- Christians insist that
Jesus was a real human being,
00:00:01.10\00:00:03.10
but at the same time, they say,
00:00:03.10\00:00:04.63
He was a lot more than that.
00:00:04.63\00:00:06.23
In fact, what
Christianity teaches
00:00:06.23\00:00:08.40
is that Jesus was
God in human flesh.
00:00:08.40\00:00:10.67
So you've gotta wonder,
00:00:10.67\00:00:12.21
is that really
what the Bible teaches,
00:00:12.21\00:00:13.98
or did somebody
surreptitiously slip that
00:00:13.98\00:00:16.78
into the Christian religion
00:00:16.78\00:00:17.91
long after the 1st century?
00:00:17.91\00:00:19.78
Some people think so.
00:00:19.78\00:00:20.88
So today, let's find out.
00:00:20.88\00:00:23.12
[upbeat music]
00:00:23.12\00:00:25.69
You know, it's
really kind of a shame
00:00:44.54\00:00:45.84
that after 2,000
years of Christianity,
00:00:45.84\00:00:47.78
there's still
some kind of debate
00:00:47.78\00:00:49.14
about the divinity
or deity of Christ,
00:00:49.14\00:00:51.18
because that's an
issue that's been settled
00:00:51.18\00:00:53.42
practically forever.
00:00:53.42\00:00:55.22
I mean, there have
always been offbeat sects
00:00:55.22\00:00:57.82
who say they have a
problem with the idea
00:00:57.82\00:00:59.75
that somebody could be fully God
00:00:59.75\00:01:01.06
and fully human
at the same time,
00:01:01.06\00:01:03.32
but for the most part,
00:01:03.32\00:01:04.79
the deity of Christ has
been a foundational teaching
00:01:04.79\00:01:07.76
of biblical Christianity.
00:01:07.76\00:01:09.50
So today, even though
I don't really have time
00:01:09.50\00:01:11.97
to unpack what
amounts to a really big topic
00:01:11.97\00:01:14.37
in any detailed way,
00:01:14.37\00:01:15.94
I think I'm gonna
touch on the subject anyway,
00:01:15.94\00:01:17.87
just in case somebody out there
still needs to sort this out
00:01:17.87\00:01:20.98
in their own mind,
00:01:20.98\00:01:22.48
and maybe at least I can point
you in the right direction.
00:01:22.48\00:01:25.71
Challenges to
the deity of Christ
00:01:25.71\00:01:27.58
seem to come in historical
waves, almost like a fad,
00:01:27.58\00:01:31.32
kinda popping
up once in a while,
00:01:31.32\00:01:32.62
and then settling back down.
00:01:32.62\00:01:34.49
One of the more recent waves
of anti-trinitarian teaching
00:01:34.49\00:01:38.13
came in the wake of this book,
Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code",
00:01:38.13\00:01:41.60
a novel he
published almost 20 years ago.
00:01:41.60\00:01:44.17
Of course, people should
have noticed right off the bat
00:01:44.17\00:01:46.23
that this book was for
sale in the fiction section,
00:01:46.23\00:01:48.70
and that's because
that's what it is, it's fiction.
00:01:48.70\00:01:51.41
It's a made-up
story that capitalizes
00:01:51.41\00:01:54.04
on people's nearly
endless fascination
00:01:54.04\00:01:56.04
with conspiracy theories,
00:01:56.04\00:01:57.88
right up to the point
00:01:57.88\00:01:59.31
where one of the lead
characters' names in this book
00:01:59.31\00:02:01.65
was actually an anagram
00:02:01.65\00:02:03.12
of a rather famous
writer of alternate history,
00:02:03.12\00:02:05.79
a guy by the name
of Michael Baigent,
00:02:05.79\00:02:08.36
who devoted himself to
questioning the stories
00:02:08.36\00:02:10.89
you find in the Bible.
00:02:10.89\00:02:12.63
You might remember his book,
00:02:12.63\00:02:14.00
"The Holy Blood
and the Holy Grail",
00:02:14.00\00:02:15.96
a book that stirred
quite a bit of controversy
00:02:15.96\00:02:18.53
because it suggested
00:02:18.53\00:02:20.20
that Jesus was
merely a mortal human being
00:02:20.20\00:02:22.74
who didn't
actually die on the cross
00:02:22.74\00:02:25.37
but went on to get married
00:02:25.37\00:02:26.71
and have children
with Mary Magdalen.
00:02:26.71\00:02:28.68
Of course, the book was roundly
condemned by real historians
00:02:28.68\00:02:32.11
because it's nonsense,
00:02:32.11\00:02:33.68
but apparently, that
didn't stop Dan Brown
00:02:33.68\00:02:35.78
from tapping into it.
00:02:35.78\00:02:37.49
One of his lead
characters, in fact,
00:02:37.49\00:02:39.52
is named Lee Teabing,
00:02:39.52\00:02:41.09
and Teabing turns out to
be an anagram for Baigent,
00:02:41.09\00:02:44.29
a fact that actually
led to a lawsuit in 2006.
00:02:44.29\00:02:48.33
But I'm getting
a little off topic.
00:02:48.33\00:02:50.47
Both of these books,
00:02:50.47\00:02:51.77
"The Holy Grail"
and "The Da Vinci Code",
00:02:51.77\00:02:53.57
have enough bad thinking in them
00:02:53.57\00:02:55.50
I could probably do an
entire season of this show
00:02:55.50\00:02:57.87
just exploring them,
00:02:57.87\00:02:59.14
but for today, I
wanna focus on one issue,
00:02:59.14\00:03:01.54
the divinity of Christ,
00:03:01.54\00:03:02.94
or to be more
precise, the deity of Christ,
00:03:02.94\00:03:06.58
and the reason I
use that word deity
00:03:06.58\00:03:09.52
is because there are people
00:03:09.52\00:03:11.02
who have reinterpreted the
word divine to downplay it.
00:03:11.02\00:03:13.79
They say Jesus is
divine in the same way
00:03:13.79\00:03:16.69
that anything might
be considered divine,
00:03:16.69\00:03:18.99
you know, like a sunset.
00:03:18.99\00:03:20.63
As far as these
people are concerned,
00:03:20.63\00:03:22.53
divine doesn't
mean that Jesus is God,
00:03:22.53\00:03:24.73
so I use the word
deity very deliberately.
00:03:24.73\00:03:28.47
Dan brown suggests that somehow,
00:03:28.47\00:03:31.57
it was the Emperor Constantine
00:03:31.57\00:03:33.38
who pushed the idea
of a Christ who is God
00:03:33.38\00:03:36.11
at the Council of Nicaea,
00:03:36.11\00:03:37.95
at the beginning
of the 4th century.
00:03:37.95\00:03:39.85
I'll show you what I mean.
00:03:39.85\00:03:41.32
This passage is the
character Lee Teabing
00:03:41.32\00:03:44.02
describing the Council of Nicaea
00:03:44.02\00:03:45.82
to another
character, named Sophie,
00:03:45.82\00:03:47.69
and the story goes like this:
00:03:47.69\00:03:49.46
"'At this
gathering,' Teabing said,
00:03:49.46\00:03:51.99
'many aspects of Christianity
were debated and voted upon;
00:03:51.99\00:03:55.10
the date of Easter,
the role of the bishops,
00:03:55.10\00:03:57.73
the
administration of sacraments,
00:03:57.73\00:03:59.27
and, of course, the
divinity of Jesus.'"
00:03:59.27\00:04:02.07
Now, some of
that's actually true.
00:04:02.07\00:04:03.77
There was a
discussion way back when
00:04:03.77\00:04:05.81
about the date for Easter,
00:04:05.81\00:04:07.24
a discussion that
lasted for centuries,
00:04:07.24\00:04:09.54
and they did bring it up
at the Council of Nicaea.
00:04:09.54\00:04:12.45
Dan brown also points out
just a few sentences earlier
00:04:12.45\00:04:15.42
that Constantine pushed the idea
00:04:15.42\00:04:17.59
of worshiping on the
first day of the week,
00:04:17.59\00:04:19.35
and that's also true.
00:04:19.35\00:04:20.89
The very first
Christians continued
00:04:20.89\00:04:22.66
to observe the
seventh day sabbath
00:04:22.66\00:04:24.76
for quite a while, in fact.
00:04:24.76\00:04:26.63
But then Brown gets
to the deity of Christ,
00:04:26.63\00:04:29.63
and this character,
Sophie, responds by saying:
00:04:29.63\00:04:32.13
"'I don't follow. His divinity?"
00:04:32.13\00:04:35.10
'My dear,' Teabing declared,
'until that moment in history,
00:04:35.10\00:04:38.81
Jesus was viewed by His
followers as a mortal prophet,
00:04:38.81\00:04:41.98
a great and powerful
man, but a man nonetheless.
00:04:41.98\00:04:44.78
A mortal.'
00:04:44.78\00:04:46.08
'Not the Son of God?'
00:04:46.08\00:04:47.28
'Right,' Teabing said.
00:04:47.28\00:04:49.35
'Jesus'
establishment as the Son of God
00:04:49.35\00:04:51.32
was officially
proposed and voted on
00:04:51.32\00:04:53.59
by the Council of Nicaea.'
00:04:53.59\00:04:55.92
'Hold on. You're
saying Jesus' divinity
00:04:55.92\00:04:58.03
was the result of a vote?'"
00:04:58.03\00:05:00.76
Now, frankly,
that's a bunch of nonsense,
00:05:00.76\00:05:03.26
but let me tell
you what is true.
00:05:03.26\00:05:05.13
There was a renegade
priest in North Africa
00:05:05.13\00:05:07.44
by the name of Arius,
00:05:07.44\00:05:08.64
who suggested that
Jesus is not eternal,
00:05:08.64\00:05:11.11
that He did not
have a divine nature.
00:05:11.11\00:05:13.74
Needless to say, that
created a huge uproar,
00:05:13.74\00:05:17.28
and the fact that it created
an uproar should tell you
00:05:17.28\00:05:19.75
that most Christians didn't
believe what he was saying.
00:05:19.75\00:05:23.12
If everybody believed him,
00:05:23.12\00:05:24.79
or even the majority of
Christians believed him,
00:05:24.79\00:05:27.52
there would have
been no need to discuss it
00:05:27.52\00:05:29.46
at a major church council,
00:05:29.46\00:05:31.69
but it was a controversial
opinion for a reason.
00:05:31.69\00:05:35.00
That's because
the deity of Christ
00:05:35.00\00:05:36.67
had already been established
for a really long time.
00:05:36.67\00:05:40.00
So yes, the
topic was on the agenda
00:05:40.00\00:05:43.07
at the Council of Nicaea,
00:05:43.07\00:05:44.61
And no, the Council was
not the origin of the doctrine.
00:05:44.61\00:05:48.61
The Council of
Nicaea merely affirmed
00:05:48.61\00:05:50.48
what Christians had
already been teaching
00:05:50.48\00:05:52.18
from the very beginning.
00:05:52.18\00:05:53.48
And yes, there are
all kinds of problems
00:05:53.48\00:05:56.32
with the influence of
Constantine on Christianity.
00:05:56.32\00:05:58.72
His impact wasn't
always a good thing.
