Immanuel; God With Us

1. Jesus said He was God.
[Jhn 10:24 NIV] - The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
[Jhn 10:25 NIV] - Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me,
[Jhn 10:26 NIV] - but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
[Jhn 10:27 NIV] - My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
[Jhn 10:28 NIV] - I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
[Jhn 10:29 NIV] - My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
[Jhn 10:30 NIV] - I and the Father are one."
[Jhn 10:31 NIV] - Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him,
[Jhn 10:32 NIV] - but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
[Jhn 10:33 NIV] - "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

No other leader of any other religion or major cult claimed they were God.
Buddha, Pursued enlightenment of his own definition
Muhammad, Claim to be the one true prophet, but not God.

Which forces an honest answer from people.
You cannot say Jesus was a good teacher and leave it at that. Either He is delusional and should not be trusted at all or His claims to deity are true and you better worship Him as God.

2. Believe the miracles.
Jesus Back up His claims with miracles.
Mention Miracle Chart
[Jhn 10:31 NIV] - Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him,
[Jhn 10:32 NIV] - but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
[Jhn 10:33 NIV] - "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

[Jhn 10:37 ESV] If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
[Jhn 10:38 ESV] but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."


3. Jesus forgave sins.
Only God can forgive sins. Why? Because when we sin we sin against God.

Every little sin is cosmic treason against an eternal God.
That is why hell is eternal conscious punishment.
The punishment is “fair” and equal to the crime.

[Psa 41:4 NIV] - I said, "O LORD, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you."

[Jer 14:20 NIV] - O LORD, we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers; we have indeed sinned against you

That is why blessed is the man whose sins God will not hold against him.
[Rom 4:3 NIV] - What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
[Rom 4:4 NIV] - Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
[Rom 4:5 NIV] - However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
[Rom 4:6 NIV] - David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
[Rom 4:7 NIV] - "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
[Rom 4:8 NIV] - Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

The goal is not to have God say, “Good enough” You tried your best. That’s what the world says.
World message: A loving God will overlook your rejection of Him and His rules.

Our hope is that God will never even see our evil, only the righteousness of Jesus on us.

A response to a Duck. Phil Robertson quoted the Bible and it was held against him.
Look at the message: It’s full of HOPE and LOVE!

Before I read this I am asking you to practice true Tolerance and Open-Mindedness

Any Unrepentant person, all forms of unrepentant sin, which includes any form sexual immorality, not just homosexuality. 

[1Cr 6:9 ESV] Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
[1Cr 6:10 ESV] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

[1Cr 6:11 ESV] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

People don’t want to be Washed, Sanctified and Justified by God through Jesus, because we first must acknowledge our ways are evil and turn away from them. We would rather keep our evil ways and make a god who is as evil as we are.

Gospel: God Himself will punish your wickedness on Jesus and declare you not guilty at all.

Jesus forgave sins and backed it up with a miracles.
[Luk 5:17 NIV] - One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.
[Luk 5:18 NIV] - Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.
[Luk 5:19 NIV] - When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
[Luk 5:20 NIV] - When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
[Luk 5:21 NIV] - The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
[Luk 5:22 NIV] - Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?
[Luk 5:23 NIV] - Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?
[Luk 5:24 NIV] - But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . ." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."
[Luk 5:25 NIV] - Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God."
[Mat 9:7 NIV] - And the man got up and went home.

4. Died on a cross.
[Luk 18:31 NIV] - Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
[Luk 18:32 NIV] - He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.

It’s why we call Good Friday Good. It’s why the Cross is our logo

5. And one more thing, Came back to life.
[Luk 18:33 NIV] - On the third day he will rise again."

[Mat 28:2 NIV] - There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
[Mat 28:3 NIV] - His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
[Mat 28:4 NIV] - The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
[Mat 28:5 NIV] - The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
[Mat 28:6 NIV] - He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
[Mat 28:7 NIV] - Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

Paul Writes
[1Cr 15:3 NIV] - For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
[1Cr 15:4 NIV] - that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
[1Cr 15:5 NIV] - and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
[1Cr 15:6 NIV] - After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
[1Cr 15:7 NIV] - Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
[1Cr 15:8 NIV] - and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

Luke begins his Gospel with the following statements.
[Luk 1:1 NIV] - Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,
[Luk 1:2 NIV] - just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.
[Luk 1:3 NIV] - Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
[Luk 1:4 NIV] - so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Peter writes.
[2Pe 1:16 NIV] - We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
[2Pe 1:17 NIV] - For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
[2Pe 1:18 NIV] - We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
[2Pe 1:19 NIV] - And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

John writes concerning Christ.
[1Jo 1:1 NIV] - That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
[1Jo 1:2 NIV] - The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
[1Jo 1:3 NIV] - We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
[1Jo 1:4 NIV] - We write this to make our joy complete.

Our Response!
[Psa 5:11 ESV] But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
[Psa 5:12 ESV] For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

[Psa 16:11 ESV] You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

If you like Christmas now, Wait till Heaven!