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How Jesus Was Able To Never Sin
Fred R. Coulter
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All of the responses we’re getting is as a result of just letting God do what He wants done. When we began in the 1980s we were all pretty well beaten, battered and bruised from theological warfare—among brethren supposedly. We just said that we’re just going to wait until God does what He wants to do, and we’re not going to go out and beat the bushes and run down the road starting ‘a great work for God.’ We let God do what He wants, so through a period of time it has built up this way.
I think we will continue that way and God will add who He wants, when He wants and so forth. Then we can be sure that it’s God doing it, rather than us doing it in the name of God, and maybe not come out the way God wants it.
In finishing this sermon I’m going to cover several things. Here’s part of the paper that I had, which was sent to me, and which helped provoke a lot of this. It’s from a little magazine called Sharpening Steel. Here is their concept of Who was Jesus? It comes kind of ethereal. Here’s what it says:
From Sharpening Steel: William Barclay explains that John pointed at Jesus and said, ‘Here is the mind of God. Here is the expression of the thought of God. Here is the Logos.
You get into doing things, saying things or preaching things that are not in the Scripture. Let’s see what it is that John said. That’s the biggest problem that so many people have when they’re reading study papers. They read the study papers and don’t go to the Scripture to see what the Scripture says.
John 1:29: “On the next day, John sees Jesus coming to him, and he says, ‘Behold the Lamb of God…’” [he didn’t say here is the mind of God] …Who takes away the sin of the world.”
Verse 35: “On the next day … [v 36]: …as he gazed upon Jesus walking, he said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God!’” John didn’t say the mind of God; he said “…the Lamb of God!”
This seems to be the root of the problem in understanding the idea John is trying express in his Gospel. It lies in the tendency of most theologians to mistakenly try to apply the law of mathematics to the formula that John presents in his prolog.
When they read that “the Word became flesh”…
He’s referring the Apostle John, not John the Baptist; but it really doesn’t make any difference. Neither one says that ‘In the beginning was the mind of God’ and so forth. It’s says: ‘The Word was God.’ As we’ve explained very thoroughly, there’s no way to get around it.
…and knowing this refers to Jesus, they immediately assume that the Word is equal to an the same as Jesus Christ.
You don’t assume that, the Bible shows it! All you have to do is read John 1. There is no assumption; it is a fact! That’s what was written.
This is the misconception: John did not say that the Word was Jesus, but that the Word became Jesus or was infleshed in God’s person. Somehow the message of God then became infleshed.
The Word equals God’s eternal quest to restore man to himself.
Has God been eternally questing to restore man to himself? No, not the way they think! God has a plan in which He’s going to do it.
God’s message of life: In the garden, rather than being fulfilled in his direct relationship with God, he was eventually tempted by the desire to be what he was not intended to be, and strove to become God.
In the law, man was faced with the impossible task of trying to come what he was not able to achieve. A rather ironic answer to the original sin.
In Christ, man is met with a viable recognizable image of God of which he can identify and in which he recognizes the life, which is the light of all men.
God’s eternal quest to restore man to the life, which he lost in the garden, in the Divine fellowship for which He was intended, is completed in the person of Jesus and the revelation of the Father.
As John states at the end of Gospel, if we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and this fact brings us to complete devotion of our Lord, then we have life in His name.
That’s how all of this gets twisted around! It’s really something! Then he gives a paraphrase of what he would translate it.
John 1:14: “And the Word was infleshed in the person of a man.”
Doesn’t say that!
John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh…” You go back and you find in the very first verse of the Gospel of John:
Verse 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
That’s Who the Word was! If the Word became flesh (v 14), we have a direct Bible instruction that God became flesh!
Verse 38: “Now when Jesus turned and saw them following, He said to them, ‘What are you seeking?’ And they said to Him, ‘Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, “Teacher”), where do You dwell?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They went and saw where He was dwelling, and they remained with Him that day. Now it was about the tenth hour. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard this from John and followed Him. First, he found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is, being interpreted, ‘the Christ’)” (vs 38-42).
No one is making an assumption the Word was Christ.
- The Word was God!
- The Word was made flesh!
- The Word was the Lamb of God!
- The Word was Christ!
Here it is right here! There’s no assumption to be made. It’s clear as a bell!
You see what happens when you get a lot of theologians writing a lot of things and they have their own ideas, rather than going by the Word of God, you get all of these misinterpretations.
