John 1:51

July 14, 2013 The Gospel of John focuses on the unique being of Jesus Christ as both God and as Gods Son: He is the Word from eternity and Jesus of Nazareth. He is both the God of heaven and the Man on earth. Hes 100% divine and also 100% human. He has the whole divine essence of the Godhead; He is indivisible from the Father and the Holy Spirit; He is infinite without any beginning; And yet He is the brightness of Gods glory and the express image of His person (Heb. 1:3). If we want to see the invisible God we can only look at Jesus Christ. To put it simply, He is unique. And Johns goal is to show us these things so that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing we might have life through His name (Jn. 20:31). Last week we finished up with chapter one, but I want to go back to revisit the very last verse because theres so much in it that meets Johns main goal. Jesus shows His omniscience to Nathanael who then believes Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel, but theres something else Jesus wants him to understand: And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. The Greek here is in the plural. It might be better translated as I say unto you all, Hereafter you all shall see. What Hes doing is telling these men who He really is. Ye shall see heaven open. Ezekiel talks about seeing the heavens opened and I saw visions of God (Ez. 1:1). John saw the heavens opened when he baptized Jesus: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mt. 3:16-17). Steven saw the heavens opened before he died: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God (Acts 7:56).

Peter saw heaven open before God told him to eat pork (Acts 10:11), and down in verse 28 he explains: God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. In Revelation John describes seeing the heavens open in His vision of the Word: And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war (Rev. 19:11). The idea is that heaven is opened to them so that they can see some of the great mysteries that are hidden from the world. and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Being a true Israelite, Nathanael wouldnt have missed the reference. If you go back to Genesis 28:10 youll find Jacob running for his life: And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 11And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. 16And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. 17And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. (Gen. 28:10-17). Jesus identifies Himself as the ladder from Jacobs dream, and that dream shows that Jesus is the connection between heaven and earth! Even the angels come back and forth upon Him; this makes me think of Hebrews 1:4 where it says Jesus is made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. When Jacob realizes whats going on he describes the place as the house of God and the gate of heaven. How interesting to see Christ in the New Testament calling Himself the gate (Jn. 10:9) and being called the cornerstone of the house of God (Eph. 2:20).

The promises from the Lord in this dream are nothing short of the everlasting covenant! This is the promise for a seed and for land and for blessing, and its the hope of all the nation of Israel and of the whole world. And Christ reveals Himself as the means of the fulfillment of this covenant to these men: yes! He is the Son of God and the King of Israel, and yes; He is the Son of Man. He is the One in Heaven and the One on earth. He is God and He is Man. Lets close with a few thoughts that show us what this means: #1- Jesus is the Revealer of all spiritual truth. Everything we know about God is because of Christ. There are some who mix what they know about God with what men say or what theyve experienced, but Christ is the only way to know anything. Our hearts are wicked and deceitful and no man has ever seen God, but Christ is in the bosom of the Father and has declared Him! #2- Jesus is our Mediator between heaven and earth. Theres only one for man. In the Old Testament this was typified in the high priest, but in Christ we have the substance of the shadow. Hes the One who stands on our behalf and who covered our sins. Hes the one who satisfied the wrath of God. #3- Jesus is our Sacrifice. As a spirit God cannot offer the blood sacrifice required to pay the sin debt, but He took on the flesh of a human so that He could spill His blood for us. Again, we have the shadow in the Old Testament, but in Christ we see the fulfillment. #4- Jesus is both God and Man: We call this His Hypostasis. He is able to see us wherever we are and also to feel the weaknesses of our flesh. Hes not more of one or the other. He is fully divine and human. Hes is the form of God and the exact representation of His character, and yet He took on the form of a servant and bore our sin and shame. #5- Jesus is our example in Humiliation. The God who is superior to angels and who thought it not robbery to be called God laid aside His former glory and took on the form of a servant. He who is called Life submitted to death that we might live. This is an example to us: that as He has done for us so we might do for each other (Jn. 13:15). A true assembly of believers ought to be the mist humble place on earth. We dont care about outward appearances and we help each other as one body. Theres genuine love and concern that goes out of its way to help. #6- Jesus is our Representative Man as the Second Adam. We were born into Adam and suffer from all his weaknesses. He was our representative and we share in his guilt. But the Son of Man is our Second Adam. We die to this flesh and are

born from above in Christ and therefore we share in His righteousness! This is not possible if He is not God-Man! newgracebaptistchurch.wordpress.com