I’ve shared how I wasn’t a very good student growing up. My cumulative GPA from kindergarten to when I was a freshman in high school, probably hovered around the “D” range. I had always been at the lower end of my classes in grades and work done. I always struggled to accomplish anything and never showed that I could do more than barely scrape by. In fact, toward the end of my freshman year, the school told my parents that the reason why I was such a bad student was because I had a learning disability and that I should be tested so that they could address it. And soon after that I was tested.
I don’t remember too much about the day, but it felt like it took a really long time. They used all sorts of different metrics to test my ability to learn. And if you’ve ever taken a test that is designed to test your learning ability, you never know if you’re giving the correct answer or not, it’s like the eye exam where you’re asked if you saw the little squiggly lines, did I see it or not? Well after it was all said and done, they were surprised by the results. Not only did I not have a learning disability, but my I.Q. score was slightly above average. It was the first thing I had ever done well on in school. Come to find out that it wasn’t my inability to learn that was the problem, it was the structure of my education that didn’t fit to my learning style.
In my junior and senior years, my parents got me into a school that fit my learning style. My senior home room teacher even made the comment that if I had been at that school all four years of high school, I probably would have been the Valedictorian. I don’t share this to puff myself up, but rather to point out that the schools I was a part of always pointed at me and said I was the one who had the problem, never once thinking it was the way in which they taught me that was the real problem. They diminished my ability to learn, and I almost ended be less effective in my life because of it.
And it’s this idea, of diminishing something to a point where it becomes ineffective, that brings us to into our sixth week of our Counterfeit series, where we’ll be diving into one of the longest discussions that the Church has had throughout the centuries. But before we get into that, let’s bring ourselves up to speed on where we’re at in our series.
In the first three weeks we laid a foundation on how to recognize false teachings when we come across them. First we talked about knowing God’s Word so well, that when we see a false teaching, we can easily recognize it. Then we talked about how to recognize false teachers, by the biblical clues of them making false predictions, or calling us away from the God of the Bible, or having predictions sometimes come true but they still call people away from God, or outright denying the physical work of Jesus in the flesh. Then as a foundation to recognizing false teachings, we talked about how we need to be on the look out for those who would diminish the use of the Bible. For someone who says they don’t believe in God it’s understandable that they do not have a high view of the Scriptures, but those who say they do believe in God, for them to present a false teaching they must diminish God’s Word.
Now after we laid our foundation to recognize false teachers and their teachings, we began to look at those false teachings. We’re doing this by using Progressive Christianity as our case study, but really, these false teachings can be seen in cults that claim to be Christian, yet reject the basic teachings of the Bible. So far we have covered the diminished view of who God is, while at the same time elevating humanity to godhood, and we’ve covered the rejection of the biblical concept of humanity’s sin state.
Let’s now continue our study of the false teachings that are seeping into the Church today. Last week we covered the biblical reality that humanity is in a state of sin. In fact, the Bible declares that there is no way for us to fix this problem, and the end result is not only physical death, but eternal death or separation from God.
But the Bible also declares that God has a plan. We have been using John 3:16 a lot, because it is one of those verses that is known, even by non-Christians. And in John 3:16, we get the plan of God in a snap shot, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus is the central figure of the NewTestament, and I would argue, and the New Testament actually argues as well, that Jesus is the central figure of the Old Testament too. And so, for our purposes in this series, we must ask the question what does Progressive Christianity teach about who Jesus is?
In his comparison between Fundamental and Progressive Christianity, Randal Wehler juxtaposes the two like this, Fundamental believes, “Jesus as God’s ‘son’", Progressive believes “Jesus humanly reveals God”. The Fundamental believes, “Jesus’ ‘God-head’ equality”, Progressive believes, “Jesus: divine-like human” (https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/comparing-fundamental-and-progressive-christianity-one-persons-view/).
What’s that mean? Well another Progressive Christian, Carl Kried, writes this, “He (Jesus) was able to impact others because he was a true human being. It was the fulness of his humanity that enabled others to see in him what they also could become and were meant to be. Not only so, but they were also enabled to experience God in and through him. He was the perfect window through which the divine cosmic thou could challenge their world. He was for them the continual possibility to be encountered by the One who stood behind all of creation. Jesus was the perfect human who was also the perfect window to God. It’s not as though there was a divine nature in him, but rather that his fully human nature was transparent to the God who inheres all reality (https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/who-was-jesus-part-two/)."
Are you seeing how the Progressive Church views Jesus? If not, I think this statement from Ed Taylor will clarify it, “Most Christians think of Jesus as God. The fourth-century Nicene Creed declares Jesus is ‘God from God,… true God from true God,… of one Being with the Father’ and affirms that Jesus was active in the creation of the world – ‘through him all things were made.’ Christians address prayers and sing hymns to Jesus, but, in my opinion, Jesus and God are two separate beings…Yes, Jesus was the Christ – God’s anointed one – but not God (https://progressivechristianity.org/resources/admissions-and-confessions-of-a-progressive-christian-layman-jesus-part-3/)."
Progressive Christianity’s view of Jesus is not the second person of the Trinity who came to earth and took on human flesh. No, the Progressive Church believes that Jesus is merely a human that touched divinity. A couple of weeks ago we saw how the Progressive Church’s view on who God is, reduced God to being a pantheistic entity. This made God one with his creation, in the sense of making the creation a piece of the divine. By this belief, you and I can attain, not salvation in the biblical sense, but divineness or godhood.
The Progressive Church believes this is what Jesus did. They believe that Jesus, fully embraced his humanity, which gave him access to the divine in himself, which, in turn, can be accessed by anyone else.
Yet this diminishing of who Jesus’ is, isn’t new. In fact, in the earlier quote from Ed Taylor, he brings up one of the most famous Church councils, the Council of Nicene, which dealt with this very issue. The situation was this, the Bishop Arius believed that Jesus the Son was not as eternal as God the Father. In fact, Arius at most would say that Jesus was a created lesser god, not the eternal God. Others, such as Athanasius, believed that Jesus was equal to the Father, and so was the eternal God. So over this dispute and for an official canonizing of the Scriptures, the Roman Emperor Constantine called the Bishops of the Church together to deal with this issue.
Through the arguments presented, the council created a creed or a doctrinal statement of the Church. It was presented and signed almost unanimously by the attending Bishops.
Listen to what they wrote, “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, of the substance of the Father; God of God and Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made, of the same substance as the Father, by whom all things were made, in heaven and on earth: who for the sake of us men and our salvation, descended, became incarnate, and was made man, suffered, arose again on the third day, and ascended into the heavens, from where he will come again to judge the living and the dead; And in the Holy Spirit.
“But the Holy Catholic and Apostolic church anathematizes those [i.e. the Arians] who say ‘There was a time when he was not,’ and ‘Before he was begotten, he did not exist’ and ‘He was made from that which did not exist.’ The same goes for those who assert that he is of a different substance or essence from the Father, or that he was created, or can be changed (https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/study/module/nicea/)."
The Nicene Council rejected Arius and the view that Jesus was anything less that fully God, and so the Nicene Council would also reject the Progressive Church’s view that Jesus was simply a man who touched the divine. But the question becomes, we’re they right? What does God’s Word say on the matter? Is Jesus really God come down, or is he a human who gained access to the divine?
For time sake, we’re going to look at three instances in the Bible where this question is answered.
Let’s look at two examples, for surface level clues that point us in the right direction, and then we’ll dive into a third one to really understand the Bible’s position on who Jesus is.
First, the most common one that is referenced, starts in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
It’s pretty straight forward, whatever, or whoever the Word is, is not only with God in the beginning of creation, but it is one with God. Therefore the straight forward understanding is that the Word is God, and yet there is some distinction between the two. But we need to know the identity of the Word. And to do this, all we need to do is drop down to verse 14 to get our answer.
“14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”
So the answer to who is the Word, is Jesus. The Apostle John is declaring at the beginning of his Gospel, that Jesus was before the creation, because he is the Word that was with God, and he is the Word that is God. And not only that, but through Jesus the Word, all creation was made. Just like we talked about the otherness of God a couple of weeks ago, that same otherness applies to Jesus as well. Jesus is not a part of the creation, but rather through him all things were created.
But let’s go from there further into the Gospel of John and look at an encounter Jesus had with some religious leaders. In John, chapter 10, starting in verse 24, we get this encounter, “24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ 25 Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.’”
The Jews asked Jesus for a straight forward answer to whether or not he was the long awaited Messiah spoken about through the Old Testament prophets. Jesus doesn’t just answer their question, but reveals something even greater, he’s God. How do we know that Jesus was calling himself God? Because of the reaction of the people. Let’s pick it up in verse 31, “Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ 33 ‘We are not stoning you for any good work,’ they replied, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’”
In Jesus’ own words and to the full understanding of his Jewish audience, he claims godhood for himself. Claiming for himself to be the God of the Israelite people from the Old Testament. This is not a human touching the divine, but the divine revealed in human form.
But let’s cap this with taking a deep dive into one of Paul’s wirings. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes this in his 2nd chapter, starting in the 5th verse, “5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Let’s break down some of the key parts of this passage. In verse 6, Paul writes, “in very nature God”; another way this is translated is, “was in the form of God”. The Greek word morphé (mor-fay’) is being used here, which means the form in which abides the essence of a thing. The form of the man Jesus holds the essence of God. This would make perfect sense, when we start to go into the Old Testament where we get strange connections between God and the Angel of the Lord in Genesis 16 and Exodus 3. And it makes even more sense when comparing Paul’s words in Colossians 1:19 when speaking of Jesus, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…”
Paul is saying the same essential properties of who God is, are found in Jesus. Not only are they found in Jesus, but, as Jesus himself said, it is shared by both the Father and the Son, Jesus.
Also in verse 6, we get this phrase, “equality with God”. Now this might sound like Paul is saying that Jesus could rise to the same level of God, but the Greek work isos (ee’-sos), means the equivalent or the identical. Paul is not speaking of a rising to be equal, but rather that Jesus is already equal, or the equivalent to, or identical to God.
Finally in verse 6, Paul writes this, “used to his own advantage”, or another way to translate it would be, “a thing to be grasped”. The Greek word harpagmos (har-pag-mos’), means to seize something by forcing it to your will, or once who have seized it, you don’t let go. In other words, though Jesus was divine, he did not hold onto it. But why would he do such a thing as release his grip on his divinity? Well, Paul answers our natural question in verse 7.
Paul writes in verse 7 that Jesus, "made himself nothing”, or as it can be translated, “emptied himself”, This is the Greek word ekenosen (e-ken-o’-sen) which means to deprive of content. In other words to no longer being in the position of God. Jesus no longer is at his rightful place as God, supreme over all, but instead Paul tells us, “taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
So Jesus being God, leaves it, and divests himself of his godhood, to take on humanity’s flesh so that he may die like us, for us. Does that mean he wasn’t still divine, not at all, Jesus is inherently divine. But he didn’t use his divinity to help him in any way. This is the exact opposite of what the Progressive Church teaches. They believe Jesus, a human, reached the divine, but in reality, it was the divine, that reached humanity.
Jesus was not a human that worked hard, or looked within to achieve godhood or access to the divine. No, Jesus is the full God who stepped down into creation, set aside his godhood, clothed himself in humanity 100%, taking on the same life that we lived, and did it perfectly. But because of who he was, the man who claimed himself to be God, he was offered up to be killed. This was an unjustified act on behalf of humanity trying to kill their Creator. It was the garden all over again. But though they were out to commit a horrible thing, God used it as a way destroy the bondage of sin, and the state of separation that humanity was in.
Separation from him, separation from life, separation that could go on into eternity, but now we have a way back. Back to our Creator, and back to the garden relationship we once had with him. This is done not by humanity reaching God, but by God reaching humanity. By God becoming one of us, and as Adam brought sin into the world, through Jesus, sin’s power has been broken.
And that path back to God, which goes through Jesus, is free to whoever would call on Jesus as their Savior. Like we talked about last week, by calling on Jesus we recognize what sin is. That it’s those things we do that God says not to do. Lying, cheating, stealing, hating, lusting, and so much more. These things are sin that are leading us off to death, but when we agree with God that we are lost in our sin, never able to climb out of it on our own, we can then see clearly that Jesus reaches out to us. See when Jesus went to that cross, all of our sin was placed on him. It was forgiven there, through God’s holy and loving act of being crucified and dying for us.
If you accept that, if you accept Jesus as your Savior, the path is open to be in right relationship with God. And then, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, calling you to live in an ever closer holy relationship with him. And then you are led into eternity to be in a close holy relationship with God and his people.
My challenge for you this week, is to ask yourself the question that Jesus purposed to his first disciples, “Who do you say I am? (Mark 8:29)” I believe this question is the most important question that we could answer. Because if we say he was a man who reached the divine, you need to ask yourself, are you good enough to reach perfection like he did? Because the divine is perfect.
But if you answer, Jesus is God come down to us, then it’s not about you reaching up to God, but God reaching down to you.
If Jesus really is who he says he is, then only through him can we have our sin forgiven, and our eternity secured. But if he isn’t and he’s what the Progressive Church says he is, then you better start working harder, because perfection doesn’t suffer the imperfect.
My challenge is to wrestle this week with that question of who do you say Jesus is. Because we either praise him as the God who came down, or we get working on being perfect in every way like he was. Those are the two options we have.
But I believe what Jesus says of himself, and what his earlier disciples declared, he is the Lord of heaven and earth, he has done everything that needs to be done to bring me out of death and into life, which I’m experiencing now, and I will get to experience for all eternity. Because that’s what God wants, for his creation to be with him, as he created it to be and not in the state that it is now. Amen.
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