This afternoon I direct your attention to the words of Paul as he preached to the Athenians, truth that they needed to hear and truth that we need to hear and ultimately all men need to hear as well. I'm going to read verses 16 to 34 from Acts chapter 17. We see here that Paul was exercised, if we can use that word, over all the idolatry that he saw in Athens. And as he saw it, he was moved by the Spirit of God to contend for the truth of the gospel, the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this section, he makes reference to the Lord. And I will return to it a little later in the message. But let us hear these powerful words as Paul was confronted with all this idolatry. He did not see it as a sign of man's quest for God, but as their turning away from the true God. Acts chapter 17 verses 16 to 34. Now while Paul waited for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him, and some said, What will this babbler say? Other some, He seemeth to be a setter-forth of strange gods, rather than the true and living God. because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him unto Europagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears. We would know, therefore, what these things mean. For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing." Verse 21 may show us that they wanted their ears tickled. They did not want the truth proclaimed before them, but the Lord would have mercy on some of them. Verse 22, ìThen Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, ìYe men of Athens, I perceive in all things ye are too superstitious,î or other ways of translating that are you are very religious. For as I passed by and beheld your devotion, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world, and all things therein, seeing ye as Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Neither is worship with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he gives to all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood, all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth." So ultimately we are all related. "...and have determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." Why do you live where you live? Because God decreed that would be where you live. Verse 27, "...that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being. As certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's devices, all the idols that he was surrounded by in Athens. In the times of this ignorance, God winked at, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. If the worship of idols was an acceptable thing to God, He wouldn't be calling these men to repentance. Because He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, and that He hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them, howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed. Among the witch was Dionysius, the Heropagites, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. So in the midst of all this idolatry, the Lord extended the truth to some, and they came to see their native Christ. Well, I return this afternoon to address the second aspect of that question, and that's him that has the line, What child is this? What child is this? The Lord Jesus Christ, in light of all the things that hopefully we saw this morning, truly He should have the preeminence in all things. simply because He is God incarnate. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh, meaning the Word became incarnate. God in the person of the Son took humanity into union with Deity, apart from sin, so that He could be the Savior of His people. in light of the fact he was tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin, speaks to his sinless humanity, a point I will return to a little later, because it is impossible for God to be tempted. So only a perfectly sinless human being could be tempted in all ways. And here we see the reality of in the Lord Jesus Christ you are dealing with one who is unique, Because he was perfectly sinless. He was a perfectly sinless human being. Something I will return to a little later. Adam was perfect for a time, but then Adam fell. And we have inherited the consequences of that fall even up till today. And so, what child is this? Fully God and fully man. All that makes God God, was present, as it were, in the Lord Jesus Christ, and all that which makes man man was present in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, to consider all the texts that testify to this truth would be far too many for me to read before you this afternoon, or to illustrate this truth from. Just as I said this morning, I could not exhaust all the texts that point to the truth that Jesus is God. And one way I'm going to limit this truth is I'm not going to use the term Son of Man. If you read through the Gospels, you would find the term Son of Man found many times. It is a Messianic title. It is used many times. But what I want to do under my first point this afternoon is simply use the generic term. I did another study. First I looked at all the references to the Word for God in the Gospels, Theos, and in the letters, as they related to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I said, well, what's the generic term for man? Well, if you've ever heard of anthropology, the study of man, that comes from the Greek word anthropos, which is the Greek word for man. So I went through and I did another study, and I simply looked for all the references for man. There's a number of them in the New Testament concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. to show us this reality that the Gospel writers had no hesitation of declaring the truth that the Lord was God, but they also had no hesitation in repeatedly declaring that He was man. And so, we're going to look this afternoon at what child is this? We're looking at the perfect man. We're doing a study of anthropology. We are studying the perfect man and trying to seek and draw out some truths from that. But I will also use another term referring to men, referring to an adult male. not anthropos, but an heir, which is referring to an adult male, and that points to a specific truth that I will also return to this afternoon. But the fact that man, the fact that he is man, so you'll even get non-believers, they'll say, well, I don't have any problem acknowledging that Jesus was a man, you know, that he was a prophet, that he was a teacher. Even false teachers will acknowledge the reality of the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, yet they reject the truth that He is God, as I sought to show this morning. But by doing that, they are rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, because you cannot have half a Christ. He is both God and man. You cannot pick and choose, as it were, what you like about the Lord Jesus. Well, I'm willing to accept that He was a man, even a very good man. But I'm not going to accept the fact that He was a sinless man or that He was God. No. He is a unique man. In the Lord Jesus Christ, you have that union of the divine with sinless humanity. Fully human. Fully anthropos. And so I simply want to do this afternoon the same. Two things I did this morning. This morning I looked at the fact that He is God and the facts that flow from this. I simply want to show you by a number of verses the fact that the Scriptures clearly show us that He is man and then the facts that flow from this. All that makes man a man apart from sin was present in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Scriptures, in the Gospels, and in the letters, that reality is testified to in so many different ways, I cannot be exhausted. But to begin, Matthew 8.27. But the mid marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds in the sea obey him, when he calmed the sea? Here's a wondrous thing about the gospel writers. At one moment the Lord is displaying his deity, and in the very next verse he displays his humanity. He's asleep on a pillow, as Mark records, at the back of the boats. They're terrified because the boat's filling with water. He gets up and manifests his deity by saying, Peace, be still. And so here, you say, what manner of man is this? They're looking at him, they see a real man before them. What manner of man is this that even the winds in sea obey him? He's the God-man. Matthew 26, 27. Here's the sobering denial of Peter, and again he denied with an oath. I do not know the man. He had been with the Lord Jesus for three years of public ministry. He had seen Him walk. He had seen Him sleep. He had seen Him eat. He knew that He was a man. Matthew 26.74, then began He to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock Mark 15, 19, when our Lord was on the cross and when the centurion which stood over against him saw that he so cried out and gave up the ghost, he said, truly, this man was the Son of God. He was a real, living man. And here was one who would testify to that truth. See, by the mouth of two or three witnesses, let everything be established. And so here you have this repeated emphasis and testimony in the Scriptures to the true, real humanity, the true anthropos. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 2, going back now to the beginning of Luke 2. Luke 2.52, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Dear brethren, God can't increase in wisdom. He's perfect in wisdom. All that can be known, God knows. He doesn't have to learn anything. He doesn't need to increase in wisdom. But a man does. And here you see Jesus growing as from a baby into a little toddler, into a boy, into a teen, into a man, as it were. God can't increase in wisdom, but men can. God, and notice, grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. God can't grow more favorable to himself. He can't say, well, I like myself better today than I liked myself yesterday. has a relationship within Himself of perfect union and communion and love, but as a real human being, the Lord Jesus could grow in favor with God. How? He was perfectly obedient. As He grew and as He came to understand more and more about what was required of Him, He walked faithfully and steadfastly through that cross. Luke 7, 8 Here's a centurion speaking, seeing in the Lord an aspect of sinless humanity. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers. And I say unto one, go, and he goeth unto another, come, and he cometh unto my servant. Do this, and he doeth it. Here, for I am also a man under authority. He saw in the Lord Jesus a man submissive. Man in sin is a rebel man. Man in sin is a rebellious man. But here is perfect humanity. He saw in Him one submitted to perfect obedience to the One who had sent Him into this world. Luke 23, verse 4, Then said Pilate to the chief priest of the people, I find no fault in this man. Here is a testimony to his sinless perfection. Luke 23, verse 6, When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean. And so this is where Jesus had His ministry. Luke 23.14, "...said unto them, You have brought this man unto Me as one that perverts the people. And behold, I have examined him before you, and have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him." See, here's the testimony in Scripture that he was sinless even before a corrupt judge. He would finally have to hand him over simply because he wanted to please the crowds. Luke 23.47, "...Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. The testimony to the true sinfulness of the Lord Jesus. And then going on to John's Gospel. John 4, verse 29. Come see a man. Here's the woman at the well. Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? When she went out to that well, there was Jesus sitting because He was tired from the journey. His disciples had gone into town to buy food and there He was sitting. And she came up and who did she see? Jesus. John 7.46, the officers answered, never man spake like this man. Well, that's not surprising. He's the only sinless man who ever walked this earth perfectly, and so every time he spoke, he spoke sinlessly. Every time he spoke, he spoke the truth. John 19.16, therefore said some of the Pharisees, this man, notice even his enemies knew that he was human. This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day, their perverted understanding of it. Others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was division among them. John 9, 24. Then again, called they the man that was blunt and sedentary, give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner. See, they falsely accused him because they refused to accept what he was saying about himself. And then John 10, 33, the Jews answered him, saying, for a good work, We stone thee not, but for blasphemy, because that thou being a man makest thyself God." See, they refuse to accept the truth that in the Lord Jesus you have both fully God and fully man. John 11.47, Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees of counsel, and said, What do we, for this man, do with many miracles? John 11.50, Nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. See, God cannot die, but in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the divine, joined to the human Jesus. such a substitutionary death could take place. Here they were testifying to the truth of why He had come into the world, but they didn't believe it. John 18.29, this powerful statement of Pilate. Pilate then went out unto them and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? Actually, I was referring to John 19.5. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said unto them, Behold the man! If you want to see what it means to be man, what it means to be sinless man, here you see the One perfectly obedient to His Father in Heaven. Even as they were mistreating Him here, He had to say, Behold the Man. Acts 5, 28, saying, Did we not straightly command you that ye should not teach in this name? And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Here we read this verse earlier in our scripture reading, Acts 17.31, and this is where the term for an adult male is used rather than anthropos, and I will return to that in a moment. Notice, "...because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained." And who is that? That's the Lord Jesus, the sinless Son of God. "...Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men that he hath raised him from the dead." And then Paul says this in Romans 2.16, "...in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." See, the Lord knows your thoughts even before you think. and He would know the thoughts of His sinless Son to the point that Jesus could say, I always do those things that please Him. And so, as I'll return to this in a moment, you will have to stand on Judgment Day with the one who God could say, I saw every single one of this man's thoughts and they always honored Me. They always glorified Me. What about every one of you? 1 Corinthians 15.21, For since by death came man, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Behold, he is risen. 1 Corinthians 15.45, And so it is written, The first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last, Adam, was made a quickening spirit. 1 Corinthians 15.47, The first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven, the reality of the union of the divine and the human in the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 2.7, "...but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant who was made in the likeness of men." And then the last reference I want to use this afternoon regarding the reality of the humanity of our Lord Jesus, 1 Timothy 2.5, "...for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man, Christ Jesus." What does it mean to be truly human? Here we have one who was sinless. Can we plumb the depths of the reality of the one who has said, what child is this? God in the flesh. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see the man, Christ Jesus. So what flows from this? What facts flow from this reality? That in the Lord Jesus Christ you not only have God, but you have sinless Anthropos. You have sinless man. Well, first, when God the Son took Anthropos, when God the Son took humanity into union with deity. When he did this, it settles forever For anyone who has the eyes to see and the ears to hear and the heart that says, Lord, what your Scriptures declare, I receive without fail and rejoice in this truth. But, dear brethren, when God the Son took humanity into union with Deity, settles the question, or should settle the question forever and ever, as to when human life begins. For when did the sinless pure, holy Son of God in His deity take into marvelous, miraculous, mind-boggling union humanity. When did He do it? In the womb of Mary the Virgin. The Holy Spirit shall overshadow you, and that which is born of you shall be called the Son of God, the Son of Man. Dear brethren, the Lord took humanity into union with His deity in the womb of Mary. Human life begins at conception. There was one immaculate conception, and it wasn't Mary. It was the immaculate humanity in the womb of Mary the Virgin. And so, yes, accurate science will testify to the reality of the fact that there is a child there, that there is a human being there. But dear brethren, all you need is the Gospels to testify to the truth that every time this country allows the continuing assault on the womb, it is storing up wrath against the day of wrath. Because in the testimony of the perfect man, the Lord Jesus Christ, when did that happen? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh. When did that happen? In space-time history it happened in the wonder of that woman. Can we even begin to plumb the reality of what happened in the Incarnation? So that's one fact that should flow from it. When you ask yourself the simple question, when did God the Son take humanity into union with His Deity, you search the Scriptures and you see the reality that it was on that appointed day and in that appointed way. The fact that God took sinless Anthropos, took sinless man, took sinless humanity into union with Deity testifies to the place of man in God's created order. What is man that you are mindful of him? What is man that you would take humanity into union with Deity and the person of the Son? Not only made in His image, but in the person of God the Son, you took humanity into unique union with God. Dear brethren, the wonder of it. that sadly, sinful man, in rejecting the truth of His uniqueness, of the fact that He is an image-bearer of God, sinful men can do one of two things. We are to have dominion over the earth. Sinful men have either distorted the dominion that God gave man over all creation, or they have denied it by making creation more important than men. When men say that, we're never to mistreat an animal, but when men say that animals are more important than human beings, they're denying the dominion that God has given man over the animals. I think there's an illustration of that in Mark's Gospel when our Lord was in the wilderness and it says, after his temptation and the wild beasts were with Even the wild beasts understood that in the Lord Jesus Christ, in sinless humanity, there was one they need not be afraid of, because they knew He would use them for His glory. And so sinful men have either distorted the dominion that God gave men over all creation, or denied it by making creation more important than men. That's why you see men worshipping animals throughout history, even up to today. Men are not to worship the earth. And men are not to destroy the earth. We are to use the earth to the glory of God and the good of other men, even as the sinless Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, did. Because what did He do? He took those loaves and fishes and in His deity multiplied them. He took the mud of that ground and says, I will use it to the healing of that man's blinded eyes. And so, if we are following the example of the sinless Lord Jesus Christ, we are to use good creation for the glory of God and the good of our fellow man. How different this world would be. People think, well, the Gospel doesn't have any application to the real world. Oh, dear brethren. How different this world would be, because I would ask you some things. You see, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His perfect humanity, He used the earth for the good of others. Would there have been things developed, that men have developed, if they were looking to the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ? Will what I am developing benefit man? is what I am developing. Will it bless them? Just look out through the pages of human history. Have you ever heard of Agent Orange? It'll defoliate an area so men cannot grow food. Have you ever heard of Napalm? It sticks to a person's body, and it has phosphorus in it, and phosphorus burns in normal temperatures. It will burn down to a person's bones. The sinless Lord Jesus Christ went about doing good. Behold, He does all things well. Would the number of things that men have developed over the course of human history as they've used them to the Lord Jesus Christ in His perfect humanity and say, Lord, I want to be like You. If I develop something, I want to develop it so it will bless my fellow human beings and not destroy them. Would you have, dear brethren, the abortion pill? If men were keeping their eyes focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, Oh, we are to use the earth for the glory of God and the good of others, even as the Son of Man did. What things have been developed by men because they have not bowed the knee to the sinless Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to know what it means as Anthropos, as man in the generic sense of the word, if you want to know what it means as Anthropos, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself, How did He react towards other men? How did He react towards His enemies? How did He react towards His disciples in His sinless humanity? How did He react to being maligned and mistreated? He warned and He forgave them. He told us to do what? Pray for your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. He warned His enemies. He forgave His enemies. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. How different would this world be, dear brethren, if we said, how can I love God and how can I love man? I must look to the sinless example of the Lord Jesus Christ to see how I am to relate to those who malign me, to those who even hate me, because they hated Him as they put Him on that cross. And the interesting thing, dear people, I made reference to this, But it's a matter of historical record that I'm not sure what year it was during World War I. But on Christmas Eve, at a particular place in the trenches that separated the French from the Germans, one side heard the other side singing carols. I don't know all the details, but for a period of time these men met as it were in no man's land. And then they went back to killing one another. They saw, they understood. They were celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace. But two days later, they're back to killing one another. What is man in his sin? This is the season of giving. Yes, he received gifts as a child, testifying to who he is. But when he entered the public ministry, he exemplified the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive. If you want to know what the greatest burden to the soul of man is, listen to the teaching and reaction of the sinless man. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? What did the sinless man, facing the reality of facing the wrath of his Father for the sins of his people, what did that cause him to do? Dear brother it caused him to cry out of it as possible remove this cup from me But in perfect obedience to his father as the substitute for his people. He said but not my will but thine be done, but he was insane On the cross He cried out, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? You see, men show the unbelief that blinds their minds when they think they can endure the wrath of God, or can endure being separated from His glorious goodness. Oh, it's no big deal. Look at the sinless Son of God! Look as He was aware that He was about to become the suffering substitute for His people. as He contemplated being made that substitute for His people. Men show the unbelief that blinds their minds. Oh, the wrath of God, I can deal with it. Being separated from His glorious goodness, I can deal with it. It is no big deal. Consider his sinless reaction. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son who was willing to sinlessly teach you and show you by His sinless example what suffering the just punishment for the sins of others and being forsaken by God actually means. How many show they haven't even begun to understand the holiness of God when they say, well, I can deal with hell. I can deal with the judgment of God. When the sinless Son of Man willingly submitted Himself to that judgment, but testified to what it meant for Him by sweating drops of blood as He contemplated it and crying out, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? forth. Our Lord was sinless humanity. He was tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin. Dear brethren, to err is a mark of fallen man. It is not an essential aspect of humanity. He was tempted in all ways as we are without sin. Men are fallen due to the historical rebellion of our Father Adam. That's why we need to be found in Christ and not in Him. In Adam's fall, we sinned all. We need to be clothed in the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fallen, sinful men who attempt to excuse their sin by saying, everyone sins. Perfect men are failing to deal with the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold, I always do those things that please Him. This is My beloved Son. With Him I am well pleased. They are failing to deal with the perfect man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, it's easy if we want to look at others, if we want to look on fall in plain, you're always going to be able to find somebody that, oh, they're a worse sinner than I am. They've done worse things than I've done. They've thought worse things than I've thought. They've said worse things than I've done. They've even done worse things than I've done. So I can't be that bad. Everybody sins. And who do they leave out of the equation? Who do they leave out of the equation? They leave the Lord Jesus Christ out of the equation. Because, dear brethren, And this is why you want to be clothed in His perfect righteousness. You are not going to stand before other fallen men on Judgment Day. You are going to stand before the perfect man, and he is going to be the standard against which you are judged. Acts 17.31 again, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. Romans 2.16, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel, the one, excuse me, who was tempted in all ways as we are without sin. See, how many people, and I know, forgive me if I use these men again as an example, but you're not going to stand and be able to say, well, I wasn't as bad as Hitler, and I wasn't as bad as Stalin, or I wasn't as bad as Mao Zedong, or any of these other tyrants throughout human history. The Lord is going to say, were you as good as my son, were you as perfect as my son, because he never Fought a sinful path. He never spoke a sinful word. He never did a sinful deed. He will judge the world in righteousness by that man, His beloved Son. The one who was tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin. Dear brethren, what our sinfulness should do, what your sinfulness should do, it should show you your absolute need. Your absolute need of a sinless man who died in the place of his sinful people. It's not, well, everybody sins, therefore I'm going to be safe on judgment day. No, on judgment day there's going to be one sinless man standing there, judging the world. And you should be saying right now, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner. Don't look at me in and of myself. Look at me clothed in the perfect righteousness of your sinless Son, covered by His shed blood. Oh, may the perfect humanity of Christ be to your blessing. as you realize that He alone can stand as your mediator between you and God and not be the very one that exposes your willful rebellion and rejection of God. What child is this, dear brethren? He is the child that will cause the rising and the falling of many. He will cause the rising of many who say, Lord, look on me solely and utterly through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will be the cause of the falling of many who say, I can stand before God without Christ as my Mediator. And so, dear brethren, what will this child What will this child do for you on that great day? What will He declare on that great day? Will He declare that He knows you because He died for you? Or will He say, depart from Me because I never knew you, even as you were unwilling to testify and glory in the truth of who I am when I walked on the earth, the world's one and only Savior? Do you behold and believe in the one mediator between God and men, the man? There is no greater gift than being able to freely confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus Christ is my Lord, that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior to the glory of God the Father. May such be your personal confession and mine. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. Let us pray.