asking you about the Jesus you like,
I'm asking you do believe in the biblical revelation of
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how God's revealed his son, the one that He's pleased with,
the one that he loves unconditionally, the one who died
on the cross for your sin, the one who was
raised from the dead. And here's what's so important. Just
because you've mouthed the words, I believe in Jesus. Just
because you pray, to prayer, to conference, just because you
felt your heart tingle on the inside, does not mean
that you believe. Believe. Is I trust that that God
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Jesus Christ is God's eternal son. He died for me
on a cross, the one who created everything. He took
all the wrath of God. He rose from the dead
in glory, and he and he alone, is who I
place my faith in.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Thanks for listening today. That was Pastor Jeff with the
conclusion of the message the Deity of Christ from the
series The Only God, helping you see how the power
of Jesus brings light in life to all who believe.
Thanks for joining us for today's program. A quick reminder
before you go, you can request Pastor Jeff's The Gift,
(24:32):
a twenty five day Christmas devotional when you go to
Pastorjeff dot com and give a gift to help share
God's word with more people. This timely resource will help
you prepare your heart for the season and remind you
why Christ coming to Earth was about so much more
than one night in a stable in Bethlehem. And while
you're at Pastorjeff dot com be sure to sign up
(24:52):
for Pastor Jeff's weekly emails so you'll be the first
to know when new equipping resources are available.
You're listening to doctor Jeff Swarzentrau with Pastor Jeff Ministries
on today's program. Pastor Jeff concludes his message the deity
of Christ from the series The Only God and helps
you see how the power of Jesus brings light in
life to all who believe. Before we get started with
(00:24):
today's teaching, we invite you to check out Pastorjeff dot
com for more resources to help you grow in your walk.
While you're there, be sure to sign up for Pastor
Jeff's weekly email devotion to receive encouragement right in your inbox.
That's Pastorjeff dot com. Now let's hear today's teaching of
God's Word from Pastor Jeff.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Jesus Christ is the Creator. I invite you to turn
over to Colossians chapter one or through the power of
the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul unpacks this in just
a little more detail for us and a Klaussian's one
verse fifteen, and it says this, let's just walk through.
It says he is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn overall creation. The image of the invisible God
(01:08):
means if you've seen Jesus, you've seen God. Why is
that important? Because one day, every single one of you
will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in all of
his glory. God is Spirit. You can't see spirit. You
can't see the Father. You can't see the Spirit. You
couldn't see the second person of the Trinity until he
became in carniate flesh and put it on for all eternity.
You'll see Jesus. And if you've seen Jesus, you've seen
(01:29):
the Godhead, because they are all of the same essence,
one God. Amen. And what does it say? Says this?
It says the firstborn overall creation. Firstborn does not mean
that he was created. There's a word for them in
the Greek. This is not what it means. Pro Tokos
is the word. It's sovereign priority and superiority over all creation.
(01:52):
It means he has the position of inheritance and honor.
When it says he's the firstborn overall creation means he's
the sovereign ruler. It means he's the one that created
it all. It means he's the one that did it all,
and nothing was created apart from him. That's what else
it says. Says the same as we just read. For
by him all things were created, both in the heavens
and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions,
(02:14):
or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through
him and for him. Everything that's been created that you
see and that you don't see, was created by him.
Things visible that you can see with your eyes, things
invisible that you can't see. He created them all. There's
nothing that's been created that Jesus Christ did not have
(02:37):
his hand in. And why were they created? They were
created through him? And what for him? His creation was
created so that we would worship him. He wasn't created
so that he could do good stuff for us. He
created us so that we could worship him. Because there's
no greater satisfaction than giving your all to the Lord
(02:57):
Jesus Christ. Amen, let's continue. He says this verse seventeen.
He is before all things, and in him holds all
things together. That means he's before all things. That means
before anything was created, he was there. That means he's eternal.
He holds all things together. That means he's a sustainer.
(03:18):
Every atom in your body is being held together presently
by the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that your heart
is beating is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
fact that you have thoughts in your head right now
is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that
the earth is not completely blown up is because of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He holds it all together. He
created it all, and he holds it all together. How
(03:39):
arrogant we are to think we're in charge of anything,
He's in charge of it all. He is also the
head of the body, the Church. What's the one institution
He created the church for what purpose? To receive glory, honor,
and praise from his people. And he is the beginning,
the first born from the dead. This does not mean
(04:00):
Jesus needed to be born again. It means that he
was the first to rise and conquer death permanently. Amen.
