Key points
- 1
1Jesus is fully God — understood in His own cultural context, His words and actions were unmistakable claims to deity, not a modern Western-style declaration.
A story from life
Story about the preacher's young sons taking a photo with a police car
- 2
2Jesus claimed equality and oneness with the Father, which is why His own culture accused Him of blasphemy and tried to stone Him.
- 3
3C.S. Lewis's trilemma: a mere man who said what Jesus said would be a liar, a lunatic, or Lord — 'good moral teacher' is not an option Jesus left open.
“He would either be a lunatic on the level of a man who says he's a poached egg or else he would be the devil from hell”
“Either this man was and is the son of God or else a madman or something worth”
Illustration
Quote laying out the 'liar, lunatic, or Lord' trilemma about Jesus
- 4
4Jesus is a perfect human who, as Creator become flesh, has the authority to define what it means to be human — including gender, marriage, and sexuality — even when that clashes with culture.
“But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about him being a great human teacher”
A story from life
Story about the preacher's first grocery shopping trip in college mistaking vegetables
- 5
5All people are sinners in need of a Savior, and the church must hold truth and compassion together rather than using Scripture as a weapon.
Related passageA story from life
Story about the preacher's brother coming out as gay and the family/church's response
A story from life
Story about the preacher's son injuring his thumb and the decision to go to the hospital
- 6
6Jesus is the only Savior and the only door to the Father; there is no other way to salvation.
“Jesus' central mission was seeing humanity stuck in sin with no way to get out on our own”
- 7
7Because Jesus is the only way, every person must personally decide to trust Him — the claims of Jesus demand a response from each of us.
“Through Jesus Christ, anybody”
A story from life
Story about an embarrassing sit-up incident on the preacher's first day of high school
Application
The pastor's takeaway is that you cannot stay neutral about Jesus — you have to decide what to do with His claims to be God, to define what it means to be human, and to be the only way of salvation. He calls Christians to hold truth and compassion together, admitting the church has often wielded Scripture as a weapon instead of speaking truth in love, and he calls everyone to be honest that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," so no one gets to feel superior in their particular struggle. Most directly, he invites anyone who has never trusted Jesus to do so now, praying to receive Him as Savior, and asks those who did to raise their hands so the church body can celebrate the new life Jesus has given them.