00:05:58.72\00:06:01.29
And yes, the Council of Nicaea
certainly had some issues,
00:06:01.29\00:06:05.26
but the idea that
Constantine basically invented
00:06:05.26\00:06:08.13
the deity of Christ,
00:06:08.13\00:06:09.96
it's not true, and I
can demonstrate that.
00:06:09.96\00:06:14.07
The earliest
Christian writings we have
00:06:14.07\00:06:16.04
date back nearly two centuries
00:06:16.04\00:06:17.71
before the Council of Nicaea,
00:06:17.71\00:06:19.34
and you don't need to
read very much of it to see
00:06:19.34\00:06:21.31
that Christians
have always believed
00:06:21.31\00:06:23.11
that Jesus was
God in human flesh.
00:06:23.11\00:06:25.55
For example, history suggests
00:06:25.55\00:06:27.85
that the ancient church father,
Ignatius, who was martyred,
00:06:27.85\00:06:31.39
was a disciple of
John The Revelator,
00:06:31.39\00:06:33.09
the man who actually
wrote the book of Revelation.
00:06:33.09\00:06:35.02
So Ignatius is about
as close as you can get
00:06:35.02\00:06:38.49
to the original disciples,
00:06:38.49\00:06:39.86
at least in the
extra-biblical writings.
00:06:39.86\00:06:42.40
John, of course, was
the pastor of Ephesus,
00:06:42.40\00:06:45.07
and at one point,
Ignatius writes a letter
00:06:45.07\00:06:46.90
to the Ephesian church,
00:06:46.90\00:06:48.37
and here's how that starts.
00:06:48.37\00:06:49.97
He writes, "Ignatius, who
is also called Theophorus,
00:06:49.97\00:06:53.78
to the Church which
is at Ephesus in Asia,
00:06:53.78\00:06:56.28
deservedly most
happy, being blessed
00:06:56.28\00:06:58.31
in the greatness and
fullness of God the Father,
00:06:58.31\00:07:01.12
being united and
elected through the true passion
00:07:01.12\00:07:03.52
by the will of the Father
and Jesus Christ, our God."
00:07:03.52\00:07:08.39
Now, just in case
somebody is tempted to think
00:07:08.39\00:07:11.33
that this is some
kind of misunderstanding,
00:07:11.33\00:07:13.19
he says it again
just a little bit later.
00:07:13.19\00:07:15.40
"There is one
physician," he writes,
00:07:15.40\00:07:16.93
"who is possessed
both of flesh and spirit;
00:07:16.93\00:07:19.70
both made and not
made; God existing in flesh."
00:07:19.70\00:07:24.27
The concept that
Jesus was God in human flesh
00:07:24.27\00:07:26.74
was widely taught by all
kinds of early Christians
00:07:26.74\00:07:29.58
long before
Constantine was even a twinkle
00:07:29.58\00:07:32.08
in his father's eye.
00:07:32.08\00:07:33.52
People like Irenaeus
taught it, Clement taught it,
00:07:33.52\00:07:35.92
So did Tertullian.
00:07:35.92\00:07:37.49
But of course, the
early church fathers
00:07:37.49\00:07:39.52
were not inspired
authors of the Bible.
00:07:39.52\00:07:41.79
You can always find
something in their writings
00:07:41.79\00:07:43.76
that doesn't quite
agree with scripture,
00:07:43.76\00:07:45.46
so we need something
more than their say-so.
00:07:45.46\00:07:48.90
So after we take a quick break,
00:07:48.90\00:07:50.77
I'm gonna come back and show you
00:07:50.77\00:07:52.00
one of the plainest
and earliest explanations
00:07:52.00\00:07:54.87
of Christ's divinity or deity
00:07:54.87\00:07:57.44
that I've ever seen,
00:07:57.44\00:07:58.94
and this one comes from
the pages of the Bible itself.
00:07:58.94\00:08:02.41
- [Presenter 1] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:08:04.55\00:08:06.95
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers.
00:08:06.95\00:08:10.32
But that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:08:10.32\00:08:12.75
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:08:12.75\00:08:15.82
Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:08:15.82\00:08:17.39
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:08:17.39\00:08:19.53
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:08:19.53\00:08:21.13
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:08:21.13\00:08:23.60
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions.
00:08:23.60\00:08:26.63
And they're absolutely free.
00:08:26.63\00:08:28.67
So jump online
now, or give us a call
00:08:28.67\00:08:31.01
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:08:31.01\00:08:33.21
- We know that the
first century church
00:08:34.41\00:08:35.98
in the ancient city of Colossae
00:08:35.98\00:08:37.38
had some kind of
theological problem.
00:08:37.38\00:08:40.22
We're just not exactly
sure what the problem was,
00:08:40.22\00:08:43.12
we just know there was one,
00:08:43.12\00:08:45.65
and a lot of
biblical scholars think
00:08:45.65\00:08:47.72
that it was an
early form of Gnosticism
00:08:47.72\00:08:50.16
that started
circulating in the church,
00:08:50.16\00:08:51.99
even though the
formal Gnostic heresy
00:08:51.99\00:08:54.50
didn't really take
root in Christianity
00:08:54.50\00:08:56.67
until the next century.
00:08:56.67\00:08:58.23
So what's Gnosticism?
00:08:58.23\00:09:00.54
It was a system of
belief that was born
00:09:00.54\00:09:02.50
from a blending of
Hebrew and Greek thinking,
00:09:02.50\00:09:05.47
and the epicenter was
the city of Alexandria,
00:09:05.47\00:09:08.14
which, of course,
was the major center
00:09:08.14\00:09:10.38
for all the intellectuals
of the ancient world.
00:09:10.38\00:09:13.28
The city was named
for Alexander the Great,
00:09:13.28\00:09:15.48
and it was known
for this massive library
00:09:15.48\00:09:17.99
and its heavy
emphasis on learning.
00:09:17.99\00:09:20.72
Some of the Jewish
scholars who lived in that city
00:09:20.72\00:09:23.09
were keen to
demonstrate to the Greeks
00:09:23.09\00:09:24.93
that they were
just as intellectual
00:09:24.93\00:09:27.23
as the Greek philosophers,
00:09:27.23\00:09:28.90
and the result
was a sloppy mixture
00:09:28.90\00:09:30.83
between the teachings of Plato
00:09:30.83\00:09:32.60
and the teachings
of the Old Testament.
00:09:32.60\00:09:34.87
In later years,
the same tendency
00:09:34.87\00:09:36.94
took root in Christian circles,
00:09:36.94\00:09:39.07
and the result was
Christian Gnosticism.
00:09:39.07\00:09:41.88
And because they
were all drinking
00:09:41.88\00:09:43.41
at the fountain
of Greek philosophy,
00:09:43.41\00:09:45.58
the Christian
Gnostics had a problem
00:09:45.58\00:09:47.68
with the idea of
the deity of Christ.
00:09:47.68\00:09:50.55
Largely because
of Plato's influence,
00:09:50.55\00:09:53.39
most of the Gnostics believed
00:09:53.39\00:09:54.92
that this physical
creation we live in
00:09:54.92\00:09:56.93
was some kind of mistake,
00:09:56.93\00:09:58.43
because the physical
world is obviously imperfect,
00:09:58.43\00:10:02.16
and because God
must be pure spirit
00:10:02.16\00:10:04.30
and would never make a mistake,
00:10:04.30\00:10:05.97
they said some lesser being
must have created this world,
00:10:05.97\00:10:09.47
and frankly, botched it.
00:10:09.47\00:10:11.81
Now, I'm
summarizing that pretty quickly,
00:10:11.81\00:10:13.91
so for more detail, I
guess I'll just refer you
00:10:13.91\00:10:16.38
to a new mini
series we're developing
00:10:16.38\00:10:18.28
on the topic of Greek dualism
00:10:18.28\00:10:19.98
and how it relates
to spiritualistic ideas.
00:10:19.98\00:10:22.75
But for now, let's just
say that the Gnostics believed
00:10:22.75\00:10:25.65
that the invisible spiritual
world was pure and perfect,
00:10:25.65\00:10:29.26
and that you and I
are spiritual sparks
00:10:29.26\00:10:31.19
that originally emerged from
the divine fire of God's mind,
00:10:31.19\00:10:35.03
and in the
original design, they said,
00:10:35.03\00:10:37.07
everything was supposed to
be immaterial, nonphysical,
00:10:37.07\00:10:40.64
including us.
00:10:40.64\00:10:42.30
But then a
blundering creator, they said,
00:10:42.30\00:10:44.54
imprisoned us in
this physical existence,
00:10:44.54\00:10:46.78
and now we're
forced to live like this.
00:10:46.78\00:10:49.01
The very best
thing that could happen,
00:10:49.01\00:10:50.65
a lot of these
philosophers said,
00:10:50.65\00:10:52.58
was to die, because
then you could go back
00:10:52.58\00:10:54.95
to the spirit world.
00:10:54.95\00:10:56.38
So to suggest that a
perfect God could appear
00:10:56.38\00:10:59.19
in a physical human body,
00:10:59.19\00:11:01.09
for the Gnostics, that
was completely unthinkable.
00:11:01.09\00:11:03.89
As far as they were concerned,
00:11:03.89\00:11:05.39
either Jesus
wasn't really divine,
00:11:05.39\00:11:07.73
or He wasn't really human.
00:11:07.73\00:11:09.06
It had to be one or the other.
00:11:09.06\00:11:11.77
And what we think
was happening in Colossae
00:11:11.77\00:11:14.24
was that an early
version of this kind of thinking
00:11:14.24\00:11:16.91
was starting to make the rounds.
00:11:16.91\00:11:19.07
So the Apostle Paul
hears about this problem,
00:11:19.07\00:11:21.74
and even though he's never
been to Colossae in person,
00:11:21.74\00:11:24.45
he writes them a letter,
00:11:24.45\00:11:26.05
and right near the
beginning of this letter,
00:11:26.05\00:11:28.08
he gives us a detailed
explanation of who Jesus is.
00:11:28.08\00:11:31.79
Paul probably wrote
this around the year 62 AD
00:11:31.79\00:11:34.82
when he's a prisoner in Rome,
00:11:34.82\00:11:36.52
so this puts us
roughly within three decades
00:11:36.52\00:11:40.43
of the life and
ministry of Christ.
00:11:40.43\00:11:42.86
Now, I'll warn you,
00:11:42.86\00:11:44.40
there's no way we're
gonna be able to work our way
00:11:44.40\00:11:46.10
through this
entire passage today,
00:11:46.10\00:11:48.14
so what I'm gonna do is touch
down on some key highlights,
00:11:48.14\00:11:51.27
and if you own a Bible,
00:11:51.27\00:11:52.81
you might wanna open it
to Colossians, Chapter 1,
00:11:52.81\00:11:55.11
so you can follow along.
00:11:55.11\00:11:57.18
Let's get started
with Colossians 1:15,
00:11:57.18\00:11:59.38
where Paul is talking
about Jesus, and he says this:
00:11:59.38\00:12:02.78
"He," Jesus, "is the
image of the invisible God,
00:12:02.78\00:12:06.62
the firstborn
over all creation."
00:12:06.62\00:12:09.32
Now, I should
probably stop there,
00:12:09.32\00:12:10.83
because some people have
taken this word firstborn
00:12:10.83\00:12:14.03
to mean that Jesus is
nothing but part of creation,
00:12:14.03\00:12:16.63
or that He was
brought into existence by God
00:12:16.63\00:12:19.30
at some point in
the very distant past,
00:12:19.30\00:12:21.60
which, of course, would
mean Jesus had a beginning,
00:12:21.60\00:12:24.07
and that would
make Him less than God.