Pertaining to what we discussed regarding the nature of Christ, that He took upon Himself the law of sin and death, was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, etc.
- How is that Jesus did not sin?
- Never sinned? Never committed a sin?
Verse 14: “And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and Truth.”
That’s why Jesus did not sin! He was “…full of grace and Truth.” That’s the main reason why Jesus didn’t sin. That’s something none of us are.
We’re human and we have, concerning God’s Spirit, an earnest, a begettal. We are not full of grace and Truth. Jesus was! That was the difference between Jesus and us, in addition to being the only begotten of the Father. This whole verse tells us an awful lot about the nature of Jesus, because there are those who say that Jesus did not have the same nature that we have. Well then:
- What do you do with the Scriptures that say that He took on flesh and blood?
- What do you do with the Scriptures that say that He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh?
- What do you do with these other Scriptures that we have?
- What was it that Jesus bore in His body?
The Greek there is ‘en’—within
- What did He bear within His body?
- What did Peter tell us?
1-Peter 2:24: “Who Himself bore our sins within His own body…” Isa. 53 says that He carried our sickness’; He carried our diseases.
What I’m trying to do is point out clearly that this is an important factor for us to understand.
Galatians 4:4: “But when the time for the fulfillment came, God sent forth His own Son, born of a woman, born under law”—subject to the Law so that if you sinned, you would bring upon you the death penalty! He was not over the Law; He was not above the Law; He was made under—or subject to—the Law.
Verse 5: “In order that He might redeem those who are under law…” You have the same statement applying here!
- under the Law referring to Christ
- under the Law referring to human beings
If human beings are under the Law and subject to death became of sin, then you have to conclude that Jesus—made under the Law—would be subject to death if He sinned. Under the Law means under the Law of sin and death!
- Does it mean that under the Law that you are subject to the law of sin and death? Yes!
- Can you have a total compensating factor from God the Father—full of grace and full of Truth—so that you would not sin? Yes!
Romans 8:2: Because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has delivered me… [set free or loosed] …from the law of sin and death.”
There it is very clear; and in the Greek it is that: the law of sin and death.
In Rom. 7 it says, ‘Within my members, for the Law being powerless in that it was weak through the flesh, God having sent His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin.’ The King James says sinful flesh. If you have sinful flesh, you have to have the law of sin and death in you. There’s no way around it. Otherwise, it is flesh, but it’s not sinful flesh.
Example: Adam was made of the flesh, made of the dust of the earth. When he was created he was neither righteous nor sinful. But when he sinned, then he brought the curse on him. In the day that you sin, you shall surely die! Death passed to all human beings because of that.
They know that within our very genes there is something that they can recognize that causes it to age and causes it to die. It’s inherited. Was there something missing in Adam? Yes, there were two things missing in Adam:
- the Spirit of God for eternal life
- the law of sin and death was not in him until he sinned
That was the curse that was given to him, which passed to all human beings from that time!
In order for Jesus to have the likeness of sinful flesh, or in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He had to have—inherited from His mother—the law of sin and death. If He didn’t have the law of sin and death in Him, how could He be tempted like we are? And be without sin? Why then did He have to pray and cry with strong crying unto Him Who was able to save Him from death?
Hebrews 5:5: “In this same manner also, Christ did not glorify Himself to become a High Priest… [while He was on earth] …but He Who said to Him, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You.’. Even as He also says in another place, ‘You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedec’; Who, in the days of His flesh… [What kind of flesh? The flesh of sin!] …offered up both prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because He feared God. Although He was a Son, yet, He learned obedience from the things that He suffered; and having been perfected…” (vs 5-9).
If He was totally perfect—someone is going to say that He was a Lamb without blemish; I’m not saying He had a blemish—Jesus was always perfect at every stage of His physical life in existence:
- inasmuch that He never sinned
- inasmuch as He was full of grace and Truth
- inasmuch as He was taught always of God the Father
- inasmuch that He always did the things that pleased the Father
There are a couple of other Scriptures that we need to cover in relationship to the one that is under the Law. Let’s see something else that God did to Jesus for us
Galatians 3:13: “Christ has redeemed [ransomed] us from the curse of the Law…”
If you’re subject to the Law, what is the curse of the Law? Death! That’s the curse that came on Adam.
“…having become a curse for us…” (v 13). Therefore, if He became a curse for us,
- if He had sinful flesh
- if He carried in His body our sins, sicknesses and diseases
- if He was made subject to and under the Law
- if He was being made a curse for us
Jesus had full human nature! Had to have!
“…(for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)” (v 13).
2-Corinthians 5:21: “For He [Christ] made Him Who knew no sin… [because He never sinned; He didn’t know sin; He never had guilt because He never sinned] …to be sin for us… [that’s the only reason He carried it] …so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
That’s how He was able to never sin, have ‘the law of sin and death’ within Him, be the Lamb without spot, and yet, do all of this and destroy it through death! That is tremendous! Absolutely fantastic!
There is a book called Evidence that Demands a Verdict Vol. 1 & 2 by Josh McDowell. I want to cover some of this and ask: If God became man, then what?
From: Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell.
If God became man then what would He be like? If GOD became man THEN what would He be like? Or Did Jesus possess the attributes of GOD? To begin to answer this question we must first answer another question, namely, why would GOD become man? We will use an ant illustration.
Imagine you are watching a farmer plow a field. You notice an ant hill will be plowed under by the farmer on his next time around. Because you are an ant lover, you run to the anthill to warn them.
Sounds like some our eco-freaks today!
First you shout to them the impending danger, but they continue with their work. You then try sign language and finally resort to everything you can think of, but nothing works. Why? Because you are not communicating with them. What is the best way to communicate with them? Only by becoming an ant can you communicate with them so they will understand.
If they don’t get out of the impending doom, they’re going to be killed!
Now, if GOD wanted to communicate with us, what would be the best way? We see that in order for Him to communicate with us, He could best do so by becoming a man and thus, reach us directly.
IF GOD BECAME MAN, THEN WE WOULD EXPECT HIM TO:
- Have an unusual entrance into life.
Yes, He did! The only human being to be born of a virgin and not have a physical father.
- Be without sin.
True! He was without sin, even though He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Let’s think on this in another way:
- if Jesus were not tempted in the way we are
- if Jesus did not have human nature as we have human nature
It’s interesting that the Jewish New Testament translates Rom. 8 and Heb. 2 that He took upon Him the same nature as we have—which is a correct translation, by the way. I might add that they believe in Elohim as we explained it. They also believe that Jesus was God before He became human. They have an interesting presentation of works of law. They call it ‘legalism,’ which is nearly correct. But they also believe the same, so I found that very interesting.
John 8:46—Jesus says: “Which one of you can convict Me of sin?….”
It’s a whole lot harder to have done what Jesus did by having the law of sin and death in Him and not sinning, than if He were made in a different kind of flesh than we are made in; and He somehow was on the inside track so that there was no way He could possibly sin. If there were no way He could possibly sin:
- Why was He tempted?
- What would be the use in tempting Him? There would be no use in tempting Him!
Here’s how He did it:
Verse 23: “And He said to them, ‘You are from beneath… [in arguing with the Jews] …I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. That is why I said to you that you shall die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Who are You?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The one that I said to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you; but He Who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him, these things I speak to the world.’ But they did not know that He was speaking to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of man…’” (vs 23-28).
Remember, every time the Jews heard the words Son of man they knew that this was the Messiah. They understood that.
“‘…then you yourselves shall know that I AM, and that I do nothing of Myself….’” (v 28). That’s how He was able to not sin. He did nothing of His own! Yet, there would be every temptation there to do that.
“‘…But as the Father taught Me, these things I speak. And He Who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone because I always do the things that please Him’” (vs 28-29). That’s what you would expect of the Son of God; if God became a man!
IF GOD BECAME MAN, THEN WE WOULD EXPECT HIM TO:
- Manifest the supernatural in the form of miracles.
I’m not going to go through all the miracles that Jesus did. McDowell lists a good number of them:
- He healed the sick
- He raised the dead
- He cured the lepers
fevers
infirmities
withered hands
deafness
blindness
He also did other things:
- control over the natural realm
- converting water into wine
- stilling a storm
- supernatural catch of the fish
- multiplying of food
- feeding of the 5,000 & 4,000
- walking on water
- money from a fish
- dried up fig tree
- three resurrections
Lazarus
widow’s son
Jarius’ daughter
You would expect Him to do that, and He did!
IF GOD BECAME MAN, THEN WE WOULD EXPECT HIM TO:
- Have an acute sense of difference from other men.
Which He did! He understood their thoughts. Remember what He told Nathaniel, when Nathaniel was sitting under the tree: I saw you before you even came here. That’s how He was able to not sin. That’s how He was able to overcome.