There are people Jesus raised from the dead. I mean
Lazarus was won after he had been dead for four days,
just raised him from the dead. But Lazarus had the
unfortunate proposition of dying twice. I mean, he was raised
from the dead once, but he died again. When Jesus
(04:22):
Christ came out of the tomb, it was his declaration
that death no longer has a hold on anyone because
I am King and Lord over death. That's who he is.
And even when Jesus died on the cross and said
it was paid in full, which we'll talk more about
as the series continues, he said to the thief that
was believing in him, truly, truly, I tell you today,
(04:43):
you'll be with me in paradise. Where did Jesus go
that very day that he died, went to heaven. Thief
went to heaven with him. And then when he came
back in his earthly body, he was demonstrating, I have
conquered death, and only in me can death be conquered.
There is no to conquer death than to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal God of the universe.
(05:05):
It's the only way to overcome sin Amen verse nineteen.
It says at the end of verse eighteen, he will
come to have first place in everything, which means he
should have priority in all areas of your life. He
(05:26):
permanently defeated death. Notice what it goes on to say
in verse nineteen, For it was a father's good pleasure
for all the fullness to dwell in him. That shows
that he had full deity his entire life. And then
what do we see in the Gospel of verse twenty
and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having
made peace through the blood of his cross. Through him,
I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven,
(05:48):
the only way salvation could be provided for human beings
is through God. The only way God can provide salvation
is for God to do it himself. That's why Jesus
Christ had to be God. There were plenty of people
bleeding out on crosses in the first century. There are
plenty of pretenders. There's only one whose blood was satisfactory,
(06:08):
the god Man, Jesus Christ. There's only one who died
and three days later got up out of the grave.
There's only one way to heaven, and that is through
the Lord Jesus Christ, the god Man of the universe,
the creator of the universe, the eternal son of the universe.
That's it, Amen, That's who our God is. Jesus Christ
is our creator. When you talk about this God, this
(06:31):
is somewhat overwhelming when you think about it. We sing
that song Mary, did you know, Mary? Did you know
that that baby boy would someday, walk on water, rule
the nations, all those different things, did you know. I mean,
we talk about Christmas so often because people come only
on Christmas and Easter. They hear the story about Jesus
and a manger and they think, Okay, God became a baby.
(06:52):
I don't totally get it. This baby is the one
that created the heavens and the earth in six literal days.
This baby is the one the whole Old Testament reveals.
This baby is the king of the universe. This baby
is the one that's going to come back with fire
in his eyes and a sword coming out of his
mouth in judgment of the nations. This baby is the
one who laid down his life on a cross. This
(07:13):
baby is the one who got up out of the grave.
This baby is the one who offers life to anybody
who repented their sins and trust Jesus. That's who this
baby is. That's why the incarnation that we'll talk about
is so miraculous. We're not talking about God made a
baby for a while for thirty three years. We're talking
about the second person of the Trinity, who's always existed,
who created everything, who humbled himself for all eternity by
(07:37):
becoming a baby and existing among us and being with
us for the sole purpose of providing a way so
that we who are dead could get to heaven. That's
our God, and he's worthy of all of our worship, honor,
and praise. Amen. That's who he is. So when I
read through Colossians, or I see in John chapter one
and verse three, that all things were created by him
(07:58):
and threw him, and apart from him nothing come into being,
it means he's in charge of it all. He's worthy
of everything. He's God, he's eternal, He's Creator. Let me
give you a fourth one. Jesus Christ is life. Jesus
Christ is life. In him was life, and that life
(08:18):
was the light of men. In him was life. Why
did there need to be life in Jesus because you're dead?
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death.
The Bible says that all of sin and falling short
of the glory of God. Your problem from the time
you're conceived is not who your mom and dad are.
It's not what kind of world you're going to grow
(08:39):
up in. It's not what color skin you have, it's
not what ethnicity you have. It's the fact of this
that you're born dead. Even when you come out of
the womb and you're kicking and screaming and giggling and
crying and showing all sorts of signs of life, spiritually,
you're still born. And you spend your life trying to
find life and purpose in me in any other way
(09:01):
than in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we all have a resume to prove it. And
so Jesus Christ came because of one reason, and one
reason only, because we're dead. That's why he came. He
did not come to provide a way of loving, although
he showed people how to love. He did not come
just because he wanted to be a good God, although
(09:21):
he is a great and awesome God. He came because
his creation was dead, and the only way to make
his creation alive is if he himself took the punishment
and the wrath of God for the sin of humanity
and paved a way through the death of the Cross
and his resurrection from the dead, so that those who
were dead by faith could repent and believe that he's
(09:43):
the Christ, the son of the Living God, to be
made alive. That's why he came friends. He's the life.