00:12:24.07\00:12:26.81
That's an idea the
Gnostics would have loved,
00:12:26.81\00:12:29.08
a lesser being who's
still greater than us,
00:12:29.08\00:12:31.58
but less than God.
00:12:31.58\00:12:34.08
But that's not even close to
what Paul is actually saying.
00:12:34.08\00:12:37.22
That word firstborn is
the Greek word prototokos,
00:12:37.22\00:12:40.66
and it's not a
chronological term,
00:12:40.66\00:12:43.09
it's not talking
about a moment in time
00:12:43.09\00:12:45.89
when Jesus
suddenly came into being.
00:12:45.89\00:12:47.76
No, prototokos refers
to a position or prominence
00:12:47.76\00:12:52.00
instead of chronology,
00:12:52.00\00:12:53.40
and it's telling us that Jesus,
00:12:53.40\00:12:55.50
who became a human
being at one point,
00:12:55.50\00:12:58.17
is over all creation.
00:12:58.17\00:13:00.81
Now, that's a concept you
find all through the Bible,
00:13:00.81\00:13:03.24
and one of the
most vivid examples
00:13:03.24\00:13:04.88
of what it means
to be the firstborn
00:13:04.88\00:13:06.78
by God's way of thinking
00:13:06.78\00:13:08.42
is found in
Psalm 89, and verse 27,
00:13:08.42\00:13:11.95
where God is talking
00:13:11.95\00:13:13.15
about Israel's most
famous king, King David,
00:13:13.15\00:13:16.39
and here's what he says.
00:13:16.39\00:13:18.19
"'Also, I will
make him my firstborn
00:13:18.19\00:13:21.16
the highest of the
kings of the earth.'"
00:13:21.16\00:13:24.13
Now, chronologically speaking,
David was not the firstborn,
00:13:24.13\00:13:27.24
in fact, he was the
youngest of eight boys,
00:13:27.24\00:13:30.07
but he was also not
the first king of Israel.
00:13:30.07\00:13:32.84
Mm-mm, he's the second king.
00:13:32.84\00:13:34.98
Yet the Bible says that
God made David the firstborn,
00:13:34.98\00:13:38.58
the highest of the
kings of the earth.
00:13:38.58\00:13:40.78
This is a declaration of
importance, not chronology.
00:13:40.78\00:13:45.79
The same thing's true for Jesus.
00:13:46.65\00:13:47.79
He is the firstborn,
00:13:47.79\00:13:49.26
not because He was the
first thing that God created,
00:13:49.26\00:13:51.43
but because of His
position over this universe.
00:13:51.43\00:13:54.56
He was God in human flesh,
00:13:54.56\00:13:56.40
which makes Him the
most important human being
00:13:56.40\00:13:59.13
who's ever lived.
00:13:59.13\00:14:00.64
Notice that Paul also calls Him
00:14:00.64\00:14:03.10
the image of the invisible God,
00:14:03.10\00:14:05.57
which is a really,
really interesting statement,
00:14:05.57\00:14:08.28
so let's unpack that.
00:14:08.28\00:14:10.38
The book of Genesis
tells us that in the beginning
00:14:10.38\00:14:13.58
God created man and
woman in his own image,
00:14:13.58\00:14:16.25
and at least a
part of what that means
00:14:16.25\00:14:18.42
is that human beings were made
00:14:18.42\00:14:19.89
to reflect the
character or the glory of God.
00:14:19.89\00:14:23.26
But then, the story tells us,
00:14:23.26\00:14:25.06
we turned our backs on God,
00:14:25.06\00:14:26.73
and the image of God and
humanity was severely tarnished.
00:14:26.73\00:14:30.93
And what that really means
00:14:30.93\00:14:32.50
is that human lives
essentially became a lie
00:14:32.50\00:14:35.47
about what our creator is like,
00:14:35.47\00:14:37.01
because now someone can
point to the human race and say,
00:14:37.01\00:14:39.81
"Are you kidding me?
That's what God made?
00:14:39.81\00:14:42.54
What kind of God would
make people like that?"
00:14:42.54\00:14:45.78
And you'd have to
admit that on the whole,
00:14:45.78\00:14:48.05
human behavior is
not really very godly,
00:14:48.05\00:14:52.12
which is precisely the problem
that the ancient pagans had
00:14:52.12\00:14:55.62
with a physical creation.
00:14:55.62\00:14:57.76
If God is
supposedly perfect, they said,
00:14:57.76\00:14:59.66
how in the world did he
end up making this place?
00:14:59.66\00:15:02.06
Why is there so
much pain and suffering,
00:15:02.06\00:15:04.83
and how in the world are
you and I such imperfect beings
00:15:04.83\00:15:07.60
if we were actually
made in the creator's image?
00:15:07.60\00:15:10.44
So the pagans relegated
all the work of creation
00:15:10.44\00:15:13.44
to a much lesser being,
00:15:13.44\00:15:15.68
and it's on this point
that the pagans and the Bible
00:15:17.08\00:15:19.55
now part company.
00:15:19.55\00:15:21.02
The Bible teaches
that Christ was sinless,
00:15:21.02\00:15:23.72
and in the book
of 1 Corinthians,
00:15:23.72\00:15:25.29
Paul calls Jesus the last Adam,
00:15:25.29\00:15:28.52
which is another way of saying
00:15:28.52\00:15:29.76
that Jesus is the new
head of the human race.
00:15:29.76\00:15:32.96
The first Adam blew it,
00:15:32.96\00:15:34.56
and he no longer
reflected the image of God.
00:15:34.56\00:15:37.47
The second Adam, Jesus, a real
flesh and blood human being,
00:15:37.47\00:15:41.97
I mean the story
demands that fact,
00:15:41.97\00:15:44.57
He did not blow it, and He
is the perfect image of God.
00:15:44.57\00:15:47.74
But just in case
someone is tempted
00:15:48.91\00:15:50.38
to think that's all Jesus was,
00:15:50.38\00:15:52.08
a human being and a
part of God's creation,
00:15:52.08\00:15:54.88
Paul then goes on to
say this in verse 16:
00:15:54.88\00:15:57.92
"For by Him,"
again, that's Jesus,
00:15:57.92\00:16:00.49
"all things were created
00:16:00.49\00:16:01.82
that are in heaven
and that are on earth,
00:16:01.82\00:16:03.59
visible and invisible,
00:16:03.59\00:16:05.13
whether thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers.
00:16:05.13\00:16:08.76
All things were created
through Him and for Him.
00:16:08.76\00:16:12.50
And He is before all things,
and in Him all things consist."
00:16:12.50\00:16:17.51
This is so important
that we need to slow down
00:16:18.87\00:16:20.91
and think about this.
00:16:20.91\00:16:22.38
But I do see it's just
about time for another break,
00:16:22.38\00:16:24.98
so let me just say this
before we go to commercial.
00:16:24.98\00:16:28.38
Paul insists that the entire
creation was made by Christ,
00:16:28.38\00:16:32.85
it was made through Christ,
and it was made for Christ.
00:16:32.85\00:16:36.96
In the very opening verses
of the Bible, it tells us:
00:16:36.96\00:16:39.66
"In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth,"
00:16:39.66\00:16:43.53
and Paul is
saying Jesus did that,
00:16:43.53\00:16:46.47
so we have a
sinless, perfect creator.
00:16:46.47\00:16:49.94
This is such a clear
statement on the deity of Christ
00:16:49.94\00:16:52.94
that I've heard some people say,
00:16:52.94\00:16:54.31
well, Paul must've
been some kind of imposter
00:16:54.31\00:16:56.41
who came in and derailed
the authentic Christian faith
00:16:56.41\00:16:59.55
by inventing
the deity of Christ.
00:16:59.55\00:17:01.95
But frankly, again,
that's a bunch of nonsense.
00:17:01.95\00:17:03.95
Don't forget,
Paul wrote his stuff
00:17:03.95\00:17:06.39
several decades before
the gospels were written,
00:17:06.39\00:17:08.92
and you'd have to think
00:17:08.92\00:17:10.13
that if an
influential figure like Paul
00:17:10.13\00:17:11.99
was leading the whole
Christian world astray
00:17:11.99\00:17:14.20
on such an important issue,
00:17:14.20\00:17:16.26
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John would have said something,
00:17:16.26\00:17:19.27
but they don't.
00:17:19.27\00:17:20.80
The only indication we
have that Paul was controversial
00:17:20.80\00:17:23.47
is found in the book of Acts,
00:17:23.47\00:17:25.07
where the Jerusalem Council
was struggling to figure out
00:17:25.07\00:17:27.51
how Gentiles could
fit into the Church,
00:17:27.51\00:17:30.08
and there's not one word
00:17:30.08\00:17:32.05
about Paul
teaching something unusual
00:17:32.05\00:17:34.35
about the deity of Christ.
00:17:34.35\00:17:36.18
In fact, the
gospel of John starts
00:17:36.18\00:17:38.49
with the very same thought,
00:17:38.49\00:17:40.06
and it drives the point
home in no uncertain terms
00:17:40.06\00:17:42.99
when it says, "In the
beginning was the Word,
00:17:42.99\00:17:46.53
and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
00:17:46.53\00:17:50.23
He was in the
beginning with God.
00:17:50.23\00:17:52.00
All things were
made through Him,
00:17:52.00\00:17:53.94
and without Him,
nothing was made that was made.
00:17:53.94\00:17:57.07
In Him was life, and the
life was the light of men."
00:17:57.07\00:18:01.58
All right, I really do
have to take a break now,
00:18:01.58\00:18:03.88
so I'll be
right back after this.
00:18:03.88\00:18:06.41
- [Presenter 2] Here
at the Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:07.85\00:18:09.32
we're committed to
creating top quality programming
00:18:09.32\00:18:11.72
for the whole family,
00:18:11.72\00:18:13.19
like our audio adventure
series, Discovery Mountain.
00:18:13.19\00:18:16.39
Discovery Mountain
is a Bible-based program
00:18:16.39\00:18:18.86
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:18:18.86\00:18:21.16
Your family will enjoy
the faith-building stories
00:18:21.16\00:18:23.93
from this small
mountain summer camp and town.
00:18:23.93\00:18:26.77
With 24 seasonal
episodes every year,
00:18:26.77\00:18:29.27
and fresh content every week,
00:18:29.27\00:18:31.44
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:18:31.44\00:18:34.64
- In the book of Colossians,
00:18:38.21\00:18:39.75
Paul describes Jesus as the
firstborn over all creation,
00:18:39.75\00:18:43.28
and some people
get hung up on that.
00:18:43.28\00:18:45.29
They've taken it to mean
that He's just part of creation.
00:18:45.29\00:18:48.72
Now, it is true,
biblically speaking,
00:18:48.72\00:18:50.79
that Jesus entered the
creation and became part of it,
00:18:50.79\00:18:53.66
but at the same
time, it reassures us
00:18:53.66\00:18:55.33
that He is, in
fact, the creator.
00:18:55.33\00:18:57.23
Let me give you
just a few more examples
00:18:57.23\00:18:58.80
of how the Bible uses
this idea of firstborn,
00:18:58.80\00:19:02.00
because this, again, is
where people get hung up.
00:19:02.00\00:19:04.97
In Isaiah 14:30,
the Bible talks about
00:19:04.97\00:19:07.98
the firstborn of the poor,
00:19:07.98\00:19:10.21
which is another way of talking
00:19:10.21\00:19:11.41
about the very
poorest of people.
00:19:11.41\00:19:13.65
In Job 18:13, it
describes a deadly disease
00:19:13.65\00:19:17.12
as the firstborn of death,
00:19:17.12\00:19:19.52
and in Exodus 4:22,
God tells the Pharaoh
00:19:19.52\00:19:22.29
that "'Israel is My
son, My firstborn,'"
00:19:22.29\00:19:25.46
another way of
saying that Israel
00:19:25.46\00:19:27.03
was the most important
and prominent nation on earth
00:19:27.03\00:19:29.56
as far as God was concerned.
00:19:29.56\00:19:32.07
The same thing would
be true, then, of Jesus.
00:19:32.07\00:19:33.97
He is hands down the
most important human being
00:19:33.97\00:19:36.14
who ever lived,
00:19:36.14\00:19:37.44
because where humanity
failed, Jesus succeeded.
00:19:37.44\00:19:41.38
Where you and I
became horrible reflections
00:19:41.38\00:19:43.61
of God's character,
00:19:43.61\00:19:44.78
Jesus displayed it perfectly.
00:19:44.78\00:19:46.72
In fact, in John
14:9, Jesus says,
00:19:46.72\00:19:49.25
"'He who has seen Me
has seen the Father.'"
00:19:49.25\00:19:53.42
So it's not really just the
death of Christ that saves us,
00:19:53.42\00:19:56.52
but also the life of Christ.
00:19:56.52\00:19:58.66
Look, there was no hope
00:19:58.66\00:19:59.89
that a fallen
humanity could atone for sin
00:19:59.89\00:20:02.30
and restore itself to
the perfect image of God
00:20:02.30\00:20:05.20
unless God Himself
became a human being
00:20:05.20\00:20:08.24
and became the new
head of the human race.
00:20:08.24\00:20:11.04
Here's the way Paul
describes what happened
00:20:11.04\00:20:13.48
in his famous
tribute to Christ's humility.
00:20:13.48\00:20:16.31
This is from the
book of Philippians.
00:20:16.31\00:20:19.01
He says, "Let
this mind be in you
00:20:19.01\00:20:21.68
which was also in Christ Jesus,
00:20:21.68\00:20:23.99
who, being in the form of God,
00:20:23.99\00:20:25.82
did not consider it
robbery to be equal with God,"
00:20:25.82\00:20:28.92
notice, he says
Jesus is equal with God,
00:20:28.92\00:20:31.76
"but made
himself of no reputation,
00:20:31.76\00:20:34.20
taking the form of a bondservant
00:20:34.20\00:20:35.90
and coming in
the likeness of men."
00:20:35.90\00:20:37.77
So Christ willingly
sacrificed everything
00:20:37.77\00:20:41.10
in order to become one of us.
00:20:41.10\00:20:43.17
"And being found in appearance
as a man," Paul continues,
00:20:43.17\00:20:47.01
"He humbled Himself
00:20:47.01\00:20:48.28
and became obedient
to the point of death,
00:20:48.28\00:20:50.21
even the death of the cross.
00:20:50.21\00:20:52.21
Therefore God also
has highly exalted Him
00:20:52.21\00:20:55.32
and given Him the name
which is above every name,
00:20:55.32\00:20:58.09
that at the name of
Jesus, every knee should bow,
00:20:58.09\00:21:01.49
of those in heaven,
and of those on earth,
00:21:01.49\00:21:04.06
and of those under the earth,
00:21:04.06\00:21:05.49
and that every
tongue should confess
00:21:05.49\00:21:08.40
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."
00:21:08.40\00:21:13.00
Christ's glory is
found in His humility.
00:21:14.50\00:21:17.84
The Bible teaches that the
creator became a human being
00:21:17.84\00:21:20.74
so that he could
deal with our problem,
00:21:20.74\00:21:22.74
and there's no
mistaking that Paul was teaching
00:21:22.74\00:21:25.81
the full deity of Christ.
00:21:25.81\00:21:28.98
In fact, when Paul says
that every knee will bow
00:21:28.98\00:21:32.72
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
00:21:32.72\00:21:36.06
he's lifting that language
straight from the book of Isaiah
00:21:36.06\00:21:39.49
out of chapter 45,
and here's what that says.
00:21:39.49\00:21:43.16
It says, "'Look
to Me and be saved,
00:21:43.16\00:21:45.10
All you ends of the earth,
00:21:45.10\00:21:46.74
for I am God and
there is no other.'"
00:21:46.74\00:21:49.30
So we're clearly
talking about God.
00:21:49.30\00:21:51.34
He says, "'I
have sworn by Myself;
00:21:51.34\00:21:54.14
the word has gone out of
My mouth in righteousness,
00:21:54.14\00:21:56.54
and shall not return,
that to Me,'" that's God.
00:21:56.54\00:21:59.88
"'every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall take an oath.'"
00:21:59.88\00:22:04.92
When Paul wrote
that every knee would bow
00:22:06.12\00:22:06.99
and every tongue confess
00:22:06.99\00:22:07.96
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
00:22:07.96\00:22:09.76
it would have
created a lot of controversy
00:22:09.76\00:22:11.93
in the Jewish community,
00:22:11.93\00:22:13.36
because he had just
declared Jesus was the God
00:22:13.36\00:22:17.47
that Isaiah was talking about,
00:22:17.47\00:22:20.10
and this is frankly
00:22:20.10\00:22:21.34
what all the
earliest Christians believed.
00:22:21.34\00:22:23.97
I mean, just have a look
at the book of Revelation
00:22:23.97\00:22:26.11
where Jesus has
several important titles.
00:22:26.11\00:22:29.11
Here's what it
says in Revelation 1:8.
00:22:29.11\00:22:31.38
Jesus says, "'I am
the Alpha and the Omega,
00:22:31.38\00:22:35.62
the Beginning and
the End,' says the Lord,
00:22:35.62\00:22:37.39
'who is and who was and
who is to come, the Almighty.'"
00:22:37.39\00:22:41.92
Then you have this in verse 10:
00:22:41.92\00:22:43.53
"'I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the First and the Last.'"
00:22:43.53\00:22:47.86
And wouldn't you know it,
00:22:47.86\00:22:49.30
that's another quote
from that book of Isaiah,
00:22:49.30\00:22:51.77
this time, Chapter 44.
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"Thus says the
Lord," Isaiah writes,
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and when you see the word
LORD in all capital letters,
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that's the
translator's way of telling you
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it's Yahweh or Jehovah.
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"Thus says the
LORD, the King of Israel,
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and his Redeemer,
the LORD of hosts:
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'I am the First
and I am the Last;
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beside Me there is no God.'"
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The First and the Last is
Jesus, according to the Bible,
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and the First
and the Last is God.
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Look, I know a lot of
people balk at the concept
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of a God who is three
and one at the same time,
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and frankly, I see why,
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because it is a difficult
concept to get your brain
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around. So some
people out there now insist
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the idea of a triune God is
nothing but a pagan invention
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that wormed its
way into Christianity
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because of
Constantine, in the 4th century,
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when a lot of
pagan ideas, frankly,
00:23:44.92\00:23:46.15
really were making
their way into the church.
00:23:46.15\00:23:48.92
That really did happen.
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But the idea that Jesus is
the creator and the eternal God,
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look, that did not come
from Constantine, not at all.
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It's a concept that
permeates the scriptures,
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and there's just no question
that this book, the Bible,
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presents Jesus as
God in human flesh.
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And in just a
moment, I'll be right back
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to tell you why
that's so important.
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- [Presenter 3] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:24:18.02\00:24:22.29
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:24:22.29\00:24:26.90
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:24:26.90\00:24:29.03
and come away
scratching your head,
00:24:29.03\00:24:30.80
you're not alone.
00:24:30.80\00:24:32.23
Our free Focus on
Prophecy guides are designed
00:24:32.23\00:24:35.00
to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:24:35.00\00:24:37.24
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:24:37.24\00:24:39.71
for you and our world.
00:24:39.71\00:24:41.34
Study online, or
request them by mail,
00:24:41.34\00:24:43.75
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:24:43.75\00:24:46.68
- The ancient
pagan philosophers spoke
00:24:47.85\00:24:50.02
of an ultimate
God, a Supreme deity,
00:24:50.02\00:24:52.92
as if He was so far
removed from our daily reality
00:24:52.92\00:24:57.06
that we would not be able
to grasp who God really is
00:24:57.06\00:25:00.50
until we ourselves died
and became spirit beings,
00:25:00.50\00:25:03.90
we left this
mortal coil, so to speak,
00:25:03.90\00:25:07.30
and in nearly
every world religion
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outside the Abrahamic religions,
the religions of the Bible,
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you have an imperfect race
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that's striving to find a
path back towards a perfect God,
00:25:15.88\00:25:20.48
but in the narrative found
in the Christian scriptures,
00:25:20.48\00:25:23.32
in the Bible,
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you have a God
who knows full well
00:25:24.65\00:25:27.02
that you and I can't
fix our own problems,
00:25:27.02\00:25:29.19
we cannot redeem ourselves.
00:25:29.19\00:25:31.39
If you and I are just
left to our own devices,
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we will never again reflect
the image of God properly,
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and we will
never be able to atone
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for the damage we've
caused in this universe.
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And so instead of
waiting for us to come to Him,
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God makes the
first move in this book.
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Just listen to verse
19, now, of Colossians 1,
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where Paul writes,
"For it pleased the Father
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that in Him," that's Jesus,
"all the fullness should dwell,
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and by Him to reconcile
all things to Himself, by Him,
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whether things on
earth or things in heaven,
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having made peace
through the blood of His cross."
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You and I couldn't do
it, so He did it for us.
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You and I put a serious
blemish on this creation
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when our selfish choices
began to tell a horrible story
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about the God who
made us in the first place,
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and the just thing and
the fair thing for God to do
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would have been to just
wipe us out of existence
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and start all over.
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That would have
been perfectly fair.
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We were a serious problem,
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and it would have been
the easiest thing to do
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to just replace us,
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but instead, God
does the merciful thing.
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He becomes one of us,
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and He lives the life
that we failed to live,
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and then He pays the
price for our sins Himself.
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And what that really means
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is that even though God
didn't create this mess,
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He also didn't leave it
for somebody else to clean up.
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I mean, this isn't His
problem, not ultimately,
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but He owned it anyway,
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and now you and I
are once again able
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to describe
ourselves as children of God.
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And what the
Bible actually promises
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is that Christ, who has
taken human form now forever,
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plans to live with us here
on this earth for eternity.
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So if this story is true,
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if the Bible is telling
the truth about who Jesus is,
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I can't think of
anything more important
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you could do right now
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than to go and give this
book another honest look.
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You may have
written this book off,
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but if this story is true,
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you should
probably pay attention.
00:27:34.38\00:27:35.92
I mean, you
have nothing to lose,
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and you would have
absolutely everything to gain.
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I'm Sean Boonstra,
thanks for joining me.
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This has been Authentic.
00:27:44.09\00:27:45.66
[upbeat music]
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