Do you like riddles? Here's one. What is 750,000 miles long, reaches around the earth 30 times, and grows 20 miles longer each day? Answer: The line of people who live without Christ. (Pulpit Helps) I believe these people fall into three catagorize; those have never heard of him, and those who have heard of him, but have rejected him, and those who have a wrong concept of who Jesus really is.

Last week we spoke about God, the creator of all things. I emphasized that we were created in God's image, which allows us to have a special relationship with him, one that nothing else in all of creation has. It is our relationship with God which accomplishes the fulfillment of our deepest innermost needs. We are different from all other created beings in that only we who have been created with a conscience, which is God's law placed on one's upon the heart by the divine law giver himself. God the Father is the creator and sustainer of all things, but humans, the crown of his creation were made for him to love, and in return, for them to love God.

This morning I want to talk about God's Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible itself presents to us two conclusions about him. We have read one of them. The last verse of our Scripture passage has the words, "Truly you are the Son of God." But there is another verdict. In Matthew 27 we read about a group of Pharisees asking the Roman governor, Pilate, to place a guard at the door of Jesus' tomb. Listen to how they formed their request. "Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive. . ." (Vs 63) That liar. That was their opinion of Jesus...he was nothing more than a liar...a deceiver. The question for us then is, was he the Son of God, or was he a deceiver? It's either/or, for there is no middle ground.

Over the years, many have said that it really doesn't make a lot of difference. Back in the 1700's a man named William Ellery Channing said that it really didn't matter all that much what people thought of him, as long as they lived as he did. If Jesus was fooling people into thinking he was the Son of God, so be it. As long as he did good works, and supported the poor and the outcasts, what did it matter. Channing himself did not accept him as the Son of God, as he was the leader of the Unitarian Church, which rejects the doctrine of the Trinity. So for him, Jesus was only a good man, who did good things, and that's all that really mattered. We hear loud echoes of those words again these days.

A man named Richard Gilder once wrote a little poem. It goes like this:

If Jesus Christ is a man,
And only a man..I say,
That of all mankind I cleave to him,
And to him I cleave always.

If Jesus Christ is a god,
And the only God..I swear
I will follow him through heaven and hell,
The earth, the sea, and the air!

Now when you think of it, this is really a rather pointless position to take, for if Christ is not God, and only man, then he is a liar, unworthy of being followed. Then he is an imposter who has deceived many millions of people over the ages. Then indeed, we all have been fooled.

As I said last time, the Christian Church has over the centuries had a great impact on the world. Why? Because the church has always believed, and preached Jesus Christ as the Son of God. O sure there have been problems over the centuries in the church, but this basic doctrine has always been the foundation of the Christian Church, the Rock upon which the Church is built. So, again as last week, we want to remind ourselves of one of the doctrines of the Church that is currently being questioned, and scrutinized.

Where can we go to discover just who Christ is. Well, as I said last time, if we believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God, then that is where we must begin. So, why not summon Christ himself? Let's put him on the witness stand, for after all, it was he himself who claimed attributes, power, and authority that we know had always only belonged to God. Let us ask with Caiaphas, the High Priest, "Are you the Son of God?" What will he answer?

As we read the Gospels we soon discover that Jesus claimed a glorious existence before the world was created. In John 17: 24 we hear him pray, "Father I want those who you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." (NIV) He claimed supreme power. "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matt 28:18 KJV). He claimed infallibility as a teacher when he said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall never pass away" (Mark 13:31 GNB). He also said, "I am the truth." Christ claimed that he would be ever present. "I will be with you always, to the end of the age," he told his disciples as he was about to leave this earth (Matt 28:20). He claimed moral perfection, or sinlessness, when he asked a group of people, "Which one of you can prove that I am guilty of sin?" (John 8:46) Jesus claimed the right to judge all people to their eternal destiny. Can you imagine any one, other than God doing that? Who would dare? And yet he said, "Nor does the Father himself judge anyone, he has given his Son the full right to judge so that all will honor the Son in the same way they honor the Father..." (John 8:22-23b). Christ claimed the power to forgive sins, something only God can do. Remember the story of the paralytic man who was lowered through the roof by his friends? The first thing Jesus did was forgive his sins, and then he healed him of his paralysis. Immediately the Pharisees accused him of blasphemy, and rightly so, in their minds. They knew that the power to forgive sin had the word "divine" written all over it. Yet they did not believe that Christ had the right to claim such power. O but he had this right. This truth became abundantly clear when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. Remember his words? "This is my blood, which seals God's covenant, my blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt 26:28). Who else could make that claim, but the only Son of God, given to the world that no one need perish, but have everlasting life.

