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So I'll read the confession in 
chapter 8, paragraphs 1 and 2. It pleased God in his eternal 
purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten 
son, according to the covenant made between them both, to be 
the mediator between God and man. the prophet, priest, and 
king, head and savior of the church, the heir of all things, 
and judge of the world, unto whom he did from all eternity 
give a people to be his seed and to be by him in time redeemed, 
called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. The Son of God, 
the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal 
God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one substance and equal 
with him who made the world, who upholdeth and governeth all 
things he hath made, did, when the fullness of time was come, 
take upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties 
and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin, being conceived 
by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. the Holy 
Spirit coming down upon her, and the power of the Most High 
overshadowing her. And so was made of a woman of 
the tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David, according 
to the Scriptures, so that two whole, perfect, and distinct 
natures were inseparably joined together in one person, without 
conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is very God and 
very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator, between God and 
man. We'll read some of the other 
paragraphs as we move through a study of this chapter of Christ 
the Mediator, chapter 8. But I want you to turn in your 
Bibles, if you can, to John chapter 17 to begin our endeavor in studying 
Christ Jesus the Lord. It is a good thing to go to the 
scriptures and to read, in this case, a text that speaks to the 
importance of a knowledge of Christ, the Gospel of John, chapter 
17 where we have that high priestly prayer and beginning in verse 
1 and of course the entirety of the prayer brings much to 
bear concerning truth, concerning God, Christ, the gospel, the 
divine purpose in saving a people for his own glory. We have a 
statement in verse 3 that speaks with respect to the importance 
of a knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord. So John 17 Beginning 
in verse 1, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to 
heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify your son, 
that your son also may glorify you. As you have given him authority 
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many 
as you have given him. And this is eternal life, that 
they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you 
have sent. You see the importance here brought 
out by John, truly by the Lord Jesus Christ, in his prayer to 
God the Father, seeing in this that eternal life is this, that 
they, the elect, may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ 
whom thou have sent. And so a study of Christ, a study 
of Chapter 8 of Christ the Mediator is most certainly of the utmost 
importance. A knowledge of Christ Jesus is 
of the utmost importance. C.H. Spurgeon, in the first sermon 
preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on March 25, 1861, 
preached these words which touch upon our topic, the importance 
of a study of the Lord Jesus Christ and the centrality of 
Jesus Christ in Christianity, I would propose, oh, may the 
Lord grant us grace to carry out that proposition from which 
no Christian can dissent. I would propose that the subject 
of the ministry of this house, as long as this platform shall 
stand, as long as this house shall be frequented by worshipers, 
shall be the person of Jesus Christ. I am never ashamed to 
avow myself a Calvinist. I do not hesitate to take the 
name of Baptist. And then pointing to the baptistry, 
he says, you have there substantial evidence that I am not ashamed 
of that ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if I am asked 
to say what is my creed, I think I must reply, it is Jesus Christ. My venerable predecessor, Dr. Gill, has left a body of divinity 
admirable and excellent in its way. But the body of divinity 
to which I would pin and bind myself forever, God helping me, 
is not his system of divinity or any other human treatise. 
but Christ Jesus, who is the sum and substance of the gospel, 
who is in himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious 
truth, the all-glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, 
and the life." Wonderful statement. A good marching order, if you 
will, as the Metropolitan Tabernacle back then in 1861 began its ministry 
there in London. So we see, I believe, or we get 
from that We get from the text of scripture, and we get from 
Spurgeon, who, of course, had scripture as his soul, body, 
and foundation for authority, for knowledge. We have the truth 
that Christ Jesus is to be the center and the target of the 
Christian religion. As John Calvin, I believe, used 
the language, Christ is the unicum scopum, the one mark of our faith 
and our belief. He is the one target, the one 
scope, the one mark of the Christian's faith. We have in Chapter 8, 
we have, of course, the doctrine of Christ, the mediator. A little 
bit later this morning, we'll get to the confession and outline 
of this particular paragraph. We'll have a look at its connectivity 
to some of the other chapters that preceded and that follow. 
But this morning is basically going to be an introduction to 
Christology. Three things that we're going 
to look at. What is Christology? the importance of Christology, 
and then the confession and Christology. So first off, what is Christology? A definition, very simply, is 
the study or doctrine of Christ, his person and his work. There 
are manyologies that we study as Christians, theology proper, 
the study of the doctrine of God. We have soteriology, a study 
of salvation. We have eschatology, a study 
of the last things. We have Christology, of Christ 
the mediator. And we have in that, again, a 
study of his person and work. And so it is to ask questions. And as we go about the endeavor, 
the enterprise of Christology, we can ask certain questions 
with regards to his person. Who is Christ? Is he simply A 
man brought about by ordinary generation 2,000 years ago that 
said some good things. Is he John the Baptist? Is he 
Jeremiah? Is he Elijah? Is he one of the 
other prophets? Or is he, as the Bible sets him 
forth and as Peter, a representative of the gathered disciples declared 
by the power of God, Is he the Christ, the son of the living 
God? Is he truly God and is he truly man? And if he is truly 
God and if he is truly man, as the Bible most certainly sets 
forth, is he half God and half man? Is he a deified man or a 
humanized divinity? Or is he fully God and fully 
man, as paragraph two brings out, Two natures, divine and 
human, fully both, brought together in one person, Christ the mediator, 
without confusion, without composition, without division. The Bible sets 
forth Christology to us, the Confession summarizing it. And 
as we've already noted, it is eternal life to know the only 
true God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. When we come to 
the question or the portion of Christology, the work of Christ, 
we ask Similar questions as well. What did he do? Why? Who did he do it for? Was his 
work one that was simply exemplary? Or was it substitutionary, sacrificial 
atonement upon Calvary's tree? And that perfectly efficacious 
for the sins of the elect only. So we'll work through Christology 
and we'll of course look at his person and his work. And the 
Christological enterprise that is an undertaking of the study 
of the great subject of Christ is not some lower or some lesser 
project or discipline. Christology is not a branch of 
discovery to be glanced at and looked at every now and then, 
but rather it is, if anything, the tree itself. The tree of 
discovery and the tree of knowledge, it is not, Christology is not 
a secondary or a tertiary science, but it is the chief discipline 
of all knowledge. And so with that, we come to 
it, not as to a casual discipline, a hands in the pocket study of 
the subject of Christ, but rather we come to it and we are to be 
marked by the highest reverence and the utmost joy when we are 
able to study with regenerate hearts the one who is said to 
be or said to have all the wisdom, the fullness, the righteousness, 
the knowledge, and the glory of God, one who is God himself 
come in the flesh to die for sinners to rise again. And so 
Christology, yes, very simply is the study of the person and 
the work of Christ. But we must remember we don't 
come to it in a cold and detached manner like we noted when we 
studied the doctrine of God with our beakers and with our microscopes, 
but much rather we come with joyful and reverential hearts 
to the highest study that any man can study and engage in. So the importance of Christology 
then. We're going to work through a 
lot of Bible this morning to see what the Bible says and how 
the Bible presents the importance of the topic. of Christology. So the importance of Christology. A number of things. In fact, 
four with many subheadings. But four things with regards 
to the importance of Christology. First, the importance of Christology 
with regards to the scriptures. Secondly, the importance of Christology 
with regards to preaching. Thirdly, the importance of Christology 
with regards to salvation. And then fourthly, the importance 
of Christology with regards to practical Christianity. So, first 
off, with regards to the Scriptures, the importance of Christology 
with regards to the Scriptures, you can turn to the Gospel of 
Luke and chapter 24. When we say Or when we note or when we study 
the importance of Christology with regards to the scriptures, 
what we're saying is, is what is the relation of the doctrine 
of Christ to our understanding of the scriptures or the person 
and work of Christ that considered? What is the relationship between 
that and how we approach and how we understand God's revelation 
to us? We would note at the outset that 
Christ Jesus is the scope of scripture. This is Nehemiah Cox 
on this concept. The greatest interest of man's 
present peace and eternal happiness is most closely concerned in 
religion. In all true religion since the 
fall of man must be taught by divine revelation which God by 
diverse parts and after a diverse manner has given out to his church. He caused this light gradually 
to increase until the whole mystery of his grace was perfectly revealed 
in and by Jesus Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of 
wisdom and knowledge. God, whose works were all known 
by him from the beginning, has in all ages disposed and ordered 
the revelation of his will to men, his transactions with them, 
with reference to the fullness of time and the gathering of 
all things to a head in Christ Jesus. So in all our search after 
the mind of God in the Holy Scriptures, we are to manage our inquiries 
with reference to Christ. Repeat that last statement because 
it's very important when we approach the scriptures because we do 
not approach the scriptures as a haphazardly smacked together 
corpus of ancient literature. It's not simply an ancient tome 
of morality and certain truths that may not have the consent 
of parts that are thrown out there for human consideration, 
but rather So in all our search after the mind of God in the 
Holy Scriptures, we are to manage our inquiries with reference 
to Christ. We are to because the writers 
of Scripture do. We are to have interpretive rule, 
which is the person and work of Christ, the glory of God through 
the redemption of sinners by the perfect work of the same 
revelation to us. Luke 24. Notice some of the things 
that we find here in Luke 24. Luke 24 verses 26 and 27. Well, maybe beginning in verse 
25 of Luke 24. This is Jesus speaking, "...even 
all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have 
suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning 
at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the 
Scriptures the things concerning Himself. And we have reason to 
suspect that Jesus would have gone to Genesis 3.15. where we 
have that proto-gospel right after the fall, right at the 
outset of God's revelation, because it says, and beginning at Moses, 
that is the Pentateuch, which begins with Genesis, the first 
book in our Bibles. We have reason to say that Christ, 
the hero born of woman who did crush the serpent with his heel, 
now resurrected, would have went back to Genesis 3.15 and said, 
That is a prophecy concerning me. So many years ago, God, in 
the curse to the serpent, and before Adam and Eve, said that 
a hero would be born of woman who would crush the serpent with 
his heel, who would be bruised in the process, but nevertheless 
would be victorious. And revelation through that in 
all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures 
the things concerning Himself. And notice as well in the same 
text at verse 44, Then he said to them, these are the words 
which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things 
must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and 
the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. And he opened their understanding 
that they might comprehend the scriptures. And notice it continues, 
then he said to them, thus it is written and thus it was necessary 
for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third 
day. and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached 
in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses 
of these things. Behold, I send the promise of 
my Father upon you, Bateri, and the city of Jerusalem, until 
you are endued with power from on high." So Christ, with his 
disciples, gives them this post-resurrection Bible study, and in doing so, 
that Bible study is characterized by this, the opening up of the 
Old Testament. We have that threefold description 
or threefold summary of the Old Testament. The Law of Moses, 
the Psalms, and the Prophets. And he says, all of these things 
were written concerning me. There is conspicuously in the 
Scriptures, there is obviously in the Scriptures this certain 
truth that when we search after the mind of God in the Holy Scriptures, 
we are to manage our inquiries with reference to Christ, as 
Nehemiah Cox says. As well, if we go to the Gospel 
of John, we could turn to chapter 20. We see the purpose that John gives 
here in chapter 20 and verse 31. We'll pick up reading in 
verse 30 though, but John 20, verse 31 gives us the purpose 
for John's writing. And no doubt if we understand 
what places in the scriptures say elsewhere, if we understand 
the scope of the whole, the scope of scripture, we are to understand 
that what he is writing here could most certainly apply to 
revelation as a whole. John 20 beginning in verse 30, 
and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his 
disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written 
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 
and that believing you may have life in his name. You see, the 
purpose of John's writing of this gospel, I think I might 
have referred to it as an epistle earlier. It is not an epistle 
in the sense of literary style, but a narrative, and we call 
it a gospel, and it is. We see the purpose written here 
by John. These are written that you may 
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing 
you may have life in his name. The gospel of John was not written 
so that they would be better them, thems, that's really bad 
grammar, so that they would be better people. I did that deliberately. But this gospel was not written 
so that people could improve their lives morally, ethically, 
they would be nicer to their neighbors. Of course, those things 
are corollaries, or adjuncts, or whatever we want to call them. 
Those things are necessary in the Christian life. We are not 
to be jerks to our neighbors, and we are to do good works. 
But the purpose of the writing of the Gospel of John was so 
that the elect might believe that Jesus is the Christ, so 
that sinners might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
of God, and that believing they would have life in his name. 
So the importance of Christology with regards to the scriptures. 
Secondly, the importance of Christology with regards to preaching. The 
importance of Christology with regards to preaching, this is 
Stephen Charnock, Christ crucified is the sum of the gospel and 
contains all the riches of it. Paul was so much taken with Christ 
that nothing sweeter than Jesus could drop from his pen and lips. 
Isn't that wonderful? You see, preaching, if it is 
to be truly preaching, must be Christ-full. If it is ever Christ-less, 
then it is no preaching at all. Whatever book of the Bible may 
be covered, it is not a preacher's embellishment to, at some point 
and for a very wholesome purpose, bring out Christ in the gospel, 
if it is the case that Scripture the scope of scripture is the 
glory of God through the perfect redeeming work of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, then a preaching of the Bible at any point would land 
and does wholesomely land and lands with propriety at some 
point upon that unicum scopum, that one mark, the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And so, if we go to our Bibles, 
where would we find this? Well, one of the places that 
we would find this is in Acts chapter 5. In Acts 5, what was 
the central subject, the content of the preaching of the Christians 
in the early church? Was it a message of morality? Was it a message to have the 
Jews first, then the Sumerians, and then the people in the uttermost 
parts of the earth to message to just pick up their socks and 
you know, do better things in their community to hand out, 
you know, Palestinian hot dogs to their fellow neighbors and, 
you know, just share Evian water on the streets of Jerusalem. 
