How to Study the Bible III - Greek Old & New Testaments III

Well, we're looking for the third week now at the Greek Old and New Testaments. We've pointed out that the Greek Old Testament, translated roughly a couple centuries before the New Testament era, offers a lot of insights into words that are used in the New Testament and how they were understood. but a good deal of the quotes of the Old Testament in the New Testament are from that Greek Old Testament, translated before the New Testament era, a couple of centuries before, roughly.

So what I want to take a look at today is the deity of Christ, and we're not going to cover the whole subject today, but just the introduction. But it's an important one, and it's a significant one, especially when we're starting off looking at passages in the Gospel of John, and see where John got those.

And so, one of the things we point out, in both the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation, also written by John, there's a pattern of sevenths. John tends to pick patterns of sevenths. when we point out here is the seven statements by Christ that I am, seven metaphorical statements. He actually has other I am statements aside from these, but these I am statements are metaphors, there are seven of them. And then, can you think of other set patterns of seven in the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation?

Seven churches, yep. You got that. Doesn't he talk about seven spirits of Christ? Seven spirits of revelation, right? Sevenfold spirit. There's also like seven bowls. Yeah, there's the judgments, there's seven seals. seven trumpets and seven bowls, right, in that sequence.

Yeah. I listened to a CD once and he said there was 280 something. I'm sorry, what? I listened to a CD once and the guy was saying that they found like 280 different groups of seven in the book of Revelations, but he got really deep into it, like adverbs and the seven things that they actually show in that book.

Yeah, it's a phenomenal masterpiece of a book. In the Gospel of John, apart from these seven I Am statements with metaphors, Jesus performs seven miracles. And the first of the seven is turning water into wine. But he goes through and performs seven miracles through the Gospel of John.

Sir? Yeah. Now, as far as the I Am statements, are those Uh, each in the Greek, pego eimi? That's not the correct answer. Uh, yes. Yes they are, and we'll be taking a look at exactly that. Egoémi? Egoémi. And what you see listed here is sometimes he says it multiple times, and so it actually says, I am, egoémi, in the original text, those multiple times. So, what we have here, for example, is I am the bread of life, In John 6, 35 and 48, and in verse, I think it's 51, he says, I am the living bread.

And it's a goybi. Is it? Yeah, but that's not, I listed that here because it's said differently. But it's a similar idea. I see. Yeah, so we have behind the I am, wherever we capitalize that, it's literally I, I am. I, I am. So it's emphatic. And we give it the strongest numbers, 1474 and 1510. And so John 1028 here is the first one we'll take a look at. 1024 rather.

Therefore I said to you that you will die on your sins, for unless you believe that I am a Go-A-Me, you will die on your sins. He is not actually there. He is just an addition by the English translators. Yes, and so that's why on here I put it in italics. It's literally, therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. Now what does it mean to die in your sins?

To be separated from. Okay, so to be separated. To be separated from. From Him. You're going to die physically and you'll be separated in terms of not joining to and having fellowship with God and a relationship with Him. Now think about that. If you are in Christ, what does that mean?

We're separated from sin? We're separated from sin, separated from the sin nature, yeah. Which one of the identification truths? Here's one of the identification truths. We are in Christ in his death, burial, resurrection, ascension and seeding. Okay, so being in Christ means that we are joined to him and separated from the sin nature and the law and the world, right, in his crucifixion. If we're in Christ, are we in our sins? No, we're not in our sins because we're in His righteousness. We're dead to sin. Right, we've died in relationship to the sins. But the person who is not in Christ, they are positionally in their sins.

People will say things like, oh boy, I got away with that one. And the reality is, your sins are stuck to you, you're in them as an unbeliever. And that's what Jesus is saying here. The Apostle Paul says similar things. Formerly, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Isn't that a result of the forgiveness that you get when you believe?

Yeah, when we believe, there's a positional statement we are in Christ and therefore in his righteousness and no longer in the sins. But unless these guys believe, he's talking to guys who don't believe. Unless you believe, you'll die positionally in them. So what do they have to believe? They need to believe who he is, right?

And it goes along with that, and what he has done or will do. Here's John 8, 56-59, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. So imagine what these Jewish leaders are thinking. What? How do you know what Abraham thought about this day? So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old, matter of fact he is not even 40, and have you seen Abraham? So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. Not I was, not I was, but I am. But what is the significance of I am?

His eternality. He looks at all times as present. He sees the beginning from the end. God is not foretelling the future. He is seeing the future in the present, and coming back to now, which is the present, and telling us what that future is that he is seeing in the present. So it's no great trick or anything like that. He is simply seeing all times as now. Well isn't that the essence of eternity? I mean eternity, you wouldn't have past, you wouldn't have future, you're living in the present time. Constantly. Constantly.

It also explains why God only identifies those with Christ, in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seeding, who believe. He doesn't do that with unbelievers. It doesn't happen. So He knows, using our language, in advance, who's going to believe, and then takes us spiritually, and identifies us with that time, in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seeding, and then applies that using our language, back into the present for you and me.

But it's no big deal because he sees all times as now. He has no difficulty with that. In this passage, what does the Greek specifically mean when it says, he saw my day, because obviously Abraham was not there to see his day. So does that mean that theophany, that when Christ was present with Abraham, is that what he's talking about? He saw it. He isn't saying Abraham sees it, but Abraham looks forward to it. and was glad.

So why would Abraham be looking forward to the day when Christ came? He was looking for a Redeemer. One is you find way back in the Old Testament that the Old Testament saints were looking for a Redeemer. They were looking forward to Christ's day and His cross and His presence. But, so that's one thing, he's looking forward to that day. God had made promises.

Yeah, Morgan? Well, is it true that he's looking forward because that's where his faith lies? Yeah, just look, he'd gotten all these promises. How much of it did he see? None of it. Yeah, it was all on God's promise, even up to the day he died, right? He saw a very little bit, you know, his wife had a son at an old age, but really he saw none of it. The land that I will show you, who gets it? Your descendants, right? Yeah, it's not you.

So Abraham was looking far forward in faith, right? So here's Jesus, before Abraham was born, I am. In a very insightful, present tense, rather than, before Abraham was born, I was, you know. And the Greek there is literally saying, before Abraham came into existence, I am. Before Abraham came into existence, I am. And their response was, eh, right? Now how do they respond? I didn't believe it. They wanted to stone him dead. They wanted to stone him. The claim to deity is clear and the Jews reaction reflects that.

So two chapters later in John 10 after Jesus made double statements of I am the door and I am the good shepherd as listed up in the chart about there because he said I am the door twice and I am the good shepherd twice The Jewish leaders say, if you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe the works that I do in my Father's name. Please testify of me. But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

So some key things to bring up here. This is on top of page two. One, the Christ, as we pointed out last week, refers to the Messiah, especially in a Jewish context. Caiaphas comes up and asks, Jesus, and in the time of interrogation, are you the Christ? He means, are you the Messiah? An open claim to be the Messiah might spark the ire of the Romans, who put down multiple uprisings by messiahs, people who claim to be the Messiah. So, okay, we've got another one here.

So the Sadducees did not believe in a Messiah at all, and the Pharisees believed in the Messiah as the descendant of David, but not as deity. This is key. So if Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, which they're not so sure of, because the Messiah, for one thing, is going to love the Pharisees.

The Sadducees don't even believe in one. So Caiaphas, who is a Sadducee, asking Jesus, are you the Messiah? It doesn't matter what Jesus answers, right? Ha, ha, ha, funny joke. But the Pharisees did believe in the Messiah, but they believed the Messiah was a descendant of David, and they could go over to the temple, look at the records, and see Jesus was qualified as a descendant of David. Okay, no problem there. But they did not believe Messiah was deity. So for Jesus to claim to be Messiah and Deity, to them that's bogus. Automatic. Cross off the list. Yes?

What did the Sadducees believe in? I mean, they were scholars of the Old Testament, weren't they? Now, here's the interesting thing. We have no writings by the Sadducees. So all of the writings that we have that tell us about the Sadducees are from their opponents. So that's part one. Which might not be totally accurate. Well, yeah, if you were to ask a Sadducee, is this true? And they might go, well, not, you know, kind of hemming and hawing. But nonetheless, what we have from their opponents in the New Testament is counted as their opponents. What we have from the opponents is that they did not believe in resurrection.

They had been impacted, unlike the Pharisees, they had been impacted by Greek philosophy, and specifically Epicurus had impacted their philosophy. And so they were skeptical, very skeptical of things. They didn't believe in miracles, angels, resurrection. you know, Messiah. They were the amillennialists of their era. They didn't believe in a coming kingdom. They can only believe what they can see, basically. Yeah, and basically, you know, there's a resurrection, you know, so... Never seen one, though. Yeah, so they had a skepticism that came out of their acceptance of Greek philosophy. So the Apostle Paul, for example, spoke in Acts 17 to Stoic and Epicurean philosophers. It was those Epicurean philosophers that impacted the Sadducees.

So, for Jesus to claim deity, repeatedly to say, Ego Emi, for example, before Abraham was born, Ego Emi. To repeatedly say that was to them, to cross this guy off the list. The claim of deity means he's just a nut job, and he's a horrible one at that, but he's not the Messiah. Why didn't the Pharisees believe the Messiah? That's just how they read it. And so anything that looked, and Jesus challenged them on it, but anything that looked like Jesus was claiming deity, they're not going there.

The next one, the Jews considered Jews calling God our father to be acceptable, but calling God my father implied a special and unique relationship with the father. So this additionally caused the problem. And effectively, the Jews asked for Jesus to tell them plainly that he was the Messiah. Jesus' answer goes at least one better than that.

He said, I'll go beyond just telling you I'm the Messiah. I'll tell you I'm a deity. So he didn't answer their question, am I the Christ? He answered the question, am I a deity? And he said, yes. Isn't that amazing? So this ought to go on better than that. Right? So this is a bold statement. Then Jesus told them, and again this is all about deity, not his messiahship.

John 10.30, I and the Father are one essence.

If you haven't let all those witnesses come to your door, they're going to tell you that John 10.30 says I and the Father agree as one. No, that's not what it means. It's one essence.

And then look at that, John 10.36, just a few verses later, I said, Son of thee, God, am. Inserted there for smooth English, I am. But, yeah, I said I am. Thank you. I have these spring allergies blowing up.

Okay, so John 10.38, the Father is in me, and I am the Father. So there is a unity here. He is not claiming to be just a descendant of David, is he? So, yeah, they say, if you're the Christ, just tell us plainly. He says, nah, I'll tell you I'm deity, plainly. Right? Amazing.

So it's saying, I am the Father? in existence, because it's Amy right there? I'm finally processing what you said about the Jehovah Witnesses, but I'm looking now at the Greek, and so if I understand what you're saying, the NSM? I am the father of one Ark. One R. It would be a very literal way to do it. So basically, in the complete essence, one R. We are of the same essence. Thank you. And it's just... It's not just like the Jehovah's Witnesses will say, well, we agree as one. No, that's not what it says. We are of one essence. Father and I, one R. Right?

With these words, the Jews were picking up stones and trying to seize him. So they were right there. This guy is guilty of blasphemy. He is claiming deity multiple times right in front of us. Right in front of us. So these are powerful words. So Jesus' statements of, I am, began this series of statements which come across as a clear claim to deity. John also has Jesus saying, I am, in a couple of other important contexts. From now on, I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am."

In Isaiah chapter 40 through 48, Isaiah writes as God's speaking. God's talking. And he doesn't even say, that says the Lord. Here's what God says. And so what we have here is like Isaiah chapters 40-48 God says because the Jews are being tempted by a lot of these idols and God says multiple things to indicate his character different from those idols. And one of the things he says is is, I am unique from these idols.

I will tell you the future before it comes to pass. So what it means is just do. I'm going to tell you the future before it comes to pass. The exact same thing. And then it says, Ego Emi, just like it does multiple times in Isaiah 40 through 48 in the Greek Old Testament. And we'll be looking at that shortly. So here's John 18, 1 through 9. And I switch away from saying Ego Emi. I just put I am. But here's how it reads. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden in which he entered with his disciples. It was the Garden of Gethsemane.

Now Judas also, who was betraying him, knew the place where Jesus had often met there with his disciples. Judas then, having received a Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon him, went forth and said to them, Whom do you seek? They answered him, Jesus the Nazarene.

He said to them, I am, Egoemi. And Judas also, who was betrayed, was standing with them. So when he said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground. Was this a couple of soldiers falling to the ground? No, this was hundreds, something like around 600 that they brought to arrest him. Therefore he asked them, again he asked them, whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus answered, I told you that I am.

So if you seek me, let these go their way, to fulfill the word which you spoke of those whom you have I feel that when he said, I am the second time, I get the idea that they would have fallen down to the ground again if he had not continued speaking and saying, so if you seek me, let these guys go on their way.

Otherwise, they would have fallen down on the ground again. Isn't that amazing? He stopped speaking. Because it seemed like he had the authority of God in what he was saying there. He could have turned them all to dust and had them all killed right there if he wanted. Right. Yeah.

Okay, so down here on the bottom in verse 9, it said, to fulfill the word which he spoke, is that God? Of those whom you have given me, I have lost not one. So does that mean Judas was not given? This is a prophecy and I don't know the exact reference.

Let's see. So I have to look that one up. But yeah, basically I haven't lost one. Okay, but in saying that, then what? You have to assume from that, I guess, is that God did not give Judas to Jesus because actually he lost Judas, right? Let's think about Judas. You had a question or comment?

In Psalms, I don't know if this is the link, but in Psalms 41.9 it says, Even my close friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread was lifted up, has lifted up his heel against me. I don't know if it's found in that general area of the Psalms. Psalm 41-9, that's the first one I have.

The thing about this, when Jesus chose the twelve, did he know Judas was the guy? Sure. He knew it at the outset, when he picked him. So Judas was not selected to be a disciple and be turned into an apostle. He was selected to what? To betray Christ. That was his appointed place. Well, he didn't believe since he went to the Romans to turn Christ in. He was just an opportunist. He was saying, my opportunity is done here. Right? Okay, so yeah, Morgan? I'm sorry, are you saying that Judas is not saved? I don't believe that Judas was saved.

Another reference is John 6. 70 and 71 it says Jesus answered them did I myself not choose you the twelve and yet one of you is a devil now he meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot for he one of the twelve was going to betray him and that's found in John six six which is early so six seven right he knew at the outset so lost not a one it sets aside Judas who we knew he would be lost at the outset and in fact never was saved never was a candidate for being an apostle. So when you really think about it, Dan, I know that they elected Matthias, but Paul said that he was a disciple out of time, or whatever it was, and Jesus did call him on the road to Damascus. So his twelve actually, in essence, were called by Jesus and Judas when the men went. And he deliberately chose him Let's look at the top of page 3, and then Revelation, the Apostle John continues in declarations of Christ's deity. Here's Revelation 1, 8-11, and 17-20.

And it starts off, and look at this carefully, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Okay, so who is the Egoemi and the Alpha and the Omega. What's that? The Father? Yeah, this is the Lord God, the Almighty. Okay, so then we look down here in verse 9.

I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamon, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me, saying, Do not be afraid.

I am, ego emi, the first and the last, and the living one, and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. Therefore write the things that you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels or messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

So, moving, yeah, Morgan? Just real quick, so like, in that first part, Revelation 1, 8-11, we, you said, the Lord, the Father is I Am Alpha Omega, correct? Yes, and now, having said that, you will see, like a lot of these red letter editions, you will see that in red.

Right? But it says, the Lord God, the Almighty. So since they're one essence, that's how they can both say it. That's right. And you'll find later on in Revelation, we're not going to get to all of this, but later on in Revelation, you'll find that God and the Lamb are sitting on the same throne. Right? One throne. Yes?

But Jesus would not say of himself, Adonai, right? Or however you say that, meaning Almighty. He would not say that about himself, right? That's a God term, because that's a name for God. Do you mean when he was here? Where? Well, the Almighty, that's God. So Jesus never referred to himself as the Almighty, did he?

That I'd have to check. But let's notice something here. We're going to see something to look down here. Revelation 22, 12 to 13 and 16. Behold, I am coming quickly, my reward is with me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Alright, who's that? Who's speaking? Jesus. That's clearly Jesus because he's coming, right? And his reward is with me. He is the one who judges and he does both punishments and rewards, right? 16, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am, Egoemi, the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star. Is that Jesus or the Father? It's clearly Jesus.

So you have the Egoemi claim for both this Revelation 1.8 passage and they go and meet Jesus.

I think it's also interesting where he placed his right hand on me, and at that point in time, when Jesus bowed to him, he did not tell him to get up. Which is always the case with every angel. Like later in Revelations, when John bows to the angel, he says to get up. The same thing happened in Daniel. Right. But does Jesus say get up? do that, right? Yeah.

Okay, so here's a look at Isaiah 43.10 and what it does is take a section of the Greek Old Testament in interlinear form where you have the Strong's number and then the Greek and then the English below that. So it says in 43.10, be to me witnesses and I am a witness says the Lord God and my servant whom I have chosen so that you know and should trust and should perceive that egoi me, that I am. God makes that statement. Before me did not exist another God and after me it will not be. There was no God before me and there's not going to be another one after me. So what does that say about the Mormon doctrine?

It doesn't work, does it? So then we have on verse Excuse me, on page 4, Isaiah 43, 25, and it reads like this, I am, I am, so it's Ego Emi, Ego Emi, twice. In Hebrew manner of speaking, to double say something was to emphasize it greatly. Comfort, comfort my people, Isaiah would write. thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, it's actually literally thou wilt keep him in peace, peace. So it's a Hebrew figure of speech to emphasize something.

So I am, I am twice is for emphasis. I am, I am twice. I am he, and the he is actually there in this part of the Greek. and the one wiping away your lawless deeds because of me and your sins, and in no way shall I remember. I am I am, and I am the one who is wiping away your sins. Isn't ego-a-me also emphatic? Isn't it like I-I-am? So it's double emphatic. Yes, it's I-I-am. It's literally I-I-am. I am.

So in these Isaiah passages, Agoimi, Strong's numbers 1474 and 1510 are present in all three verses in the Greek Old Testament. Revelation 117 and 2213 seem to reflect John's translation of the Hebrew for these passages rather than drawing from the Greek Old Testament.

But here you have Isaiah 41.4 Who has performed an accomplishment, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last, I am He. So the Ego Eni is there in the Greek text, but the translation here from the Hebrew matches up with the Greek, actually better, the Greek in the Revelation, better than the Greek Old Testament.

Isaiah 44.6, Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God beside me. Did Jesus claim to be the first and the last in Revelation? Yes.

And so it's Isaiah 48.12, Listen to me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called, I am he, I am the first, I am also the last.

And so when he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, three things, it's actually redundant. Because Alpha and Omega are what letters in the Greek alphabet? AMZ letters. They're like R-A-M-Z. And the rabbis would have said Aleph-Tetov in the Hebrew. So I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, beginning and the end, is triple redundancy. He is going to be very emphatic, saying the same thing in three different ways.

But God is saying Isaiah 44.6, right? Yeah. Okay. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts. Isn't that something?

So when we look at Exodus 3.6 in the Greek Old Testament, we realize why Matthew 22.32, Mark 12.26, and Acts 7.32 all quote God as saying in Exodus 3.6 I am, egoi me, the God of, and the full text says, of your father or your fathers, right? And then the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. By the way, that Strong's number is 1473, isn't it? 1474. Do I have 1474? I think you're correct. Ego is 1473. 1473. OK. Thank you.

Now, at first, Jesus uses this in arguing with the Sadducees. And what's he arguing with the Sadducees about? Because remember, what do the Sadducees not believe in? They don't believe in the Messiah, but they also don't believe in a resurrection. And so he's telling them, wait a minute, you guys don't believe in the resurrection and the afterlife and all that. And he's saying, I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, not I was the God of Abraham and not I was the God of, but I am right now. Therefore there is an afterlife and resurrection. That means they're still alive. Yes. That's exactly the point.

And they were shut down. They didn't know what to say. Especially because it was right out of one of their books. So the Sadducees did not believe this even though they believed the first five books? The Sadducees only... Okay, here's the confusing part. Again, what the Sadducees believed we only get from their opponents. All the early church fathers said that the Sadducees only believed those first five books. But they were also skeptical even of the things in it.

Okay, so that's how they can get to where they were, even if they say yes for the five, except not the parts about death, or the Messiah, or any of that. They just discount it. I believe in the first five books, but I'm still skeptical of this, and all these miracles, and the angels. Okay, all right, now I get it. They just filter that out.

The Sadducees have been influenced by Greek philosophy, and the Pharisees thought Greek philosophy was like pig meat. They just thought it was disgusting. So it never got ingrained, the Greek philosophy and the Greek skepticism, never got ingrained among the Pharisees. It did later get ingrained among the Christians, about a couple of centuries after the New Testament era.

So you have here, this is on page 5, Exodus 3.14 of the Greek Old Testament, we see that the Lord is continuing to talk to Moses out of the burning bush, because remember that 3.6 that we looked at earlier was also out of the burning bush. And by the way, the burning bush, what did Moses see? Burning of fire, but not being consumed. And initially who spoke to Moses?