- Speak the greatest words ever spoken.
How great were those words? What did Jesus say of His words? Not of Himself! They came from God the Father. They were the Truth, the Life, the Way!
Luke 21:33[corrected]:“Heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words shall never pass away.”
Those are greater than any words of any human being—right? That’s pretty strong—isn’t it? How many times have we had to, as human beings, eat our own words? or Have been wrong?
IF GOD BECAME MAN, THEN WE WOULD EXPECT HIM TO:
- Have a lasting and universal influence.
Which Jesus has! For the world He is the salvation and He is the problem. He is the salvation for those who believe in Him; He’s a problem for those who don’t. There’s no way around it, and He is the only man in history of Whom you cannot take a middle-ground stance. You are either for Him and believe Him, or you are against Him. You can’t be both!
IF GOD BECAME MAN, THEN WE WOULD EXPECT HIM TO:
- Satisfy the spiritual hunger in man.
Which He did!
Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
John 7:37: “Now, in the last day, the great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and called out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
John 4:14: “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst…”
John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it fear.
John 6:35: “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time.’” There are many other Scriptures!
IF GOD BECAME MAN, THEN WE WOULD EXPECT HIM TO:
- Exercise power over death.
Which He did!
Let’s understand one other thing concerning Christ and what He did. Jesus laid His life down voluntarily! He had a commandment from the Father.
John 10:17: “On account of this, the Father loves Me: because I lay down My life, that I may receive it back again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself…. [His own choice and free will volition to do so] …I have authority to lay it down and authority to receive it back again. This commandment I received from My Father” (vs 17-18).
He was not coerced into doing it. He freely chose to do so, because God loves us and wants to redeem all who believe and will repent and will accept Jesus Christ. He freely did it.
Heb. 12 also helps answer the question: If God became man, how is it that He was able to not sin? Let’s see why Jesus did this:
Hebrews 12:2: “Having our minds fixed on Jesus, the Beginner and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that lay ahead of Him endured the cross, although He despised the shame, and has sat down at theright hand of the throne of God. Now, meditate deeply on Him Who endured such great hostility of sinners against Himself so that you do not become weary and faint in your minds” (vs 2-3).
Just understanding the struggle and the fight and the power that Jesus had to use to overcome. Did Jesus have to overcome? That may sound like an unfair question. Yes, Jesus had to overcome:
- Satan
- sin
- temptation
- human nature
- death
Revelation 3:21: “To the one who overcomes will I give authority to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne.” Jesus also had to overcome!
You can reference this back to Heb. 5:7-8. He had to overcome wit strong crying and tears.
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The things that we found out abut Jesus when going through this series:
1) He said that He was coming
He said, ‘If I go, I will come again and receive you unto Myself.’
2) He said He was equal with God
He was the Son of God!
3) He says He will answer prayers
Who alone can answer prayers but God?
4) He had authority over laws and institutions
Let’s see what He told Pilate when Pilate was telling of his powers. This is when Jesus was brought before him to be scourged, crucified and so forth.
John 19:10: Then Pilate said to Him, ‘Why don’t You speak to me? Don’t You know that I have authority to crucify You, and authority to release You?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would not have any authority against Me if it were not given to you from above. For this reason, the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin’” (vs 10-11).
He even told Pilate, ‘You don’t have any power unless it was given to you of God; you don’t have any authority over Me.’ So, Christ had authority over laws and institutions. What did Jesus do in Matt. 5-7 to the laws of God? As we explained, He filled them full!
I don’t think we fully understand it, but He said in Matthew 16:19: “And I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; and whatever you may bind on the earth will have already been bound in heaven; and whatever you may loose on the earth will have already been loosed in heaven.”
I know for sure that that does not give the pope the authority to change everything to paganism. That I know for sure. No one is going to go against God or throw away part of what God has and get away with it. Nevertheless, there is that authority to do it, and who gives that authority to do that? Jesus did!
Matthew 18:18—this gives a qualifying statement: “Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on the earth will have already been bound in heaven; and whatever you shall loose on the earth will have already been loosed in heaven.”
There are certain decisions that have to be made; certain things that have to be done in spite of certain things. There is the authority to do it, but not authority to create sin.
5) Jesus has the forgiveness or the power to forgive sin
We’ve covered this quite extensively—note: Mark 7; Luke 7, etc. I don’t want to get so redundant that we can’t finish the review that we’re doing here.
Ephesians 1:4: “According as He has personally chosen us for Himself before the foundation of the world… [according to the plan of God, which was before the foundation of the world] …in order that we might be Holy and blameless before Him in love.”
When you really fully understand this, and you fully comprehend what is here in the book of Ephesians and what the New Testament is teaching us—once we have the Spirit of God, once that we are under the grace of God—if we continue in that we cannot fail!
That is a broad, overall statement and there are many different things in here, if you don’t commit the unpardonable sin. We have to put that little caveat in there so that we have a little adjustment to it. But if now Jesus said that the one who is believing in Me has past from death unto life! (John 5:24). If you have passed from death unto life, you cannot fail! God wants us to be encouraged in this.
Too many times people in the Church of God have focused in on beating up the brethren with the whiplash of ‘you better make your life straight or you’re going to fail.’ Rather than saying that
- if God has set His hand to you
- if God has called you
- if you are in Christ’s hands
Jesus said, ‘no one takes them out of My hand.’ You cannot fail, except that you choose to fail by your own volition. I don’t know anyone who is trying to serve God who has chosen that!
“…in order that we might be Holy and blameless before Him in love. having predestinated us for sonship to Himself through Jesus Christ… [that’s why Christ came; that’s tremendous thing] …according to the good pleasure of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us objects of His grace in the Beloved Son; in Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (vs 4-7). So, He has the power to forgive sin!
What do we have in the model prayer that we have been given in Luke 11 and Matt. 6[transcriber’s correction]. Forgive us this day; forgive us our trespasses as we forgive trespasses against us. That is the hardest thing for human beings to do; it really, really, really is! But we’re told all the way through to repent, to change, to grow, to confess our sins. He’s ready to forgive our sins and so forth.
6) The claim of eternal life
It is through the name of Jesus Christ, and that is why Jesus has made such a fantastic impact upon the world.
Acts 4:8: “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…”
The high priests; the same ones that crucified Jesus. Talk about a problem that wouldn’t go away! They could not get rid of it.
“…‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we are examined this day as to a good work done to the infirm man, by what power he has been cured, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarean, Whom you crucified, but Whom God has raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole. This is the Stone that was set at naught by you, the builders…’” (vs 8-11).
I don’t think there’s really ever been a movie made that has shown the confrontation that they had. Every time I read something like this, I think that would be something if they were really able to make a movie that really showed what was going on here. He was talking to them!
“‘…which has become the Head of the corner. And there is no salvation in any other, for neither is there another name under heaven which has been given among men, by which we must be saved’” (vs 11-12).
In other words, it’s obligatory! That’s the only name under heaven given that you’re able to be saved. He has the power of eternal life!
John 10:28: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no one shall take them out of My hand.” You’re guaranteed to make it!
What should be heard in the Church of God is this: If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and therefore, we need to go to Christ!
- Can I get a sin out of you?
- Can you get a sin out of me?
- Can you make me stop sinning?
- Can I make you stop sinning?
- NO!
What have they found that is absolutely true? You can’t make anyone do anything! Even the law can’t make anyone do anything. The law only defines what is right and what is wrong. It can’t make you do anything. There’s the old saying: ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.’ You can even take him out in the river and drown him, but if he doesn’t want to drink, he’s not going to drink.
Therefore, I think that too many ministers have beat up on the people of God trying to make them righteous by their sermons and by their fear, rather than saying ‘Go to Christ.’ Rather than pointing them to Christ and saying, ‘If you have sin—which you do; if I have sin—which I do; I need to repent and go to God. He will give us life!
Why did God do all of this that He did?
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life.”
- if God has called us, which He has
- if God has given us of His Spirit, which He has
- if God is continually with us through His grace, which He is
He will forgive our sins, which He does
He is faithful and just to do so
Showing us that God wants us in His Kingdom! God wants us in His Family!
God is not there doing what human nature thinks that you can force Him to do it. God is there saying, ‘I gave My Son in love so that you can come to Me, and I want you to do it willingly
- of your own free choice
- of your own free will
- of your own volition
as led by My Spirit; you will be in My kingdom and have passed from death unto life.’
Verse 17: “For God sent not His Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
Why? Because God doesn’t have pleasure in the death of the wicked! or In the death of the innocent! That’s why we have the second resurrection, to raise them back to life to overcome the mistakes that human beings have perpetrated.
