You may be thinking: I know who Jesus is...He’s the Son of God. Correct. What does that mean? How would you answer someone who asked you that? How can you lead someone to Jesus if you don’t really understand who He is? This is where we run into trouble with our theology. When you are talking about who Jesus is, you are doing theology. Don’t let that word frighten or intimidate you. It just means the study of God. We do that every week. Congratulations, you are a theologian.
When we think about who Jesus is we tend to gravitate toward His humanity. We spend most of our time talking about the 33 years of His humanity and specifically the last three years of His life, because that’s when He was doing ministry on earth. He was telling parables, healing people and loving sinners. This is what we call teddy bear Jesus. We love teddy bear Jesus. He makes our boo-boos feel better. This is feel good Jesus.
This was all part of His humanity. But Jesus is much more than that...do you understand His divinity?
This is the picture of Jesus we are given in Revelation.
Revelation 19:11-16 “11 Then I saw heaven opened, andbehold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
This does not sound like teddy bear Jesus. He hasn’t shown up to make your boo-boos feel better. This Jesus is coming leading the armies of heaven to make war with His enemies. Those who have rejected Him will not enjoy this return of Jesus.
Next week we will look into Jesus as a Warrior King. Jesus requires a fearful respect. This is how we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We must have a complete picture of who this Jesus is.
Look at verse 13 again.
Revelation 19:13 “3 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
The angel told Joseph to name Him Jesus here on earth. But for those in the unseen spiritual realm, know Him as the uncreated eternal Elohim, He is The Word of God.
He wasn’t created...He was The Creator. When we read the creation account in Genesis, each day begins with this phrase.
Genesis 1:3 “3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”
Everything you see, in all of creation, was spoken into existence. The spoken Word of God, Jesus was The Creator.
Revelation 4:11 “11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
He created all things, including you...for His pleasure. Spending time with you gives Him pleasure. You choosing to spend eternity with Him, gives Him the most pleasure. We were created for His pleasure, to do His will and expand His kingdom. It’s not the other way around. He does not exist for our pleasure.
As we begin our study of Jesus, The Word of God, there are some key verses in the gospel of John that give us some insight into how God has presented this concept to us.
The Word of God is God.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
The Word of God is a Person, not a book.
John 1:2 “He was in the beginning with God.”
The Word of God created everything.
John 1:3 “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
The Word of God became a man.
John 1:19 “And the Word became 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.”
Now, in order to understand what is meant by “The Word of God, we need to look into what the word “word” means in the Greek.
There are two different Greek words that are translated into “word”. They are Logos and Rhema. The one that is used in the above passages from the book of John is Logos.
Logos means the “entire thought or concept”. So what John was helping us to understand is that Jesus is the entire thought or concept of God, that the Father wanted to present to us. In Luke 24, Jesus Himself said to the men on the road to Emmaus that the entire Bible was about Him. He is The Word of God.
The other Greek word is Rhema, and it means a specific word or thought that is within the overall concept.
The entire Bible is the logos Word of God, but a specific verse that you speak over a situation is a Rhema Word of God for you.
Here is how the Logos and Rehma words of God are supposed to practically operate in your life.
Let’s say you have a friend that has become less friendly over a situation that occurred between you. You’re faced with a choice. Do you respond by defending your actions and standing your ground, or do you take a different approach?
How you respond will determine the relationship going forward.
You know that as a disciple of Jesus, you are supposed to mend the relationship, regardless of who is at fault...but how?
If you have been studying the Logos or entire word of God, the Holy Spirit can bring to your mind a Rehma or specific verse from Proverbs to help you know how to respond.
Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.”
The Word will always remind us to respond in love.
The Logos Word of God was called the “Son of God” while on earth. I believe that was to help us comprehend His status, but that title carries a different meaning from what we understand an earthly son to be.
An earthly son does not fully embody everything that his father is. Nor does he accomplish everything his father desires him to do.
I can tell you for sure that even though we are alike in many ways...I’m not the full embodiment of what my dad is. My dad likes to cook and I also like to cook. My dad has always been a leader, both at work and church. I’ve owned several business and now pastor a church. Dad passed the skill of leadership along to me. In that way, we are very alike.
But you see, my dad likes to hunt...and I have no desire to hunt. Dad only likes to eat meat and potatoes. Now, I do love meat and potatoes, but I also enjoy sushi, Vietnamese and Thai food. Dad would never consider eating those things. In this way, we are very different.
So like I said, I am not the full embodiment of my dad. Meaning...I am not the logos of my dad. I’m not the entire concept of my dad...I’m simply a rhema of my dad. I’m a specific part of the entire concept of my dad. You see he’s also a brother, an uncle and grandfather.
That is how Jesus as the Son of God was different than we are.
Jesus was the Logos Word of God. He was the entire concept of God, not just a specific part. He was completely God while also being flesh and bone, fully a man. Even His disciples had a hard time understanding how this was possible. But it was true none the less.
John 14:6-11 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My
own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does theworks. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
Jesus said if you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.” He could say this because He “the Word” and God are one in thought and action and voice. Jesus (The Word) and God The Father were inseparable in every way we can comprehend.
If you have a thought or concept and then you speak that idea out loud, is it possible to separate you from your thought or your words? Both the thought and the words are made of the same
source material (You) and are always in support of each other even though they have separate functions.
For me, the easiest way to think about the Trinity, it is to compare it to water. There is water, ice and steam. All with the same chemical composition of H2O. There are of the same substance, even though they serve different functions.
In the same way God the Father, The Word of God and the Holy Spirit of God cannot be separated or considered apart from each other, even though each one has a separate role or function.
In the light of Jesus being the Logos Word of God, what does Isaiah 55:11 mean?
Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Jesus is the Word of God...and was sent out from God the Father...and did not return without accomplishing what The Father wanted.
When we are saved, you may have heard that referred to as Jesus lives in our heart. But the more accurate description of what has happened is that The Word of God now lives in our heart.
So if Jesus, the Logos, Word of God, is living in you...are you not a Rhema word of God with a specific thing you have been sent to accomplish for Him?
You are certainly not the entire concept of the Father. But you were created in His image according to His likeness and you have His Spirit alive in you, so you are a specific part of His plan.
The Word has been sown into our heart according to the parable of The Sower that Jesus told in the books of Matthew and Luke.
Luke 8:11-12 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. 12 Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.”
Luke 8:15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance."
Jesus tells us that the seed is the Word of God and the soil is our heart. As a believer, our heart is the good soil and is supposed to produce a crop many times what was sown.
The only way we can stay in alignment with God’s plan for our life is by cultivating the Word that He has sown in our heart.
Even when a seed takes root in good soil it still takes work to get a full harvest. You have to keep the weeds pulled out, you have to keep watering the seed, you have to keep fertilizing the soil.
You have to work the soil of your heart to keep from having issues.
Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.”
The soil doesn’t care what is sown into it. It will nourish and push to the surface whatever you allow to be planted. Your heart will not distinguish the difference between love and bitterness... or truth and gossip. This is why we must guard our heart with all diligence.
What is growing in your heart will come out in your words.
Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
If you want to know what’s inside someone just talk to them for a few minutes. If you hear bitterness, you can bet that it’s been growing in their heart for a while. If you hear pain, you can bet it’s been growing in their heart for a while. If you hear love, you can bet it’s been growing in their heart for a while.
What was in God’s heart was revealed by His Word.
...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
God’s Word came out of His heart and was sent to earth as the man Jesus. God showed us what His heart is full of...love.
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