The angel of the Lord, who is who? Christ. Who is pre-incarnate Christ. The pre-incarnate Son of God is the angel of the Lord. So here is the angel of the Lord speaking to him, and then it switches over to God. So this talks about the deity of Christ. Then we have here in 314, and God said to Moses, Ego Emi. I am the one being, and he said, and thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, the one being has sent me to you.

Now, this is not an exhaustive study of either the occurrences of Ego Emi. There are a great many in Isaiah we haven't looked at. There are other places in both the Old and New Testament where Ego-Emi shows up. And, aside from Ego-Emi, there are other claims to deity.

Bottom line, I'm telling you, we just barely scratched the surface here. What we see is clear, but it's not exhaustive. There is much more to talk about. For example, egoimi is used, Isaiah in the Greek version will say egoimi and refer to God as the creator. So we haven't even touched on that aspect of things. So there's much more to take a look at. So I guess part of what I'm saying is this is an invitation. You can keep exploring this and there's much more. So we've just begun to scratch the surface of what the Bible has to say and even the Old Testament has to say about the deity of Christ.

And by the way, why does the deity of Christ matter? Well, if he's not God, then what are we doing here? Now, let's ask this question. If we don't believe that Christ is deity, can we be saved? Yes. Which one is it? buried and rose again except that we have yes you do because he at the very beginning in Genesis there was going to be one that was absolutely perfect and the only one who's absolutely perfect is God we the content of the gospel we say you're correct is that Christ died for your sins was buried and rose again that's the that's the essential content of the gospel yeah but he was a Passover lamb Passover lamb was a picture of perfection and also deity. So unless he was deity, he could not forgive sins. Let's turn to page 1. Turn to page 1, the middle of page 1. John 8 24.

Therefore I said to you that you will die on your sins for unless you believe that I am a go, a me, you will die in your sins. So it is who he is and what he has done, which at the core is he died for my sins, was buried and rose again. So this is the content of what must be believed, who he is and what he has done. Did Christ accomplish other things on the cross than dying for my sins and being buried afterwards and rising again? Yes, he did. He accomplished other things. He, for example, paid the bride price for the church. We were identified with him. So other things were accomplished.

Do I have to believe those things to be saved? No. So those are things that frankly most Christians learn about afterwards if they learn about them at all. They're not essential for salvation, although they are the result in those who believe. Yes? Well, if he wasn't deity, his crucifixion would be just like crucifying a man. Yes. And so it's the character of the crucifixion that is key there, isn't it? Yeah, Morgan? Well, and it's also to the sentient, or if he wasn't deity, the coverage of our sin and the freedom that we gain would be non-existent. Thank you.

It's critical to know that Christ is, I am, he is God. He's the beginning and the end. Because we worship a God who is a loving, gracious, all-knowing, caring, very intimately involved in the fibers of our life. That's why we have his word from Genesis to Revelation. So if you don't understand who you're being related to and why we have been given scripture, then you miss the critical point of our faith, who is a man who died for us and a God who cares so greatly. It's amazing.

As you look at these, you get a sense of, okay, what is core? What's a saving gospel? What's a saving gospel? And then, what are things that are learned otherwise, or on top of that, on top of what's essential to know and believe in order to be saved?

See, there are Christians around who will just say, we've just got to believe in Jesus, and that's it. What's the problem with that? So a lot of Jesus is around. Like which Jesus are we talking about? Yeah, there's no definition to it, there's no content to the gospel. There's no acknowledgement and recognition of who he is and what he's done. So if I just believe in Jesus as a really nice guy. Or as a prophet, or as a man. Yeah, as a prophet, as a man. And those are all a part of the truth, but it's an inadequate set of truths, right, for salvation. And it's certainly not going to help me much.

One of the things the ladies are studying is some of the false ideas about what Christ did on the cross. Origen, for example, taught that Christ paid a ransom to Satan. Right? Take off Satan. That's what Christ did on the cross. That's kind of upside down. What's that? I said that's upside down. Yeah. This wasn't to satisfy Satan. In the end, Satan both motivated Judas and lost out at the cross. Right?