This is what we need to understand concerning Christ. Let’s go through sections of the book of Revelation so that we can get a more well-rounded picture of Jesus Christ and what He’s going to do and how He’s going to do it, and His concern for us. This is important especially concerning the time of Pentecost.
Each one of the chapters in Revelation contains such a tremendous amount in it that it’s a whole study in itself. {note sermons series: Daniel/Revelation}
Revelation 1:1: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, to show to His servants the things that are ordained to come to pass shortly…”
That’s how God views time. This was given to John. Why was it important that it was given to John? He was the last living apostle of Jesus Christ!
Many in the Church believed that he would be alive when Christ returned. God gave the revelation to John, and it couldn’t have come through anyone else. It had to come through John so that we would know that Christ is coming again. The whole first chapter has to do with Jesus Christ, and what He is doing, what He will be doing and how He’s going to accomplish it.
“…and He made it known, having sent it by His angel to His servant John; who gave witness to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and all the things he saw. Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and who keep the things that are written therein; for the time is at hand” (vs 1-3).
I’m sure we’re going to find out that this statement has to do with more than this book of Revelation alone. Prophecy from the Greek does not necessarily mean to prophesy an event that is going to take place in the future, but it can also mean preaching. This book is the final one of the Bible.
Verse 4: John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace and peace be to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; and from the seven spirits that are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him Who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (vs 4-5).
There again, notice the emphasis that John has and the forgiveness, and that Jesus is doing it. The whole first chapter is telling us the activity of Jesus Christ until He returns, and what He is doing. That’s what it’s telling us here; that’s what becomes so important.
In the book of Revelation, we find that John talks about very important and profound things. There’s nothing here that is trivial or unimportant. These are the most important things that God could possibly give to us.
Then our goal, v 6: “and has made us kings and priests to God and His Father… [the whole goal of why we’re here, where we’re going, what we are going to do] …to Him be the glory and the sovereignty into the ages of eternity. Amen.” This is an eternal proposition, brethren!
Verse 7: “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him…”
John starts out right away making it clear—no doubt—how Jesus is going to come. This is going to be a profound event!
“…and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (v 7)
Each verse here is tremendous! The impact is overwhelming!
Verse 8: ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending,’ says the Lord…”
That’s breathtaking! That encompasses everything that God is doing.
Speaking of everything that God is doing, they made a discovery that there’s a place in the universe that they can’t figure out. I don’t know how they measure it, but they say it’s 28,000-light-years away! It’s shaped like a huge disc, and in this one thing there are more stars than anyplace else they have ever known in the whole universe. It has so much power that they cannot understand it.
Some think that they have discovered heaven, in the theological sense, ‘where people go.’ I don’t think that they have. However, maybe what they have seen out there in the universe is getting closer to the depths of heaven toward the center of the universe. What is it? It is so great that they can’t understand it! It is so fantastic that we don’t have the tools to measure it.
It was really absurd: One of the scientists said, ‘We have to hurry and get a probe out there to understand what it is.’ It’s 28,000-light-years away! How is he going to get any information on it if it takes 28,000-light-years to get the information back? That just goes to show you how small our minds are!
“…‘Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come—the Almighty.’….” (v 8)—same name given to the Father!
Verse 11: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last’; and, ‘What you see, write in a book, and send it to the churches that are in Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” God wants us to know!
Verse 12: “And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of man, clothed in a garmentreaching to the feet, and girded about the chest with a golden breastplate. And His head and hair were like white wool, white as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire” (vs 12-14).
That’s tremendous and important because this tells us what Jesus looks like in His glorified form. Also, if we’re going to see Him as He is—because we will be like Him—this tells us a little bit what we’re going to look like!
This is tremendous! That ought to be inspiring! We look at this old rotting ‘nephesh’ that we have here, and it’s ‘going to pot’ because it’s designed to ‘go to pot’ and wear out, unfortunately! We can do a few repairs to it. We can put a new set of eyes on it, called glasses. We can put new teeth in; fake bones in, but it’s still going to wear out!
All of this transplanting with other people’s body parts is really a mess. Shows what man is willing to do to avoid God! We won’t have to worry about that, because we are going to be as Christ is here.
Verse 15: “And His feet were like fine brass, as if they glowed in a furnace; and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He had seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword went out of His mouth, and His countenance was as the sun shining in its full power. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead…” (vs 15-17). I guess!
- What would you do if you saw that?
- What would you do if you had this vision?
Isaiah said when he saw the vision, ‘I am undone!’ When Peter saw Jesus after the resurrection and the tremendous amount of fish that they gathered in, he jumped overboard and said, ‘I’m a sinful man.’
“…but He [Jesus] laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, even the one Who is living; for I was dead… [the whole Gospel right here] …and behold, I am alive into the ages of eternity. Amen. And I have the keys of the grave and of death’” (vs 17-18).
It shows that He’s going to unlock all of that; unlock all human beings from the death that they’re held in—if they repent and accept Christ!
Verse 19: “Write the things that you saw, and the things that are, and the things that shall take place hereafter.”
Then He says to send them to the seven churches. After he sends them to the seven churches, then John gets another glimpse of what it’s like in heaven. It’s a little different than what the astronomers had. John didn’t need a telescope; he didn’t send a rocket. God brought this vision to him!
Revelation 4:1: “After these things I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was as if a trumpet were speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you the things that must take place after these things.’ And immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One was sitting on the throne” (vs 1-2).
Here’s a glimpse of what God the Father appeared in vision to John; he’s only describing the color:
Verse 3: “And He Who was sitting was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius stone; and a rainbow was around the throne, like an emerald in its appearance.”
Myself, I cannot comprehend that. Besides, I’m somewhat colorblind, so it’s really difficult for me to do it.
Here is this rainbow around it and, v 4: “And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments; and they had on their heads golden crowns. And proceeding from the throne were lightnings and thunders and voices; and seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God, were burning before the throne. And before the throne was a sea of glass, like crystal…. [a magnificent sight] …And around the throne and over the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind; and the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature was like a bull, and the third living creature had the face of a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And each of the four living creatures had six wings respectively; and around and within they were full of eyes; and day and night they cease not saying, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, and Who is, and Who is to come’” (vs 4-8).
John was able to have this vision into the very throne room of God! That’s tremendous! That’s why it’s so important that we really understand about Jesus Christ.
Verse 9: “And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him Who sits on the throne, Who lives into the ages of eternity, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him Who sits on the throne; and they worship Him Who lives into the ages of eternity, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, ‘Worthy are You, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power because You did create all things, and for Your will they were created and exist’” (vs 9-11).
Then we have the tremendous song that is given in praising Christ for what He did to redeem us and bring us to God, for the whole plan that He did, of all that Jesus went through:
Revelation 5:9: “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book, and to open its seals because You were slain, and did redeem us to God by Your own blood, out of every tribe and language and people and nation, and did make us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.’ And I saw and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne, and the voices of the living creatures and the elders, and thousands of thousands” (vs 9-11). Overwhelming! There’s no way you can grasp this!
In being a minister of many years I’ve tried to kind of in my mind portray what this would be like. I come up almost empty! Once in a while I can get a glimpse of it, but it’s really difficult. But John gave this for us so that we would have some idea.
Verse 12: “Saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory and blessing.’ And every creature that is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and those that are on the sea, and all the things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him Who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and sovereignty into the ages of eternity.’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen.’ And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him Who lives into the ages of eternity” (vs 12-14).
There is the site and picture of God the Father and Jesus Christ now ready to administer what they’re going to do on the earth and send Christ back to the earth.
Scripture from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version
Scriptural References:
- John 1:29, 35-36, 14, 1, 38-42, 14
- 1 Peter 2:24
- Galatians 4:4-5
- Romans 8:2
- Hebrews 5:5-9
- Galatians 3:13
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
- John 8:46, 23-29
- Luke 21:33
- Matthew 5:6
- John 7:37
- John 4:14
- John 14:27
- John 6:35
- John 10:17-18
- Hebrews 12:2-3
- Revelation 3:21
- John 19:10-11
- Matthew 16:19
- Matthew 18:18
- Ephesians 1:4-7
- Acts 4:8-12
- John 10:28
- John 3:16-17
- Revelation 1:1-8, 11-19
- Revelation 4:1-11
- Revelation 5:9-14
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Isaiah 53
- Romans 7
- Hebrews 2
- Matthew 5-7
- Mark 7
- Luke 7
- John 5:24
- Luke 11
Also referenced:
Book: Evidence that Demands a Verdict Vol. 1 & 2 by Josh McDowell (amazon.com)
Sermon Series: Daniel and Revelation
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 8-27-13
Reformatted/Corrected: 2/2020
