P2 FInding Answers to Life's Toughest Questions in Sunday School

1 Peter 3:15 “But Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who as you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and respect.”

Introduction:
What a blessing it is to pastor a church where one can find answers to some of life’s toughest questions in Sunday School! I begin today’s post with this affirmation because of the value that is found when Sunday School is operating as it ought in the local church. 

In our church we recently had a combined Sunday School hour. In the largest room of the church, there were several round tables set up for the purpose of hosting 6 discussion groups handling several very difficult questions. Each teacher had been assigned the question the previous week and was instructed to research the answers and then lead whoever would be at their table in a “round-table” discussion. At the end of the prescribed time, each table would pick a representative to give a three-minute summary of the group’s answers to the group at large. The exercise was extremely interesting to watch. The answers given even more rewarding.

Sunday school is the local church’s most effective way to mature and mobilize Christians to share Jesus' love with others. Today’s post and the next couple of blogs will summarize the answers given at the combined Sunday School event described in the opening paragraph. We are calling these series of posts: "Answers to life's difficult questions found in Sunday School." Today's post deals with a question about the appropriateness of sharing the Gospel in questionable locations.

Can I witness to a friend in a questionable location?
This discussion question raised in the Sunday School hour followed on the heels of the first one (which we looked at yesterday on the subject of Christian Liberty). I chose to include this in today’s post, since it is closely related to that broader issue. At stake is the approach one takes in sharing the Gospel with unbelievers. How restricted are Christians in regards to venue? Can the Christian legitimately share Jesus with someone in what could-very-well be a questionable location? 

Luke 5:27-29 records an episode in Jesus’ ministry whereby he chose to eat a meal with the social outcasts of Jewish culture – namely tax-collectors and sinners. The company Jesus kept was the issue with the Pharisees. Whatever Jesus did, He never did anything to compromise His peerless character. Nevertheless, His desire to reach sinners entailed Him rubbing shoulders and meeting them at their point of life.

As the Sunday School teacher further expounded on this issue, he cited Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8-10. These particular chapters give principles for deciding how to handle such issues like going into questionable locations. So, if we find ourselves being led to talk to someone about the Gospel, and the location ends up counter-acting our efforts, then we ought to take that as a red-flag and choose another venue. 

I have found Romans 14 to always be helpful and was glad to hear the Sunday School class referencing it. Discernment must always be exercised when making these difficult choices. As the Sunday School teacher brought his summary to a close, he ended with this very insightful and helpful remark: “The question is not: what’s wrong; rather, what is right about it.”

Closing thoughts:
Well that closes out our post for today. We have explored what I have called “Life’s toughest questions answered in Sunday School”. We considered questions regarding Christian Liberty and when and where we ought to go in our attempts to talk to unbelievers about the Gospel. The reader is invited to return tomorrow where I will share further about the answers I heard to life’s toughest questions in Sunday School.

P1 Answers to life's most difficult questions found in Sunday School - Questions on Christian Liberty

1 Peter 3:15 “But Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who as you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and respect.”

Introduction:
What a blessing it is to pastor a church where one can find answers to some of life’s toughest questions in Sunday School! I begin today’s post with this affirmation because of the value that is found when Sunday School is operating as it ought in the local church. 

In our church we recently had a combined Sunday School hour. In the largest room of the church, there were several round tables set up for the purpose of hosting 6 discussion groups handling several very difficult questions. Each teacher had been assigned the question the previous week and was instructed to research the answers and then lead whoever would be at their table in a “round-table” discussion. At the end of the prescribed time, each table would pick a representative to give a three-minute summary of the group’s answers to the group at large. The exercise was extremely interesting to watch. The answers given even more rewarding.

Sunday school is the local church’s most effective way to mature and mobilize Christians to share Jesus' love with others. Today’s post and the next couple of blogs will summarize the answers given at the combined Sunday School event described in the opening paragraph. We are calling these series of posts: "Answers to life's difficult questions found in Sunday School."

May the reader use 1 Peter 3:15 as a launching point in approaching these next few posts. We as Christians ought to be prepared and equipped to give an answer to those who ask us about why we believe what we believe and why we do what we do. I hope readers find these posts to be encouraging, informative and motivated to, if for nothing else, get further involved in their Sunday School ministry in their local church.

Defining the impact of Christian Liberty on believer’s life

This first question is one with which all Christians grapple. The Sunday School teacher who handled this issue did a great job in summarizing the answers. 

How do we define Christian liberty? In short, when the stability of our Christian brother is at stake, we need to determine when to restrain versus when to practice. The principle for decision making in such circumstances in 1 Corinthians 10:23 was included in the discussion: “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.” So with Christian liberty, the issue at hand has to do with areas of conscience and how what we do or don’t do in the realm of everyday practices that some Christians would deem sinful and which others deem as permissible.

How we influence fellow believers in their Christian walk ought to have precedent over what may very well be otherwise legitimate freedom or right to practice a given behavior. The particular discussion group handling this question cited Galatians 5:1 “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” 

The reminder from these verses was that on the one hand, standing in God’s grace gives me liberty and power to live the godly life and to desire what is lawful and God-honoring apart from man-made legalistic restrictions. The other-side or guardrail to avoid are the excesses in liberty. Christian liberty is lived out in relationship with other Christians, and thus as we grow, we learn with one another what constitutes preferences versus what involves uncompromising convictions.

Tomorrow we will consider another answer to life's most difficult questions that was found in Sunday School.

Getting to know Jesus in the Proverbs

Luke 24:44 “Now He said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled”.

Introduction:
At my boyhood home there is a creek that runs through the middle of the property. Many summers were spent playing by that creek and watching little minnows and frogs jumping and swimming through the rocky creek bed flowing with crystal clear water. As a boy, I would often take rocks or stones and toss them in the water to watch minnows come out of their hiding spots and swim in their little schools. They remained hidden until I tossed in a pebble or a big stone. Whenever we consider the Old Testament scriptures, we can liken each book to the surface of that creek.

The Holy Spirit laid down a creek bed of redemption and filled it with the clear water of history and His revelatory words. Many clues and clusters of insights laid hidden in the bottom depths of the Old Testament. To look at its surface would result in concluding a sense of incompleteness and perhaps unresolved tensions. However, the very God that designed the creek bed and created history itself to flow within it chose to, in the Person of the Son, to plunge Himself into it. 

The Son’s arrival as Jesus of Nazareth sent major ripples that revealed insights into Old Testament books. The Son of God’s entry into our world fulfilled and tied together unresolved strands of Old Testament truth. The Book of Proverbs is an example of how we see Jesus Christ’s Christ arrival anticipated and foreshadowed. Today’s post wants to briefly explore how we can know Jesus through the Proverbs.

New Testament clues pointing to finding Jesus in the Proverbs.
Luke 11:49 records Jesus speaking to his audience concerning their response to Him and to prophets of old. As He speak, Jesus refers to Himself as “Wisdom” in the text of Luke 11:49. We know from Proverbs 8 that wisdom is personified in a poetic way as a woman making her appeal for people to abandon folly and to embrace God’s way of wisdom. 

The reason for the feminine depiction is because of the Hebrew word for wisdom (chachma) itself being grammatically feminine. Nonetheless, Proverbs already broaches the category of viewing “wisdom” not merely as a concept, but also on a very personal level. Luke 24:44, quoted above, alludes to the book of Proverbs. Even though Jesus states the word “Psalms”, in the Hebrew Bible, the book of Psalms heads the third major collection of the Hebrew Bible books called “the writings” or by the Jews “Kituviim”, of which Proverbs is a part.

As one journeys into the New Testament, the linkage between Jesus and wisdom becomes even clearer. The Apostle Paul writes about Jesus coming as God’s wisdom, power, holiness and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:24,30). Moreover, we are reminded in Colossians 2:3 that Jesus Christ is the source of all wisdom and true riches of knowledge. 

Other places, such as James 3:13-14, speak of God’s “wisdom from above” as certainly God’s illumination from the Holy Spirit but also pointing ultimately to Jesus Christ. In so far as the New Testament connects Jesus to the Old Testament concept of wisdom, and in several cases portrays Him as the embodiment of Divine wisdom, we can infer the validity of knowing Him through the Proverbs.

Key events and truths of Jesus’ life and ministry foreshadowed in the Proverbs 
So, with Proverbs and the life of the Lord Jesus Christ linked together by the New Testament’s exposition of Him, what do we see in Proverbs itself that lends us to know Jesus Christ in a better way?

Proverbs previews Jesus in His….
Pre-existence. Proverbs 8:22 speaks of wisdom pre-existing with Yahweh from before the beginning of creation. The verb translated in some English translations includes the rendering “possessed” (NASB, KJV). The NIV handles this otherwise difficult to translate verb in the best way, namely “brought me forth”. In Proverbs 30:4 we are introduced to the idea of God having a Son. Both passages presuppose some type of pre-existence of the Son, personified as Wisdom.

Cross & Resurrection. As we already mentioned earlier, the Apostle Paul refers to Jesus Christ as our “wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:24,30). Such a revelation could only be realized in what Jesus achieved in the cross and His resurrection from the dead.

2nd Coming. Proverbs 24:12 Matthew 16:27 point to actions that only God can perform – namely final, absolute judgment. The Proverbs passage reveals God as the final Arbiter of all people, judging and rendering to each one their due. In Matthew 16:27, we see such activity attributed to the Son. One of the ways we tie together similar statements and themes in both testaments is by way of the life and mission of Jesus Christ. 

Such a reading of Jesus back into the Old Testament is not importing Jesus, but rather bring to light what He came to reveal. Proverbs urges us to consider the fact that God is a just judge. Jesus Himself states all power to judge was commended into His hands (John 5:24-25). Henceforth it follows that in knowing the Just One, we are knowing Jesus.

Closing thoughts
As we close out this post today, let me commend readers to journey through Proverbs. In doing so, one can get to know Jesus Christ better, since He is referred to as the Personification of Wisdom. As 2 Peter 3:18 urges: “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

The need to experience the life of the Son of God in your own life

1 John 5:20 "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."

Introduction:

Over the last couple of posts we have looked at the title "Son of God" and how Jesus Christ is revealed by it. In our explorations thus far, we have looked at the four Gospels of the New Testament, noting that with regard to Jesus Christ as the Son of God, three general conclusions can be drawn about this title:

1. The title "Son of God" reveals His Heavenly Majesty

2. The title "Son of God" revealed His earthly mission

3. The title "Son of God" reveals how we need to experience His life in our own.

The last two posts have focused more so on the first two points as they relate to Jesus Christ portrayed as "The Son of God" in the four Gospels. Today I want us to consider some life applications of this title "Son of God" by observing some key passages from the remainder of the New Testament. The key thought will be in showing how we need to experience the Son of God's life in our own lives. 

A quick note on how the major sections of our New Testaments relate to one another and to Jesus the Son of God

It has been well noted that in the Gospels, Jesus Christ is portrayed; in Acts, Jesus Christ is preached; in the Epistles, Jesus Christ is explained and in Revelation, He is prominent. So much has been illuminated to us already from the four Gospels concerning the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. What the remaining three sections of the New Testament do is to expound on the life-practical and supernatural realities of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Chiefly, the interest of the remainder of this post will deal with why you and I need to experience His life in our own.

Experiencing the Son of God in our conversion - thoughts from the book of of Acts

Acts 9:19-21 expounds on what took place following the conversion of Saul of Tarsus: "Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”  Notice one of the first things Saul of Tarsus (who would later be renamed Paul) began to proclaim: "He is the Son of God". This testimony indicates that the very life of the Eternal Son of God had not only been brought into contact with Saul in His conversion, but that the reality of it came to reside within His heart by means of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. 

Truly if we are to ever appreciate the Heavenly Majesty and earthly ministry of Jesus Christ as the Son of God in all He is and achieved, there must be a dramatic experiencing of His life in our own (consider Romans 1:1-4). The wonderful theologian Lorraine Boettner writes in his book "Studies in Theology", page 153, notes concerning the Son of God's impact on people at salvation: "Christ is the Son of God by nature; we become the sons of God by grace. He is the Son of God in His own right; we become the sons of God by adoption. He has existed thus from eternity; we become sons of God in time as we are regenerated to a new life and have His righteousness imparted to us." Later on Boettner notes: "But it does mean that we have restored to us and perfected (i.e developed) in us that moral and spiritual likeness of God with which we were created but which became lost through sin."

Experiencing the Son of God as our confidence for daily living - some thoughts from the Epistles

When we think of the life of the Son of God pulsating in our own, there is the needed confidence for daily Christian living. As we noted earlier, the New Testament epistles or letters explain Jesus' life and ministry. 2 Corinthians 1:18-20 expounds on how personal experience of the Son of God grants confidence in Him: "But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. 19 For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. 20 For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us." Notice how Paul expounds on the confidence that Jesus as the Son of God delivers to the Christian in their prayer life. For sure, He is ascended and glorified - seated at the right hand of the Father. As man He represents us in Heaven (see 1 John 2:1-2). However, as sharing equally in full Deity with the Holy Spirit, His life is transmitted completely to us and in us - henceforth providing confidence for daily Christian living. 

The Apostle Paul speaks elsewhere concerning how the life of the Son of God grants confidence in the personal Christian life. Galatians 2:20 for instance reads - "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Not only does experiencing the life of the Son of God increase confidence for the individual believer, but for the corporate life of the local church. Notice what we read about the church's experience of the Son of God (or at least as such experience ought to be a normal reality) in Ephesians 4:13 "until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."

So experiencing the life of the Son of God in our own lives is transformative in our conversion and gives confidence for daily Christian living. Now lets notice one final outcome of experiencing the life of the Son of God in our own life...

Experiencing the Son of God clarifies powerful worship - some thoughts from the Epistles and Revelation

The Epistle to the Hebrews urges Christians to consider the Son of God as the focal point of devotion and worship. Hebrews 1:8 speaks of the exaltation of the Son by the Father - "until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." Hebrews 7:3 details the Son of God as the believer's High Priest, representing them in Heaven - "Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually." The final mention of the title "Son of God" occurs in a context where Jesus Himself is addressing one of the seven churches in Revelation 2:18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this". The description given by John in the text corresponds to the full-length view of the exalted Jesus found in Revelation 1. Indeed, experiencing the life of the Son of God in our own begins in our conversion, gives confidence in the Christian living and clarifies in a powerful way our worship to Him.

Jesus as the Son of God in the Fourth Gospel

image source: flowerthere.com

John 20:30-31 "Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name."

Introduction: How the Son of God's incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth can be illustrated by a rose

While growing up as a boy, I recall my mother's cultivation of roses and various flowers. In the middle of spring the roses would begin to bloom. She had given them ample plant food, which in turn produced beautiful, bright and capacious blooms. The scent of the roses would fill our entire yard and the various red and purple hues were easy to spot from the road. The petals on the roses were frail, whilst the aroma emananting from the plant could not be stopped nor easily ignored. The flowers were visible and easily tattered. The scent was invisible and yet able to draw people to take in the smell and sight of the source. We could say that the aroma of the roses and their petals were indeed distinctive phenomena (one visible the other invisible). To separate either from the plants would had rendered them no longer roses. Scent and petals were together in one plant and yet clearly different realities. Truly my mother's roses were royalty among the flowers in the yard.

When we think once again of Jesus and His title "Son of God", we find His true Deity impossible to ignore. His power, majesty and Sovereignty suffuse the entire known universe and heaven itself (see Colossians 1:13-16). At the same time, when the eternal Son stepped from eternity into history, He took unto Himself the frailty of humanity. The humanity of Jesus of Nazareth would convey the eternal Deity of the Son and the Eternal Deity of the Son would find its chiefest expression through the humanity of the Nazarene Carpenter. The Person of the Son ever remained that eternal, immortal, unending life which had and always will express Himself with the Father and Spirit in eternal union. When the Son came into this world, He through the virgin Mary and by the agency of the Spirit and will of the Father united His Person to a second human nature. As a human being, the Son would experience birth as the infant Jesus, live, mature, go to the cross, die, rise from the dead and then ascend into heaven. In a figurative way, the Song of Solomon ultimately refers to Jesus when by Solomon's pen we see Him as "The Rose of Sharon" (Song of Solomon 2:1). 

 John's Gospel and the title "Son of God"
We come to the fourth Gospel, whose very goal is to present Jesus as the Son of God. John himself writes in John 20:31 of how he wrote what he wrote so that those who believe may also know that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. The most familiar Bible verse - John 3:16 - includes this title by virtue of the phrase "the only-begotten Son of God". In the above illustration of the rose, I think of John's words in John 1:14, wherein we read of the Son of God (The Word) being made flesh. As the eternal Son came to be Jesus of Nazareth, He lived among men as a man to be seen by men who knew he was so much more than just a man. 

John's Gospel can be divided into two halves - what scholars call "the Book of Signs" (John 1-11) and "the Book of Glory" (John 12-21). The "signs" or miracles Jesus did pointed to His identification as the Eternal Son in human flesh. The glory would entail His true Deity ever increasingly seen and demonstrated through His true and undiminished humanity. 

In one episode, Martha confesses to Jesus in John 11:25-27 "Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.” Notice how the use of this name performs the same dual role we witnessed already - namely indicating the Divine, heavenly, eternal essence and origin of the Son and at the same time His earthly mission as the Incarnate Son who would provide redemption. As William Lane Craig notes in his book "Reasonable Faith", page 313 - "(W)e may conclude that Jesus thought of himself as God's Son in an absolute and unique sense and as having been invested with the exclusive authority to reveal His Father to men."

Closing thoughts:
Today's post aimed to explore a little bit as to what John's Gospel had to say about Jesus Christ as the Son of God. He is the Rose of Sharon whose title "Son of God", like the three other Gospels revealed, points to His:

1. Heavenly Majesty
2. Earthly Ministry
3. Your need and my need to experience His life in our own

Jesus as the Son of God in the first three Gospels

Matthew 4:3 "And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

Introduction: How the incarnation of the Son of God can be illustrated with a lesson from high school chemistry

Today's post begins an exploration into the significance of Jesus' title as "Son of God". I can recall in high school having a chemistry class. One of my favorite things to do in that class was to take glass tubes and shape and mold them in the flame of a bunsen burner. Much care had to be taken, since the glass could shatter if heated too quickly. Whenever the assignment went well, the effects of the heat brought in contact with the flame was a fascinating experience. As the glass began to heat, the flame and its heat would inhere in the glass, causing it to glow. The flame ever remained a flame and the glass test-tube ever remained a glass vessel - and yet the coming together yielded a glowing, light giving phenomena. What could not be done with the brittle, hard glass apart from the flame - namely bending and twisting - was suddenly possible as soon as the flame touched the glass. In like manner, taking that hot flame and trying to harness its heat and energy could not had been done - except through the flame's inherence within that glass test-tube. The end product - in the hand's of an expert and not a high school student like I was back in those days - resulted in a beautiful object. Heat, force and twisting were required to make an object that was unlike how it had been prior to the exposure of its structure to the flame. 

