Jesus The Son Of God And The Son Of Man by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

3 senses of "son of God"

Scripture uses "son of God" in three different senses and they must be kept apart

1. By creation

   Job 1:6

   Here it refers to angels. Direct creations of God are called sons of God. In the Old Testament it is typically angels, and it is always "sons"

   Luke 3:38

   Adam is also called a son of God because he is a direct creation of God

2. By adoption

   This refers to us believers Galatians 4:5, Romans 8:15, Ephesians 1:5

3. By nature

   The Son of God by nature is eternally God. This is for Christ alone. We are sons of God, we are not the Son of God

   Jesus is not a son of God by creation, because he is Creator, not creation

   He is also not a son by adoption. There is a school of thought that he was a perfect man and God then adopted him and gave him the title. No.

   He was Son before the incarnation Isaiah 9:6

   The Son, who is Jesus Christ, was given to be born

We are not the same with him 1 John 4:17. Christ is complete in himself, all sufficient.

The completion talked about is in regard to his earthly ministry, him being the head and the church his body. He was before you were, so was he incomplete then?

We have to be careful with the things we say

The Son by nature

Only Jesus belongs in the third category

Hebrews 1:5 makes the distinction. His sonship is not an angelic kind

John calls him monogenes John 1:14, John 1:18, John 3:16. It means unique, one of a kind

The Jews understood exactly what that title meant. When Jesus spoke of being the Son of God, they understood he was saying he was equal with the Father John 5:18

A son shares his father's nature. That is the point of the title "only begotten of the Father": sharing the same nature with the Father

Eternally the Son

Galatians 4:4

He was sent as a son. He was the Son before he was made of a woman

1 John 4:14, John 3:17

John 17:5

This is Jesus' prayer. It is the incarnation speaking. He had a consciousness of who he was before he was sent. That is why he can say before Abraham was, I am John 8:58

Illustration: my grandfather's birthmark

My grandfather had six wives and 33 known children, and I'm still counting because every day they add to the family

As my mother told me, when I was born they noticed a birthmark on my body. Only his wives would know that mark.

When they carried me and saw the exact same mark in the exact place he had it, they began to call me "my husband".

He got that mark when hot water poured on him as a young man

But I'm not their husband. I have one wife

Some might say maybe I'm my grandfather come back to life. But I know I'm not him, because I have no consciousness of his life. What makes me me are my memories, my mind.

You can't say somebody is a reincarnation if they don't know their former address

But this Jesus has consciousness of the world before he came into it. He is really the Son of God.

Every piece of information he does not have, he chose not to have, in submission to his humanity

So when he asks to be glorified with the glory he had with the Father, he is talking about the foundation of the world.

This 33-year-old man had a consciousness of when the world began John 17:24

An Old Testament scripture

Some theologians say that for something to be scriptural it must have a foundation in the Old Testament, and there is no Old Testament scripture that talks about the Son of God.

It is not true

Proverbs 30:3 to Proverbs 30:4

Solomon is talking about God and referring to his son. So there is an Old Testament scripture that refers to the office of the Son of God. Keep this in mind for debates

Questions people will ask you

I'm prepping you so they will not evangelize you out of Christ

Illustration: the open-air symposium

At UNILAG the chapel is on the left and the mosque is on the right. One day they held an open-air symposium critiquing the Bible.

They opened scriptures and asked questions, and Christians who grabbed the mic were made a mess of. They laughed, "Is it not your Bible? You don't know your Bible?"

At a point a lady started crying. The solution is not tears. You don't have an answer

If you are honest with yourself and don't know the answer, you know you need it. Write like your life depends on it

1. Why did he say the Father is greater than I, if he is God?

   John 14:28

   He was referring to his position in the incarnation, not his nature

   If I'm in an office and my wife is the boss, she is greater than I in position. But nature-wise, we are equal. Compare John 5:18

2. If he is God, why didn't he know the hour?

   Mark 13:32

   They will say one quality of God is that he is all knowing. The answer is from Philippians 2:7

   In his humanity he voluntarily limited the use of his knowledge because he was a man. He stripped himself of godship in his humanity.

