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Understanding Who Christ Is
Grace to You.org ^ | 1997 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

Posted on 03/12/2017 8:59:43 AM PDT by metmom

“Walk . . . with all humility” (Ephesians 4:1-2).

We are to walk as Christ walked. Our lack of conformity to His standard ought to make us humble.

What was your most humiliating experience? Life is full of embarrassing moments, but the most truly humbling experience I ever had was preaching through the Gospel of John. For two years—eighty-eight sermons, about one hundred hours of preaching, between two and three thousand hours of study—I was constantly faced with the deity of Jesus Christ. Living with the deity of Christ day after day and comparing yourself continually to Him is one of the healthiest—and most humbling—things you can ever do.

That brings us to another step toward humility: Christ-awareness. When we compare ourselves with ourselves, we get proud. But “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6). When you can say, “I’m happy to announce that I now walk as Jesus walked,” then you’ll have a right to be proud. But no one will believe you.

Jesus was the perfect man. He was without sin. He gave all the right answers and had the perfect attitude for every situation. He knew exactly how to help everyone who needed help. Reading the Gospels, we see time after time how Christ handled everything perfectly.

Even seeing His humanness, we realize how small we are. But when we look at His deity, we feel still smaller. He created everything (Col. 1:16). He turned water into wine, calmed storms, cast out demons, healed countless people, and brought the dead to life. After His crucifixion, He rose from the dead and sat at the Father’s right hand (Eph. 1:19-20). Someday He will come back, take His people home, and finally destroy all evil.

Despite Jesus’ perfect deity and perfect humanity, He came to serve (Mark 10:45). How can we be proud if Jesus Christ humbled Himself? What righteous thing have we done that compares to His perfect life?

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray that you might know Christ better and increasingly be more like Him.

For Further Study

Peter got a glimpse of Jesus’ power in Luke 5:1-7. How did Peter’s sudden awareness of who Christ is affect him (v. 8)? What did he do next (vv. 9-11)?


TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; General Discusssion; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: gty

1 posted on 03/12/2017 8:59:43 AM PDT by metmom
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To: Alex Murphy; bkaycee; boatbums; CynicalBear; daniel1212; dragonblustar; Dutchboy88; ealgeone; ...

Studying God’s Word ping


2 posted on 03/12/2017 9:00:06 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom; amorphous
Living with the deity of Christ day after day and comparing yourself continually to Him is one of the healthiest—and most humbling—things you can ever do.

Actually, knowing that the most humble man on the face of the earth *isn't* God is the most humbling, because no one has an excuse for not following his lead. So many backwards teachings, so little time.

Pray that you might know Christ better and increasingly be more like Him.

It's Sunday. He could be sitting in a church pew right now but no one would recognize him.

3 posted on 03/12/2017 10:08:45 AM PDT by Ezekiel (All who mourn(ed!) the destruction of America merit the celebration of her rebirth.)
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To: Ezekiel; amorphous
Actually, knowing that the most humble man on the face of the earth *isn't* God is the most humbling, because no one has an excuse for not following his lead. So many backwards teachings, so little time.

Your perspective is the one that needs correcting.

He is King of Kings and Lord of lords and the creator of the universe.

Knowing that He wants fellowship with us and calls us *friend* is enough to humble anyone.

Revelation 1:12-16 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Revelation 1:17-19 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

4 posted on 03/12/2017 10:20:56 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom; amorphous
Elijah - taken up to heaven in a whirlwind (he didn't die)
Elijah - born as John the Baptist, killed (beheaded)
Elijah - also appears as Elijah at the Transfiguration, along with Moses (who did die)

There's a pattern here.

Pattern: a blueprint, a plan... that which comes first and is nessessary for the construction and manifestation of said plan.

Matthew 17

9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore [future tense] all things.
12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Luke 1

17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Zecharias' reason for disbelief:

I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years

The entire nation came forth from Isaac. Abraham was 100, and Sarah was 90. No excuse for ignorance there.

Doctrines have created the Picasso version of Mr. Potato Head:

Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

5 posted on 03/12/2017 11:09:42 AM PDT by Ezekiel (All who mourn(ed!) the destruction of America merit the celebration of her rebirth.)
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To: Ezekiel

And that’s got to do with exactly what about the topic of the thread?


6 posted on 03/12/2017 11:13:40 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom; amorphous
And that’s got to do with exactly what about the topic of the thread?

***Understanding Who Christ Is***

Patterns. You said that my perspective is the one that needs correcting. I'm just following the patterns. The recipe.

Matthew 7:8-9 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Luke 4

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Bread made with active (live) leaven, or bread of stone made from dead leaven that does not rise. What to choose...

7 posted on 03/12/2017 11:44:16 AM PDT by Ezekiel (All who mourn(ed!) the destruction of America merit the celebration of her rebirth.)
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To: Ezekiel; metmom
I think He is like the third "Ark". The the first Ark saved a handful of humanity when the Almighty made corrections in the direction life was headed on this planet, at that time.

The second "Ark" was the "Ark of the Covenant", God's plan to educate humanity about the way we should live and conduct ourselves in this world.

The third and final "Ark" is Christ, who will save those who believe in Him not only from the coming tribulation about to befall this earth, but also from the "Day of Judgement", when all others will be judged.

It all goes along with the whole sign of Jonah prophecy, and the generation of God, not 70 years, but 7,000 years.

Shadows of shadows of pictures to come. It's the Almighty's cyclic redundancy checks (CRC), placed into the scriptures that we may know of their Divine inspiration.

My belief is the second Advent will be seen by all, and it will begin with a heavenly event, those in Christ having already been "taken up".

We will only see Him again, when those living in Jerusalem say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!".

And knowing the majority of beliefs concerning Yeshua in his native land, I think, unfortunately, it will take some major event to change those minds, just as prophesied. JMO of course, and I hope I'm wrong as we're seeing some in the land of Israel starting to try and understand who He really was/is.

When he does return, IMO, it will by as Yeshua ben David, if that's of consolation. :) He will have the entire world in His hands, from Jerusalem.

8 posted on 03/13/2017 10:36:22 AM PDT by amorphous
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To: amorphous
Shadows of shadows of pictures to come. It's the Almighty's cyclic redundancy checks (CRC), placed into the scriptures that we may know of their Divine inspiration.

>>>There is now a President and an Anti-President. A government and a shadow government. The anti-President controls more of the government through his shadow government than the real President. <<<

​http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2017/03/obamas-third-term-is-here.html

And knowing the majority of beliefs concerning Yeshua in his native land, I think, unfortunately, it will take some major event to change those minds, just as prophesied.

Only not in the way the church teaches. The pattern is the flipped-over story.

Speaking of the cyclical, tomorrow is Pi Day! :)

9 posted on 03/13/2017 7:05:06 PM PDT by Ezekiel (All who mourn(ed!) the destruction of America merit the celebration of her rebirth.)
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To: Ezekiel
Speaking of the cyclical, tomorrow is Pi Day! :)

I still remember:


10 posted on 03/14/2017 8:16:03 AM PDT by amorphous
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