Another one from Irenaeus was the recapitulation theory that is Christ died to give us a chance to be Adam again. Take us back to the garden and get it all fixed. Fix everything. Reincarnated as Adam. So you got that. And then you have the moral encouragement theory of Peter Abelard. The moral encouragement idea is that it encourages you to face up to evil and death and bad things that happen. So different ideas that people have put forward over time.

And about that same time, about roughly the year 1100, was when it was put forth with some depth. that Christ died in our place. He died as our substitute. It was expressed before that in little tiny bits, but significantly, Anselm was the one, the Italian theologian who put forth that idea. Christ died in our place instead of me. And this is the sacrificial lamb. This is the Passover. He died in our place so that I could live.

Okay, any other thoughts, questions? Yeah, Morgan? I have a question. So I'm going back to Exodus 3, you said that the burning bush, or the angel, you said the angel was... The angel of the Lord. Was the reincarnation, reincarnate Christ. No, pre, pre. Pre-reincarnate Christ. Pre-incarnate. Or pre-incarnate, excuse me. Right. And the way it says, pre-incarnate Son of God. Okay.

So in the passage, it's constantly referring to God God of your father, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. So I've not seen where that pre- There's a slide where I pulled this together because it starts in Genesis and goes back there and it continues on. Gideon also was approached by the angel of the Lord. So the hymn book isn't going to give me my answer. Exodus 3 verse 2. Okay? Exodus 3 verse 2, and the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush.

And where is it teased out that that's the pre-incarnate Jesus? What we look at is here it is in Genesis, Exodus, continuing on into the Old Testament, and then Christ comes and all of a sudden the angel of the Lord goes away. It appears throughout the Old Testament and goes away.

And when people have talked to the angel of the Lord, they'll say, I've seen God. As we see in this passage, it goes from the angel of the Lord to God. And so as God appears, the Son of God is the one who comes on with the human like appearance. Yeah. It continues on so it starts the angel of the Lord and then it says so the angel of the Lord appeared and then Moses talks and then in four it says when the Lord saw he said you know he spoke and then it says in five he said do not come near and it's still referencing the angel of the Lord and then it continues he said I am the God of your father the God of Abraham so the person who's talking is the angel of the Lord. And so it just, it follows it out that that person who's talking, if you get to six it says, he said also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac. And then in seven it says, I surely have seen the affliction of your people.

So the angel of the Lord is speaking as God. Yeah, the angel of the Lord speaks as God. There's a passage that just alternates between the angel of the Lord and And then when you get into the New Testament, the angel of the Lord appearances goes away. What you see is Christ once he's incarnated.

I'll send you some slide or two that I have on that that kind of summarizes it and brings out the various passages. Other thoughts, questions? Yeah, Stan? This is kind of a quick one, maybe too long to answer, but since God gave the disciples to Jesus and He didn't lose any, does that also mean that God gave all believers to Jesus too?

John 10.29 says yes.

John 10.29 says, yes, the Father has given them to me, and no one will snatch them out of his hand either.

By the way, we read John 10.28, and that's one where the wording and grammar is significant. And they shall never perish. Never is ume, which is in Greek, not not. And it means it's not the remotest chance that they will perish. And perish is a word used for go to hell. and perishes in the middle of the voice, there is not the remotest chance that they will go to hell and lose their salvation of their own doing.

John 10.29 is on page 1, actually. Yeah, yeah.

John 10.28 and 29 is there. 24 through 30. Right, in that passage. So, I skipped over that part of it, but yeah, that ends up being significant.

The Father gave the Jesus, you know, I have them, and I was given them by the Father, no one is going to snatch them out of my hand or the Father's. So if you think about that, he says that it's not the slightest chance that they're going to perish of their own doing, so I can't blow it, and the Son isn't going to let us go, and the Father isn't going to let us go, and no outside influence or force or person or entity will remove them out of my hand or the Father's hand. So are you safe? You're safe. Paul said the same thing at the end of Romans chapter 8. That's correct. Nothing will separate us from the love of God. Nothing. Nothing here, nothing there. Nothing, no way, no how. Not happening.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word and the assurance and certainty that we can have in it. We thank you as we look here, we get very clear indication of who Christ is. and the difference that makes and we just thank you for that and we just pray as we continue to study through how to study the Bible that we will gain more and more insights more and more tools in the end not to be just Greek geeks or you know students but to know you better and to love you more and we just pray these things in Jesus name amen