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THE ETERNAL, ALMIGHTY GOD
A. Introduction: Jesus warned that prior to His second coming false Christs and false prophets who preach
false gospels will abound, and we are living in that time. Matt 24:4-5; 11
1. To be protected from this deception, it is vital that we know who Jesus is and why He came into the
world, according to the Bible—especially the New Testament.
a. The New Testament was written by eyewitnesses of Jesus (or close associates of eyewitnesses), men
who walked and talked with Jesus, saw Him crucified, and then saw Him alive from the dead.
b. Based on what they saw and heard, the eyewitnesses became convinced that Jesus was and is God—
Almighty God become fully man without ceasing to be God—Immanuel, or God with us. Matt 1:23
c. The Bible reveals that God is Triune in nature. God is one God who simultaneously manifests as
three distinct, but not separate Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
1. Two millennia ago, the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, incarnated (or took on a full
human nature) in the womb of the virgin Mary and was born into this world. Luke 1:31-35
2. God the Son incarnated so that He could die as the perfect sacrifice for sin, and open the way for
sinful men and women to be restored to God through faith in Him. Heb 2:14-15; I Pet 3:18
2. We’ve made the point that because Jesus became a man, and because He is called the Son of God, many
sincere Christians view Jesus as somehow less than God.
a. However, the title Son of God does not mean that Jesus was less than God, or less than God the
Father. Son of means sameness of nature. Jesus is the Son of God because He is God.
b. When Jesus took on a human nature in Mary’s womb, He did not cease to be God—Jesus is God
with a human nature. Everything Jesus did, He did as the God-man—fully God and fully man.
c. Last week we talked about the fact that Jesus took to Himself Israel’s most sacred name for God—I
AM. This was the name by which Almighty God revealed Himself to Israel’s great prophet Moses,
when the Lord commissioned him to lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt. John 8:56-58; Ex 3:14
1. The people who heard Jesus call Himself I AM knew exactly what He meant—He was claiming
to be God, the God of Israel—the Only God who alone is to be worshipped. Ex 20:1-5; Deut 6:4
2. We know how the listeners interpreted Jesus’ words because, in response to His statement, the
religious leaders took up stones to stone Him to death for blasphemy. John 8:59; Lev 24:16
3. One of the main goals in this series has been to magnify Jesus and elevate our view of Him, because
we see Him for who He truly is—Almighty God in human flesh. We have more to say tonight.
B. Almighty God is invisible or imperceptible to our physical senses. Paul the apostle wrote: Glory and honor
to God forever and ever. He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God (I Tim 1:17,
NLT); He dwells in unapproachable light (I Tim 6:16, ESV).
1. However, God (who is Invisible) wants to be known by the creatures He created, and He has shown
Himself to us through Jesus. Jesus is God’s clearest revelation of Himself.
a. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (Col 1:15, NLT). The Greek word that is translated
image means likeness: He is the exact likeness of the unseen God—the visible representation of
the invisible (Col 1:15, Amp).
b. John the apostle (an eyewitness of Jesus) wrote: No man has ever seen God. But his only Son,
who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart; he has told us about Him (John 1:18, NLT).
2. Because Jesus is God (the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son), He has always been. Jesus did
not come into existence in Bethlehem.
a. We have accounts in the Old Testament where people saw God. When we examine the accounts,
find that these people saw Jesus, Preincarante Jesus, Jesus before He took on a human nature.
1. Isaiah the prophet wrote: In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a
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lofty throne and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Hovering around him were mighty
seraphim (angels)…In a great chorus they sang, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty! The
whole earth is filled with his glory (Isa 6:1-3, NLT).
2. The apostle John tells us that Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory. John, in the context of people in his day
who did not believe on Jesus even though they saw Him perform miracles, quoted Isaiah’s
words: Lord who has believed our report (Isa 53:1) and revealed that: Isaiah said this
because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him (John 12:38-41, NIV).
b. Jesus was very interactive with His people in the Old Testament before He incarnated. These
appearances were theophanies, not incarnations (theo, God; phaino, to appear). Almighty God did
not take on a human nature, He appeared or manifested, sometimes in visible, bodily form.
1. Jesus was not called Jesus in these appearances. He did not take the name Jesus (which means
Savior) until He incarnated (took on a human nature) and was born into this world.