Analogies and illustrations can break down, but the above little story can aid us in appreciating all that the Son of God went through in coming into this world. When God in the Person of the Son came into this world, the uncreated flame of His Deity was brought into contact with the fragile DNA of a virgin girl named Mary. The Divine chemist - the Holy Spirit - miraculously joined together true humanity and true deity - with the result being the Eternal Son coming through and born as the infant Jesus. Before it would be all said and done, the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth would be bent and twisted in His mission to come and save His people while all the while ever remaining that Eternal uncreated flame of Deity with the Father and the Spirit. 

The incarnate Son of God is and forever will be the most supreme living Person of beauty - the centerpiece of scripture and eternity - the God-man. The eternal Son would in His incarnation learn what it was like to be an obedient Son as the historic Jesus of Nazareth (Hebrews 2:10; 5:9).

Exploring the title "Son of God" in the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke
 In the above opening verse we find the first mention of this title in the New Testament. Without a doubt the term  "Son" is used of Jesus in the opening chapter of Matthew's Gospel with respect to His fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23 and as Mary's son according to the flesh in Matthew 1:18. As one encounters the additional words "of God" in Matthew 4:13 and many other places in the Gospels and remainder of the New Testament, there is indicated a unique relationship that the Person of the Son in His incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth had with respect to God. 

What we want to do is survey key texts in the first three Gospels that use this title "Son of God" and what this title has to tell us about Jesus Christ. The first three Gospels together are called the "synoptic gospels", with the term "synoptic" meaning "seen together". Such a study can aid us in better understanding how the Person of the Son of God, eternally existing in the uncreated flame of Deity along with the Father and the Spirit, voluntarily chose to come and take unto His Person the frailty of humanity untainted by sin in the virgin-birth/conception (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22).   

Matthew's Gospel and the title "Son of God"

As we already saw in the opening passage of Matthew 4:3, Satan is using this title to refer to Jesus in the course of His temptation (also see Matthew 4:6). In Matthew 8:29 we find demons speaking through a demoniac to Jesus in the following way: "And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” To find this title in the words of Jesus' enemies is to actually find the first clue to the meaning of the title itself. Satan and the demonic realm used this title with reference to the authority and power of judgment possessed by Jesus as God-incarnate. In John 5:24-29 and Matthew 28:18 we find out that all authority on heaven and earth, as well as the power to judge at the end of all history had been granted by the Father to the Son. Thus we get the sense that this title "Son of God" is another way of describing Jesus as no less than "true Deity" revealed in "true humanity". 

As Matthew's Gospel goes on we discover a second signification of the title "Son of God" - namely how Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. In Matthew 16:16 we read Peter confessing: "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God". To be "the Christ" meant "the Chosen One" or "The Anointed One". Many passages in the Old Testament (such as Psalm 2, 89 & 110; Isaiah 49,51,53; Zechariah 12-14) speak of what would be a future human man who would be the Savior and champion of Israel. Moreover, this man would be invested with the Divine power and ministry of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 61:1-2); will rule over the earth (Isaiah 11) upon the throne of David (Psalm 110) and have within and through Himself nothing less than God's very authority (Psalm 89). 

Peter's confession in Matthew 16 is enormously important in connecting Jesus of Nazareth to the prophetic swath of Old Testament Messianic expectation. So with Matthew we gain a sense of Jesus "Heavenly origin" and "earthly mission". 

Mark's Gospel and the title "Son of God"

Mark begins his Gospel with the title: "The beginning of the Gospel of the Son of God". Evidently whatever we see Jesus teaching and doing will express His life as the Pre-eternal Son in human flesh. In Mark 3:11 and 5:7 we find once again, like we saw in Matthew, demons crying out in fear at the sight of Jesus - thinking that the final judgment had came upon them. Towards the end of Mark 14:61-62 we find Jesus standing trial before the Jewish High Priest and the following exchange taking place: "But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 

The High Priest's use of the title "Son of the Blessed One" is a euphemistic way of saying "Are you the Son of God"? The use of this title along with "Christ" and then Jesus' own use of another Divine title "Son of Man" zeroes in on the climactic revelation of Jesus Christ's heavenly origin and earthly mission - just as we saw in Matthew.

