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Book: Luke
 Print ( PC Only )
Luke 6:36 The Purpose of His Coming, To Reveal the Father
Intro. We think of the babe lying in the manger, the virgin has brought
forth her firstborn Son, Immanuel, God with us. He was sent by His
Father into this world to give to man an accurate revelation of the
only true God who exists eternally.
I. His mission to reveal the Father to man.
A. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and
the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld is glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. No man had seen God at any
time; the only begotten Son who was in the bosom of the Father
He hath declared Him, or led Him forth that He might be fully
revealed.
B. The book of Hebrews opens with these words,
HEB 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
HEB 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom
he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds;
HEB 1:3 Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our
sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high;
C. When Philip said to Jesus, "Show us the Father and we will be
satisfied." Jesus answered, "Have I been so long a time with
you and have you not seen Me, He that hath seen Me hath seen
the Father.
1. In John 12:45 Jesus said, "He that seeth Me, seeth Him
that sent Me.
2. In Colosians 1:15 Paul tells us that He is the image of
the invisible God.
II. Why man needed a new revelation of God.
A. Man had developed all kinds of false ideas about God, many
times from those who supposedly represented God.
1. The Greeks had their concepts of God.
a. They believed that there were many God's. God's
that controlled and governed over the many
passions and emotions of men.
b. They worshipped the planets and the other
heavenly bodies.
2. Likewise the Romans.
3. If you will look at the grotesque carvings on the hindu
temples you can get an idea of their concepts of God.
B. There was one nation to whom God committed the revelation of
Himself, the nation of Israel.
1. Paul asked the question, "What advantage has the Jew?"
He answers his own question, "Many and in every way,
for to them were committed the oracles of God."
2. Moses said to the people,
DEU 4:7 For what nation [is there so] great, who [hath] God [so]
nigh unto them, as the LORD our God [is] in all [things
that] we call upon him [for]?
DEU 4:8 And what nation [is there so] great, that hath statutes and
judgments [so] righteous as all this law, which I set
before you this day?
3. Psalm 147:19 He shows His word unto Jacob, His statutes
and judgments unto Israel.
4. By the time Jesus was born, the religious leaders of
this nation had become so corrupt that they had turned
the Temple of God into a den of thieves.
5. They were supposedly representing God, yet according to
Jesus, they were of their father the devil, and his
works were they doing.
6. Jesus had said that if the light that is in you be
darkness, then how great is that darkness.
7. He also had said that if the blind lead the blind, they
will both fall into the ditch.
8. From them the people received the idea that God was
harsh, cruel, and unreasonable. That God was demanding
of man far more than man could possible produce.
C. When you see how God was so misrepresented to man, you can see
why man felt that He could never be close to God, and did not
really desire a closeness.
D. Unfortunately this is still true in the present day.
1. Little demagogues standing before people and declaring
their distorted concepts of God, which is actually just
a revelation of themselves and a desire to bring men
under their power.
2. They represent God as self-centered, demanding, and
wanting only your sacrificial support, so that he can
live in high fashion.
3. They make a farce out of God.
III. What did Jesus reveal to man concerning God.
A. If you want to really know and understand God then you have to
go back and look at what Jesus revealed to us about God.
1. Here in Luke 6 Jesus commanded them to love their
enemies.
2. Do good to those that hate you.
3. Bless those that curse you.
4. Pray for those that despitefully use you.
5. If someone smites you on the cheek turn the other
cheek.
6. Give to those who ask of you.
7. In these things He is telling you about God, He is
revealing to you things that God does.
a. Paul tells us that God commended His love
towards us in that while we were still in our
sins, Christ died for us.
b. God does good towards them that hate him, It is
the goodness of the Lord that often leads a man
to repentance.
c. God blesses even those who curse Him. "He
causes the sun to shine on the just and the
unjust."
d. We remember how Jesus was praying for those who
were crucifying Him. "Father, forgive them,
they know not what they do."
e. How often does God turn His other cheek to man.
8. In verse 35 He says that if you do these things, then
you will children of the Highest, for He is kind unto
the unthankful, and to the evil.
B. Jesus then commanded us to be merciful as our Father is also
merciful.
1. He told us not to judge, and not to condemn.
2. He told us to forgive.
3. He told us to give.
4. These are the things that He commanded His disciples to
do, that they might be like their heavenly Father.
5. Having commanded us to do these things, He then said,
"Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, when you do not do the
things that I command you.
C. What do you find so objectionable about the things that Jesus
asked you to do?
1. Don't you think that it would be a much better world if
all would follow His commandments, if we all treated
others like we would like to be treated?
a. Imagine a new community being developed that
advertised that only loving people were to be
allowed in the community. Everyone was going to
treat others as they would like to be treated.
b. No locks would be put on the doors of the
houses.
c. There would be no police departments, no
judges, no courts, no jails, for all issues
would be resolved in love and consideration for
each other.
d. There of course would be no need for taxes,
because you would have no government
bureaucrats to support. You would not be paying
people to tell you how you are to live, what
you can and can't do. No one telling you that
you cannot put up a nativity scene at Christmas
time on public property. No one telling you
that you cannot sing Christmas Carols in the
public schools. It costs us a lot of money to
hire people to make and enforce these kinds of
protection for you. That's why your taxes are
so high.
e. I would be first in line to sign up, then I
would gladly give my place in line to someone
else who was more needy than I, and patiently
wait my turn as I sought to be sensitive to the
needs of others.
2. Those in the media think it would be a horrible thing
to have Christians in office, for they soon would be
seeking to impose their value system on everyone. They
would have us to teach our children not to fight,
cheat, or outside of marriage. They would
outlaw pornography, adultery, and alcohol. They might
even impose censorship so that these rap groups go no
longer advocate raping your sister of killing a cop.
That means I would have to spend time with my family,
I could not hang out at the bar or in the clubs
drinking beer and being stimulated by the nude
dancing. Can you imagine
how rotten it would be if I had to love my wife and my
kids?
D. At Christmas time rather than just getting sentimental over
the beautiful story of a babe that was born in Bethlehem, we
should stop and think of the purpose of His coming. He would
have you to celebrate His coming by:
1. Loving your enemies, doing good to those who hate you,
maybe even sending them a gift this year. For if you
give gifts only to those from whom you expect a gift,
what reward have you even the sinners do this.
2. Incidentally, the community that I spoke of earlier, it
does exist. I have my reservation in, it is called
heaven. I'd love to have you as my neighbor there.
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