   That is what they call the hypostatic union. He did it so that he can save us

3. Why did he say "I can do nothing of myself"?

   John 5:19, John 5:30

   God is supposed to be self-sufficient. This shows the perfect unity of the Son with the Father, not weakness. He is not saying he is weak without the Father. They are in unison

4. Why did he call the Father "my God, your God"? Why was he praying on the cross?

   John 20:17

   He was speaking as the risen man and our mediator. It is not a limitation on his godship

   Psalm 22:1

   On the cross he was making that declaration to fulfil a messianic prophecy. He was making sure people knew he was on that cross as prophesied.

   He wasn't saying it in helplessness, he was saying it in fulfilment of scripture

5. How can God be born, eat, sleep and die?

   Your Bible says he neither slumbers nor sleeps, but Jesus was sleeping in the boat

   The Word was made flesh John 1:14. It was his human nature that died while the person remained God Acts 20:28

6. He was just a prophet

   They see him as a prophet, a very good teacher of the word. If you say he is more than a prophet because of miracles, Elijah and Moses also did miracles. This is the distinction

   Prophets did not forgive sins. Jesus did

   Mark 2:5 to Mark 2:10

   He was about to work a miracle, but first he said, your sins are forgiven. The scribes reasoned in their hearts, who can forgive sins but God alone?

   Jesus perceived it in his spirit and asked which is easier to say.

   Then he said it so that they may know the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, and the paralytic rose and walked

   Psalm 103:2 to Psalm 103:3

   Who forgives all iniquities? God. Who heals all diseases? God. What did Jesus do in Mark 2? He forgave and he healed. He was telling them without telling them that he is God

   Prophets did not accept worship

   Thomas called him my Lord and my God John 20:28 and bowed and worshiped him. Jesus did not say don't worship me, because God ought to be worshiped

   Matthew 14:33

   Those in the boat worshiped him. Did Jesus say don't worship me? No

   No prophet raised himself from the dead

   John 10:18

   Powerful statement. Jesus is resurrection. Anybody raised from the dead had to be called back by somebody alive. Jesus died, and in his death he rose

Lazarus and the voice of Jesus

John 11

There are 11 miracles of raising the dead in the Bible, so there was nothing quote unquote special about Jesus raising the dead

The Jews, the Pharisees who believed in miracles, believed you could raise somebody within 3 days.

Once it crossed to the fourth day the person had been judged and could not be raised back to life. So Jesus waited for the fourth day

The miracles of Jesus are earthly tokens for spiritual realities.

Jesus should not tell us he will raise us from the dead when we die if he cannot raise the dead, and if he cannot die and be raised from the dead

The fact that Jesus heals bodies shows he made bodies. It takes a maker to repair

Illustration: the powder

On a commercial bus a man was advertising a powder. He said if you brush your teeth with it, your teeth will become white. I just looked at his mouth to see his teeth.

When I asked him why his teeth were not white, he said he had not used it

The claims of Jesus are tested and trusted

After 4 days in the tomb there should be decay. They told him by now it would smell. He said remove the stone

Jesus said Lazarus come forth. The dead man rose and came out bound hand and foot, and Jesus said loose him and let him go

This is my interpretation: Jesus wanted to typify what happens when somebody is raised from the dead spiritually. Jesus can raise you spiritually, but ministry gifts loose you and let you go

The resurrection is one thing. Then there is partnership with human ministry to appropriate the fullness of what he has done

The dead man heard his voice, and it was powerful enough to jack him back up.

The last day, in a twinkling of an eye at the blast of the trumpet 1 Corinthians 15:52, that trumpet is actually my voice.

If I say rise, everyone who died in me as my sheep will hear my voice and come back to life

It is not speculative. He tested it with a specimen called Lazarus. Whatever was decaying, the voice of Jesus repaired it.