Luke's Gospel and the title "Son of God"

Whenever we factor in what we have learned thus far from Matthew and Mark about this title "Son of God", we can take that into our reading of Luke's usage. In the infancy narrative of Luke 1:32-35 we read - "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”35 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." 

Such an announcement tells us two important truths about the "Son of God" - first, that the Son of God describes the Son as He was prior to His incarnation and second, this Eternal identity would remain with Him after His incarnation. In Luke 9:35 we see the Father announcing from Heaven: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased, listen to Him!" 

Whenever we tie in all of the previous insights from the other two Gospels, we discover that Christ's identity as Son of God is an eternal identification as He was within the Triune Godhead, and that the revelation of Him as "Son of God" is theological shorthand for saying that He is now "God in human flesh".  As the New Bible Dictionary, page 503, notes: "that the Son perfectly embodies all that is in the Father, or putting it negatively, that there is no aspect or constituient of Deity or character which the Father has and the Son lacks (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Philippians 2:6; Hebrews 1:3). 

Closing thoughts:
Today we explored Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the significance of that title. We discovered that the first three Gospels of the New Testament, also called the "synoptic" or "seen-together" Gospels (due to their common literary and thematic inter-dependance and presentation of Jesus) speak frequently of Jesus as the Son of God. This important title tells us about Jesus' heavenly origin as the co-equal second Person of the Trinity along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This title "Son of God" was also used to refer to His earthly mission as the Savior and as the chosen-one or Messiah. 

The Four Enemies of the Christian in the Fight of Faith - Jude 1:4-16

Jude 1:4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Introduction:
The purpose of Jude’s short letter is to convey the urgency to “contend for the faith delivered once and for all to the saints”. Aiming to be as faithful to God as possible would not be seen as so urgent unless there was a villainous element already at work. We as Christians are commanded elsewhere in God’s word to “take up the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-18) and to “bring into captivity every thought that wages against the authority of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). The Apostle Paul even refers to the entire Christian life as “fighting the good fight of faith” (2 Timothy 4:6-7). 

So, who or what are the enemies of the fight of faith? Jude devotes the bulk of his short letter to warning his readers about their opponents. In addition to what Jude spells out in Jude 1:4-16, we can note various enemies that wage a ceaseless war against the Christian in the fight of faith. We find four such enemies of the fight of faith recorded in God’s Word:

1. False Teachers. Jude 1:4-16This first major enemy of the Christian has to do not only with certain persons (mentioned in Jude 1:4 and illustrated by various historically Biblical examples) but also their teachings. Jude eloquently describes what to look out for in false teachers. 

a. To begin, false teachers are deficient in their spiritual commitment (Jude 1:5-7). 

Like Israel of old they operate in unbelief (1:5). Like the fallen angels they are rebels to the core (1:6). Like Sodom and Gomorrah, they prefer darkness instead of light (1:7). 

b. False teachers then are not only deficient in their character, but note also how they disregard God’s majesty. Already we Jude marking these false teachers in 1:4 as those who “deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. To illustrate his point, Jude later on in 1:8-10 refers to a dispute between Michael the Archangel and Satan. The point of this reference (not found in our Bibles but nonetheless included due to its truth content) is to link the behavior of the false teachers to that of Satan himself. Jesus did a similar technique whenever he compared the Pharisees to “their father the Devil” with respect to their lying nature (see John 8:44).

c. So, not only do false teachers have deficient character and disregard for God but yet another trait – namely deceptive influence. 

In Jude 1:11-16 we find three men used by Jude who were among the worst false teachers in Old Testament history: Cain (Genesis 4); Balaam (Numbers 31) and Korah (Numbers 16). All three men were very religious (Cain brought gifts for God to the very first altar; Balaam was a pagan holy man who had visions of God and Korah was the High Priest Aaron’s grandson and a Levitical priest). All three men influenced many people (Cain, his mother Eve; Balaam, the nation of Israel and Korah, key leaders in Israel). 

The danger of these examples drives home Jude’s very point: they would had been men any church would had voted in as Deacons, committee leaders and even as Pastor. Such men had crept in among God’s people throughout redemptive history and all three men did catastrophic spiritual damage. So we see then that false teachers are the first enemy of the Christian. But notice a second enemy….

2. The flesh. Jude 1:4,5 As we consider the historic examples brought out by Jude, one enemy he notes has to do with what still remains inside every Christian – namely the flesh. The flesh in this instance is not referring to the physical flesh and body insomuch as the resident sinful desires that manifest because of it. In Romans 7-8 Paul speaks of the conflict between “the flesh” and “the spirit”.

All people are defined in scripture as being a living soul, containing a human spirit and living inside a human body (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12). The soul is the “true you” and the seat of self-awareness, expressing itself in thinking, feeling, choosing and moral responsibility. The “spirit” of a man was created to be the center of God-awareness wherein unbelievers is dark and dead but in Christians becomes inhabited by the Holy Spirit at saving faith (1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16). The body of a man is of course the physical aspect of human beings that is compose of the five senses and which decays and is momentarily shed at death in expectation of resurrection at Christ’s return (John 5:24-28; 1 Corinthians 15:23-28; 2 Corinthians 5:5-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16).

The left-over remnants of sin reside in the soul of the Christian, tugging at his “self-expression” to imbibe in whatever he receives through his five senses. Romans 7 describes this internal battle, with Romans 8 giving us the key to obtaining victory on a daily basis. The fleshly desires cannot be reformed, but must be crucified daily or denied in favor of fixing one’s eyes on Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfector of Faith (Galatians 2:20; Hebrews 12:1-2). So we have seen how false teachers and the flesh can war against our resolve to fight the good fight of faith, however there are two more enemies which we will combine together in our final thought…

3. The world and the Devil. Jude 1:8-9; 1:14-16
The Devil is described as the prince of the power of the air and the god of this age (Ephesians 2:1-3; 2 Corinthians 4:1-5). If we take false teachers to be his emissaries and the flesh to be his target, then we can say that the world is his realm and he is the arch-enemy. 1 John 2:14-17 explains in further detail the Devil and his realm (i.e the world) as composed of various enticements: lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life (or “pride in what one owns”). One Bible scholar has referred to the Devil and his kingdom as the parasite kingdom – and rightly so.

It is interesting that Jude makes mention of the pre-flood patriarch Enoch in Jude 1:14-16 with regards to the prophecy he utters concerning God’s judgment on the enemies of the fight of faith. Again the episode featuring Enoch is not found in scripture but is cited by Jude for its truth content. Why a pre-flood prophet? Enoch in the Bible is found in Genesis 5:18-21 as having been the father of what would be the oldest recorded man in the Bible – Methusaleh (969 years old!). 

Enoch was also the first recorded man in redemptive history to have had “walked with God” in his generation. It is likely that Enoch’s naming of Methusaleh (who name means “in the year it was sent”) was due to his foreseeing God’s judgment on the world in the then future Noahic flood. We can surmise this point by noting that in the chronology of the pre-flood patriarchs, Methusaleh died in the very year the flood came on the earth. This may explain why Jude evoked Enoch as an example of a godly man who was himself “fighting the good fight of faith”. Enoch’s fight was worth the while, since he became one of the very few men in the Bible taking up by God into heaven without tasting death (the other of course being Elijah in 2 Kings 2).

Closing thoughts:
We have explored today four main enemies of the Christian’s fight of faith: namely false teachers, the flesh, the world and the Devil. Praise be to God we find in Jude the twin foundations for victory against these foes: God’s love (Jude 1:1-2) and the Bible, the word of God (Jude 1:3).