In all these ways then, Jesus made the claim that he was the divine Son of God. But he did so in even more direct ways. Once the people were about to stone Jesus because he had said, "I and the Father are one." They all knew that he had done many good deeds in their presence. "For which one of these do you want to stone me?" he asked. And they answered, "We do not want to stone you because of any good deeds, but because of your blasphemy. You are only a man, but you are trying to make yourself God!" (See john 10) All throughout the gospels we hear the words, "I am the Son of God." Is he truly the Son of God?

The Gospels are clear that many did not believe Jesus when he made that claim, and many have not believed since through the centuries. But the Gospels are also clear on something else. Even though people my not have believed it, Satan and his demons did. When Jesus was tempted in the desert as reported by the gospel writers, Satan said to him "If you are the Son of God order these stones to turn into bread." If Jesus had not been the Son of God, don't you think he would have said so? Instead he answers, "Man cannot live by bread alone." Satan knew Jesus was the Son of God, but he wanted him to deny it. According to Dr. Terry Wise, the singular, total purpose in life for Satan is to rob God of his glory. What better way to accomplish this than for his own Son to deny his sonship. Never would that happen, so do know what Satan does now? He could not get at Jesus, so he tries to get at people. The Gospels are clear that Satan and his followers know who Jesus is, but it is we whom he now wants to fool. He will use anything, and anyone to do just that. Beware, be alert, and ready for him, and his evil tricks. Jesus is the Son of God, as so eloquently confessed by his disciples on that strange night by the lake of Galilee.

F.B. Meyer writes, "Unbelief puts our circumstance between us and God, but faith puts God between us and our circumstances." When we consider the account from Matthew, we see the truth of this statement so clearly, especially for Peter. The disciples are in a boat on Lake Galilee by themselves. Galilee is famous for the storms that can come out of nowhere, and completely overwhelm any vessel caught in it. They suddenly find themselves overtaken by such a storm. Jesus had told them to go ahead of him; he would catch up with them on the other side. He needed to spend some time alone with his Father. Suddenly the disciples in the boat see him. "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." What comforting words in such a time of distress. For there he stood, the Lord of creation, the Lord of the storm, in his full divine glory. Yet in that boat there is skepticism.

"Then Peter spoke up. 'Lord if it is really you, order me to come out on the water to you.'" Immediately he heard his answer. "Come!" Come! That was it. No, "Are you sure you want to?" Come! That's all Peter had upon which to act. Now was the time for him to decide. Is Jesus really the Son of God? Or is he a deceiver? That was the circumstance which was put between Peter and God, by doubt and unbelief. Peter made his decision, but he was not yet certain, for when he began to move toward Jesus, "He noticed the strong wind, he was afraid and started to sink down into the water. 'Save me Lord, he cried.'" (vs 30) That's what it takes. No one will ever confess Jesus as Lord, the Son of the living God until, as happened with Peter. "Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him..." Said another way, "Jesus saved him."

"What little faith you have! Why did you doubt?" (Vs 31). You see, no matter what, when, how, why or where, faith always puts God between us and our circumstances. Little as his faith was, it did for Peter too. Truly he is the Son of God, just as Jesus always said he was.

What is 750,000 miles long, reaches around the earth 30 times, and grows 20 miles longer each day? What is Jesus to you? Is he the greatest deceiver who ever lived? Or is he the loving Son of God? The growth of that line depends on your answer today. AMEN