2. In these Old Testament appearances, Jesus is most often called the Angel of the Lord (Ex 3:1).
He was not an angel (a created being), He was the Angel. Remember, Jesus is the Creator of
all things, including angels (John 1:1-3). In these appearances, He is clearly identified as God.
3. The Hebrew word translated angel means messenger or one who is sent. Jesus is the sent One,
the message or Word of God, in both the Old and New Testaments.
3. After Jesus incarnated, He took the name I AM to Himself. I AM is the name that God gave to Moses
when He commissioned Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt and back to their ancestral home in Canaan
(John 8:58, Ex 3:14). Let’s examine what happened when the Lord appeared to Moses.
a. Ex 3:1-6—The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses as a blazing fire in the midst of a bush. Note
these clues as to the identity of the angel.
1. The text tells us that God called to Moses form the midst of the bush. The voice from the fire
told Moses to take off his shoes because he was on holy ground. The voice then identified
himself as the God of their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
2. When Moses heard this, he hid his face in his hands because he was afraid to look at God (Ex
3:6, NLT). God then commissioned Moses, and gave him the name I AM (Ex 3:10-14).
b. After Pharaoh sent the Israelites out of Egypt and they began their journey back to Canaan, “the
Lord went before them by day in a pillar (column) of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night,
in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and night” (Ex 13:21, ESV).
1. The pillar is later identified as the angel of the Lord, when Pharaoh changed his mind about
freeing Israel and came after them with his army. The pillar got between Israel and the army.
2. Ex 14:19—Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went
behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them (ESV)
A. Paul, while exhorting Christians to remember their ancestors, clearly identified the angel of
the Lord when he wrote that it was Jesus who went with Israel to Canaan. I Cor 10:1-4
B. Paul wrote that God brought them through the Red Sea and then miraculously provided
with food and water on their journey: “For they all drank from the miraculous Rock that
travelled with them, and that Rock was Christ” (I Cor 10: 4, NLT).
4. When Jesus called Himself I AM in the incident in John 8:58 (when the religious leaders tried to stone
Him for blasphemy) Jesus specifically said: Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.
He saw it and was glad…before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:56-58, ESV).
a. What does it mean that Abraham saw Jesus day? When we examine the Old Testament record of
Abraham’s interactions with the Lord, we find that Abraham interacted with Preincarnate Jesus.
1. Around 1921 BC Almighty God promised Abraham: I will cause you to become the father of
a great nation (and) all families of the earth will be blessed through you (Gen 12:2-3, NLT).
His descendants grew into the nation of Israel, the people group Jesus was born into.
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2. Gen 3:15—You recall that when the first man Adam sinned, God promised that the Seed of the
woman would come and undo the damage done by sin. The Seed is Jesus and the woman is
Mary. The Seed will come through Abraham’s descendants.
b. When God first called Abraham and told him his descendants would become a great nation that
would bless the world, he and his wife were too old to have children. But through the years
Abraham saw and heard the Lord as He repeated His promise to Abraham. Consider one example.
1. Gen 18—Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent when he noticed three men, one of
whom was Preincarnate Jesus. Abraham invited them to rest and eat some food.
A. How do we know this was the Lord? The Hebrew word translated Lord in this chapter is
Yehovah and is used a number of times for one of the men (v1,13,14,17,20,22).
B. This “man” displayed qualities of God (v10-15). He promised a son to an old, barren
woman, who laughed silently to herself when she heard the “man” say this. The “man”
knew that Sarah laughed, even though she wasn’t in the tent with him. Finally, the “man”
claimed that he would return about a year from then and cause her to bear a child.
2. The Lord did exactly as he had promised: Sarah became pregnant, and she gave a son to
Abraham in his old age. It all happened at the time God had said it would (Gen 21:1-2, NLT).
c. Gen 22:1-2—Later on God tested Abraham’s faith and obedience…(when He said) take your son,
your only son (and) sacrifice him…as a burnt offering (NLT). (Lessons for another day.)
1. Gen 22:11-12—As Abraham was about to sacrifice his son: At that moment the angel of the
Lord shouted to him from heaven…Do not hurt the boy in any way…For now I know that you
truly fear God. You have not withheld even your beloved son from me (NLT).
