John 17:20-22 - ​ 20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;

 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

 22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;

What is in the bottle?
We can clearly see the bottle and describe the bottle. But we struggle with knowing what is inside the bottle.
 
So it was and is with the Lord’s humanity. Men saw him tired, hungry, suffering, weeping, and thought he was only man. He was made in the likeness of men.
Yet He is divinely God over all, blessed forever. We have to taste and see that the Lord is good.
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Dogs are man’s best friends, so let’s assume that the dogs in your town have developed a problem that has them in deep distress and that only you can provide the help they need.
 
If it would help all the dogs to become more like men, would you be willing to become a dog? Would you put down your human nature, family, job, hobbies, and all else and choose—instead of intimate communion with your beloved—the poor substitute of looking into the beloved’s face and wagging your tail, unable to smile or speak?
 
When Christ became a man through the incarnation, he voluntarily limited what to him was the most precious thing in the world: unhampered, unhindered communion with the Father.[1]
 
Humanity of Jesus
Philippians 2:8 - He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.[2]
seen in

• 1) His birth
  • Galatians 4:4 - When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, [3];
  • Luke 2:7 - Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.[4]
  • John 1:46 - “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. [5]
  • Hebrews 2:9 - But we do see Jesus--made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone--crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.[6]
• 2) His circumstances
  • Carpenter’s son
  • No home
  • Loved by some and hated by some
• 3) his reputation
  • Isaiah 53:2-9 – He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him.
    • He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
    • Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
    • But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.
    • We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.
    • He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth.
    • He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;
he was struck because of my people’ rebellion.

• He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.[7]
  • Matthew 26:59 - The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death,[8]
  • Matthew 26:67-68 - Then they spat in his face and beat him; others slapped him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah! Who was it that hit you?” [9]

• 4) His soul
  • Matthew 4:1–2 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.[10]
  • Luke 22:44 - Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.[11]
  • Hebrews 2:17-18 - Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement, for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. [12]

Hebrews 4:15 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.[13]

• 5) His death
  • Luke 23
  • John 19
  • Mark 15:24-25 - Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get. 25 Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him.[14]
• 6) and His burial
  • Isaiah 53:9 - He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.[15]
  • Matthew 27:57-60 - When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. Then Pilate ordered that it be released. 59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen, 60 and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.[16]

His humiliation was necessary

• 1) to execute the purpose of God
  • Acts 2:23-24 - Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. 24 God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.[17]
• 2) fulfil the Old Testament types and prophecies
  • These cannot all come to pass by chance.
  • In 1969, Professor Peter Stoner took eight of those prophecies, eight of them...born in Bethlehem, preceded by a messenger, riding on a donkey, betrayed by a friend, sold for 30 pieces of silver, money used to buy a potter's field, silent as a lamb, hands and feet pieced.
  • Had his math students do a study of the science of probability. They came up with one chance in ten to the seventeenth power...that's one chance in ten with seventeen zeroes after it.
  • And interestingly enough, some years later his grandson went back to the problem and decided it was actually ten to the eighteenth power. I'm not sure where that distinction lies.
  • Cover Texas with silver dollars... have a blind man pick 1 pre-marked silver dollar out of the whole bunch.
• 3) satisfy the law in the room of the guilty and procure for them eternal redemption,
  • Hebrews 9:12, 15 - He entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption…
    • Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant,, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.[18]
• 4) and to show us an example.

 
Issues prevalent today:

• Acceptance
• Stress/Anxiety/Depression
  • Serious mental stress is a fact of life for many Americans.
  • Seven-in-ten teens say anxiety and depression are major problems among their peers
• Alcohol & Drugs
• Sexual Activity
• Cyber Addiction (Social Networking)
• Bullying & Cyberbullying
• Peer Pressure
• Desensitization
• Poverty
• Disrespect/Defiant Behaviors
• Trust
• Motivation

 
Divinity of Jesus
Birth

• Luke 1:35 - The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.[19]

 
Ministry through miracles – Works of God done by Christ

• Minimum 37 miracles in the Gospels.
• 3 Messianic miracles:
  • Healing a Jewish leper
  • Casting out demons from a mute
  • Healing of man that was born blind

 
Jesus forgave sins

• Matthew 9:1-7 - So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town. 2 Just then some men brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”
• 3 At this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “He’s blaspheming!”
• 4 Perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts? 5 For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 7 So he got up and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and gave glory to God, who had given such authority to men. [20]

 
Sacrifice for forgiveness

• Hebrews 9:24-26 - For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us. 25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another. 26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.[21]
• Hebrew 10:10-14 - 10 By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
• 11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God., 13 He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.[22]

 
Claimed the Ability to Give Rest to Anyone

• Matthew 11:28 - “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”[23]

 
Resurrection
 - Acts 1:3-8 – 3 After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
THE HOLY SPIRIT PROMISED
4 While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”[24]
 
Promise of His return

• John 1:1-3 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.[25]
• Colossians 1:15-20 – 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
• For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--

all things have been created through him and for him.

• He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.
• He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.
• For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross[26]

• Matthew 12:38-42 - Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
• He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish, three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s preaching; and look—something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look—something greater than Solomon is here. [27]
• Philippians 2:5-11 - Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
•   The word “form” means “the outward expression of the inward nature.” This means that in eternity past, Jesus Christ was God. In fact, Paul states that He was “equal with God.”[28]
• Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.
• For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth--11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[29]

 
You can clearly see through history that Jesus was real.

• Jesus’ humanity is recorded in history
• Even the deity of Jesus has been recorded (His birth, ministry, death, burial and resurrection)
• But with all that proof… it still takes faith.
• Faith to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

[1] Green, M. P. (Ed.). (1989). Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 sermon illustrations arranged by topic and indexed exhaustively (Revised edition of: The expositor’s illustration file). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Php 2:8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ga 4:4). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Lk 2:7). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Jn 1:46). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 2:9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Is 53:2-9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 26:59). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 26:67-68). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 4:1–2). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Lk 22:44). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 2:17–18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[13] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 4:15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[14] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mk 15:23–25). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[15] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Is 53:9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[16] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 27:57–60). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[17] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ac 2:23–24). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[18] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 9:12,15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[19] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Lk 1:35). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[20] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 9:1–8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[21] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 9:24–26). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[22] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 10:10–14). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[23] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 11:28–30). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[24] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ac 1:3–8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[25] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Jn 1:1–5). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[26] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Col 1:15–20). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[27] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 12:38–42). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[28] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 74). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[29] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Php 2:5–11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.