Routley, Ray: His Name 09 ~ Titles 04-"Son Of Man"

Isn't it grand to have such a savior? One indeed who is wonderful. We've been able to enjoy him in thoughts of the word concerning him as the child born. I suppose that this season of the year is much when our minds are taken back to the birth of the Lord Jesus, so we need to be reminded as well that he was the son given, that the Lord Jesus was indeed the eternal son of God. He was God manifest in the flesh, and as God manifest in the flesh, he was incomprehensible as the wonderful one. He's one in whom the wisdom of the ages is fulfilled and manifest and is in essence in his own person. He's the one who is the counselor, all wisdom. You could say wisdom is his, that he was counsel, and that he is understanding, and that he has strength. So we can rejoice in that portion, and then we rejoice in the fact as well that he was mighty God. We have source of power in him. I rejoice in the place that he mentions to us this morning, his power on earth to forgive sin. Certainly he's the mighty God. He's the father of the eternal ages, and he's the Prince of Peace. We saw him in his first advent as a king, as the child born, being God in all these different aspects that we were to view it. But then we begin to think of him as the one who is coming. You know, it's good to rejoice in the one who came, because if we really know him as the one who came, as God manifest in the flesh, then we can rejoice in the coming one, and we could rejoice in him as the Lord, knowing that as the Lord he has authority to re- uh, accept works out of responsibility from his servant. And in that authority as the master, he can reward his servant for faithfulness, for wisdom, for diligence, and all that stems from him. And we could rejoice in the fact that he's the coming bridegroom. Our love ought to be wrapped up in him. He ought to be the center of our love. And we expect his coming with a fervency, even as he looks forward to that day when he shall have us and present us to himself. We saw him as the king, and we rejoiced that we would one day reign with him, because we lived here and suffered with him, that we were willing to bear his reproach. And thereby, one day, when he's presented us to himself as a bride, he's going to give that public manifestation to all that he is the king and he has a bride reigning with him. My, what a day that shall be. What a day that shall be. But you know, another one of the springs from this eternal fount is the title of the Son of Man. And certainly, as we view him as the child born, we have something that brings us and ties us to the title of the Son of Man. But you know, he's coming in the light of the Son of Man. Now, in the book of Matthew, beginning with chapter twenty four, twenty five, and twenty six, almost the same scriptures that we used in the light of looking at him as Lord, we see him revealed as the Son of Man. Like to look at Matthew twenty four first of all, verse thirty seven. We read, but as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days of, uh, that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them away. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Chapter twenty five and verse thirty one. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And then chapter twenty six and verse sixty three. I suppose we could read verse sixty two. And the high priest rose and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace, and the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whither thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said. Nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man. Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. Now, we've been given the title of the Son of Man, and then the fact that the Son of Man is going to come again. And that in his coming, he is going to come in a day when this earth has gone back to the day as it was in the days of Noah. He's going to come, he's going to be coming in glory. He's going to come in the clouds of heaven. He's going to come as the one who sat at the right hand of power. So when we view the Son of Man, now we're viewing one with authority, but yet one who is coming as a man. He is going to come as a man. Now, prophetically, first of all, I think there are some scriptures that are given concerning him as the Son of Man. Let's look at the second Psalm, or pardon me, the eighth Psalm, Psalm eight. For in the eighth Psalm, we have a direct reference to him as the Son of Man. As we saw last night in the second Psalm, he indeed, as the king, sits upon the throne, the holy hill of Zion. That's the throne that God has placed him upon. In the eighth Psalm, we see the excellency of his name, but then we brought, are brought to the lowliness of the position that he was brought as the son of man. We have that given to us in the fourth verse. What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet. We've got a direct tie here to the Son of David and the Son of Man. We have him, first of all, brought in the position of the creation and the excellency of the name. And then we're brought to the thought of man. Why are you mindful of him, and why the son of man that you visited him? You've made him lower than the angels, and yet crowned him with glory. We see the Son of Man coming as man, as the babe that's born in the manger. We see him coming as the seed of the woman. We see him coming as the offspring of David, and thereby we see him born of the virgin, coming as the lineage of David, and in that lineage, the one who has the right to rule from David's throne. But he is the son of man. He's been made man, he's been made lower than the angels, he came to this realm. And then as coming as the son of man, he was to be glorified. That's rather interesting that here in the 8th Psalm, they left out that little position of being made lower than the angels for the suffering of death, that Paul brings to us in the second of Hebrews. He takes the same identical scripture, but in this scripture he inserts the fact that he was made lower than the angels for the suffering of death. And God crowned him with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. As the Son of Man, he came with the express purpose of dying, and in that death there was the position of glorification. Now it was through death that the Son of Man was glorified. It was through death that the Son of Man could ascend to the right hand of power. And as he ascended to that place of power, he will one day come back. And as the Son of Man will manifest himself in that glory and in that power. But as the Son of Man, it's his right to forgive sin and his right to judge. I think we're given that in Mark's Gospel chapter two. For it was in Mark's Gospel chapter two when the paralytic man who is brought by his four friends to the Lord Jesus, and he's lifted up on top of that rooftop. You know, they say in