What was it? What was the message of the early church? Well, in 
Acts chapter 5 and verse 42, we have one of those statements 
that gives us, and it's a summary statement, the activity of the 
early church here after the advice that Gamaliel or Gamaliel, however 
you want to pronounce it, Philemon, if you want to pronounce, after 
Gamaliel's advice, we have here something given as a summary 
statement with regards to the preaching of the early church. 
Notice verse 42, and daily in the temple and in every house 
they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. The importance of Christology 
with regards to preaching, The importance of the knowledge of 
Christ, the importance of a study of the person and the work of 
Christ with respect to preaching. Preaching and teaching Jesus 
as the Christ must be preaching and teaching the correct Jesus. We do not want to preach a mythological 
Jesus, that is a Jesus that is not God. We do not want to preach 
a mythological Jesus, a Jesus who did not really and truly 
save his people from their sins. We do not want to preach a mythological 
Jesus, but rather the biblical Jesus and the supernatural Christ 
of history who is fully God and fully man in one person who came 
into the world to perfectly redeem a people of his own given to 
him by the Father to the praise of the triune God. And so we 
have there most certainly something that argues well for the certain 
truth of the importance of Christology with regards to preaching. As 
well, we see that in 1 Corinthians 2 too. If you want to turn there 
as well. Remember, we're turning, flipping 
through a lot of Bible as we study the person and the work 
of Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. beginning in verse 1, And I, 
brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence 
of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. 
For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus 
Christ and Him crucified. The centrality of Christ, the 
Christocentrism of Christian preaching, the Christo-exclusivity 
of Christian preaching, is explicit in the Holy Scriptures. This 
is C.H. Spurgeon again with regards to 
this, for I determined not to know anything among you except 
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul did not budge before the 
sharp and practical reply of the conquerors of the world. 
He did not tremble before Nero and his palace. Whether to Greek 
or Jew, Roman or barbarian, bond or free, He was not ashamed of 
the gospel of Christ, but gloried in the cross. Though the testimony 
that the one all-sufficient atonement was provided on the cross stirs 
the enmity of man and provokes opposition, yet Paul was so far 
from attempting to mitigate that opposition that he determined 
to know nothing save Jesus Christ and him crucified. His motto 
was we preach Christ crucified. He had the cross for his philosophy, 
the cross for his tradition, the cross for his gospel, the 
cross for his glory and nothing else. You see the importance 
of Christology with regards to preaching. One more text you 
can turn to the book of Colossians and here is a very important 
book on this topic of our study this morning and over the next 
three Sundays that follow. Colossians brings out proper 
doctrine concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not one among 
many to be revered in a system of religion, but rather is God 
himself the creator, the second of the blessed triune who came 
in time in history. to give his life for guilty sinners. In 1st Corinthians, in Colossians 
chapter 1, we have this wonderful statement, this multi-sentence portion of 
Paul's letter that contains such rich theology concerning Christ. Notice, for example, beginning 
in verse 15, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn 
over all creation. For by Him all things were created 
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, 
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. 
All things were created through Him and for Him, and He is before 
all things and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of 
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn 
from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should 
dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, 
whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace 
through the blood of His cross." And now notice I mean, the rest 
of verses 24 to 27 would be no doubt in view, but notice what 
we have in verse 28, sort of sums up this section or closes 
off this portion. Verse 28, Paul writes, Him we 
preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom 
that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. You 
see the necessity of a knowledge of Christ, who Christ truly is. his person and his work. Paul 
says, him we preach, warning every man and teaching every 
man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in 
Christ Jesus. If a man is to be complete and 
mature in their Christianity, in their knowledge of Jesus Christ, 
then they must know who Christ is and what he did. If they don't 
know who Christ is and what he did, then they know a mythological 
Christ and they do not know the true Christ. the supernatural 
Christ of history, the Christ of the early church, the Christ 
of the church throughout the ages. They don't know the biblical 
Christ. If they reject the stuff of Colossians 1 15 to verse 20 
and beyond, they don't know and they don't affirm, but rather 
reject those numerous propositions concerning the person and work 
of Christ. then they do not know the Christ who is preached, the 
Christ by whom the apostles and preachers since then warn every 
man and teach every man in all wisdom. And so the preacher must 
know Christ. The preaching exercise must be 
an exposition, an opening up, a declaration of Christ, the 
true Christ, and therefore our enterprise of Christology in 
Christology is of the utmost importance. Thirdly, the importance of Christology 
with regards to salvation. The importance of Christology 
with regards to salvation, you can turn to Acts 16. First off, a sub-point under 
the importance of Christology with regards to salvation, largely 
or generally, the importance of Christology with regards to 
salvation. We have in Act 16 a clear statement 
concerning the importance of Christology with regards to salvation. Remember what's going on here. 
This is Paul and Silas and the account with the Philippian jailer. 
The jailer, prisoners are escaping. The jailer is worried that, you 
know, he's going to come under condemnation for a, you know, 
lack of honor and his task, his station, his province and guard 
over these prisoners. And so he's about to kill himself 
upon his own sword. And we see in verse 29, then 
he called for a light, ran in and fell down trembling before 
Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, 
sirs, what must I do to be saved? Here we come to the importance 
of Christology with regards to salvation, because Paul and Silas 
answer, verse 31, so they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you will be saved, you and your household. So we have largely 
and generally the importance of Christology with regards to 
salvation here. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. If the clarion call of Christianity, 
if the clarion call of the gospel is believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and you shall be saved, then it behooves us. It's very important for us to 
understand what that means. Believe on and what that means 
the Lord Jesus Christ. If believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ is simply, you know, some way of saying, you know, in your 
own little sincere way, just bask in those effervescent petals 
of you know, the love of whatever Jesus you conjure up in your 
mind and that will be a blessing to you, then we certainly have 
some problems and we're in danger the heaviest danger of being 
found damned and without hope. But if believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ means believe the right things concerning him, not some 
mystical and ethereal and subjective belief that we don't really know. 
Some people will drive a wedge through or separate or distinguish 
between believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. One is believing truths concerning 
him and the other is some hard-to-put-your-finger-on-it mystical and ethereal trust, 
some sort of subjective attachment or a burning in the bosom, some 
sort of warm feeling in the torso that, you know, distinguishes 
it from just some sort of a head knowledge about Jesus Christ. 
But believe on the Lord Jesus Christ means a divinely wrought, 
regenerate, apprehension and assent to the truths revealed 
about Jesus Christ in the Holy Scriptures. God, by His grace 
and for His glory and by His power, brings us forth by the 
word of truth, according to His own will, and then we know and 
we believe in and we trust. Faith, belief, trust. The synonymity 
of those things is very important. Trust is not something different 
than belief or faith, but rather belief, faith and trust are all 
wrapped into that blessed reality that we believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ unto the saving of our souls. God has regenerated us 
and he has caused us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So 
back to our point then with regards to salvation, if believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ means to believe the right things concerning him, 
which it does, then no doubt God has left us in his revelation 
with clear truths concerning Christ that we are to lay hold 
of. And that is what we are doing in this enterprise of Christology, 
is we're mining the scriptures in order to rediscover, if you 
will, for Christians that are here this morning, we are rediscovering 
and journeying again along the journey of Christology, glorying 
in the riches and the excellencies of our Savior. As many men have 
said, and Spurgeon probably said it the best, and I'm paraphrasing, 
but we need to, as Christians, come often or return often to 
the ABCs of our profession. You see, because it is those 
ABCs of Christology, of believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, wherein 
God first began with us and where we first began with God. And 
as we go about our Christian sojourn, as we travel through 
this lower world unto that great day, it is the stuff of Christology 
that warms our hearts, that strengthens us for the journey. We don't 
look inwardly. at the motions of the Spirit 
upon our remainingly corrupted heart, but rather we look to 
the Lord of glory, we look to the Lamb of God who sits at the 
right hand of the Majesty on high, and therein we find our 
strength, and therein we find the stuff of our daily sojourn 
in this lower world, our true joy is not found in our growth 
as morally minded Christians who are to obey the law, glory 
in it, and do it with a joyful obedience. We find the chiefest 
joy in the Lord Jesus Christ, his person, and in his work. 
Because we're never disappointed when we look to the Savior for 
true joy. We will be disappointed when 
we look to our performance for joy. That will be a joy that 
comes and that goes. And it really is not a true and 
a lasting joy. True joy is found in the regenerate 
apprehension and in intellectual reflection upon the truths revealed 
in the scriptures concerning the person and work of Christ. 
Because they, like He, are unchanging. So, with regards to salvation, 
largely or generally, we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
you shall be saved. We see the importance of Christology 
with regards to salvation. Secondly, with regards to salvation, 
with respect to his person, in John 8, 24, we see the importance 
of Christology with respect to salvation, and specifically in 
this case, with respect to Christ and his person. In John 8 we 
have here the reality of his deity and that we must know and 
that we must believe that Jesus Christ is God in order to truly 
be saved. Notice John 8 verse 24, therefore 
I said to you that you will die in your sins for if you do not 
believe that I am you will die in your sins. You see, the importance 
of Christology at the point of knowing the person of Christ, 
specifically right now, at the point of his deity. If you do 
not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. As we go about 
over the next number of weeks, the study of Christ, we'll go 
to other verses that speak with respect to the deity of Christ. 
But just to understand the importance of Christology with regards to 
salvation, we cannot truly be saved If we reject the deity 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, if one rejects the deity of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, not only are they rejecting God, that God 
of theology proper that we studied a number of months ago, not only 
are they rejecting the true God, but they are standing outside 
Orthodox Christianity and they are on the road to eternal damnation. If you do not believe that I 
am, you will die in your sins. His full humanity. So the importance 
of Christianity with regards to his full humanity. You can 
turn to 1st John chapter 1. In 1st John chapter 1 and in 
2nd John, or actually 1st John chapter 4 and 2nd John chapter 
1, we have some statements here concerning Christology at the 
point of understanding and affirming and believing in the fact that 
Jesus Christ was true humanity. Notice in 1 John 4 at verse 3. 1 John 4 at verse 3. Well, maybe we can back up to 
verse 1. Beloved, do not believe every 
spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because 
Many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you 
know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that 
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that does not 
confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the 
Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already 
in the world. You see, far from the mind of 
John was some eschatological bad guy, some politico-religious 
leader in 2,000 years that would come on the scenes and persecute 
the church. Immediate to the mind of the Apostle John were 
Christological heretics that were denying that Jesus Christ 
had come in the flesh. They were antichrist. Anyone 
who denies that Jesus had come in the flesh These are Antichrist. That is the spirit of Antichrist, 
which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world. 
Probably what's in view is an incipient Gnosticism, not the 
full-blown Gnosticism that the old boys in the early church 
would deal with in defending the full deity and the full humanity 
of Christ, but an incipient Gnosticism, embryonic. In the beginning stages, 
doctrinal aberrations and heresies and errors that were creeping 
into the church, people were denying that Jesus Christ was 
fully human, that He had come in the flesh. John says that 
a true Christian is one that says Jesus Christ had most certainly 
come in the flesh. Hebrews 2, you can just make 
a note, Hebrews 2, 14 to 17, Hebrews 4, 14 to 16, and Hebrews 
7, 26, those are verses that speak to the fact of Christ's 
true humanity, that He took on human flesh, He came in the form 
of a bondservant. That's actually the language 
of Philippians 2, 6 and 7. But he came as a man, yet without 
sin, which is an important qualification. He is truly God, fully God. He 
is truly man, fully man, but without sin. He was the sinless, 
undefiled, perfect, unblemished Lamb of God. And so with regards 
to the importance of Christology at the point of his at the point 
of salvation with regards to his person. To be truly saved, 
to be one who is a Christian, we must affirm that he is full 
deity and that he is full humanity. And in light of both of those 
things, we must also affirm his uncompounded, undivided, unconfused 
person. The confession in paragraph two 
brings this out. You can turn there if you still 
have your confession handy and we'll look at this more next 
week when we look at the person of Christ and the incarnation. 
Notice what we read in paragraph 2 of the Confession of Faith, 
chapter 8. The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, 
being very and eternal God, the brightness of the Father's glory, 
of one substance and equal with Him who made the world, who upholdeth 
and governeth all things He hath made, did, when the fullness 
of time was come, take upon Him man's nature, with all the essential 
properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. being 
conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, 
the Holy Spirit coming down upon her, and the power of the Most 
High overshadowing her, and so was made of a woman of the tribe 
of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David, according to the Scriptures. Now notice, so that two whole, 
perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together 
in one person, without conversion, without composition, without 
confusion. which person is very God and 
very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and 
man. We'll look at this more next week, but you can hear the 
echoes of the creeds and the confessions of the early church. 
The Baptists and the Presbyterians before them and the Congregationalists 
before them did not deviate from the early church and their formulations 
of Christology, but rather incorporated them and upheld them and reiterated 
them almost verbatim in many sections. And so the Baptists 
have a consistent affinity with the Christians that preceded 
them, specifically in this case, those in the early church. If 
we were to look at the history of the church and we were to 
have a timeline, we could say that the first eight centuries, 
maybe give or take seven decades, but the first eight centuries 
were all about the person of Christ, coming up against heretic 
after heretic, coming up against heresy after heresy, in order 
to uphold the full deity and the full humanity of Christ. And the confession here, eight 
centuries later, upholds the same language of those early 
church formulations that, with great vigor, defended the doctrine 
of Christ. So his full deity, his full humanity. And the fact that these two don't 
cross over, they're uncompounded, they're not divided, mind you, 
but they're not confused. Christ's divinity is not humanized. Christ's humanity is not divinized. Chapter 8, paragraph 8, says, or sorry, Chapter 8, Paragraph 
7 says this, Christ in the work of mediation acteth according 
to both natures, by each nature doing that which is proper to 
itself. Yet by reason of the unity of 
the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in 
scripture attributed to the person denominated by the other nature. 
That touches upon the doctrine of, or the concept of, the communication 
of idioms in the person of Christ, which we'll look more at next 
time. But notice something very important. When God the Son manifested 
in the flesh, when the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is on 
the cross, it is not God who dies and it is not God who bleeds. Yet, in Acts 20, 28, which the 
confession notes as a proof text here for this idea, yet Paul 
in Acts 20 can say, the church of God, which he purchased with 
his own blood. But you see, it wasn't God who 
shed his blood, truly, because God is invisible, without body, 
parts, passions. When Jesus wept in John 11 over 
Lazarus and his death, it wasn't God who wept, it was Christ Jesus 
as denominated by his human nature that wept. But as it says here, 
yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper 
to one nature, let's say the human nature of Christ, is sometimes 
in Scripture attributed to the person denominated by the other 
nature, the deity, the divine nature of Christ, as the example 
of Acts 20.28. But we cannot truly say that 
God died or that God shed his blood if we are to ascribe that 
ontologically to the being and the nature of God, because that 
is an impossibility. But more on that next week. So 
with regards to salvation and the importance of Christology, 
his full deity, his full humanity, his uncompounded, undivided, 
and unconfused person. And of course, with respect to 
his work, We're going to look more at this in the last session, 
but you can make a note now with regards to the importance of 
Christology. Some of the verses that speak to this that we'll 
bring up when we cover it in a number of Sundays. With respect 
to the work of Christ and the importance of Christology, its 
complete historicity is important to affirm. That is that Christ's 
work truly did happen. We come to places like 1 Corinthians 
15 and we see that we must believe what the scriptures foretold 
and what truly was beheld by many witnesses that Christ Jesus 
really did rise again from the dead three days after his crucifixion. He was seen by Cephas, then by 
the 12. and etc. Later on in the chapter 
it talks about the fact that our faith is futile and our preaching 
is empty. If we do not uphold the complete 
historicity of Christ's death and resurrection, of anything 
the Bible reveals concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, the importance 
of Christology with respect to his work, it's complete historicity 
we must affirm. Luke 1, 1-4, Acts 1, 1-3. It's 
certain efficacy Matthew 1.21, you will call his 
name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. 1 Timothy 
1.15, that faithful saying that's worthy of all acceptance is what? 
That Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. It's 
almost like a non-verbatim, but a paraphrastic restatement of 
Matthew 1.21. Jesus will save his people from 
their sins. 1 Peter 1, 3 to 5, the whole 
complex of salvation is wrapped up in the resurrected Christ. The necessary exclusivity of 
the work of Christ with regards to salvation, John 14, 6, and 
Acts 4, 12. John 14, 6, I am the way, the 
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but 
by me. We need to understand who that 
is, that Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. It is 
the Christian's chief joy to know him and to know him truly. 
And of course, Acts 4.12, that is where we read that there is 
one name given under heaven among men by which we might be saved, 
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's exclusivity properly presented 
as well. If Jesus Christ is the only way 
of salvation, if he is the only name under heaven by which a 
man might be saved, then we must present the gospel, the truth 
concerning him rightly. Galatians 1, 6 to 9, that whole 
section there, where if anyone comes, a man or an angel, preaching 
any other gospel than which you have heard, let him be anathema. 
