The Truth About Christ!

                                          Transfiguration Sunday

        Introduction:

A.   The Transfiguration is about God identifying who Christ was.  After the disciples mistakenly equated Jesus with Elijah and Moses, God declares, AThis is my beloved son, hear him!@

 

     B.   There are a lot of different ideas in the world today

          about who Christ is!

 

C.   Some say, "that Christ was just a good man."  Others

say, "Christ was just a prophet."

 

D.   In a world with a lot of mixed up ideas about who

Christ was and is, let's look this morning at "The

Truth About Christ."

 

                            Prayer

                          Mark 9:2-9

                  Matt. 1:18-25 & Heb. 9:24-28

 

I.   Oh yes, He was a human! We see this from our first reading: the birth narrative of Jesus from Matt. 1:18-25.

 

A.   He was born of a woman.

1.   He had a body!

2.   He felt pain!

3.   He felt hurt!

4.   He felt joy!

5.   He had all of the normal emotions!

6.   He got tired!

7.   Christ can help us because he has really lived

     life!

 

B.   He was tempted as we are tempted. Matt. 4

1.   Temptation is not a sin; the sin is in the

yielding to temptation.

2.   Christ didn't yield; he had no sin!  II Cor. 5:21                                                     

¹  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we

 might become the righteousness of God.

 

3.   Christ can help us overcome temptation!

 

4.   Christ can help us to fully live and love as God

would have us to because Christ has experienced

life as a human!

a.   He can help us to love those on the outside

of our circle of relationships!

              b.   He can help us to love those who are

different!

              c.   He can help us to love those who we may not

agree with!

              d.   He can help us to love those who are

outcasts of society!

e.   He can help us to love those who are new to

     our community or country!

 

II.  But, He was also God!

 

A.   This is the basis of Christianity!

 

A.      Joseph was not Jesus' physical father!  We see that in

     our first scripture: Matt. 1:18.

 

C.   Espoused: Like engagement; except it took a divorce to stop an espousal or betrothal.

 

D.   Christ was of the Holy Spirit!  vs. 20

1.   Christ wasn't illegitimate!

2.   Mary hadn't slept with any man; she was a virgin!

 

E.   Christ was God! 

John 1:1 & 14 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the

Word was God  14  And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and

we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father=s only son, d full of grace

and truth.

 

F.   "We beheld his glory;" we saw how God was!

 

III. And, He was and is the Savior! “He will save his people from their sins!” vs. 21

 

A.   Savior:   One who saves or delivers.

 

B.   Christ saves us from the punishment that we deserve!

Rom. 6:23a     "For the wages of sin is death;"

 

What is this death?

 

1.   It is separation from God  (from the living).

II Thess. 1:9  "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the                                presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power:"

2.   In a place the Bible calls Hell.

Matt. 10:28 "Rather fear him which is able to  destroy both soul and body in hell."

 

              a)   The Bible says a lot about this place called

                   hell; it speaks of it being a place of pain

                   and punishment.  (Matt. 22:13 & Matt. 3:12

                   Don=t read.)

b)   But I think the worst thing about hell is it

being a place of separation from the God of

goodness! Imagine:  The good things in life;

a hug from a child, the love of your spouse,

the love of a friend, someone who cares.

These are all based on the goodness of God, and Hell is separation from that God of goodness.

c)   And it is easy to find!

Matt. 7:13     "Wide is the gate, and broad

Is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at:"

 

All we have to do is fail to accept Christ,

and we will find it!

 

C.   Again, CHRIST IS SAVIOR; he paid the price so we don't  have to go there.  Heb. 9:24-28 

1.   Christ paid the price for our sins!  I believe that Christ went to Hell for us.  Look at the crucifixion:

a.   The sky became dark.  Matt. 27:45

b.   Christ experienced separation from the God

of goodness as he cried out, "My God, My

God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matt. 27:46

2.   One day, we will face judgement.

3.   What will matter then is whether or not we have accepted Christ and are living for Him!

4.   Talk about the Nicene Creed on pg. 880 UMH.

Conclusion:

As Christians and being human, we won't agree on

everything, but on these facts about Christ, we can and

must agree!  In true Wesleyan theology, this is one of the essentials!

 

A.   Christ is able to help us in life because He's been there: He was human!

         

B.   Christ was able to pay the price for our sin because

he had no sin and was God!

 

C.   He is Savior!!

 

D.   Have you accepted Him as your Savior?  You can open

your heart to Christ today as we encounter Christ at the table; if you do, let me know so that I can help you as you begin your journey with Christ!

Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion