What Does The Bible Say About Jesus?

What does the Bible say about Jesus_ Matt: [00:00:00] Well, good afternoon and welcome to Crowd Church. My name is Matt. Beside me is the Talented Dan Orange and we are gonna be your hosts for this afternoon. Welcome everybody. Great that you are here. Great that you're in the live stream. Be sure to say hi in the comments. Matt Crew is obviously in the comments saying hi already. I say obviously he's exactly, he Dan: comments. Yeah. If you Matt: are new to Crowd Church, you may not know. Matt Crew is always in the comments, which is beautiful. So don't leave him alone. Come join him, say hi. So it's great that you are here Dan. How you doing? Happy Father's Day. Dan: Thank you very much. Yeah, doing good. Doing good. Have you had a good Father's Day? I have chilled, yes, chilled. And I've also fitted some lights in my kids' bedroom. So it was a sort of a, an active busman's holiday. Matt: Busman's, yeah, I was gonna say your definition of chill. I had told Dan: her own. Matt: You had Toone. [00:01:00] Dan: Yeah. So that makes everything, Matt: that makes everything all right that the, the triangular shapes of toone make everything okay. It's like therapy. No, no, that's fair play. Uh, so I was saying Stan before we went live, uh, not that, uh, dear viewer, you can see this, but, um, here in my little studio setup where we live stream from and I control the broadcast and all that sort of stuff, I have a new sound desk. And this new sound desk, uh, allows me to do very exciting things. Uh, one of which is talk like this, which I think adds a new. To Crowd Church. So we're basically gonna have some fun with sound effects, uh, the whole afternoon. That's what we're gonna do. We're gonna play, uh, we are gonna play. Now, today is Father's Day, and, uh, I saw actually on Instagram, uh, Pete, [00:02:00] Greg did a Prayer for dads, which I thought was actually quite lovely. I dunno if you saw it, Dan. Dan: Uh, no, I didn't actually. Matt: So, yeah, Pete wrote, uh, I'm just pulling it up now. So he, uh, he, if you don't follow Pete, Greg, uh, do follow him on Instagram. He's, he's cool bloke. Uh, he, he talks about Prayer for Father's Day, uh, and this is what it looks like if you're on the gram. Uh, and he said, um, we pray today for dads, for new dads and granddads and stepdads and adoptive dads and solo dads. Uh, for, I like, I'm, I'm not sure which one of these I fall into, but he said, we pray for the boldy ones and the beardie ones, uh, the skinny ones and uh, the cuddly ones. That was very good. Uh, for dads who tell terrible jokes and dads who dance to YMCA. Uh, guilty, uh, for dads who know how to fix things and dads who just pretend they know how [00:03:00] to fix things. Uh, Lord, we pray for the fatherless. We pray for those, uh, for whom this day is sadder than it is happy. Uh, for those who feel that they have failed, for those who are grieving children they never had, for those missing their dads or their children, even more than usual, father God, uh, at a time of so much pain when so many dads are absent, uh, distant or even abusive. We lean into your ever present love and healing. You are faithful and kind, uh, especially to those of us orphaned. Uh, which is all of us, uh, in theory, uh, abandoned and hurt for even if my father abandons me. As the psalmist writes, the Lord will hold me close that Psalm 27, verse 10, father of mercy heal our many hurts and restore the dignity, integrity, and centrality of fatherhood in our families and in our communities and [00:04:00] in our nations. As the Apostle Paul says, I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. And I pray that I may know, uh, your love. And finally, Lord, for all those poor souls everywhere who forget that this is Father's Day, we ask that you would bless them, uh, in your abundant grace and, uh, manifold mercy. When the discovery of chocolate and half decent cards, and surprisingly well shocked, uh, well stocked convenience stores are men. Very good Prayer. Thanks Pete for that. So that's the Father's Day Prayer. Yeah, very good. I like that. Yeah, very good. And I appreciate that Father's Day for some of you is not a, is not a great day, uh, for some of us. Uh, you know, we are blessed, aren't we, Dan? We've got, uh, some wonderful kids and, um, who buy us things. And again, if you follow me on Instagram, you'll see, you'll see the cards from my kids. Oh, yes. Let me, uh, [00:05:00] I can't show you Josh's card because I'm sure there's watershed problems if I see, did you see the card that Josh did for me? Dan: I did, yes. Matt: Yeah, yeah. Very well. He basically photoshopped my face onto the statue of David, uh, which I thought was very kind of him. Zach sent me this card. I dunno if you can see that, Dan. Um, you put that over there. You see how it's got the balloon letters on it? Dan: Yeah. Matt: Yeah. Zach wrote inside the card, when I saw that dad, it made me think of how much you can bench, which I thought was very good. So Zach making fun of my, uh, weightlifting skills. And Zoe sent me a, a, a card, a Father's Day card, and inside that card it said, dad, behind every great parent is a great child. And that's me. Dan: Nice. Yeah. Yeah. My, my kids made me some great cards. I should have, um, I should have got them out to show you, but they're, yes. My, my daughter's got a very quirky sense of humor, so there's a little of a poem [00:06:00] about beans and. Various, various things going on. It was very good, Matt: but, well, I can't wait to read it Beans. Why, why not? Uh, why not? So yeah, however you are on this, uh, day Father's Day, uh, you know what we have, uh, in church circles we'd like to call Godfather. Uh, we always have Father God, regardless of what's going on down here, whether we had good dads, bad dads, whether we are a good dad or a bad dad, I than bad. Here's the thing, we'll get into this in Conversation Street actually, uh, about the whole father's thing because today is, what does the Bible say about Jesus? And this ties in very nicely with what we were talking about. Um, and today's talk is by the incredible Pete Farrington. So he's back doing the talk. What does the Bible say about Jesus? We're gonna get into the talk very, very shortly. Uh, Dan, just let the good folks know the format of the live stream in case they've never been before, and let them know what to expect. Dan: So we've got, um, whoa, [00:07:00] one half of my, my headphones, um, believe it's two. Um, we've got a, a song coming up. Um, what a beautiful name. And then we will listen to Pete Farrington and then we'll have Conversation Street and discuss it. Matt: We'll, although you got that the wrong way round, then. Yeah. Yeah, we're gonna do the talk and then the song. Don't change the order now. Oh yes. Because this is set up on the system. It's not changing now. Uh, yeah. That, that air thing falling out your head is, has thrown you a little bit, hasn't it? It's not like this is your first time find Yeah. Find it while the talk's going on. So that's right. So we're gonna have the talk, we're gonna have some worship, we're gonna do Conversation Street, which is where I respond to your comments and questions, uh, that you put either on Facebook or YouTube. So do write 'em in the comments. If anything comes up today, you'd like to get in touch, you can reach us at www dot Crowd Church. Uh, or you can follow us on social media at Crowd Church like Instagram, Facebook, [00:08:00] and YouTube. You'll find us on those things. It'd be great to hear from you. Great to get involved. So. Without further ado, let's hear from the fabulous Pete Farrington, who's gonna answer the question, what does the Bible say about Jesus? Uh, and then, uh, Dan and I will be back. So, uh, don't go anywhere. Grab your notebooks. It's Dan: gonna be good. See you out.[00:09:00] Pete: So what does the Bible have to say about Jesus? Well, this is a massive topic and there's much that could be said here, but I'd like to try and answer this question by walking us through, uh, five verses in a book of the Bible called Colossians. Um, now this passage has been called a, uh, a theological vaccine, which protects against the disease of Christ diminishing error. I really just threw the word vaccine in there just to bump the video up the, uh, up in the Facebook algorithm. But no, no joking. Um, in these five verses, the Apostle Paul paints for us a stunning portrait of Christ. Uh, now I'm a, an artist and I know very [00:10:00] well that there are good portraits and there are bad portraits. And for a portrait to be considered good, it's essential that it does justice to the object, that it actually resembles the person in the painting. Now, it's always a huge relief to me. Um, whenever I show someone a portrait that I've painted, um, that they can actually, if they can actually recognize the person in the painting. And sadly, there are many portraits of Christ today that fall woefully short of him and that just don't look anything like him at all. Quite often, our Jesus is just nice. He's safe, he's soppy and a bit sentimental, and someone who just bends to our every whim, like a genie in a bottle and in our pride and self-centeredness, it's, uh, there's always the temptation to create a vision of Jesus that's small enough that he won't offend our modern sensibilities and, and small enough that, uh, that we can go on with our worlds just still revolving around [00:11:00] us. But Jesus is not a supporting actor in your life. So as we go through this, I want you to take that portrait you have of Jesus on the wall of your heart and mind. And I want you to hold it up against what we see in the Bible and see if there's any resemblance. Do you need a bigger frame? That's my question. Uh, so here we go. This is Colossians one, verses 15 to 20. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he's before all things. And in him all things hold together and he's the head of the body, the church. He's the beginning, the first born from the dead, that [00:12:00] in everything he might be preem. For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him, to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. So straight away, verse 15, we see that, that Jesus is the image or the true likeness of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Now, we would be wrong and very wrong here to think that Paul is speaking literally here when he says firstborn of all creation. He does not mean that, that Jesus Christ is the best of creation. He's speaking here in terms of the rights and privileges that a firstborn son has. So inheriting, ruling sovereignty, uh, or the, um, Jesus has been exalted to the highest order. Um, in Psalm 89, verse 27, the psalmist says this, um, and I, that's God will make him [00:13:00] Jesus the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. Uh, in Daniel seven verses 13 to 14, there's a, um, a prophecy of Jesus, uh, about Jesus. And it says, and to him, to Jesus was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people's, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. Another reason that we know that Paul doesn't mean that Christ is the best of creation is because in verse 19, he says, for in him, in Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell Jesus is God. This is laid out even more explicit or even more explicitly in the next chapter. So Colossians two, verse nine says, for in him, in Jesus, the whole fullness of [00:14:00] deity dwells, bodily Jesus has existed eternally in perfect union with God, the Father and the Holy Spirit. And this is what we call the Trinity, um, that God is one God in three persons. And, uh, these three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are all of the same essence, the same substance. Um, so in, we see this in Hebrews one, verse three, it says. He, Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And Jesus himself made this claim of preexistence and deity. When he said to the Jews, uh, in, in, in John eight, verse 58, he said, truly, truly, I say to you before Abraham was, I am. And when Jesus referred to himself as I am, he was using, um, a [00:15:00] name that God had used for himself in the Old Testament when he revealed himself to Moses. So the Jews knew exactly what Jesus was claiming, and they considered it blasphemy and tried to kill him there. And then because of it, um, again, in, in John 10, verse 30, Jesus says, I and the Father are one. Um, so there's no getting away from this. The, the Bible, uh, and Jesus didn't. Leave any room for us to, uh, call him me, a great moral teacher. He made claims that would be out totally outrageous for anyone else to make. Um, you'd have to be totally deluded or totally deceitful to make that claim if, if it's not true. Um, and I, I said that Jesus has existed eternally in perfect union with God the Father and God, the Holy Spirit. And, and so Jesus didn't come to earth to [00:16:00] apologize for the God of the Old Testament. He didn't come to, to like show that God has anger management issues or to, to kind of balance out the blood and gore of the Old Testament with some like warm fuzzy vibes and sentimentality. In fact, when God was sending down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, Jesus wasn't looking on disapprovingly. He wasn't saying, you know, we might need to work on our public image a bit. Um, we need to be, seem to be a bit more progressive to keep up with the times. No, we play a very dangerous game when we pit the words and actions of Jesus against those of God, the Father and the Holy Spirit. And far too often we totally ignore the very, very challenging things that Jesus Himself said and did. And we end up with a Jesus who looks just a lot like us, um, made in our own image. So we'll, we'll celebrate the Jesus who saved the adulterer, but will go very quiet when he tells her to sin no more. But the Trinity isn't a [00:17:00] picker mix, and Jesus isn't a picker mix. But back to our text, so verse 16, for by him all things were created. By Jesus, all things were created. John one verse three says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God. And the word was God. He was in the beginning with God and all things were made through him. And without him was not anything made that was made. Uh, he Hebrews one verses one to three says, long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. That's by Jesus whom he appointed the heir of all things. There again, we see that that firstborn language through whom also he created the world, um, he's the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, [00:18:00] and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. So he not only made everything, but he sustains and upholds everything. So if you wake up tomorrow morning, it is only because he gives you breath. Even if you hate him and rebel against Jesus in every single moment, you are dependent entirely on him for everything. Even his enemies cannot hate him without moment by moment having the breath and energy that only he supplies. There's nothing and no one who, who is not dependent on him for everything. And that means that, that you and I need Jesus more than anything else. Acts 17, verse 25 says, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything. Since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. So Jesus is the agent through which all things without exception were created.[00:19:00] But he's not only the agent of creation, he's also the goal of all creation. Everything was made by him and for him. Romans 11, verse 36 says, for from him, from Jesus, and through him and to him, are all things to him, be glory forever. Oh, amen. My life was made for Jesus. Your life was made for Jesus. Firstly, this means that there is purpose in your being alive. You're not just hurtling, aimlessly and meaninglessly through the chaos and pain of life. You were meant to drink deeply from the fountain of living waters. That's what God calls himself. And in doing so, you were made to declare his primacy, his sufficiency, and that he's all satisfying. So in this way. Jesus's glory is also your highest good. [00:20:00] Um, this also means that you are not the goal of your own life. So let's, let's go back to our text in, um, verse 17. He says, and he's before all things, and in him, all things hold together. And he's the head of the body, the church. He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. That in everything he might be preeminent, that he might take first place in everything. Um, how desperately we need to be reminded of that reality. And, and Paul knows that. Paul knows that this is of highest importance. You can see that because he, he repeats the exact same point, beginning verse 17 and ending with verse 18. He says the same thing. Um, he is before all things. Then he ends verse, uh, verse 18 with, so that in everything he might be preeminent. So it's like he's saying Jesus is before all things. [00:21:00] And just in case you forgot, Jesus is before all things. He is supreme. He is, he's supreme over every other, every other joy, every other pleasure, every other comfort of life. He's supreme over every authority, over every ruler, over every government. He's supreme and, um, he's without equal. And um, Jesus made everything to exalt Jesus. His glory is his goal in everything he does. And now in our pride and our self obsession, uh, it's uh, it's easy to hear this and think, excuse me, what about. What about me? Um, but God is utmost in his own affections and it's, it's God's, God's [00:22:00] centeredness that is the very foundation of all of our hope and joy. It is our only hope. It should be the truth that we treasure to, or that we treasure and cling to the most, the godness of God. Because if God were to put anything other than his own glory, as his goal, he would cease to be God for there would be something else greater than him. So if God were to turn away from himself as the source of infinite joy and life, he, he'd no longer be God. He would be denying the, the worth of his own glory. It'd be implying that there's something above him and he'd be committing adultery. But I could still hear the question, why is this? Why is this such good news for us? Well, uh, in, in one Samuel 1222, it says, the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake. [00:23:00] So when God says that He will not leave us for his great name's sake, we can be dead sure, we can have total confidence that he will never leave us. God is utmost in his own affections and he will not share His glory with another. His glory is his goal in everything he does. And the wonderful, wonderful truth of the Bible is that we see that his glory and our ultimate joy and odd at odds with each other, our ultimate joy is actually found in his glory. Um, now I said earlier that Jesus is the. The agent of all creation. Um, we see in verse 20, um, at the end of our passage, that he's also the agent of our salvation. Uh, so let me just read it again. Verse 20. And, uh, and through him, through Jesus to reconcile to [00:24:00] himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Vadi, Vadi Belman. Um, an American preacher says that, um, just when we begin to get this picture, this portrait in our minds, just when the weight of his majesty almost becomes too much for us to bear, just when we begin to say, I can't even bear to look at him. Maybe I should come into his presence backwards. It's right there at the, at the, the climax of this hymn to Jesus that, that Paul is writing. It's right there that we see that Jesus loves us. And he loves us decisively and unwaveringly. We see that he saves us. Revelation one, verse five says to him, who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, the, the apex, the highest point of [00:25:00] Jesus' glory is his grace towards his people. It's wonderful. Um, and the, the reason why it's called grace is because it's totally undeserved. And what we, what we actually deserve, uh, in our, in our sin and our our pride, what we deserve is eternal punishment in our rebellion from God and in our hostility towards him. We deserve his wrath and his anger. Um, Isaiah 59, verse two says, but your iniquities, your sin have made a separation between you and God. Um, that Paul goes on to talk about how we were. Um, alienated and hostile towards God. And that's what all sin is. It's, it's it's rebellion against God. It's, it's hostility towards him. It's rejecting him. And it's in, its choosing, it's making another God for ourselves. And so because of the, the separation that our sin has caused, we needed a [00:26:00] mediator. Uh, and Jesus became that mediator. Um, we, we read earlier that, um, from, um, John chapter one, um, that in the beginning was the word. It goes on to say that then the word became flesh. Remember that? Um, it said, uh, Colossians one, verse 15, that, um, Jesus is the image of the invisible God. God is invisible. But Jesus became visible. He, he became flesh. He took on human form. So that he could, uh, become a, a perfect mediator. That he could represent us to God and God to us. And so he, he lived a life of perfect obedience and became a perfect sacrifice for our sins, satisfying the wrath of God and taking all of that punishment that we deserved. He took it upon ourselves, upon [00:27:00] himself. Um, one Peter three, verse 18 says, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, that he might reconcile us to God being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. Um, we saw earlier that uh, Jesus is the first born from the dead. Um, that the Spirit raised him to life. And because, because he lives, we live and we will be resurrected. Um. Now the, the question that, uh, that does come from this is how, um, how does he reconcile all things to himself? Does this mean that all will be saved? Um, well, interestingly, Paul, Paul says that all things in heaven and on earth will be reconciled to himself, but he emits the phrase under the earth. And, um, this leads us to what is probably the most unpopular truth in the Bible. There's a hot [00:28:00] competition for that title, but, um, that truth is that of eternal judgment. And, um, Philippians two verses nine to 12 says, therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him. That's, uh, he's exalted Jesus and bestowed on Jesus the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father. Jesus is coming back one day and he will judge the living and the dead. And, um, it, it says in, in John three, verse 36, whoever believes in the sun has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the sun, shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 14 verse six says, I, this is Jesus speaking. I [00:29:00] am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So again, we are, we are left with no, uh, no room to think that we can, um, that we can find our own way to God without Jesus in the picture. Um, that, that we can, uh, that we can continue in our own pride and rebellion and sin and, uh, just hope for the best on that. On that day when Jesus returns, it will be a glorious day for those who are in Jesus. Uh, but it will be a terrible day for those who are not. Um, now I know this is something that I, I sometimes think, and I maybe you are thinking it to, like there's no, there's no way that, there's no way that God could ever forgive me. Um, there's no way [00:30:00] that the sacrifice that Jesus made could be enough to make up for, for my sins, not the things that I've done. Um, but again, I want to remind you of what I said earlier, that, um, that Jesus's goal of exalting himself in everything that he does is something that we should treasure. Because it says in Isaiah 43, verse 25, I. That's Jesus. I am he who blots out your transgressions, who blots out your sins for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. So you can have total assurance today that if you turn to Jesus and if you, if you put your trust in him, and if you ask him for forgiveness, that he will forgive and he will not remember your sins. Dan: Wow. Thanks for that, Peter. That was, [00:31:00] yeah. Pretty good. I love hearing about Jesus. I'm a, I'm a big fan. Um, if you've got any questions, please just put 'em in the comments and then we'll discuss 'em later. But first coming up, we're going to listen along to a song. What a beautiful name. Video: You are Christ. What a beautiful name it is. What a beautiful name It is the [00:32:00] name of Jesus Christ. What name? What a beautiful name. You didn't want heaven without us. So Jesus who brought heaven. Sin was great. Love was great. What a wonderful name it. What a wonderful name. Its the[00:33:00] what a wonderful, its what a wonderful what a. Jesus death could not hold you before you. You silence the of sin, the heaven, the glory [00:34:00] for you have no, you have no. The Kingdom, your the glory, your the name. What a what The name of Jesus Christ.[00:35:00] Matt: So welcome back, welcome to Conversation Street with myself and Dan. Looking at this whole topic, what does the Bible say about Jesus? And responding to some of what Pete said in his talk. Now, I had a, a, a note, actually, Dan, I'll start off with this, uh, and get it out of the way because, uh, get it outta the way is the wrong phrase. But I had a note, uh, from someone about Pete's talk, uh, which just goes to show you right how intently people listen [00:36:00] to, uh, the talk. And I'm just gonna pull it up here now. And Estella wrote, oh, come on. Where is it? Why's my computer being so slow? Here it is. So, uh. John, uh, he, Pete quotes from John Piper in his talk. I dunno if you notice this, Dan, he quoted from John Piper in his talk, he said, if God should, uh, and John Piper said this, right? If God should turn away from himself as the source of infinite joy, he would cease to be God. He would deny the infinite worth of his own glory. He would imply that there is something more valuable outside of himself. He would be committing idolatry. Uh, and Pete apparently said in the talk he would be committing adultery. Adultery. Yeah. And I'm like, that is what we call paying attention. Uh, and so well spotted, uh, both Ella and Jen spotted that. Just wanna put that out there. Yeah. That's very impressive. Very impressive. Anyway, what did you think [00:37:00] to Pete's talk? What do you think to this idea? What, who does the Bible say Jesus is? Because the whole topic about who Jesus is is the central thing to the whole Christian faith, right? Yes. It's just, Dan: it, it's quite amazing that you, we've, this series has been going on so long and um, and this is the one that says, what does the Bible say about Jesus? Matt: Yeah. Isn't it? Dan: Yeah. Matt: We have looked at Jesus in other topics, obviously. Yeah. But this is just much more direct about who does Jesus, who does the Bible, the Bible say about Jesus? Uh, question for you, Dan. How many, uh, Sarah's in the comment. She says, hi, Nicholas says hi. She's in the comments as well. So, uh, hi. Hi, goth. Uh, it's great to see you. Uh, great to see you, Sarah. Um, how many prophecies do you think were fulfilled by Jesus? I don't know. I'm testing your Bible knowledge now. Was it a Yeah, and you can write in the comments, ladies and gentlemen. Don't Google it and then write the answer in the comments. Was [00:38:00] it A less than a hundred B between 100 and 300 or C over 300? Get busy. Write your question. Write your answers in the comments, A, B, or see how many prophecies were fulfilled by the life of Jesus. And a prophecy is basically somewhere in the Old Testament where one of the writers talked about the Messiah, the coming of the Messiah, and like, this is what's gonna happen, or this is what is gonna do. And then what? See that in the Bible being fulfilled by Christ, right? By Jesus. How many A, B, or C? Dan, give me your answer. Dan: Well, I've gotta go with C. Yeah. Well, I made it easy. Matt: Yeah. Crowd c over 300. Uh, John Farrington, uh, has put there in the comments. He's on the ball. Yeah, he is on the ball. Walden J you would expect him to be. Really? Yeah. Uh, Matt Crew says C. Yes. Everybody's seen C which is right. That's totally correct. Over [00:39:00] 300, which is quite astounding. Some, uh, John Harding talked about this in one of his talks recently at Frontline. Um, he talked about the odds of, uh, all those prophecies being fulfilled in one man. Um, uh, somebody sat down and worked it out, and it was a number that I can't, it was a number I can't even compete. Mm-hmm. Do you know what I mean? There's so many zeros at the end of it. It was ridiculous. So the Bible has all these prophecies to say about Jesus The Bible recall them that these prophecies are. Fulfilled in Jesus. But the Bible makes all these outrageous claims, um, about Jesus. And in fact, Jesus makes a whole bunch of claims about himself. Uh, which Dan I think we should get into because Dan: I think so. Yeah. It's, um, I suppose something Peter said, he said, you know, Christianity doesn't make out, I'm paraphrasing. Um, it, it doesn't talk about Jesus as being a prophet. It's not someone that brought this message or, um, someone that directs [00:40:00] us to someone else. Jesus is God. Mm-hmm. You know, this is the, the, the central point that we get to talk, we get to hear from, we get our strength, our breath direct from the source. Yeah. Direct from, from him. And, um, yeah. I love that. I love the way Pete brought out. Right from the, sort of the beginning to end. He, he stepped through the, the passage to show us who Jesus is and then what he's done for us. Yeah. Um, yeah. No, that's great. It was something, something he brought out. He said, yeah, it doesn't matter if you hate God, he's still giving you breath. I love that. Matt: Yeah. That's a, that's an interesting point actually. It's like, um, well, we were talking earlier, weren't we about Father's Day and how Father's Day for some people is good, and for some people Father's Day is not great, but the truth of the matter is we all have a father. Uh, [00:41:00] Do you know what I mean? You can't escape that fact whether we want to, uh, acknowledge that or not. It's a different matter entirely. And so it is the same with we would believe with God, we all have a creator. We all have God who gave us breath, and it's that kind of, um, you know, whether you like him or whether you don't. It's a, it's a, it's a common fact. So it's the thing, right. Um. Dan, have you come across this, uh, movement, um, is maybe the wrong phrase, but if, uh, this idea of progressive Christianity, have you come across this as an idea? Dan: Um, I think so. I'm not sure where you're, well, the reason Matt: I say this is progressive Christianity is quite a big trendy thing at the moment. Um, and, uh, a lot of people like the idea of uh, or like the sound of progressive Christianity. And the reason I'm bringing it up is because it's one of those things. I think as Christians we have to just be aware of that it's maybe not [00:42:00] everything as it seems because a lot of the claims that Jesus makes and a lot of what the Bible says about Jesus is actually denied by the progressive Christianity movement. And there are, which in my head doesn't make sense because then surely you're not a Christian. Uh, because a Christian surely is someone that acknowledges. Uh, the deity of Christ and the sovereignty of Christ. I mean, I don't, yeah, in my head that's a given, but apparently, no, there's a whole bunch of people that would say not. Um, and so, uh, so yeah, this whole idea, this thing about you, you saying that about Jesus being God, um, about who Jesus is and people brought it out, who Jesus is and what he's done for us, two key things in his talk, which were great, um, are things which are now being, uh, denied as unnecessary, uh, by what is called the progressive Christianity movement. And I think it's, it's important, I don't wanna spend the whole time talking about this, but I think it's important to acknowledge the fact that there is some [00:43:00] quite liberal thinking out there on this whole topic. And why this is important is because of something Pete said. Um, right at the start. I don't know if you caught it. Uh, Dan, he talked about how I wrote it down in my book, so I'm looking at, he said Jesus wasn't a moral teacher. Uh, he wasn't just a really nice guy. He wasn't a good guy. Full of good ideas and good principles, because if Jesus wasn't who he says he was, then he's a complete utter lunatic. Do you know what I mean? And there's, you, you, that's the option. You, that's why you have to kind of go with this. He either was God or if he wasn't, he was, I mean, he was out there. Do you know, Do you know what I mean? With some of the claims and things that he would, would make C Dan: Cs Lewis says something similar, doesn't it? If he's not God, then he was, you know. Something like a, is he called him a fried egg or something? The quote, the quote is, you know, it's got to be one or the other. There's, um, yeah, he's either God or prove him [00:44:00] not Matt: to be God. Yeah. Yeah. It's a really interesting point, isn't it? And so, so, and just, sorry to hammer the point, ladies, gentlemen, but this is, um, this is an important part of the Christian faith, and we have to wrestle with this idea and this understanding of the sovereignty of Christ. That Jesus was fully man and fully God, and that he did come to, in effect what Christian scholars call redeem mankind. Uh, in other words, um, man needed help from God because we had done stupid things. And, uh, so that's why that was a whole mission and purpose of Christ. And without those two things, without those key understandings, coupled with the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, Christianity doesn't make a whole great deal of sense, hence reason. No. We have to, we have to sort of hammer these points home. Yeah. Now Nicola wrote in the comments and I thought it was lovely. She says, I've been a Christian for over 30 years. Right. And although I've tried to walk away [00:45:00] from him, uh, I've always felt that all encompassing love from Christ, which I thought was quite a lovely thing and quite a vulnerable, honest thing to write that actually. Um, here's Nicola been a Christian for 30 years. Her relationship or her walk with Jesus has been stronger sometimes than at other times, but at every time, um, there's always been that sort of all encompassing love. Now what do you think Mr. Orange, uh, Ms. Morris is talking about? Dan: Yeah. I put um, sort of in re response to that. Yeah. Whether we understand it or not, we long for Jesus. I think once those of us who got to know. Who've had an encounter with Jesus who've, who know what it is to be, to be freed and be transformed. We can sort of understand that we, we long for him, we long for more of him. But I think there's that, that [00:46:00] people don't know God. There's that, there's still that longing. Mm. The Bible says that the rocks would cry out if we weren't crying out, um, within us is that desire for him. Um, it's just, it's who we were made for. Yeah. It's what we were created for. Mm. Matt: Yeah, no, I totally agree. Totally agree. Dave's put in the comments here, progressive Christianity have a deep belief in loving one another. And they do actually, there's a big emphasis in progressive Christianity, uh, on social justice, on the environment or good things. Uh, not gonna deny that. Uh, and Jesus was a big fan of uh, those kind of things. Uh, but unfortunately it doesn't take into account, into account the responsibility or consequences of sin. And this is coming back again to what Pete said right at the start, which I loved this whole idea of he's an artist and when you do a portrait, there has to be some resemblance. I thought that was really funny. 'cause [00:47:00] you should see some of my portraits. Yeah, they're not good. Uh, so I don't have the skills of Pete or my daughter. Um, and there has to be some kind of resemblance. And when you look at progress, progressive Christianity, I think the resemblance is all kinds of wrong. There are some features which kind of you go, okay, that makes sense, but the rest of it kind of, kind of doesn't. And um, it's where it falls down. And so our picture of Jesus has to be complete. It has to be hot. I dunno what you thought, uh, about that. And I thought that was really good myself. I thought, I thought that was a very helpful analogy. Dan: Yeah, I think so. And I put down, I'm glad he, he brought this verse out that Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. And I think that sums it, sums it up there is there's no getting round this, you know, progressive Christianity can't sort of leap rock over it. And as you take that the bit out of the Bible, it, we've got to go through him. Matt: Yeah. Yeah. So what do you think that means though, for Jesus to be the way, the truth and the life? So let's [00:48:00] start at the back. Let's start with the life. Jesus is the life Dan: I think with you could. Sort of flip it on it said, and say, if, if he's life, then without him there's death. Mm-hmm. We, we are not, we are not living unless we know him. Mm. We're not truly living unless we know this life. Matt: Yeah. Because he's the author of life, isn't he? Yeah. Um, and he's the giver of life. I mean, Pete again bought that in his talk very well, I thought. Uh, and so Jesus therefore is the source of life. Dan: Yeah. John, John 10 10 says that, um, he gives life in all its fullness. So we're we living, we've got breath without God, but there's more to that. Yeah. There's that fullness that he can, that he gives. Matt: Yeah, absolutely. So that's the life. So Jesus is the way. The truth. The truth. This is a really interesting one now because, uh, I loved what Pete talked about.[00:49:00] Uh, this is probably one of the most unpopular truths of the Bible. And there are many things which contend for that title, and I think this would be one of them. Uh, this idea that Jesus is the absolute truth. Any thoughts on that one, Mr. Orange? Because I'm just trying you right in the deep end right now. Yeah, you Dan: are. Yeah. I can imagine. I can imagine a thing that I would think, or others would think, well, how can you say you are the truth if you are, if you are the one bringing it. Mm-hmm. You know, um, it's like the judge, a judge saying, well, this is, um, you are guilty because I say you're guilty. Mm-hmm. 'cause I'm, you know, I'm the truth. But I suppose the difference is that he sees all and is in all. Video: Mm-hmm. Dan: Which means. He, he is the truth. You know, in an argument, people say there's, there's the, the person on the left truth, the person on the right truth, and then the mm-hmm. The actual truth. We all have a different view, [00:50:00] but God sees it, um, from, from the outside and the inside. So he is that truth. He's the one source of it. Matt: Mm. And that's, again, fascinating because we come back to the point that actually Jesus made this comment, and if he's not the truth, he's therefore lying. And he's, you don't want to follow a liar. You don't want to give you life to follow a liar. That would just, just doesn't make sense. Do you know what I mean? And so, um, it would make him, uh, someone who is deceiving people, for example. So this whole idea of absolute truth, um. Astounds me. And, and, and it's just one of the conversations we get into on a regular basis with people. If you're not, if you're new to church, you are, honestly, you're more than welcome to hear, keep coming back. 'cause we just have these conversations all the time. Um, uh, we'd love you to subscribe and, and so on and so forth. And one of the questions that comes up a lot is this whole idea of truth. Uh, and, uh, you know, you, you live your truth. [00:51:00] You be your truth. Uh, and the idea that there is no absolute truth, I find quite fascinating because as soon as you say there is no truth, it's a, it's a, it's a statement you can't make because it's self contradicts itself. Because as soon as you say there is no truth, well then that statement you've just said is not true. And so it, it, it's a really hard one to get your head around. Do you know what I mean? This whole idea. And so, um. So I love this idea of Christ being the truth, the ultimate truth actually, that he is God. That actually he knows all, sees all and is in all from beginning, like you said, until the end of time. He is the author of truth. Bang, there it is. Let's move on. And this is what we believe as Christians, right? So Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. So the way, let's deal with the first one. Dan: Um, yeah. How to sum that up. [00:52:00] I suppose the way, the path that he's, it's through him because he died, we can live mm-hmm. Is what, how I'd, how I'd sum it up. If, if he hadn't died, we'd be, we'd be outside of that. Way to God. There is no way for forgiveness of sins without the sacrifice that he made. Yeah, he made that way. He made that, that route through. He ripped the curtains of the temple to say, this is it between us now. And God, you can get there, you can make that trip on the way. Matt: Exactly. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Dave, per here in the comments, people have always sought the way truth in life and Jesus says, I am, which I think is brilliant and it's true. And I think when you, when you, it's true from my point of view, let me just put it that way. It's my truth. I'm living my truth. Um, but if you, if you think about it, it's that kind of, um, [00:53:00] if we follow the way of Jesus, if we believe that he is the way and we, we journey with him, we go down that path. We understand his truth. And when we understand his truth and we, we acknowledge his truth, and we live according to that truth, we find life. And so Jesus is the way, he is the truth, and he is the life when we journey with him. When we understand that truth, we find that life. And I think that's super, super powerful. Um, and so I'm aware of time Dan. It's gone again. I know it just disappears. Where does the time go? Uh, I think when you start talking about these things of Jesus. So it is gonna go very quickly 'cause it's such a cool topic, uh, which I just love and I loved what you said. Actually, Dan, I've gotta say kudos to you, man. When you're doing the bridge between the talk and the worship. When you said, I like Pete's talk. I like Jesus, I'm a bit of a fan, or I'm a big fan, or whatever it was you said, uh, I thought that was a very, very apt thing to say. Well [00:54:00] done. Uh, I'm a bit of a, we're a bit of a fan. Dan: Yeah. Uh, Matt: Christian, that just means we're a bit of a fan. Dan: Christ fan. Yeah. Matt: Interestingly, Matt Crew said, uh, would Jesus or does Jesus support Man United or does he support Liverpool football Club? I'm gonna say this to you, Matt. Because you wrote it in the comments. I figured I answered the question because everyone wants to know. Um, I don't think Jesus would be a supporter of something that caused themselves after the devil. I'm just, I'm just putting that out there, right. Uh, just to sustain that on the road. Uh, but anyway, I there and there's that thing. I, I dunno if Jesus was a football fan or not, but I do know the apostles were cricket fence. And do you know how I know this? Because the Bible says Peter stood before the 11 and was bold. Oh, it's a good dad joke, father say. Yeah. [00:55:00] And my apologies to everybody outside of, uh, the, uh, well, the country, it's the empire basically, isn't it? The old empire that plays cricket. Uh, you won't understand that joke at all. Uh, and my apologies for that. Um, but yes, Peter stood before the Lebanon was bold. I I, it tickles me. So what's happening next week, Dan? I've just realized I've not told you. Dan: Well. Um, it's all right. 'cause Matt Crew has, um, preempted it and told us all. Yeah. Oh, is it? What does the, yeah. What does the Bible say about adoption? And it's two different hosts next week. Matt: It is now fostering and adoption. That's right. I'm looking at the schedule here. So next week, what does the Bible say about fostering and adoption? Uh, Nicholas has put in the comments No, no, no. That's a bad joke. I'm assuming you're talking about Peter standing before the 11 was bold Again, I just wanna point out. I do dad jokes. That's what I do. We have a plaque in our kitchen I wish I could show you, which says dad jokes are told here.[00:56:00] Oh, that's great. Anyway, next week. What does the Bible say about fostering and adoption? Adam drawing is doing the talk. Uh, next week. That's been prerecorded. We have that already. Adam is an absolute legend. I've known Adam for many years and he adopted a number of years ago, two amazing kids who I know and their amazing, just great family. Anyway. Adam's a top bloke. Uh, and he has done the talk. So he will be doing that and hosting next week. Uh, we hold onto your hats 'cause I have no idea what's gonna happen. Uh, we have Phil Watson, uh, of course, uh, if you know Phil, if you've heard Phil on the live stream before, you know, he's a big fan of fostering and adopting. Um, but with Phil is the wonderful Claire Glare who is gonna be on here for the first time hosting, who has also, uh, got [00:57:00] some inspiration and insight onto this as well. So I'm looking forward to that, Phil and Claire next week. You're not gonna wanna miss it, honestly. Very good. Uh, it's gonna be great. Uh, and come and listening to what does the Bible say about fostering and adopting? I just think it's a great conversation to have. Then the week after that, 'cause you know, we're in Father's Day mode, we have got, what does the Bible say about parenting? Um, that's coming up, uh, which is great. We've got, what does the Bible say about being a Christian and the fantastic Abey? Sharples is coming back. Oh, yes. For those of you who have been following Crowd Church for a wee whale, uh, in the very early days, Abey did a number of talks, which were just amazing. Um, and so Abey is coming back to do that talk. We've got what does the Bible say about baptism? We've got, what does the Bible say about Sabbath and rest? We've also got drum roll. Dan, you are beautiful. What does the Bible say about mental health? So that's also gonna be coming up fairly, so Yeah. [00:58:00] Yeah. It's gonna be, it's gonna be, what was it The kids say, I'm trying to be down with the kids. That's sick. Sick. It's gonna be sick. I've just made an absolute fool on myself, but that's okay. It's Father's Day. Uh, so I, what's this? Nicholas put in the comments. You telling Jad dad jokes. How do you know Moses wore a wig? Because sometimes we seen with Aaron and sometimes we Oh, very good. Uh, just put your dad jokes. Your best dad jokes in the comments. I would love to read them. Uh, so yes, I love that one. Uh, especially if they, if they've got some resemblance to the Bible, some connection to the Bible. We love the Christian, uh, dad jokes too. So yeah, that's coming up. We've got some great stuff coming up in the rest of June and July, so make sure you subscribe to Crowd Church. Uh, hit the plus button, the subscribe button, the like, but whenever you need to do or head over to the website, you can fill out the form. We will email you whenever we do [00:59:00] go live. We just send out one email a week. Just let you know what's coming up. You can do that at www dot Crowd Church or followers on social media, at Crowd Church, on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube. Do connect. We always love to connect with more of you fabulous folks around the world. So come and say hi. Did you know Dan, right? Uh, that last month I was looking at the stats on our videos. Um, we, the biggest population, a biggest country is probably the right demographics. Demographics is the right word. Uh, that viewed as stuff was not, the UK was not the us They were in the top four, but Taiwan and Nepal were also in the top four. So I was really, yeah, I was, I was really stoked. Yeah. So if you are, if you are watching this from Taiwan, NAL, or India or all the other nations around the world, it's great that you're with us. Uh, really enjoy, uh, being able to do what we do. So it's a real privilege to sit here and talk about Jesus with a very good [01:00:00] friend of mine, uh, and people from around the world get to join in the conversation. So absolutely beautiful. Now. We are gonna end today's live stream, uh, with another song. Feel free to stick around in the comment, say hi, uh, join in the conversation. Uh, I will be in there. Dan will be in there. Uh, once the song has finished, the live stream will end automatically. And then, like I say, next week, you're gonna have Phil and Claire talking about adoption. Uh, I'll be busy behind the scenes, making sure obviously all the technology is working, uh, which will be very exciting. I have no doubt. Uh, but Dan, anything else from you? But in closing, Dan: just as always, if you don't know Jesus, get to know him. I'm a fan. Matt: I so want to get you a T-shirt. Yeah. Jesus, I'm a fan. You be brilliant. Absolutely. Awesome. Dan. Thanks for joining me, bud. You're an absolute legend as always. And if no one's told you dear viewer, you are also an absolute [01:01:00] legend. And remember, it may be, I dunno how you feel on days likes day, but God is always there for you. He's always Father God and his heart and his love knows no end. Uh, so we are gonna close there. Thank you so much for joining us on this week's live stream. God bless you from myself, from Dan. Bye for now. Thank you. Video: What is our home in life and death? Christ alone. Christ alone. What is our only confidence that our soul to him who holds within His, what comes apart and what will keep us [01:02:00] end the love of Christ in which we. Christ what Truth can come. The God is good. God is good. Where is his? Grace holds our faith. [01:03:00] When fear arrives, who stands above the stormy trial? Who sends the waves that bring a snide unto the show? The Rock of Christ. Christ, what will we say? Christ, he lives Christ. He lives and what reward will have and bring [01:04:00] ever lasting life with him. And we'll rise to the Lord and sin and be destroyed and we, when Christ is. Christ [01:05:00] now.