Now there's commercials out there where you know, somebody's on
a fishing boat and they're talking like, man, this is
the life, and not being a camper. I'm telling you
that's not life. But some people say football is life,
(10:04):
and some people think money is life, and some people
think relationships is life. And some people think sex is life,
and some people think immorality is life, and some people
think drunkenness is life. Anytime you're trying to find life
and something other than the person of Jesus Christ, it's
not eternal and it's not lasting, which is why you
have to keep filling yourself with things that aren't the life,
because only Jesus is the life. Think about the most
(10:29):
famous scripture, perhaps in our entire Bible, or ones that
non believers would say, I've heard that one John chapter
three and verse sixteen. Sometimes you can see it behind
the goalposts still to this day and end zone so
that people will hopefully reopen their Bible and read it,
which says, for God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him
will not perish, but have eternal life.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
You're listening to Pastor Jeff Ministries and today's message the
Deity of Christ from the series The Only God, helping
you see how the power of Jesus brings light in
life to all who believe. We'll get back to Pastor
Jeff in just a moment, but first, generous listeners like
you make this program possible. And when you give this
(11:16):
month to make teachings like the one you're hearing today possible,
we'll send you the gift, a twenty five day Christmas
devotional special resource Pastor Jeff created to help you focus
on the significance of why Jesus came to Earth. In it,
you'll discover why Christ's coming was not just about the
very night he entered the world, but his entire life
and ministry that changed the way you and I can
(11:38):
relate to God. Request your copy today when you give
to Pastor Jeff Ministries just go to Pastorjeff dot com.
Now let's get back to Pastor Jeff for the conclusion
of today's message.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
To only Begotten. See Jeff, there was a time she
just didn't exist because he was begotten of the Father. No,
you don't understand I'm human. I have a beginning, and
I have an end. So when I beget children, they
have a beginning and have an end. The Father is eternal.
He can begat that which is eternal. Begat means to
have the same essence as when he begat his son.
(12:14):
He didn't create his son. He didn't create Jiz. When
the Holy Spirit was begotten, he wasn't created. They had
all existed and all had the same essence from all
eternity and God. The Father sent his son to be
the savior of the world. He said, his only begotten son,
so those who believe in him would not perish, but
have what? So that dead people would not perish? But
have what? What? Did dead people need? They need eternal life.
(12:37):
It's not everlasting life that they needed. It's not, Hey,
you're gonna die, so you know, if you believe this prayer,
you live forever. He's like, you're dead, and you need
the very life of God in you presently now that
will live with you. Now, who will carry you all
the way through eternity. You need the eternal life. Jesus
John seventeen three says, now this is eternal life, that
they may know you and the only true God Jesus Christ,
(13:00):
to whom you have sinned. That's eternal life. It's knowing
the person and work of Jesus. Friends, here's what you're
looking for. Here's what you need more than anything else.
You need life. You need life, and you need it
in his name. Jesus said in John ten ten, I
have come that you might have life, and have it
more abundantly. John fourteen, verse six. Jesus said, I am
(13:23):
the way the truth. Say it with me and the life.
There's no other way to the Father except through Jesus,
because there's no other God that can give you life
when you're dead. There's no other way to heaven except
through Jesus, because Jesus is a life and there is
no other life. And that's what he was proclaiming. And
(13:45):
the reason people still get mad at that today is
because you've made up God in your own mind. The
reason they crucified Jesus is they didn't like who he
said God was, because he is God. And I'm just
proclaiming to you he's the only way. And I don't
care what your religious background is, what your skin, your
ethnicity is, your social status, your money status. You need
(14:05):
Jesus Christ for your life. Amen, that's what he was saying.
Jesus Christ is life, and apart from him, you don't
have life. Or how about at Lazarus's funeral, she just
said this, I am the resurrection and the life. I
give life. What because y'all are dead? You need my life?
(14:30):
That's why all throughout the Bible, you know, we see
that Jesus and John three says you must be born again.
Everybody must be born again. Why because you're dead spiritually.
You may be alive physically, you may feel really good physically,
you may have lots of friendships, lots of friends, But
what does it profit you to gain the whole world
and you have forfeit your soul? Or what can a
man give in exchange for a soul? The Bible is
(14:52):
screaming to you that you're dead and that you need life,
and that the only place you can find life is
in Jesus. That's why when John writes a letter later
in First John, chapter five, verses eleven and twelve, he says,
he who has the Son has the life. He who
does not have the sun does not have the life.
It's so simple. The question is do you have life?
(15:13):
And do you have the life of his son. And
notice what it says in him was life, and this
life what does it do? This life was the light
of men. What's light do? It provides guidance and direction.
This life provides guidance and direction. If you have the life,
you have guidance and direction in you that comes with
the package, because at the moment that you trust Jesus,
(15:35):
God deposits the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity,
to live on the inside with you forever to guide
you into all truth. It's amazing to me. And I
don't want to paint a false picture of the early Church,
because the early Church had problems, like the twenty first
century church has problems, So I don't want to paint
a false picture like back then they had it all together.
But think about it. They didn't have budgets, they didn't
have buildings, they didn't have ordained pastors, they didn't have
(15:56):
preaching classes, they didn't have seminars, they didn't have small
group lectures, they didn't have anything. And yet seemingly what
they had was the creator, eternal God who gave life,
and they trusted that he could provide guidance. So wherever
they went, they could call upon his name and allow
God to do what he needed to do. Now I'm
(16:17):
here to tell you I'm a lifelong learner. I'm committed
to learning, which means this, I don't have it figured
out in any area of my life completely. I'm always
wanting to grow and always wanting to learn. I don't
think there's wrong with taking classes on marriage, or taking
classes on finances, or taking classes on health, or learning
new habits to do, or growing in your understanding of
the world. That's all good. But I find oftentimes in
(16:39):
our culture when we have a problem, instead of running
to the eternal creator God, who has all the answers
and has all the life, instead of going to him first,
he's an afterthought. We think we need counseling and lectures
and all these answers, and then if that doesn't work,
we'll go to God. Here's what the Bible says, Go
(17:01):
to God first. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added. Seek Jesus first,
Make Jesus the Lord, allow him to be the Lord.
Go to him with wisdom, depend upon him, and then
it's okay. The proverb says, it's good to have a
plethora of counselors. It's good to have other people speaking
(17:22):
into your life, but they're not primary. Their secondary. Jesus
Christ is primary. And it's interesting that the church could
flourish without so many things that we have today. I'm
here to tell you I believe one of the reasons
the church doesn't flourish as much as God wants it
to is because we've not placed Jesus high enough in
our churches. She just said, if I'm high and lifted up,
(17:42):
I will draw all people unto myself. I'm the light
of the world. I'll provide guidance and direction for everything
you need if you preference me. You think about it.
This eternal God, this creator, this lifegiver, is still with
us to this day. I'm going to give you a
fifth one. It says this light shines in the darkness,
(18:06):
and the darkness does not comprehend it. This word that
says comprehend it can mean understood. I mean it could
mean that this light shined in the darkness. But they
didn't really understand who Jesus was. Although some people did
understand who Jesus was, and some of us here today
understand who Jesus was, but The word can also mean
overcome or overtaken. I think a better translation is the
(18:28):
light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not
overtaken it. Let me give you a fifth one about
this eternal creator, life giving God, and that is this
Jesus Christ is unstoppable. He's unstoppable. Even when the light
shines in darkness. Who wins. Light always beats darkness. It's
(18:51):
always beat darkness for generations. It will always beat darkness
in every generation. There will always be people rise up
and say Jesus can't be real, the Bible's not. That
happens in every generation, and Jesus continues to win. The
darkness has no hold over the light. It can't overtake it.
It can't overcome it. Because Jesus is unstoppable. He's victorious,
(19:11):
He's powerful, omnipotent. He made a public display of our
sin on the cross. And here's what I want you
to see that he is still our hope and glory.
When we talk about being born again, I'm not talking
about Hey, declare this pray, this simple prayer. Just mouth
these words and hopes that if you mouth them just right,
God will take you to heaven. I'm talking about you,
(19:31):
who are dead in your sins, and me, who was
dead in my sin. That the God of the universe
is willing to forgive all of that, and one better
than that, not only forgive us, cleanse us from the
inside out, but come and make his home inside of us.
