Power Point Ministries - Jack Graham

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book Diamonds in
the Dark. But first, here's the message, Beloved Son.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Today's message is called the Beloved Son and is taken
from Matthew Chapter three, verses thirteen through seventeen. And this
is a majestic text that we find in our bibles.
It is a story about Jesus that is recorded in
all four of the Gospel accounts. All four saw this

(00:43):
as noteworthy and a milestone, a marker in the life
of Jesus, because it speaks of Jesus launching his mission
of redemption on the earth, and he does it with
a beautiful and prayerful act of personal devotion and with

(01:03):
the promise and the approval of the heavenly Father. So
read with me beginning at verse thirteen. Then Jesus came
from Galilee. Note again, there's that name. Jesus came from
Galilee to the Jordan to John. This is John the
baptist to be baptized by him. So this would have

(01:23):
been a walk of sixty perhaps eighty miles, very important
for Jesus that he would be baptized. So he walked
sixty to eighty miles from his hometown of Nazareth to
be baptized somewhere on the Jordan River by John the Baptist.
And John would have prevented him, saying I need to

(01:47):
be baptized by you, and do you come to me?
But Jesus answered him, let it be so now, for
thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness words.
Then he consented, and when Jesus was baptized, immediately he

(02:08):
went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were
open to him. And he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.
And behold a voice from heaven said, this is my
beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. The question

(02:29):
that everyone must answer is who is Jesus. There are
many answers. The devil make sure that people have a
lot of different answers as to who is Jesus. Some
would say a messenger from God. Others would say a
miracle workers. Others would say a great moral teacher. Others

(02:51):
would say a mystic of some kind. Some would say
a madman, alludicic who thought he was God and wasn't.
Some would say a price, But Jesus would say to
his disciples, who do you say that I am? And
just as the disciples must answer that question, so must you.

(03:13):
We answered the question who is Jesus? Is he more
than a man? It was Simon Peter, under the revelation
of the Holy Spirit who said, you are the Christ,
the Son of the Living God. And that is the
true confession of every true believer and follower of Jesus.

(03:37):
You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Now when we speak of the divine sonship of Jesus,
to say that Jesus is the son of God, it
means that he is the second person of the Godhead
in the trinity, God, the Father God, the Son God,

(03:57):
the Holy Spirit. So Jesus takes the role of sonship
and in eternity, passing the counsels of the deity. Jesus
took this role the son of God, to be the
savior of the world. Now, I know a lot of
people get worked up trying to figure out the trinity.

(04:20):
Paul said, great is the mystery of God to us
that God would be manifest in the flesh. So it
is a mystery. It is a sacred mystery and a
supernatural miracle that God would become the Son, that the
Son is God. And when we say that he is
the Son of God, it does not, in one in

(04:43):
any way diminish the deity of Jesus, because Jesus is
just as much God as if he were not man
at all, and just as much man as he if
he were not God at all. He is one hundred
percent God, one hundred percent man, very God of very God.

(05:03):
Someone said regarding the Trinity, don't try to understand it
or explain it, because you would lose your mind. And
then don't try to explain it away or you would
lose your soul. The fact is the trinity, God, the Father, God,
the Holy Spirit, God, the Son appear often in scripture,
as in the case is right here at the baptism

(05:26):
of Jesus. You have God, the Son who is baptized.
You have God the Spirit who descends upon him, anointing
and appointing him, filling him and all the fullness of God.
This is the anointing of Jesus for his ministry. And
you hear the voice of God, the Father So God,
the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit right

(05:48):
here in this one superlative passage of scripture. So it
is vital that you, as a Christian, make this confession.
What makes you a Christian, a follower of Jesus, is
that you are confessing that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God and your Savior and Lord. Have you made

(06:12):
that confession? This is the confession of the New Testament.
It's the confession of the early Church. And as you
roll through the centuries of the early days of the Church,
some heresies began to rise, some controversies regarding the nature
the person of Christ, who is he? And about three

(06:33):
point twenty five AD, one of these controversies was in
full blown a bloom is known as Arianism. A man
by the name of Arius began to teach in the
church that Jesus was made by the Father, that he
is not one with the Father, but that he was
created by God the Father. So there's all kinds of

(06:53):
controversy in the church in the early centuries regarding this controversy,
or at least in this century. And so what did
the church do. The church decided to get together. They
put three hundred leaders together of the church from around
the world all went to a place called Nicea, which
is modern day Turkey, and about fifteen hundred to two