In the next chapter he was eating perfectly fine John 12, not nursing a wound of decay

So he is not just a prophet. He is God

Why is he called the Son of Man?

Two components

1. His true human nature

   Matthew 8:20

   Being homeless, vulnerable

   Luke 9:22

   Human suffering

   Matthew 11:19

   A real body experience

   Jesus was not performing humanity. He actually lived as a human being Hebrews 4:15. He was a true human

2. His office as messianic king

   Daniel 7:13 to Daniel 7:14

   The one all peoples serve is the one with the title son of man. His dominion is everlasting

   Matthew 13:41

   He used it in the sense of his office as the prophesied Messiah according to Daniel 7

   Mark 14:62

   Almost every time "son of man" appears in the gospels, it is in some sense pertaining to his humanity. In more cases it refers to his messianic office, the prophesied king who will reign forever

   More scriptures: John 5:27, Luke 18:8, Luke 19:10, Luke 22:48, Luke 22:69, John 3:14, John 6:27, John 6:53, John 8:28, Revelation 14:14, Acts 7:56

   In context they speak of dominion, power, and his being the Messiah

Things to learn from the earthly ministry of Jesus

These are applicable, tangible things from his humanity

1. With the Spirit you are unstoppable

   God sent Jesus into this world, and the only thing that can bear witness that this man is God is the Spirit.

   Even John's witness was not good enough, because even John was not fully accepted

   Mark 6

   They could not receive him in his hometown. You might think you are better than them, but put yourself in their situation

   Illustration: the carpenter

   We had a carpenter who made chairs and big tables for us, and a young son who always came with him. When the carpenter died, the son took over the family business

   One day I went to his shop to give him a contract for a table, and it was closed. His brother said he had been out for about 30 days.

   After 40 days he came back to our family church where we all grew up

   It was his turn to read the Bible and he read from Isaiah Isaiah 61:1. He closed the Bible and said, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. I'm God

   How many of you would believe that? You are a carpenter, and in 40 days you are now God?

   Last week I gave you a contract to make a table, and all of a sudden you who make tables are claiming you are maker. You make things but you are saying you made me

   There is a way Jesus speaks to people who are alive: I've come to give you life. You would pinch yourself, am I dead? And he started his earthly ministry at 30.

   You are looking at a young man, and chances are you would say he is demonized

   God put a human being in this world as God, and the only spiritual capital God gave him was the Holy Spirit.

   That is exactly what God gave every single one of us, the same Holy Spirit

   You don't have an advantage in life. You have the advantage of life

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   If you have the Holy Spirit, you have something more than gold 2 Peter 1:3

   Our faith started from death

   Pause. Let that sink in. Because something died in your life doesn't mean it has finished

   The most powerful manifestation of God in the life of Jesus was when Jesus was actually dead.

   If you are believing God for something and you think the deadline has passed, if it is death, it qualifies for resurrection. No resurrection power without death

   I don't want you to take this as one motivational talk. Think deeply about what I'm saying. Death is not the end, it is the beginning with us

   If I have this Holy Spirit, you can take anything from me, leave me with him, and I will bounce back.

   You want to end us, you kill one Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit, once there is that infusion of resurrection power, it will be 2.6 billion. Just give me 3 days

   When you understand this, people walk out of your life and you know you can leave. I'm fine. Peter will deny you. If people want to go, they can go.

   Just leave me and the Holy Spirit. Two man army. Jesus and the Holy Spirit, they won

   You cannot lose. Not because of you, you can lose. But the person with you has never lost a battle. By the Spirit you will win. That's number one

   Praying in the Spirit is how we get ideas on what to do. We say what we don't know to know what we don't know

   Testimony: the school fees

   I was preaching on Jeremiah 17:5, the man that trusts in man. A girl listening, an international student, had a school fees problem of $20,000

   The day before she came to church she had made a list: I'm going to call this uncle, that uncle. Even if they can't give 20,000, at least let something drop.

