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Elder Bryce Lowrance

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Jesus Is The Eternal God

13 January 2014

In the opening verses of the Gospel according to John, we learn about two cousins. One was the Word or Light. This is Jesus. The other was witness to that Light. This is John the Baptist. The first three verses present a lot of doctrine about the eternal nature of Jesus and the Trinity.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. - John 1:1-3

John clearly teaches that Jesus has always existed. Jesus was already in existence at the creation of our universe. And not only was Jesus not created, He created everything else!

John also teaches us some details about the mystery of the Trinity. He says that Jesus was both with God and was God. He then repeats that He was with God. John leaves no doubt that he understood the godhead to be plural in number. Contrary to what more liberal theologians believe, this concept of plurality was not created in Rome several hundred years after Christ. It was a concept well understood by true students of the Old Bible among the Jews.

The very first book of Moses, Genesis, speaks of this plurality within God in the opening pages. The name of God, Elohim in Genesis 1:1, is the plural of Eloha. In 1:26, Moses writes "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." The God of Creation had a plurality within Himself. John simply tells us Who One of those persons is!

Jesus did not come into existence when He was born of Mary. John testifies in verse 14 that the Word was made flesh. This means the Word (Jesus) already existed.

We can find Jesus in the pages of the Old Testament on multiple occasions. There is clear evidence that Jesus appeared preincarnate as the "angel of the Lord" to Hagar and Abraham. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that Jesus was the Rock from which the Israelites drank in the wilderness. And one of my favorites is Jesus' appearance as "the captain of the host of the LORD" in Joshua Chapter 5. These are just a few of the many clear appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament proving He is the eternal God.

John concludes his opening in verse 18:

No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Basically what he is telling us is that anytime anyone saw God, they were seeing Jesus. Jesus has the fullness of the godhead in Himself. Everything we need to know about God we find in Jesus Christ. And here is the awesome blessing, Jesus has told us in the gospels all we need to know about Him and what He did for us!

« The Gospel According to John | The Witness »

Tags: creation, harmony_of_the_gospels, jesus, john

Welcome

Brentwood Hills Primitive Baptist Church is a community of believers working together to transform our lives to the image of Jesus Christ. We believe it is our duty and privilege to live the gospel of the doctrines of grace in such a way as to edify the families within our church and other children of God in our community. Through regular worship based on strong Biblical principles, fellowship, admonishment, and outreach, we glory in the grace of the sovereign God working in our lives thereby showing the Spirit of God in the world.

Brentwood Hills was organized in 1906 in Fort Worth, Texas as Laodicea Primitive Baptist Church. You can find much of the history of the church, as well as other churches here: Primitive Baptist History Database

We identify ourselves as an old-line Primitive Baptist church. If you read our Articles of Faith, you’ll see that we hold to such doctrines as the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. We recognize the King James Version (KJV) as the only English translation worthy of being called the Bible. We believe in salvation solely by the grace of a sovereign God. We believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, came to the earth to do the will of His Father, which was to deliver from the sentence of death all those the Father gave Him before the world began. We believe that Jesus fully satisfied the Father by atoning for all the sins of all His people. In time, we believe the Holy Spirit comes to each person that belongs to Jesus and regenerates them. Then (and only then) can anyone have faith, which is a fruit of the Spirit, by which you are able to believe the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether or not you ever hear the gospel, or believe it if you did hear it, or obey it if you did believe it, rest assured that Jesus will remain forever faithful to you because, if He died for you, He will never deny that you belong to Him.

We believe that everyone for whom Christ died will without fail be raised again from the dead to a glorified life. Even if we are alive when He returns to raise the dead, we shall be changed to a glorified life. All the Redeemed will meet the Lord in the air. Then He will take us to Heaven and there we shall forever be with the Lord. The wicked will be raised at the same time as the righteous, but the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment along with Satan and his angels. Until that glorious day when Christ returns to raise the dead, He has provided a place for His people to find rest for their souls. This place is the Church. Jesus Christ set-up His church on this earth before His death on the Cross. The church is there for those of His people who have come to believe that God saved them by His Son, Jesus Christ. To believe that Christ “paid it all” gives believers the strongest motivation to serve Him. Once enlightened to this glorious truth, then the child of God should feel an obligation to become and remain an active member of the His church. To serve the Lord in His church makes for one of the great blessings to experience this side of Heaven. It fulfills you to serve in His church and it gives your life purpose and meaning.