13 June 2021: Fully human, and fully divine

Bethel Baptist Church
Worship Service @ Home
13 June 2021

Service available on Youtube, or as text (below), or for audio see the Podcasts page.

Welcome

Let’s keep praying for our Special Celebration on July 31st 2021 – “Bethel Baptist Church Community Fun-Day”.

The aim: To celebrate opening up after Covid and to show love and kindness to our community.

Suggestions: to have Stalls; Clothes; Food; Beat the Goalie; Face Painting; Smash the Crockery; Children’s Corner.

Any more suggestions – please let us know.

Church Weekend-Away

‘The rescheduled church weekend away has been confirmed for 3rd – 5th June 2022. If you didn’t sign up back in 2019/20 but would like to go please contact Andrea for an information letter and sign up form.’

Testimony

 “Through life people have their ups and downs. Sometimes we bring these on ourselves. Other times its what life throws at us. Although we have to go through these things we always know that Jesus is there. When we pray to Him, He will lift that heavy load.”

Doreen

Worship

Word

Reading: Romans 1:1-7

“concerning His Son … a descendant of David”

Romans 1:3

Introduction

“Concerning His Son” – It’s all about Jesus.

“a descendant of David” – Jesus was fully human and fully divine.

The Scriptures give a clear record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Today there is an increasing interest in people discovering who their ancestors were. One sight advertises: “Find your ancestors across 12 billion historical records … with more than 6,300 million names.” We have a record of Jesus’ ancestry (Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38) and as mentioned here, regarding His human side, He was a descendant of David. Numerous Scriptures testify to the fact that Jesus was fully human: He had a human body,

… she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger …

Luke 2:7

the child grew and became strong; He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on Him.

Luke 2:40

We read of Him becoming tired, (John 4:6), thirsty (John 19:28), hungry (Matt. 4:2), too weak to carry the cross (Luke 23:26); He had a soul (John 12:27; 13:21; Matt. 26:38) and experienced human emotion e.g. He wept following the death of Lazarus (John 11:35). He was tempted in every way as we are yet was without sin (Heb. 4:15-16).

(1) Jesus empathises with our weaknesses

We must get the balance right with Jesus’ humanity and His deity. In John’s Gospel, Jesus’ divinity is strongly emphasised, but not at the expense of His humanity, as seen in some of the references from John mentioned in the Introduction above. In Hebrews, Jesus is the Great High Priest, and yet He is One who can feel with us in our weakness for He Himself has been tempted in every way that we have:

We do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet He did not sin.

Heb. 4:15

“Rather than being far removed from our human experience, the … now-exalted Son has been in the thick of it”

George Guthrie

This means we can always come to Him and the Father through Him, to our gracious God, knowing He will receive us with grace, compassion and mercy and help us in our time of need:

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Heb. 4:16

Jesus knows us through and through, and feels deeply for us in the difficulties and temptations of life that we go through, and always He wants us to come to Him, to draw near to Him:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matt. 11:28-30

(2) Jesus is always praying for us

Just as Jesus prayed for His disciples for help in their weakness whilst here on earth (Luke 22:32; John 17:9, 20), so also now He is always praying and interceding …

“for believers struggling with temptation, perhaps specifically the temptation to deny the faith under persecution”

George Guthrie

“Now He intercedes in every moment for each individual”

Oscar Cullmann

In fact both Jesus (Rom. 8:34) and the Spirit (Rom. 8:26-27) are interceding with the Father for the Christian. Putting all this, and more, together, the Spirit interceding for us, Jesus interceding for us, having already died for us, and interceding to the Father, who spared not His own Son for us, enabling us to be justified by faith and glorified, let us rejoice and be eternally glad in Him.

(3) Jesus has broken the power of sin and death

Jesus had to become fully human and die on the cross. Jesus prayed in Gethsemane,

My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.

Matt. 26:39

It clearly was not possible for the cup of Him dying on the cross to be taken from Him. This was confirmed after He had risen from the dead when He was talking to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus,

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”

Luke 24:25-26

Although there was provision in the OT for the forgiveness of sins,

it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Heb. 10:4

whereas Christ Jesus was the perfect …

… Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”

John 1:29

Sin entered the world through one man Adam, and death through sin, (cf. Rom 5:12) and sin and death has been dealt with by the One Man, Christ Jesus so that grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 5:21), Amen!

Questions for Discussion

  1. How far back can you go with your ancestry?
  2. Why was it necessary for Jesus to be fully human?
  3. Share a time when you were really struggling and drew near to Jesus and He helped you?
  4. Do you fear dying?
  5. Do you believe you already have eternal life in Jesus Christ? When did you realise this?

Quote for the Week

“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”

Augustine

Verse of the week

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, Your ways are perfect and past finding out. We would never have known You, had You not revealed Yourself to us. For this great blessing we give You our heartfelt thanks, praise and worship.

Thank You that You did not spare Your own Son but gave Him up for us all, and that You will graciously give us all things needful and necessary.

We thank You for revealing the great mystery that Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, became fully human in order to be a propitiation for our sins and the sins of the whole world, that we by faith can be right with You and receive Your Holy Spirit and the gift of eternal life.

Empower us the more to share this Good-News, in Jesus Christ Name, Amen!