Yes, Christ's work is exclusive for salvation, but let's ensure 
we get that right. when we speak concerning the 
exclusivity of Christ. It is by grace alone, through 
faith alone, in Christ alone. Galatians 2.16, we are not justified 
by the works of the law, but by faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 
2.21, if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ 
died in vain. And then lastly, with regards 
to practical Christianity under the importance of Christology. 
The importance of Christology with regards to practical Christianity 
First off, with respect to our humility, if we read the Bible 
the way it presents itself in certain sections, our humility 
depends upon our proper knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 
6.14, God forbid that I should boast, save in the cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. If we come before men or before 
anyone and say, attribute anything in the scheme of salvation to 
ourselves, save for the sin that makes salvation necessary, then 
we have not learned Christ a right, we have not learned His work 
a right, and we are truly not humble at all. Galatians 6.14, 
1 Corinthians 1.30 and 31 as well. It is of Him that we are 
in Christ Jesus, so that if we are to glory, we are to glory 
alone in the Lord. And so our humility depends upon 
a proper knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Calvin writes with 
regards to Philippians 2, 6 to 11, Since then the Son of God 
descended from so great a height, how unreasonable that we who 
are nothing should be lifted up with pride. You see if we 
understand Galatians 2, 5 to 11, and the Christology presented 
in there, that Jesus Christ, truly God, condescended in the 
incarnation, not counting that equality he had with God, something 
to be held on to, but condescended to come into our lower world 
of shame and ignominy, to bear the shame of the cross, to be 
obedient unto the point of death, taking on true humanity. If we 
understand that Christ, then we will be able to be truly humble. with, though, of course, the 
qualification of that remaining corruption. But humility, insofar 
as it can be properly understood within a Christian, in our Christian 
walk, humility depends upon a proper Christology. Because if we do 
not view or write Christ, then humility is lessened, humility 
is watered down, and it becomes something other than the Bible 
intends. Our attitude towards brethren, as well, depends upon 
Christology. That whole section in Philippians 
5 to 11, Philippians 2, 5 to 11, follows after the exhortation 
that we are to put others' interests ahead of our own. We are to have 
minds that are lowly. We are to have humility of mind. 
We are not to be puffed up with pride. But with the scope of 
salvation and the joy of it in view and the love of Christ, 
we are to treat others better than ourselves, or we are to 
put others' interests ahead of our own, and Christ follows as 
the chief exemplar for that attitude toward brethren. And then our 
defense of the faith as well. our defense of the faith, the 
importance of Christology at the point of our defense of the 
faith. We could go to places like Galatians 
1 that we already referenced to, but Jude 1, 3, and 4. Jude 
wanted to write concerning their common salvation, but something 
necessitated that he write something else, exhorting them to contend 
earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to 
the saints, and the reason given is because there were some who 
were beforehand marked out for condemnation who were denying 
the Lord and Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. For certain men 
have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this 
condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into 
lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So it is imperative for our Christian 
apologetic, and that simply means the defense of the faith. Whether 
we're a lay person, whether we're a Christian in the pew who is 
not a minister of the gospel at the pulpit, or whether we 
are that minister in the pulpit or a doctor of theology, we are 
to be students of Christology so that we might proclaim to 
men and women, and boys and girls, the true Christ, the true and 
saving Christ, and the true and saving gospel. So this endeavor 
in Christology is of the utmost importance. It is not, again, 
a secondary or a tertiary science, a discipline that is down the 
list of sciences, but rather is the chief topic, the chief 
subject of all knowledge, and is the highest science in God's 
created world. Next time, we'll open up by having 
a look at the confession in Christology, because there is much in there. As we look to the person, we're 
going to look at the person of Christ under two Sundays, because 
there's a lot in there. If it considers his full deity, 
and it does, if it considers his full humanity, and it does, 
if it considers this most certain idea, the person, the union of 
the two natures in the one person of Christ, undivided, uncompounded, 
unconfused, we must understand and we must go about the enterprise 
of Christology with due diligence, with the highest reverence, and 
yet with the utmost joy, in order that we might all the more glory 
in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for this time together studying Christ. 
We thank you for our Savior. We thank you that you have made 
him known to us, that you've called us from darkness to light. 
By grace, we have been saved, that we might trust in, rejoice 
in, and glory in the Savior and in the triune God. We pray that 
you would help us as we go into worship to apprehend with great 
joy the glories of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, his perfect 
saving work. We might return to you the praise 
and the honor that is due your most high name. Be with us now, 
send your spirit that we might with great joy and with a great 
solemnity worship you and give you all honor and praise. And 
it's in Christ's name that we pray, amen.