(07:17):
thousand guests joined them from the churches and they had
this conference, and the debate ensued as to who is Jesus.
It's always the question, isn't it? Who is Jesus? And
so the leaders of the church, led by the spirit
of God, came up with the Nicetian Creed. This creed

(07:42):
is important that was given in three twenty five AD.
This creed is important because it is among the most
ancient documents of the Christian faith. It shows us what
the early Christians about Jesus and affirming that Jesus is

(08:05):
not only man, but that he is God. So here
it is, and I wanted to bring it to you
today because it expresses it well. We believe in one God,
the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible,
and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

(08:28):
begotten of the Father, Light of light, very God, of
very God, that is truly God, truly God begotten, not
made being of one substance with the Father by whom
all things were made, Who for us men and for

(08:48):
our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man,
and he suffered, and the third day he rose again
ascended to heaven. From thence or there he comes to
judges the living and the dead, and in the Holy Ghost.

(09:09):
So this is a great creed of Christendom, and it
is truly the confession of a believer and follower of Jesus.
So Jesus is God. He reveals himself as the second
person of the Trinity. We don't know a lot, hardly
anything about the childhood of Jesus. You, no doubt are

(09:31):
familiar with the birth stories of Jesus, how Jesus was
born of a virgin. But then come the silence years,
because for the most part Jesus lives in total obscurity
in a place called Nazareth, a little town of about
four hundred people, with his mother Mary, and with Joseph
the carpenter, and he apparently worked in Joseph's carpenter shop.

(09:59):
He was known as a Aean, and he never showed
his face for almost three decades. There is one instance
when Jesus appears as a twelve year old boy with
his parents in Jerusalem, and he confounds the theologues and

(10:21):
the doctors of the law with his answers. And even
then Jesus was aware of his divine mission. He said,
must I not be about my father's business. Jesus said,
I am the son of the Father. Must I not
be about my father's mission, my father's work. That's pretty

(10:41):
much it. What we do know about his childhood is
that he grew in wisdom, and this is the scripture.
That he grew in wisdom, in stature, and in favor
with God and man. He was well rounded. He grew
in wisdom intellectually, he grew in stature. Physically, we don't

(11:01):
know what he looked like. We don't know how tall
he was, how much he weighed, but he grew physically
from a baby to a little boy. And then he
just disappears. For all of these decades he disappears. But
it was thirty years, three decades of preparation for what
he would do, and that's when he burst on the

(11:25):
scene at the Jordan River to be baptized by John.
John was a fiery preacher. He was known as John
the Baptist, and he was a powerful preacher. Many would
but not like John because he was a hellfire and

(11:47):
damnation kind of preacher. He was preaching in the desert
repentance and righteousness, with warnings of judgment that is to come.
But it wasn't all judgment. There was the promise of Jesus.
There was the promise of a messiah would come. Some
thought John the Baptist was the Messiah, but he clearly

(12:10):
said I am not. He said, I'm not worthy to
unlash the shoes of the Messiah. He ultimately pointed to
Jesus and said, look, there's the lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world. He was a
great man, Jesus said, greatest man born of woman, greatest

(12:30):
human ever born, John the Baptist. He had a big crowd,
He had a big following. He was a first century
rock star. So many people were going out and being
baptized and repenting of their sin and baptized in the
baptism of repentance. It was said of John that he

(12:52):
was a voice. He said of himself, a voice shouting
in the wilderness for all who would he and so
many would hear. Many were running out to the desert
to hear John the Baptist preach and to be baptized
and then one day Jesus God in life to be baptized.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
beloved Son. If you're walking through a tough season, Diamonds
in the Dark is a message you need to hear.
In this honest and hope filled book, doctor Graham shows
you how God uses grief, loss, and hardship to reveal
spiritual treasures you'd never discover otherwise. We want to send

(13:41):
you Diamonds in the Dark as a thanks for your
gift of ten dollars or more. Call now to request
your copy. Call one eight hundred seven ninety five four
six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven, or text the word diamond to
five nine eight nine. Don't let stress rob you of peace.

(14:03):
It is possible to break the destructive grip of stress
on your life and enjoy the peace and abundance God
desires for you. That's what doctor Graham helps you do
in his booklet Breaking Free from Stress. We'll send you
a digital download of Breaking Free from Stress when you
sign up for email updates from PowerPoint Today. Just go
to PowerPoint dot org slash stress and sign up today.

(14:25):
Now let's get back to today's message.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
Beloved Son, Apparently he was alone, there's no evidence that
he came with anyone. And he says, John, I want
you to baptize me. Now, think about this. He's asking John,
the Son of God is asking John the baptist, his

(14:48):
first cousin, baptize me. And John is thinking, are you serious?
You should be baptizing me, But Jesus insistent, and so
Jesus was baptized. It was a memorable milestone event in
the life of the Lord. And it was a miraculous,

(15:09):
a miraculous experience. Jesus was praying, so this was an
act of emotion and devotion for Christ. He's praying. He's
always praying to the Father throughout the scriptures. How silly
it is that the son of God prayed to the Father.
That we don't pray like we ought to pray is foolish.
When we don't pray, we are powerless. Jesus knew the

(15:31):
power of prayer, and so he's praying here as he's
walking into the water. This is an act of worship.
And as he's coming up out of the water, the
heaven's open and a dove descends Like a dove, the
Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus, anointing and appointing him and

(15:54):
filling him for his mission. And then the Father speaks
from heaven. The first two miracles had to do with
something visual, Heaven opening the Holy Spirit via dis doove descending.
But now it becomes audible. God is speaking. It says,

(16:17):
this is my beloved son. He's introducing Jesus to the world.
This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
So the father of the son Jesus. And we wonder

(16:37):
why was Jesus baptized If this was a baptism for repentance.
Jesus never sinned, according to the scripture, So why would
Jesus choose to be baptized by John? Why would he
make this such a huge deal in his life? The
very outset again recorded by all four Gospel writers. What

(16:58):
is the importance and the significance of the baptism of Jesus.
I have four brief things I want to say about that,
because they all apply to Jesus, and they all apply
to you and me. Number one, he says, to fulfill
all righteousness, that's why. So how do we fulfill all righteousness.
It was an act of accreditation, and by that I

(17:19):
mean there is the approval of John the Baptist and
his mission and his ministry as the forerunner of Christ.
Very important because the New Testament is the fulfillment of
the Old Testament, and the Old Testament promised a forerunner,
one that would run in front of the Messiah announcing
his arrival. So John is the forerunner. John is the

(17:42):
last prophet. John is the baptizer, and he's preaching this
message of the Kingdom of Heaven and how to enter
the Kingdom of Heaven, and he's baptizing all of these people.
So when Jesus submits to the hands of John for
this baptism, he is accrediting, authenticating the mission of John himself.

(18:03):
He is saying what this man has been preaching is true,
and I am the one who will follow. He was
showing solidarity with John the Baptist. So it was an
act of accreditation in this sense. When you are baptized
as a believer and follower of Jesus, you are accrediting

(18:27):
the message. You are coalescing with the Church now the
hands of Christ to baptized. So it is a accreditation.
I say this often to people who ask me questions
about baptism. When you are baptized, it does a multiple
of things, but it is also an affirmation. It is

(18:47):
an accreditation of the people of God in the family
of God. This is all in the family here John
the Baptist and Jesus the Son of God. So it
is an accreditation against solidarity in the in the message
of the Bible. But most importantly is it is an
act of identification. Act of identification. He identifies. Jesus identifies

(19:14):
with the sinful people who are coming for the baptism
of repentance. Now, don't miss this. Jesus did not need
to repent of anything because he had never sinned. But
he identifies from the outset with sinful people like you
and me. He stepped into the water which became dirty

(19:36):
water as the sins of the people were being confessed
and repented of. And Jesus steps in to our world,
and he steps into this baptism, if you will, in
order to identify himself with you and me. And though
he never sinned, he identifies with you and with me.

(20:00):
It's an act of identification. Jesus was pointing to the cross,
because in baptism, this figure, this symbol, represents the death,
the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. The reason we
are baptized now in following Jesus as an act of

(20:22):
confession and obedience, is to represent this death, this burial,
this resurrection that we now identify with Jesus. It was
also an act of submission, an act of accreditation, an
act of identification in which Jesus identifies with us and
now we identify with him, and an act of submission. Clearly,

(20:46):
Jesus is submitting in humility to this baptism. Jesus was
powerful and strong and mighty, the son of God. But
when he speaks of himself in Matthew eleven and verse
twenty nine, he says, I am gentle and humble in heart.
Gentle and humble in heart. And even with the expression

(21:09):
of the dove coming down from heaven, fluttering down, representing
the Holy Spirit, there is this tenderness that we see here,
and I see humility. He willingly walked into the water
and into the hands of his cousin John for baptism submission.
When we are baptized, it is an act of humility.

(21:32):
So he is baptized. And the same way, our baptism
humbles us, as we willingly obey God, and we died
of pride. But while it is humble, it is also beautiful.
To me. Every baptism man, woman, boy or girl is
a beautiful and wonderful experience to behold. But then, finally,

(21:55):
this is baptism of Jesus, an active accreditation, identification, and
active sains of mission. It is an act of preparation.
Jesus is getting ready to go. Jesus is now stepping
in to his call. He is the chosen of God,
the Messiah. Stepping out of the silence, Jesus steps into

(22:19):
the water, and he is commended and coronated as keing
he's thirty years of age and he's coronated. He's crowned
as king. All the gospels have a different focus on
the person of Christ. The focus of Matthew, for example,
the focus of Luke would be the sonship of Jesus.

(22:40):
The focus of Matthew, as we've read the text today,
is that Jesus is king. This is the coronation of
the king, the public announcement of the king. He's now
making public his ministry and setting out on his mission
to save the world. Jesus waited on God's the Father's

(23:06):
perfect timing, and now it's go time. Jesus, on his baptism,
would say yes to you and his mission to fulfill
the Father's purpose of his life. Jesus came to earth

(23:27):
to show us and to bring us the Father's love.
And now because of Jesus, you can hear the Father
speak to you, Well done, my good and faithful servant.
You are mine, the love child, and whom I am.

(23:49):
Well please.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the
message beloved son. Life doesn't always unfold the way we hope.
There are setbacks, losses, and seasons that leave us asking
where is God in all of this. In his honest
and encouraging book Diamonds in the Dark, Doctor Graham shares
how God is not absent in our pain. He is present,

(24:14):
and He is at work. This powerful resource walks you
through some of life's hardest places to reveal spiritual treasures
God plants along the way. If you or someone you
love is facing grief, fear, or uncertainty, this message will
help you find strength, clarity, and hope right where you
are and when you give a gift of ten dollars

(24:34):
or more, we'll send you a copy of Diamonds in
the Dark as our thanks. Call one eight hundred seven
ninety five four six two seven. That's one eight hundred
seven ninety five four six two seven, or just text
diamond to five nine seven eight nine, and don't forget
to visit Jack Graham dot org where you can shop

(24:55):
our East store, give a gift online, or sign up
for doctor Graham's free daily email devotion. Our website again
is Jack Graham dot orgy pastor what is your PowerPoint
for today?

Speaker 2 (25:08):
Jesus claimed to be God as well as man. And
if Jesus is not both God and man, then he
is fraud and is not worthy of our faith. But
because he is both man and God, he is master
of life and he can become all that we need
in life. I'm so glad that Jesus was not simply
a man come to teach us about God, but that

(25:30):
he was God who had come to teach us about life,
and therefore he knows what life is about and how
we to live our lives. His manhood is the fact
that Jesus was a real, living breathing human being that
makes it possible for God to relate to us. I
know that he's been where I have been. He's been
tempted in all points that I am tempted, yet without sin,

(25:53):
and he has absolutely touched my life. And he transforms
your life when you are willing to allow the Savior,
the Living Lord, to live in your life. We're not perfect,
are we? But Jesus is perfect and his love, his grace,
his presence in our lives makes it possible for us

(26:14):
to live life as God desires and as God has
designed it. It's so important that Jesus be real to you.
The manhood of Jesus makes Jesus real. He's someone that
we can love and know. If you don't know Jesus
in a personal way, if he's not real to you,
there's nothing more important than allowing Jesus to be real

(26:35):
in your life. He's not a statue on the dashboard
of your car or picture on the wall. He can
be real in your life. Jesus said, I stand at
the door and knock, and if anyone hears my voice,
that means you, anyone. If you hear my voice and
open the door, I will come in invite Jesus to
come into your life right now. And if you're already

(26:57):
a Christian, you need to make Jesus real well by
allowing him to be the lord of your life, to
be the center of your life, and let him take control.
And everything in your life that may be putting you down,
weighing you down, and holding you back can be overcome
by the power of Jesus living in you.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
And that is today's power Point. Remember when you give
a gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint, we'll
send you doctor Graham's book Diamonds in the Dark as
our thanks. Call one eight hundred seven ninety five four
six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven. You can also text the word

(27:37):
diamond to five nine seven eight nine and join us
again next time as doctor Graham brings a message about
the measures God took to know us on a personal level.
That's next time on power Point with Jack Graham. PowerPoint
with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministry.