Christ’s Eternal Sonship John 8:51-59

Text:  “Jesus said unto them, Verily (truly), verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.”

John 8:58

          “And God said unto Moses, I AM that I AM; and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me.”

Exodus 3:14.

Good morning, rejoicing Christian!  You rejoice deep within your soul, even during days of dark oppressions, grave illnesses; fighting without and fears within - throughout all the vicissitudes of daily life you are still rejoicing. 

What is the source of your continued rejoicing and of mine?  Simple: we KNOW whom we have believed, and trust in the Eternal Son of God for our Salvation.   Glory to the Eternal Father!  Glory to the Eternal Son!  Glory to the Eternal Spirit!  All three Persons One Lord God Whom we love.  Amen.

“For there are THREE that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word (Christ Jesus), and the Holy Ghost; and these Three are One…If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son…And this is the record, that God hath given to us Eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”  (1 John 5:7-13)

It is most surprising to learn the number of professing Christians who believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living Lord God, only began in the stable at Bethlehem.  They seem to believe that Christ originated there as a human babe!  Clearly such Christians have not studied their Bibles enough for, as Christ plainly  teaches us in today’s text, “…Before Abraham was, I AM.”  (V.58)  (2 Timothy 2:15)

The Christian doctrine involved in our passage today is what we, Bible-believing Christian theologians, call - The Eternal Sonship of Christ.

Alan Cairns puts it well in his Dictionary of Theological Terms, page 137:

“Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?  The Shorter Catechism answers, ’The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, Who, being the Eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one Person forever’”

Cairns goes on to say:  “This statement is a theological masterpiece, wonderfully brief, but full of Scriptural truth.  It lays down the following Biblical doctrines about Christ’s Person:

1.  His Eternal Sonship.

2.  His incarnation.

3.  His philanthropic Person - He is ‘God and man in two distinct natures’.

4.  His uni-personality - though God and man, He is One Person.

5. His sole position as the Redeemer of God’s elect, a position He holds forever, both in His state of humiliation and exaltation.

Eternal Sonship is VITAL to a Scriptural view of all these aspects of Christ’s Person.”  (A Dictionary of Theological Terms, by Alan Cairns, page 137)

The Lord Jesus Christ did not BECOME the Son of God by human birth!

Cairns again:  “Christ did not become God by His virgin birth.  He could be called God at His birth because He already was God.  Similarly, in Luke 1:35, He could be called the Son of God because He already was the Son of God.”  (A Dictionary of Theological Terms, by Alan Cairns, page 137)

Amen, and all praise to Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of the Living Lord God!

“In the beginning was the Word (Christ Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by Him (Christ Jesus); and without Him was not anything made that was made…And the Word of God was made flesh (at Bethlehem), and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour!  (John 1:1-14)

In our selected passage for today, the Lord Jesus seeks to proclaim the truth of His Eternal Sonship, but the unbelieving crowd could not bear this truth.

“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad…Then took they up stones to cast at Him; but Jesus hid Himself…” (V.56)

Thought:  Rejoice anew, dear believing Christian, our Redeemer is Eternally with us, and will never leave us, nor forsake us. 

Whose Glory? John 8:48-50

Text:  “I AM the Lord (Jehovah); that is My Name; and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images (idols).”

Isaiah 42:8.

Good morning, God-glorying Christian!  The question posed by this morning’s title ‘Whose glory’, immediately presents all mankind with a clear choice: ‘Will I glorify the Living Lord God with every part of my being; or will I use every part of my being to glorify myself?’  (Selah: meditate on this)

Well, what is YOUR answer to the question posed this day?  In our daily lives, in public and in private, whose glory are we consistently seeking?

“Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.  Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be Thou, LORD God of Israel our Father, forever and ever.  Thine, O LORD is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the Heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and Thou art exalted as head above all.  Both riches and honour come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all; and in Thine hand is power and might; and in Thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.  Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name.”                                 (1 Chronicles 29:9-13)

Now, let me ask the question posed again:  Whose glory do we consistently seek - our own, or the Living Lord God’s?

Wisdom: All that glitters is not gold!  You cannot always tell a book by its cover!  Look before you leap!  Never buy a pig in a poke!

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”  (1 John 4:1)

We live in a day of constant seeking after ‘strange fire’; constant seeking after the next new phenomenon; the weird and wonderful; the ‘spiritual circus‘. 

Walking by faith alone and believing in God’s revealed Word alone, seems to be increasingly the practice of ‘the God-Squad Christian’ believers - believers just like you and, certainly, just like me.  True faith in God is not popular!

In many professing ‘Christian’ circles today, it is not enough to merely believe and trust in God’s Word.  There often has to be some element of ‘circus’ involved in what is portrayed as ‘Christian worship’.  What a sad day we live in.  Simple faith is frowned upon, while the ‘circus’ is given priority, especially in the hearts of our younger generations.  Help us, Lord God!

But the real question is often the one we are looking at this morning:  Whose glory is being sought?  Is it the glory of the Living lord God, or some colourful, and entertaining ‘Christian’ clown?

This is what lies at the heart of the problem in today’s Bible passage.  The Lord Jesus is at this point surrounded by unbelievers who refuse to give glory to Him, as the Son of the Living Lord God.  Their nationality is given the glory, while their long awaited Messiah is ridiculed and insulted as illegitimate.  (V.41)

The unbelieving crowd go further and actually accuse Christ Jesus of ‘…being a Samaritan…’ (not adhering to Jewish traditions of worship); and to having ‘…a devil…’ (being off His head, crazy!)  What insults thrown!

However, look how the Master answered His detractors:  “…I have not a devil; but I honour My Father, and ye do dishonour Me.” (V.49)

Then the Lord Jesus puts His Divine finger upon the underlying cause of their unbelief:  “…I seek not Mine own glory; there is ONE that seeketh and judgeth.”  (V.50)  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour we have in Christ!

Does not the Lord Jesus clearly teach us, in that great model prayer he gave us to pray:  “…For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the GLORY, forever.  Amen (so be it).”?  (Matthew 6:9-13)

Even the ’…great voice of much people in Heaven…’ refused to receive glory or worship from the apostle John when he was taken up in the Revelation vision! 

“And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.  And I fell at his feet to worship him.  And he said unto me, See thou do it NOT; I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  (Revelation 19:9-10)  

God Alone gets the all the glory!  Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!  Praise and all glory to the Lord!

Thought:  “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.”  We have peace and good will when we give God Almighty all the glory!

Like Father, Like Son’? John 8:41-47

Text:  “Jesus said unto them (the unbelieving Jews), If God were your Father, ye would love Me; for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do ye not understand My speech?  Even because ye cannot hear My Word.  Ye are of your father the devil…”

John 8:42-44.

Good morning, Christian sons and daughters of God!  If you have been quickened by God the Spirit to know your lost state in sin; been granted God’s gifts of repentance and faith in Christ Jesus; subjected your fallen human will to the Divine will of Almighty God; and trusted Christ’s once for all time full Atonement Sacrifice for sins at the Cross of Calvary - then you and I are sons and daughters of the Living Lord God.  Hallelujah!  What a great gift of Salvation!  Glory to the Lamb that was slain!

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”  (2 Corinthians 6:17-18)

You and I have heard the old adage, ‘Like father, like son.’  It generally means that we take on the characteristics of our earthly fathers; and often being used in a derogatory manner, can imply that we have similar outstanding faults as our fathers had before us.  (I.e. Your father was a thief, so you are a thief also; or your mother was a renowned gossip, therefore you are one too.)

However, while reasonable thinking people know that there is no definite substance in such a fault-finding philosophy - in the Spiritual sense, we do well to take stock of the concept.  With this principle in mind therefore, let us ask ourselves some honest questions today; let us ‘…examine ourselves…’ to see whether or not we possess the characteristics of our Spiritual Father in Heaven.

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove (test) your own selves.  Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates (rejects, failures)?  But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.”                (2 Corinthians 13:5)

For example:  If we are professing to be Bible-believing Christian sons and daughters of the Living Lord God Jehovah - are we publicly manifesting, in any degree of consistency, the Holy character of our Heavenly Father?

“But let a man/woman examine himself, and so let him/her eat of that bread, and drink of that cup (the Lord’s Table).” (1 Corinthians 11:28)

“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but as He which hath called you is Holy, so be ye Holy in all manner of conversation (entire way of life); because it is written, Be ye Holy; for I am Holy.”     (1 Peter 1:14-16)

If therefore God is ‘…our Father which art in Heaven’, can people, day by day, see some family resemblance in you and in me?   Now that is a sobering thought for present day Christians, the author included!  Christian means 'of Christ', or 'Christ like'!

“Wherefore by their fruits (outward daily expressions/attitudes, etc.) ye shall know them.”  (Matthew 7:20)

The Jewish crowd featured in today’s Bible reading were clearly not manifesting love for Christ Jesus; and thus He forthrightly told them so:

“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love Me; for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do ye not understand My speech?  Even because ye cannot hear My Word.  Ye are of your father the devil…”  (V.42-44)

The unbelieving crowd manifested their ungodly ‘fruits’, of course, in the previous verse (V.41), when they openly accused Jesus of being ‘…born of fornication…’ - they were declaring that Christ Jesus was a bastard child!  They were manifesting all the outward actions of their ‘father the devil…’

For example:  There are no such things as ‘little white lies’.  When one takes company property from ones workplace it is stealing, not ‘just a perk of the job’.  Gossiping about a sister or a brother; or unjustly criticizing the Pastor or church singer is open sin, and in Old Testament times, would have been punishable by stoning to death!  Using the Holy Name of Jesus Christ as a swear word, or an expletive of petty human anger is a most dangerous insult to the Lord God!   Beware of that poisonous tongue!

“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of Hell.”  (James 3:6)

In conclusion therefore, “He/she that is of God heareth God’s Words…”  Are you ‘hearing’ what God is saying to your heart this morning?  Am I?  If we are, then we prove to ourselves and all others that we are indeed seeking to be Holy, just like our Father in Heaven.  ‘Like Father, like sons/daughters’.   Praise God it is so.

Thought:  Do you and I bear a Heavenly family resemblance?  Let's try harder.