2. Gen 22:15-19—Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and
said, by myself I have sworn, declares the Lord…I will surely bless you, and I will surely
multiply your offspring (seed) as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore…in
your offspring (seed) shall all nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my
voice (Gen 22:15-18, ESV).
d. In John 8:58, when Jesus called Himself I Am, His point to the religious leaders was that before
Abraham was born, I AM. I have always existed because I AM the Eternal God.
1. But Jesus prefaced His statement with: Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing
my day; he saw it and was glad (John 8:56, NIV).
2. Abraham saw Jesus’ day when Preincarnate Jesus told him that through his offspring, the Seed
(Incarnate Jesus) would come.
A. On the day that Jesus called Himself I AM, Abraham had long since died and was with his
descendants, Moses and Elijah. And like them, now knew what the Seed was about to do
through His death and resurrection. Luke 9:30-31
B. Paul clearly identified this promise to Abraham as a reference to Jesus in Gal 3:16—Now
the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say to offsprings,
referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring”, who is Christ (ESV).
C. The idea that Jesus is the Almighty, Eternal God is found throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.
1. Some sixty years after Jesus returned to Heaven following His crucifixion and resurrection, the Lord
appeared to John, while he was in exile for his faith in Jesus. John recorded what Jesus told him and
showed him in the Book of Revelation (many lessons for another day). Consider these points.
a. Jesus referred to Himself as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
(Rev 1:8; Rev 1:11; Rev 1:17). Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.
b. This expression is used to express the eternality of God. In the Old Testament Almighty God
referred to Himself as the First and the Last.
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1. Isa 48:12-13—I alone am God, the First and the Last. It was my hand that laid the foundation
of the earth. The palm of my right hand spread out the heavens above. I spoke, and they came
into being (NLT).
2. Isa 41:4—Who has done such mighty deeds, directing the affairs of the human race as each new
generation marches by? It is I, the Lord, the First and the Last, I alone am he (NLT);
2. When Jesus called Himself the beginning and the end He was expressing the idea that He is the Author or
Cause (Creator) of all things and the end of all things—I will compete God’s plan to recover His family.
a. Eph 1:9-10—God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed
long ago according to his good pleasure. And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring
everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth (NLT),
b. Col 1:18-20—He (Jesus) was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is
supreme in the end. From beginning to end, he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone.
So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.
Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals
and atoms—get properly fixed together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that
poured down from the Cross (The Message Bible).
1. Rev 10:7—But when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be
fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced to his servants the prophets (NLT).
2. Rev 11:15—Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in
heaven: The whole world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will
reign forever and ever (NLT).
3. We’ve lost a reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ and for God’s majesty and holiness. In an effort to be
relevant to the culture and make people feel comfortable, we’ve deemphasized the Almightiness of God
to make Him relatable. We call God Papa, talk about crawling into His lap, and dancing with Jesus.
a. In Revelation, John recorded that he first heard Jesus speak, and then turned to see the Lord. Note
how John described his reaction to Jesus: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead (Rev 1:17,
NLT). John was overcome by the majesty of Almighty God standing before Him.
b. Isaiah had a similar reaction when he saw the Lord: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of
unclean lips…for my eyes have see the King, the Lord of hosts (Isa 6:5, ESV).
c. Note how Almighty God, the Second Person of the Trinity, who so loved the world that He gave
Himself as a sacrifice for our sin, responded to Isaiah and to John.
1. Isa 6:6-7—An angel took a burning coal from the altar and touched Isaiah’s mouth and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (NLT)
2. Rev 1:17—But he laid his right hand on me and said, Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the
Last. I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys
of death and the grave (NLT).
D. Conclusion: The men and women who interacted with Jesus when He was on earth stood in the presence of
the great I AM, clothed in human frailty. The Second Person of the Trinity humbled Himself and entered
time and space to accomplish our redemption—deliverance from the guilt and power of sin.
1. In Revelation John described Jesus as the One who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (Rev
1:4; Rev 1:8). Jesus has always been, because He is God (John 1:1; Ex 3:14). Jesus is with us now by
His Spirit with and in us (Matt 28:20). And Jesus will return to complete God’s plan of redemption and
take His rightful place in His kingdom on earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev 11:15).
2. May our reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ, Almighty God Incarnate, be increased, may our trust in
Him grow, along with our desire to please Him. May our focus be more and more on Him, as we await
the return of the rightful King of this world, our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.