Good Morning Beloved,
I'm so grateful for each of you here today
Everyone of you matter
Heavenly Father,
Today we gather together, Your children, to worship You
We desire to be Your servants, doing Your will
Seeking to walk faithfully in your footsteps,
yet are admittedly, often heading in the wrong direction
We are compelled to help others in need,
but often do the wrong things, for the right reasons, with good intentions
As You call upon us to be Your hands and feet
Open our hearts, and minds
to the real needs of others
then guide us, that we my make a difference
Take away our desire to receive recognition
that we may help with love and compassion, in humility
Help us to be better, to do better
In Your precious name
Amen
Today's Message: Knowing The One True God
God will reveal himself to anyone who has a strong desire to know him. Understanding him is a progressive
experience. We should continually grow in the knowledge of the Lord.
Once you believe on Jesus Christ, you should seek to become more deeply
and intimately acquainted with him. The book of Acts contains the story
of a man named Saul, who developed that kind of relationship.
The Revelation:
Acts 9:3-20 tells the story of Saul’s
dramatic conversion. This man, who once persecuted the followers of
Jesus, later became a devoted preacher of the gospel of Christ. God got
his attention in a powerful way: he blinded him with the brightness of
his glory as it shown from heaven. Falling to the ground, Saul cried
out with a trembling voice, "And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,”
Acts 9:5 The Purpose:
From that moment of revelation on, Saul maintained a determined purpose to know the Lord more strongly and clearly. He wrote in Philippians 3:8-10
"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;"
Paul believed that his ultimate salvation depended upon knowing the Lord.
Beloved, this message today, is given to you with the sincere prayer and heartfelt desire that you also may know Him and be saved.
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
John 4:24
And because God is a spirit, He is present everywhere.
Because God is a spirit, He cannot be seen
"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me."
Psalm 139-7-10
"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
1 Timothy 1:17
"which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen."
1 Timothy 6:15-16
God took upon himself the form of man; thus, Jesus is fully God and fully man, having divinity, conceived by the Holy Spirit and humanity, born of a virgin.
"Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God."
Luke 1:34-35
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 1:1
"By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:
He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory."
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory."
God revealed Himself in His Son.
"I and the Father are one."
God became a man so He could die for us and save us from our sins.
"You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin."
"We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
This
expression in this next passage means that Jesus has been given the
highest position of power and authority possible. He has been exalted to
be Lord of all…
"Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Historically,
the Jews, descendants of Abraham have always been
monotheistic, which means they believe that God is indivisibly one. To
them, if a person applied the terms ‘Christ’ and ‘Son of God’ to
himself, he was claiming to be God in human form. Therefore, when Jesus
not only acknowledged that He was the Christ, the Son of God, but that
He would sit on the right hand of power, the Jews considered Him to be
guilty of death for speaking blasphemy.
"I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images."
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images."
"I, even I, am the Lord,
And there is no savior besides Me."
And there is no savior besides Me."
So to whom does God give His glory?
No one.
Yet God’s glory is seen in the face of Jesus Christ!
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
"Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life."
John 17:1-2
But the Jews felt justified in killing Jesus for speaking what they had believed to be blasphemy.
"But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?” They answered, “He deserves death!"
The last book in the Bible, the Book of Revelation, however, clearly reveals the identity of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:1-3 tells us,
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed
is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed
the things which are written in it; for the time is near."
"I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
It reveals that Jesus IS the Almighty God.
In case there is still any confusion, as to Jesus' Deity, we can know this is Jesus speaking because of how he is described in Revelation 1:13-18.
"and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In
His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp
two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am 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 of Hades."
Also, in Revelation 2:18 he refers to himself as the Son of
God.
"The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze" Revelation 4 reveals that there is only one seated on the throne in heaven.
"Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne."
Revelation 4:2
This one throne is called ‘the throne of God and of the Lamb’ because of the dual nature of Christ. He is both divine, God and human, the Lamb.
In Closing...
Many of us, get our feelings hurt, our hearts broken, because someone we want to know better, someone we love, doesn't return that love to us. Instead, they dismiss our feelings, even shun us.
We don't understand how they could treat us like this, when all we want to do is love them, share our heart and life with them.
We've done everything we can, and still, they refuse to love us....Why can't they see the sacrifices we've made for them?
Fortunately, we have a God who knows exactly what that feels like, He experiences it everyday.
From the very people, He gave His only Son, the Son Who willing sacrificed His life for us, that we would not have to endure the punishment of our sins...
So He took the punishment, He suffered pain of the beatings, and was nailed to a cross for YOU and Me.
And yet, many today, still reject His love! Many still refuse to accept what He has done, what He suffered and sacrificed taking their place, to keep them from having to endure what they deserve. He gave His life....Why can't they see how much He loves them?
The God Who is in heaven, the One sitting on the throne, really wants to have a personal relationship with YOU!
"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
John 17:3
The next passages shows that this One true God is our Savior and that he wants everyone to know truth. God, Who is Spirit/Father, is our Savior by virtue of the fact that he operates in the man Christ Jesus to be a mediator between Himself and men.
"This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time."
1 Timothy 2:3-6
"Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation."
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
God is One; as such, He cannot be separated. Christianity doesn't argue that fact. But within God's Oneness, there is a plurality, of the One God. Although the Bible speaks of God the Father, it never uses the expression ‘God the Son’ or ‘God the Holy Spirit’, nor does it mention the word trinity, the understanding of the godhead comes to us by divine revelation…
The Bible teaches that there is one God and God is one. This one true God, the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. God, Who is Spirit, loved the world so much that He took upon himself the form of a man so He could die for our sins and give us eternal life.
Jesus is called the Son of God because God is His Father.
He is called the Son of man because he was born of a woman.
He is both God and man.
After He arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and was exalted, He poured out his Holy Spirit upon believers. That same gift of the Holy Spirit is still being given to all who will believe on Him and obey the gospel today.
Believing, coupled with obedience, is the only way for us to know Him.
"and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed."
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
The alternative is to be destroyed by Him at His Second Coming
I have had many question this, the easiest way that I can explain it,
For illustration purposes, we can use ourselves as an example, many of us, are a son or daughter, a brother or sister, a husband or wife, a mother or father, yet they are not separate people, but separate entities of one person.
Beloved, one doesn't change the value or importance of another, separated or together, we are the same one person. But simply different entities of the one person.
God is God, Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God.
We have One God, and within that One God, we have Jesus Christ, which is God made flesh, in order that we may know Him because we cannot see God. And we have the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, which was poured out on us, to assist us, after Christ ascended to heaven.
Is doesn't change the fact that there is only ONE GOD.
It's not as some have claimed, polytheism!
Beloved, that is just untrue! That's just heresy!
That's just something others throw out to Christians who they deem unable to explain the Holy Trinity of One God!
Plain and simple, Christians believe in One True God, that's monotheism.
And anyone who attempts to distort, twist or mangle that truth is just a LIAR!
We don't have to distort the truths of the Bible, to bring others to Christ.
We only need to know the truth, and how to explain it.
The Old Testament lays the foundation, consistent with Christian view of the Trinity, the teaching in the New Testament.
Deuteronomy 6:4
"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!"
The Hebrew word, for one is Echad, suggests and stresses a unity while recognizing diversity of plurality, within that oneness.
This is evident, even if you have never seen the New Testament
So when Christ said in John 10:30 ,
"The Father and I are One... "
He is simply speaking of the plurality, within the Oneness of God
And the same is true of The Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:5
"God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day."
Genesis 1:26-27
"Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
Suggesting the essence of plurality within the consistency of One.
Genesis 2:22-24
"The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man."
And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man."
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."
Genesis 11:7-8
"Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city"
Isaiah 6:8
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
There is a plurality within singleness in the Old Testament.
How can God, be the essence of "Us"and be anything other than God?
He can't, beloved.
God created man in "our image"...Genesis 1:26
There are multiple references in the Old Testament...
Who is God talking about here, when He references plurality?
God didn't create man in the image of Himself and the angels.
That's absurd, the angels weren't involved in creation, come on!
So we can just rule that out right now..
Beloved, this is why we have to allow Scripture interpret Scripture.
The Old Testament teachings align with teachings of the view of the Trinity in the New Testament.
There is a gradual progression of God's identity being revealed
In Exodus 6:2-3
"God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them"
God revealed Himself, to Moses, in away He hadn't done before to others.
God continued to further reveal Himself to the prophets, even up to and through the New Testament...
He was building up to a climax, which was Jesus Christ.
And on that note...
And now
may the Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries