Title Page

Lesson Seven

John 8:24, 53-54

John 8:24, 53-5424 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

. . . . .53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:

John 8:55-58

John 8:55-5855 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

John 8:59

John 8:5959 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Matthew 16:13-16

Matthew 16:13-1613 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Focus Verse

John 8:24I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in

your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

Focus Thought

People of all ages have struggled to identify the Almighty. When Jesus

announced Himself as the I AM, He brought the God of the Old and New

Testaments into proper focus.

IntroductionIntroductionToday’s lesson is based on Jesus’ declaration, “I am he” (John 8:24), or that He was and is God. In theological vernacular, it is about the Incarnation.

IntroductionOutside a biblical context, the word incarnation often is limited to an allegorical use, such as when an ideology is embodied in a person. A person might refer to a football cheerleader as the incarnation of team spirit. One might call a famous writer and lecturer the incarnation of literary excellence. These are allegorical representations.

IntroductionIn the context of world religions, one may hear the term incarnation used in association with the pagan notions of reincarnation (believed to occur when the spirit of one who is dead is re-embodied in another form). As Christians, we reject outright such beliefs since they are strictly repudiated in the Scriptures.

IntroductionIn its strictest theological context, however, the Incarnation refers to the embodiment of the eternal God within the body of the man Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, we find the only true example for all time of a genuine incarnation.

IntroductionGod is a Spirit and as such has always been invisible. Despite many Old Testament theophanies—temporary manifestations or appearances—God had never actually been seen prior to the Incarnation. Jesus asserted that truth on more than one occasion. He told the Pharisees in John 5:37, “Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.”

IntroductionPaul taught the Philippians several things about the invisible God:

1. He took on the form of a servant.2. He was made in the likeness of men.3. He was found in fashion as a man. (See Philippians 2:7-8.)

IntroductionIsaiah prophesied in ancient times, “The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man” (Isaiah 42:13). That man would be Jesus, the incarnation or “express image” of the invisible God.

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)Mistaken IdentityA missionary to Africa once told of his experience with a primitive tribesman when he heard the word “Jesus” for the first time in his life. Abruptly, the tribesman queried the preacher, “Who or what is Jesus?” The saddest plight for any man or woman is to live and die without knowing who Jesus is.

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)Jesus Christ was more than just a man. It should have been obvious to everyone from the beginning, but it was not.

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)Angelic messengers supernaturally informed both Joseph and Mary about the significance of the impending birth of Jesus. Shortly thereafter, Mary’s cousin Elizabeth experienced a supernatural witness to Jesus’ divine conception when the baby in her womb leaped for joy and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost at Mary’s arrival and greeting. (See Luke 1:41-44.)

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)Circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus, from Nazareth to Bethlehem, fulfilled numerous ancient prophecies. But the angelic host praising, singing, and announcing His birth should have been testimony to everyone that this baby was no ordinary child. The Magi from the East came to visit the child Jesus because their own supernatural instincts had led them to follow the star to the place where Jesus was.

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)A. Jesus Was Called the Son

of JosephJesus declared to the Jews that He was God’s bread sent down from heaven. They recoiled at this bold assertion. They argued, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?” (John 6:42).

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)They wrongly assumed that it was Joseph’s seed that had conceived Jesus. This was not possible, however, because at the time of Jesus’ conception, Mary had never known a man. More specifically, the angel had explained to her that it was the Holy Ghost of God that had overshadowed Mary and caused her to conceive.

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)God’s Spirit had impregnated the blessed young virgin girl. Thus, Joseph was not truly His father. God was His father. Joseph was only his earthly guardian, or stepfather. Jesus is the only human ever begotten of God in this fashion. (See John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; I John 4:9.)

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)B. Jesus Was Thought to

Be Illegitimate

“Is not this the carpenter’s son?” they asked. “Is not his mother called Mary?” Matthew 13:54-58 reveals that these points offended many of the Jews. They could not comprehend Jesus’ miraculous conception. Jesus was, in their eyes, illegitimate and unworthy of His claims to be the Son of God. Their unfortunate blindness prevented Jesus from doing many mighty works in His hometown of Nazareth.

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)C. Jesus Was Seen as Just

a Man

The entire fact of Jesus’ virgin birth was incomprehensible to the general public. This caused Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to become the objects of much scorn and reproach from unbelieving people.

I. Mistaken Identity (A-C)While Mary and Joseph had no personal doubts about His miraculous conception, the public crowds found it nearly impossible to come to terms with the truth. The end result was public rejection of Jesus’ claims to divine origin. Some Jews called His many miracles and wonders works of the devil. Jesus was said to be operating in the power of Beelzebub, prince of the devils. (See Matthew 12:24.)