   When her father died they all said, "We are here for you." They are not there. Just hold on to your God

   As I preached she felt it was like I was talking to her. She decided she would not call anyone. She had a word in her heart to go and pray, and she started praying

   The Holy Spirit told her to pray for a cousin. As she prayed in the Spirit, two words dropped.

   Call the cousin and tell her God is El Roi, the God who sees her Genesis 16:13. He knows she is battling suicidal thoughts. He has come to help her and heal her

   Before telling her, the Lord said to give her a sign so she knows he sent her. She has asthma and nobody knows apart from her nuclear family

   She called the cousin on WhatsApp. "Do you have asthma?" "Why are you asking?" "Because I was praying for you and the Lord said you have asthma.

   He wants to heal you." The cousin started crying over the phone

   "The Lord said he is El Roi, the God who sees you. He knows you are struggling with suicidal thoughts. Your asthma has been healed and even right now he is healing your mind"

   The cousin dropped the phone and started shouting, "So God, you know me. You recognize me." Her father came into the room and asked why she was shouting.

   "My cousin just told me I have asthma"

   The father said, "Wow." He picked up the phone: "Thank you very much. She has been in the room for several days. We have been trying to get her to eat. She has not eaten.

   But thank you so much. Are you fine?"

   The Holy Spirit said say no. She said, "No, sir." "What's going on?" "School fees, $20,000. I've been praying to God." The man said, "Send your details, I'll wire you"

   Chances are if she had gone to text that man, he would have said I don't have. But the Holy Spirit made a way.

   Chances are you are making mistakes in your life because you are using your brain

   The Holy Spirit met a need with the need of another, and that gave her inroad. The man sent the money.

   She didn't beg, so she came out with no scar. He gave her in honor.

   You can't go there and say, uncle please

   The Holy Spirit is the advantage. He is saying, just keep quiet and listen to me

2. You need people

   Jesus, who is the Son of God, still came and picked 12 people. Look at the way God wired salvation. He did it, but he needs us to tell it.

   Even Almighty God puts a situation in place where man is needed

   Isolation will cost you a lot. The strength of predators is to identify prey that is isolated and kill it.

   The desire telling you to step away from community is the first step to being in the mouth of the lion. You can beat me, but you can't beat my army

   You must be very spiritual about friendships. Any friendship God is not using, the devil will use. If you don't have friends that you pray together with, you will gossip together.

   Any close friendship where they don't pray together will gossip

   You didn't choose your father or mother. It appears as though even God picks a wife or husband for us. But there is one thing God doesn't pick for us: friends.

   He allows you to reach out

   When I was entering university somebody advised me: you are going to school to learn and to make friends. If you are not the senator, be his friend

   Some people think it is a good thing to be unfriendly. I'm not a friendly person, work on it. Unfriendly people lose in life. You have to come out of yourself

   John 1:43 to John 1:45

   There are 24 thrones in Revelation, for the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles. So the apostles actually have a seat in heaven

   Jesus found Philip and said follow me. Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael. So the way Nathanael entered apostleship was that he was friends with Philip.

   If you don't know Philip, no seat for you in heaven

   Your breakthrough can depend on association. God can raise people as Abraham. If you are Lot, stay with him. Once you separate from Abraham, everything you built without Abraham will crumble. Your joker is Abraham

   Don't play with the power of association. Friendship is actually a business plan, so work on it. When you get somewhere, say hi. Just carry face. It will cost you nothing.

   Hi, my name is this, and you move on

   How to pick friends

   Luke 6:12 to Luke 6:13

   Jesus didn't pick by vibes. He prayed all night in discernment, and when day came he said, I pick you, I pick you, I pick you. That's how to pick friends.

   Ask yourself, why is this person my friend in this season?