Who wants to come live inside of you? The eternal creator,
God that's the life giving of the universe, wants to
(19:52):
make his home inside of you. If that doesn't blow
you away, nothing will. People always want to debate Christianity
and debate all this stuff and have arguments, And I
don't need to debate anything. I know Christ lives in me.
Say whatever you want. Jesus Christ is Lord to the
glory of God the Father. Think about this statement and Colaussians,
(20:15):
it's so powerful Clausans one twenty seven. To whom God
willed to make known, what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the gentiles? What is the
mystery which is Christ in you? The hope of glory,
his power, his wisdom, his hope, his life, his joy,
his authority, his righteousness and truth all reside in those
(20:37):
who believe in Him. When you give the Lord all
of your sin, and he gives you all of his life,
and all of his righteousness, and all his authority and
all his power. It doesn't make you a little g God.
You're still dependent upon God. But that God lives in you.
Where's God inside every single person who believes the life
(21:00):
for Jesus Christ, the light of the world, lives on
the inside. Amen. Why because Jesus Christ is unstoppable. The
apostle Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, order
this way. In Galatians two twenty, he says, I have
been crucified with Christ. Is no longer I who live,
but Christ, who lives in me. The life I live now,
(21:22):
I live by faith and the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. Paul's not saying
I am all these things. He's saying Christ is all
these things, and that Christ lives in me. He says,
for if righteousness could be gained through observation of the law,
then Christ died for nothing. In other words, if there
were things that you could do on your own to
get yourself perfectly right with God, if there were things
(21:44):
that you could do to prepare yourself for heaven, then
Jesus Christ died for no reason at all. You don't
even need him. But I'm here to tell you there's
no one in existence who's taken a breath, who's come
out of the womb, who is prepared for All are
still born, all will die, All are in need of
(22:05):
being born again. And how can you be born again
by believing that eternal God of the universe Jesus Christ
put on flesh, came and fulfilled the law, took the
wrath of his father for all your sin, died on
the cross, rose three days later, and offers life to
anyone through repentance and faith. Repentance is knowing I need
to leave my life of sin because I can't stay
(22:26):
dead anymore, and turning my faith into Christ because He's
the only one who can make me alive. And when
that happens, he grabs you forever. No one can snatch
you out of his hand. He deposits his Holy Spirit
in your life. So you have the life of Christ
and the light of the world on the inside, who
is growing you into all holiness, righteousness and truth. That's
good news, right, I mean, you think about it, you
(22:48):
study the gospels, and you see everything that Jesus did
and taught, and then you see him continue that on
the earth through the church. And he's still doing it
through his church. He's still building his church, he's still
saving people, he's still sanctifying people, he's still manifesting his
presence in his kingdom through people. In Amen, Jesus Christ
is coming again soon. But when we talk about Jesus,
(23:09):
this is who we're talking about. Do you believe in
that Jesus, not that Jesus that you make up in
your own mind. Well, I kind of like Jesus to
be like this, and I kind of like Jesus to
be like that, and I kind of wish Jesus was
more this way. And he's loving and he would never
send anybody to hell, and he's this, and that's the Jesus.
I like, I'm not asking you about the Jesus you like,
I'm asking you do believe in the biblical revelation of
(23:30):
how God's revealed his son, the one that He's pleased with,
the one that he loves unconditionally, the one who died
on the cross for your sin, the one who was
raised from the dead. And here's what's so important. Just
because you've mouthed the words, I believe in Jesus. Just
because you pray, to prayer, to conference, just because you
felt your heart tingle on the inside, does not mean
that you believe. Believe. Is I trust that that God
(23:55):
Jesus Christ is God's eternal son. He died for me
on a cross, the one who created everything. He took
all the wrath of God. He rose from the dead
in glory, and he and he alone, is who I
place my faith in.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Thanks for listening today. That was Pastor Jeff with the
conclusion of the message the Deity of Christ from the
series The Only God, helping you see how the power
of Jesus brings light in life to all who believe.
Thanks for joining us for today's program. A quick reminder
before you go, you can request Pastor Jeff's The Gift,
(24:32):
a twenty five day Christmas devotional when you go to
Pastorjeff dot com and give a gift to help share
God's word with more people. This timely resource will help
you prepare your heart for the season and remind you
why Christ coming to Earth was about so much more
than one night in a stable in Bethlehem. And while
you're at Pastorjeff dot com be sure to sign up
(24:52):
for Pastor Jeff's weekly emails so you'll be the first
to know when new equipping resources are available.
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