II. Divine Revelation (A)Divine RevelationA sobering fact is that God never expected everyone to comprehend Jesus’ divinity. The knowledge of Jesus’ true identity was reserved for those who truly hungered and thirsted after righteousness.

II. Divine Revelation (A)In the first place, Jesus was sent exclusively to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). His presence on earth was redemptive. On a variety of occasions, Jesus would have completely ignored those who were not Israelites. Even among the Jews, Jesus would have remained anonymous. However, He could not resist ministering to hungry-hearted inquirers who demonstrated their desire to know Him—to know the truth of His identity.

II. Divine Revelation (A)Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). When Simon Peter demonstrated that he had received the revelation of Jesus’ true identity, he said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus responded by saying, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Oh, marvelous revelation of God!

II. Divine Revelation (A)A. Son of Man

Forty-three times Jesus was called the Son of Man. This refers to the fact that he was human, born of Mary. The doctrinal significance of this is that although Jesus was divinely conceived, He lacked nothing of the human nature. Everything that might be said of mankind in general could be said of Jesus within the context of His humanity, except for the fact that He was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

II. Divine Revelation (A)Jesus exercised all the five senses of a human—touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. He survived on food and water just like any other human, with all the normal human appetites. He had every human tendency common to us all. In fact, He was tempted in every way that we are tempted (Hebrews 4:15).

II. Divine Revelation (A)This clearly refutes any notion that He was incapable of sin; He had to refuse to succumb to temptation just as we do. He might have yielded to temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane had He had not prayed agonizingly, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Because He was the Son of Man, Jesus might have sinned had He not been consecrated to the will of the heavenly Father. However, Jesus Christ resisted temptation and was victorious over sin—free from sin!

II. Divine Revelation (A)Jesus suffered the agonies of temptation victoriously, and He has become the captain of our salvation, demonstrating clearly how we also may overcome our temptations.

II. Divine Revelation (A)B. Son of God

The Old Testament contains numerous references to angels as “sons of God”; however, there are no references to men as sons of God.

II. Divine Revelation (A)King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon saw a fourth man in the fiery furnace with the three Hebrew children, and he exclaimed that the one he saw looked like “the Son of God” (Daniel 3:25). He certainly had no point of reference for that statement because there were no other mentioned sons of God in the Old Testament. However, Nebuchadnezzar’s statement was consistent with many other references to angels as sons of God.

II. Divine Revelation (A)Luke’s gospel tells us that Adam was the son of God. Adam was personally fathered by God in creation, yet without passing through the womb of a woman; therefore he was not begotten. All other men were fathered by earthly men, and as such they are not called sons of God.

II. Divine Revelation (A)Ultimately, Jesus Christ is the only Son of God who was begotten, sired, or fathered by God within the womb of a woman. Jesus is the Son of Man because Mary carried Him to birth, but the Son of God because God was His Father.

II. Divine Revelation (A)One subtle proof of the nature of God is revealed in Jesus’ divine conception. The Holy Ghost actually overshadowed Mary and performed the act of conception according to Luke 1:35. Since the Holy Ghost caused Mary’s conception, we must conclude that the Holy Ghost and the heavenly Father are one and the same. If the Holy Ghost is not the same Spirit as the Father, then the Father is not the father of Jesus Christ.

II. Divine Revelation (A)Were the trinity a true doctrine and the Holy Ghost the third person of the trinity, then the first person of the trinity would not be the father of Jesus Christ. However, God is not three persons. Plainly, God is one Spirit, incarnate in the Son of God. 

II. Divine Revelation (A)C. Son of Prophecy

Countless miracles attest to Jesus’ true identity, not the least of which are the many Old Testament prophecies that foretold His coming and identity. Time and space would not allow for a complete listing or treatment of those prophecies here. We may, however, address three especially significant prophecies that also are quite convincing.

II. Divine Revelation (A)1. Son of Adam and Eve. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Jesus is the promised seed of Adam and Eve that would avenge God of Satan’s ruinous acts in the Garden of Eden. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8).

II. Divine Revelation (A)2. Son of God. God’s promised seed would be far greater than Abraham, Moses, David, or any other Old Testament hero. He would surely be the Son of Adam and Eve in descent, but, more importantly, He would be the tabernacle of God in flesh. Only by this would He overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. His deity would empower His humanity as a model of our own victory—God’s Spirit within us, giving us the victory in our own spiritual warfare.

II. Divine Revelation (A)3. Son of David. David played the lead role in establishing the kingdom of Israel on the earth in his time. David conquered the land, drove out the enemies, established first the Tabernacle, and then provided for the first great Temple to be built. David touched the heart of God with his fervent love and unabashed worship.

II. Divine Revelation (A)God was moved by David’s devotion and entered into an everlasting covenant with him, saying, “David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel” (Jeremiah 33:17).

II. Divine Revelation (A)God’s covenant with David was an eternal one. “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever” (II Samuel 7:12-13).

II. Divine Revelation (A)Many of the promises David received appeared to be fulfilled in his son Solomon, but a closer look will show that Jesus Christ is the only One who can completely fulfill the Davidic covenant in God’s behalf. “I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore” (I Chronicles 17:14).

Jeremiah 23:5-6“Behold, the days come, saith the

LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is

his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”

(Jeremiah 23:5-6).

II. Divine Revelation (A)The angel Gabriel carefully identified Mary’s child, Jesus, as the heir to the Davidic covenant and to David’s throne. “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:31-32).

II. Divine Revelation (A)Ezekiel prophesied of the restoration of Israel in Jerusalem during a one-thousand-year reign of Messiah. (See Ezekiel 40-48.) Other prophets, including Daniel and John, revealed that the Messiah would return to earth with the saints of all the ages, defeating Satan and his earthly warriors, and that He would conquer the earth in the end of time.

II. Divine Revelation (A)The scenario portrayed by Ezekiel is of a glorious earthly kingdom in the fully inherited land of Israel. Jerusalem will be larger and more magnificent than at any other time in history. There will be a newly constructed Temple ruled by none other than Jesus Christ as King and High Priest sitting on the throne of David.

III. Eternal Deity (A)Eternal DeityWhat is more exciting than to know that the eternal and invisible Spirit of God who created the universe has actually appeared on this earth as a man? Jesus was not one-third of an alleged triune being; Jesus is the fullness of God bodily (Colossians 2:9).

III. Eternal Deity (A)John made a crystal-clear observation in I John 3:16: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.” What a revealing statement that God laid down His life! The eternal God did not die because as Spirit, He cannot die. Rather, He took upon Himself the body of a man, and He suffered the agonies of death Himself in that body. He experienced the pain of death in a human carcass—for us.

III. Eternal Deity (A)The reality is that the man on the cross was not the second person of a triune entity, suffering while the first and third persons stood watching from a grandstand in heaven. All the fullness of God was robed in flesh, and that fleshly body died for all of us. That is the depth of love!

III. Eternal Deity (A)A. The Word of God

We are accustomed to the Creation story: “In the beginning God . . . “ (Genesis 1:1). God spoke His Word and created the universe as we know it, complete with sun, moon, stars, land, oceans, and all the living creatures. His Word was the creative force. Then John 1:1 revealed, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

III. Eternal Deity (A)Further, the Word was made flesh. It was not a fragment or part of the Word—but the Word. “And the Word was made 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 1:14). Jesus was the earthly manifestation of the eternal Word.

III. Eternal Deity (A)1. Creator. The same Word that said, “Let there be” in Genesis is now embodied in Jesus Christ. That is why Paul taught the Colossians, “By him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16).

III. Eternal Deity (A)It is important to recognize that this does not teach us that the Son of Man was present at Creation. Rather, it reveals that the Word of God was present in Creation and that the Word was made flesh—incarnate. The same Word who created all things resides in the body of Jesus Christ.

III. Eternal Deity (A)That is how we understand that Jesus is the Creator. God in Him is the Creator. The Son of Man did not exist in Creation, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). The invisible Creator could now be seen in the body of Jesus Christ.

III. Eternal Deity (A)2. Savior. God’s people have always worshiped one deity: God, their heavenly Father. Moses stressed to them, “The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Moreover, the one Lord that they worshiped declared to them, “I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour” (Isaiah 43:3). Their Father and Lord instructed them to hold only to one Savior—Himself.

Isaiah 45:21

“There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none

beside me” (Isaiah 45:21).

III. Eternal Deity (A)When Jesus Christ was born, the angel’s declaration was astonishing: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Jesus was the Savior! The heavenly Father always had jealously guarded that title for Himself. Further, He boldly declared in Isaiah 42:8, “My glory will I not give to another.”

III. Eternal Deity (A)The only way to call Jesus the Savior is to recognize that He is the Father Savior come in flesh. Moreover, “Jehovah Savior” is the meaning of the name Jesus!

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)B. The Mighty God

1. Omnipotent. Omni means “all.” Potency is power. As God, Jesus is all-powerful. That is why He clearly stated, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)2. Omnipresent. Jesus is all-present. Even though Jesus has ascended bodily into heaven, He has returned to us in the form of His Holy Spirit. He promised, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18). He also stated, “And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20). In the form of the Spirit, Jesus now inhabits all of eternity (Isaiah 57:15).

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)3. Omniscient. Science is the knowledge of a particular field of study. To have omniscience is to have all knowledge of all things. Jesus demonstrated abilities far beyond human abilities. He knew how to heal blind eyes, open deaf ears, repair crippled limbs, raise the dead, and even calm storms. He knew individuals’ names without meeting them, and He knew the thoughts of their hearts. His knowledge is not only superior to ours, but it is divine and limitless.

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)C. The Eternal God

God is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting. Although the Son was created in the fullness of time, His kingdom and power are now eternal.

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:7).

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)1. Theophanies. One of the reasons many people assume that God exists as more than one person is that He took on several forms throughout the Old Testament. These forms, however, were temporary.

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)• Burning Bush. God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. The ground was deemed holy. Moses received his calling and mission at the burning bush, but no one else ever received a commission in that way, and there is no record of God ever again appearing in a burning bush.

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)• Pillar of Fire. By day, the people of Israel were led by a pillar of cloud; at night, by a pillar of fire. After Moses died and Joshua took the people over Jordan into the Promised Land, the pillar of fire was never mentioned again.

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)• Angel of the Lord. The angel of the Lord appeared numerous times throughout the Scriptures. An angel often is defined as a messenger of God. In some cases, the messenger is perceived as God Himself. However, God is no mere angel. An angel is a creature of God, and God is not a creature. The angel is at best an emissary or ambassador for God.

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)• Moses’ Vision. “The cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses” (Exodus 33:9). Verse 11 then reveals that “The LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.”

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)Even though God was “face to face” with Moses, Moses did not actually see a face. The only physical manifestation was a cloud, for in verse 20 God said, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.”

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)The cloud obviously did not satisfy Moses, so he said, “Shew me thy glory” (Exodus 33:18). To this God replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee” (verse 19). Was His glory or goodness a body?

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)God agreed to put Moses in a “clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:22-23). Moses did not actually see God. God’s “hand” covered and shielded Moses. Was God’s hand six feet tall? And how could an invisible Spirit extend a “hand”?

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)Exodus 34:5 describes exactly what happened: “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.”

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)The hand of the Lord must have been the cloud because, in fact, that is all Moses saw. Again, there was no actual view of God. We look painstakingly for a description of what Moses saw, but we find no evidence of any literal physical body of God at all—only a cloud.

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)But God had not promised to show him a body—only the “back parts” (Exodus 33:23) of “my goodness” (verse 19) and “my glory” (verse 22). Fifteen hundred years later, on the Mount of Transfiguration, God resurrected Moses from the dead to show him the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)2. Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only permanent image of the invisible God.

Colossians 1:15

“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature”

(Colossians 1:15).

Hebrews 1:3

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on

high” (Hebrews 1:3).

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)When we see Jesus, we are seeing the Father-Savior incarnate. Jesus stated, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).

John 14:9

“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the

Father?” (John 14:9).

III. Eternal Deity (B-C)The one Lord of the Old Testament was the Father. The one Lord of the New Testament is Jesus Christ. There is only one Lord. (See Deuteronomy 6:4; Ephesians 4:5.)

ReflectionsJesus Christ was not the incarnation of a “second person of the trinity.” Jesus was and is the incarnation of the entire substance, nature, and revelation of God as Father, as Son, and as Spirit. Every nature and attribute of God is embodied in Jesus Christ. He is the human visage of the Creator, the Holy Spirit of the heavenly Father. For this reason, Jesus said, “I am he” (John 8:24).

ReflectionsPaul called Jesus Christ “the image of the invisible God” in Colossians 1:15. He also described the concept concisely in II Corinthians 5:19: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” God was in Christ. Here is a profound declaration that is seldom understood in its fullest sense.

ReflectionsIn Jesus Christ dwelled “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Jesus was the embodiment of everything we know about God: His Fatherhood, His Spirit nature, and His humanity—all wrapped up in one. Further, this is His only permanent body or image.

ReflectionsThe God who had been invisible forever, and who had never been seen except through numerous temporary manifestations, or theophanies, was finally made visible forever and permanently when God took on the form of man.