   If the people in your friend group are not intercessors, you are going to lose. When the apostles were let go, they went to their own companions Acts 4:23 to Acts 4:24

   They did not say, where did they flog you? Sorry. They lifted their voice together in prayer

   You come to a friend sad and say let's cry together. Yes, cry with me. But afterwards, sometimes I need what is called tough love, where you tell me why are we crying, what next?

   Your pain is not helping anybody

   Something happened to one of our friends on campus. The person actually died.

   Another friend said, "What is paining me is that the person died, and you who are my friends, if death is coming you can't tell me?"

   He was telling us to our faces that we were not good friends.

   How are we praying 10 hours and can't pick up that danger is coming?

   Do you know the blessing of being about to do something wrong and your friend calls? I see you going somewhere. Is it true? Yes, I bought the ticket. Please cancel it.

   What I saw is no good

   We come together and play FIFA. After we finish, before we go, let's pray in tongues more. Let's push small. We have played, we have chilled, but let's pray. I'm teaching you godly friendship.

   It's not everything just vibe, let's go to the mall

   Illustration: praying for the business

   I met a friend for a meet up some months ago. After we finished talking and as we were leaving, she said, please wait, I want us to pray for this business

   She said it is her responsibility that every restaurant she goes to, or anywhere she goes, she always intercedes for the business.

   If the waiter did not do well, she will not shout, because her mindset is, I came here to give, not to collect

   Look at that mindset: I will never leave anywhere I go to eat without putting prayer there

3. Offense and unforgiveness

   Luke 23:18

   This is just 5 days after they welcomed him. Look at Jesus' response Luke 23:34. Now this man is going to die for the sins of the world

   Anytime there is a major breakthrough in front of you, you will have an option to embrace Jesus as the chief cornerstone or as a rock of offense.

   The ministry of Jesus that brings salvation to the Gentiles was offensive to the Jews

   Anybody about to enter a major breakthrough, the devil will position offense in front of you to make you walk away. Paul said we are not ignorant of his devices 2 Corinthians 2:11

   There is a scripture in Ecclesiastes about when the anger of the king is towards you, don't respond Ecclesiastes 10:4

   Some people have left their place of breakthrough because they took offense, and the people who offended them stayed there. A lot of people lack spiritual intelligence

   Two things destroy people in this life: offense and unforgiveness

   Every believer I have seen oppressed or afflicted by the devil, I ask, do you have unforgiveness in your heart? They always say yes. Always. Unforgiveness belongs to Satan.

   When you are carrying what belongs to him, he will come for you

   Jesus was about to experience resurrection. People came to the cross and started mocking him, and he forgave them.

   In other words, resurrection power is on the premise of forgiveness of sins. An unforgiving person cannot experience resurrection power

   Mark 11:23 to Mark 11:25

   You are not praying if you have something against someone. An unforgiving person cannot move a mountain

   James 2:13

   If the devil cannot afflict you, he will put engineering within you to self-destruct, and that thing is unforgiveness

   Everything in the Bible, God says I will do, you will react. But when it comes to forgiveness, he says you will forgive and then I will forgive you.

   Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. If you want to experience mercy, be a merciful person

   Luke 6:34, Luke 6:35 to Luke 6:37

   If you condemn somebody in this life, when you do something wrong people will condemn you. Some say they can't even give me grace. You were not given grace before

   Anybody that judges, the day you do something wrong they will judge you. Anybody that condemns, the day you need grace, condemnation is what you will meet. Make it a point of contact

   Offense is called the bait of Satan. If he can get you into unforgiveness or offense, he has taken joy from you. Keep your heart from unforgiveness.

   It is a terrible contamination to your spirit as a believer

God lifts the ones you disqualify

I have met two or three people from my secondary school that God used to humble me.

Those you look at in school and conclude cannot amount to anything: the more you disqualify them, the more God says, thank you, it will make sense if I use this one

The more you talk down on them, condemn them, laugh at them, the more you put the antenna of God on them to lift them. God will lift them and keep you where you are

If they mock you, let them laugh. If they call you foolish, good news 1 Corinthians 1:27

2 Timothy 2:2