“Very God of Very God: His Divine Attributes”
John 1:29-51

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany—February 20, 2022

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

During the Epiphany season, we are focusing on the doctrine of the DIVINITY of Christ, as we just confessed in the Nicene Creed: “The only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.” 

You may not realize that the second verse of the favorite Christmas carol

“Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” is actually a paraphrase of this portion of the Nicene Creed, a beautiful testimony in song of our faith in the true divinity of Christ: “Highest, most holy, Light of Light eternal, born of a Virgin, a mortal he comes; Son of the Father now in flesh appearing!  Oh come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!”

This doctrine of Christ’s divinity is based on the testimony of the sacred Scriptures, in does divine WORKS, which he is given divine NAMES, possesses divine ATTRIBUTES, and has divine GLORY.

We began this sermon series on the first Sunday in February, by considering his divine WORKS, especially the healings and other miracles he performed during his earthly ministry.  As the Gospel Reading for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany says, after recounting his turning water into wine: “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.”

Last Sunday we continued with his divine NAMES, as his first disciples declare in today’s Gospel Reading: “‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ) . . . ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’”   The Gospel Readings for the First and Last Sundays after the Epiphany are like bookends for the beginning and ending of this season, for both record the Father’s voice from heaven declaring at the Baptism and Transfiguration of Our Lord: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

In today’s Gospel Reading, when Jesus meets Nathanael he says to him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”  “How do you know me?” Nathanael asks.  Jesus answers, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

An “attribute” is a characteristic a person has, and a divine attribute is a characteristic which only God could have.  From this encounter with Jesus, Nathanael recognizes one of Jesus’ DIVINE attributes, OMNISCIENCE, knowing all things.  “Rabbi,” Nathanael declares, “you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”  “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree?” Jesus says.  “You shall see greater things than that!”

In addition to the divine attribute of OMNISCIENCE, which we see in this text, Scripture testifies that Jesus has other characteristics only God could have, other divine attributes.  He is PERFECTLY HOLY; ETERNAL; UNCHANGEABLE; OMNIPOTENT, or all-powerful; and OMNIPRESENT, present everywhere.  Because these are all attributes that only God can possess, with Nathanael we confess that since Jesus possesses such divine attributes, it means he IS, “Very God of Very God.”

Hebrews says that Jesus was, “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet without sin.”  And the Apostle John writes, “You know that he appeared to take away our sins. And in him is no sin.”

What does it mean for you that Jesus is PERFECTLY HOLY?  His perfect holiness is in sharp contrast to our own sinfulness, for which we all deserve God’s wrath and punishment.  The real message of the Christian Gospel is that all the wrath and punishment we deserve on account of our sin God poured out, not upon us, but instead upon his own Son.  As Peter says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross.”  Paul puts it this way in today’s Epistle Reading, “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  In him YOU have “redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  For he bore all YOUR sins in his body on the cross.  “You know that he appeared to take away our sins. And in him is no sin.”

What does it mean for you that Jesus is PERFECTLY HOLY?  At the beginning of today’s Gospel Reading, John the Baptizer points to Jesus and declares, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  In the Old Testament sacrificial system the main sacrifice was lambs, which were slaughtered as a sacrifice for sin.  All those sacrifices of the Old Testament were actually picture prophecies, pointing forward to the ultimate sacrifice which was to come, the ultimate Lamb of God.

When John declares, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” he means that Jesus is the culmination and fulfillment of all those Old Testament sacrifices, who by his death takes away the sins of the whole world.

The book of Leviticus commanded of those animal sacrifices, “Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. . .  it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable.”  The same requirement for perfection was also true of the Lamb of God.  For, this Old Testament requirement that their sacrificial animals be perfect was likewise a picture prophecy, pointing forward to the Messiah, the Savior, the perfect Son of God.  “It must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable.”  If Jesus had not been perfectly holy, his death would not have been an acceptable sacrifice.  Because he is divine, and therefore perfectly holy, he is worthy by his sacrifice to pay for our sins.  Peter puts it this way, “You were redeemed . . . with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

What does it mean for you that Jesus is PERFECTLY HOLY?  His perfect holiness is Good News for YOU!  For he is the perfect sacrifice, worthy to pay for your sins.  “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  “You know that he appeared to take away our sins. And in him is no sin.”

