God the Son, Mentor's Guide, MG10

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G O D T H E S O N

dry and boring discussions about theological conflicts in the past, we need to be relevant and on point regarding the key issues of our place and time. Their argument is simple and hard hitting. Since, most people don’t really care about ancient battles that obscure people of long ago had over Christ’s nature and being, we probably shouldn’t spend much time in our pulpits and presentations on it. We need to be on point, contemporary, and relevant. Others, taking an opposite position, believe that the study of Christian doctrine undergirds all our worship, fellowship, and ministry. Without the truth regarding who Christ really was, is, and will be, we cannot properly evangelize nor serve a world without God. In your opinion, whose argument makes most sense?

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Jesus, the Messiah and Lord of All: He Came

Segment 1: Prolegomena for the Study of Christ

Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis

The Nicene Creed provides a clear and concise summary for our understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ. The doctrine of Christ, or “Christology,” involves a detailed investigation of the biblical materials on Jesus, especially in the sense of helping us view Christ’s work as two movements, his humiliation (i.e., his becoming human and dying on the cross for our sakes) and his exaltation (his resurrection, ascension, and the hope of his return in power). Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith (1 Cor. 3.11). Christianity rests upon the uniqueness, indeed the deity, of Jesus of Nazareth. Accept this basic doctrine of Scripture and the entire Christian scheme of incarnation, miracles, atonement, and resurrectionmakes supremely good sense. Abandon this central fact and the faith collapses into confusion. Christians may differ on the mode of baptism, on the role of women in the church, or on the fine points of prophecy. But true Christians, whatever their denomination, agree that everything turns on the deity of Christ.

Summary of Segment 1

~ Bruce Demarest, Jesus Christ: The God-Man . Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1978. p. 28.