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” Jesus says, “the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End . . . who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”  He is the eternal God, as Paul says in today’s Epistle Reading from Colossians, “For by him all things were created . . .  He is before all things.” 

According to these and other Scriptures, Jesus is ETERNAL, his divine nature existing from eternity. That is an attribute that only GOD could have, as Psalm 90 says, “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting, to everlasting, you are God.”  Using the title “The Word” for Jesus’ divine nature, the opening verses of the Gospel of John put it this way: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” 

“Incarnation” is a Latin word that literally means, “to become flesh.”  John tells us that before his incarnation, “the Word,” the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, existed from eternity in his divine nature only.  John’s Gospel continues, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” 

At a specific point in time the second Person of the Trinity also took on a human nature, as Paul says in 1st Timothy, “Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: God appeared in a body.”  Scripture pinpoints for us the exact moment when his incarnation occurred: “The angel said to Mary, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God’ . . .  ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered.  ‘Let it be to me as you have said.’”

When at that moment the second Person of the Trinity became man, he did not lose or alter his divinity.  The Athanasian Creed puts it this way: “It is necessary for everlasting salvation that we also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man . . .  not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking the manhood into God.” 

That is why Hebrews says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  His divine nature was not lost or changed when he became a man.  And, through union with the divine, his human nature also has the divine characteristic of being UNCHANGEABLE.

What does it mean for you that Jesus is ETERNAL and UNCHANGEABLE?  ALL OTHER RELIGIONS believe in a capricious, unpredictable god.  Abraham Sarker was born and raised a devout Muslim in Bangladesh, and was training to be an imam when he converted to Christianity.  He writes: “As a devout Muslim, I would have died for my religion. . .  Yet deep inside of me, I feared the capricious nature of Allah, as described in the Koran.  I knew that no one could know whether he would go to heaven. . .  Allah was unpredictable, and one could only hope that he or she would find favor with the Almighty. . .  Yet even the most exemplary Muslim cannot be assured of his salvation. . .  I might have a chance of going to heaven, but I could never be sure of Allah’s will for me until the day of judgment.” 

You can’t ever be sure how such a capricious, unpredictable god feels toward you.  Because at any time, he might just arbitrarily change his mind, and turn against you.  But, when Jesus says “Your sins are all forgiven,” he means it FOREVER.  Because Jesus is ETERNAL and UNCHANGEABLE, your faith is built on an eternal, unchangeable foundation.  “For I am the Lord,” he says in Malachi, “I do not change.”  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Because he is UNCHANGEABLE, his promise to you of eternal life is also UNCHANGEABLE.  Because he is “the same yesterday, today, and forever,” his love and forgiveness for you is the same, yesterday, today, and forever!

Before he ascended into heaven Jesus declared, “ALL POWER in heaven and on earth has been given to me. . . and lo, I am WITH YOU ALWAYS.”

What does it mean for you that Jesus is OMNIPOTENT, all-powerful, and OMNIPRESENT, present everywhere?  Paul puts it this way in Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

No matter what you may be facing, your OMNIPRESENT and OMNIPOTENT Savior is WITH YOU ALWAYS with his mighty POWER.  Hebrews puts it this way: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’  So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’” 

Finally, the divine attribute we started with, Jesus’ OMNISCIENCE, as displayed in today’s Gospel Reading.  What does it mean for you that Jesus is OMNISCIENT?

As I was sitting snug in my study last week watching the storm outside while writing this sermon, it reminded me of 15 years ago when we lived in South Dakota, and on a visit to Kansas at Christmastime we got caught driving at night in a blizzard.  We only had about 15 miles to go, but it was very nerve-wracking.  I was really driving blind.  I couldn’t see the lines or where the road ended and the ditch began.  Is that what your life seems like sometimes: driving blind through a blizzard?  But, Jesus promises HE is leading and guiding you, and he knows the way, for, as Peter once said to him, “Lord, you know all things.”

“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus says.  “Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms. . .  I am going there to prepare a place for you. . .  I will come and take you to be with me.”  That night we made it safely to my mother’s house, and Jesus promises he will lead you safely to your Father’s house.

Jesus’ divine attributes are not just some abstract theological concept.  They are your assurance that he is your divine Savior and Lord, “Very God of Very God.”

Amen.