days gone by, they had what they call the way of the rooftop. And as one climbed up, he on one house, perhaps the end of the block, he could go from house to house to house. And when they couldn't get near the Lord that day for the press of the numbers around, undoubtedly that's what they did until they got to the house that the Lord Jesus was in. And then they took up the roof and they let the Lord Jesus down through the roof, or they let the man down through the roof that they might present him to the Lord Jesus, and that he might be healed. Now, in the second chapter, and in the seventh verse, we read, why does this man thus speak blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whither it is, is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, rise, take up thy bed and walk. But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise, take up thy bed, and go thy way into thy house. And immediately he arose and took up his bed and went forth. Now you see the Son of Man stands here, and they're viewing him. And Mark is putting him forth as the perfect servant. We see him as the man's servant, and we see him going forth to do the works that God had given him to do. And we see him now in the first chapter, there manifest as the Son of God. We see him tempted as the devil, and we see the demons identifying as that Holy One of God. So the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, Mark plainly identifies as to who he's speaking about. Now, when I get to the second chapter, I see the miracle working servant, and I see the man brought before him to be healed. And the first thing he does is say, thy sins be forgiven thee. The son of man had power on earth to forgive sins, and so as I view the Lord Jesus walking here on this earth, I view the one who has power to forgive sin. He came in that light to be the propitiator. And because he was propitiation and the propitiator, he now in his own right, has power to forgive sin. And as the Son of Man, the Son of God, he could say to that individual, on the basis of his blood that was to be shed one day for the remission of sin, thy sins be forgiven. Beloved, the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sin. You and I can rejoice in the Son of Man in knowing our sins were forgiven through the work that he finished on Calvary's cross. But as the Son of Man, having the power to forgive sin, it is his right to judge. And now when John takes up the position of the eternal Son. He ties that eternal son with the son of man. He brings it to us in the very first chapter. When Nathaniel had confessed him as the son of God and the king of Israel, he said right then to Nathaniel that he was going to see something. And he says in the fifty first verse, he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. And now, in the light of the first chapter of the Gospel of John, you have thirteen titles, if my mind recalls correctly, of the Lord Jesus Christ given in that chapter. There are thirteen different springs of the God manifest in the flesh. There are thirteen different aspects of the Lord Jesus. And here, as they're all brought to a consummation, and he brings us to the last one, he shows us the Son of Man. Lu- Mark brought him in the way of the servant as the one who could heal here, but now John is presenting him as the glorified one, and the angels ascending and descending upon him. So you see, the Son of Man was the one who walked here in the scene, and through his own death had the power to forgive sin. But that same Son of Man is going to be the glorified one, who, yay, today is the glorified one. And the angels are ascending and descending as they attend his throne, for he sits in the right hand of power. Now, so many times people are confused by the right hand of God. I do not believe God has a right hand as I have a right hand. The right hand is explained here. It is the right hand of power. That's what it is. It's the right hand of power. Where you hear him ascending to God's right hand. It's the place of power. He could say, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. He's given power, and he stands today in the place of that power as the Son of Man with the right to forgive sins. But you know, I could take it one step further and say those sins are forgiven here on earth. Now, it was through the earthly journey of the Lord Jesus and through Calvary that he entered into his glory, and that he has that right to forgive sins. But it is also that those sins are forgiven, you and I, as we walk here, and we confess him as Lord. Our sins are forgiven. We could take it in both lights. For you see, as the Son of Man, he stands as the Son of Man glorified, and as the Son of Man glorified, he does stand as an eternal judge. Let's look at John's Gospel, chapter five, if you will, please. And I think we're given a further view here of him as his authority as the Son of Man. Verse twenty one says of chapter five, for as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son. That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which has sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me have everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from life unto death. You see, the twenty first verse gives us the idea that the Father raises up the dead and quickeneth them. So the Son quickeneth whom he will. Now in that power, the Son quickens whom he will, and to the Son is all judgment given. Look at it in this light. I'm sure that all of you, or most all of you, are children of God, and so we'll just take judgment in the light of the sons of God. There was a first judgment of your sin and mine on the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary's cross. Your sin and my sin was judged upon him, and now there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. The judgment of the Son was taken care of by the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Son of Man, he came to substitute, and so he took our judgment. Now there is the judgment of the bo- of the servant. Pardon me. There's the judgment of the sinner at the cross. There's the judgment of the Son as he walks here in his journey. You see, as sons of God, we walk here being prepared for eternity, and he says he chastens every son that he receives. Hebrews twelve gives us the judgment of the Son, and so as we're walking here in this scene, we're going through a constant correction process that our Lord permits to come our way. It's the chastening hand of the Father. And as he chastens, he chastens every son he receives. He does it because he loves it. Now sometimes, beloved, some of us receive thorns in the flesh. We've got afflictions in the flesh, and we're tried by oppression and depression and all the rest of it. And then we begin to cry, why? Well, I've got a good answer that you could give yourself if you're crying why today. You could say just because he loves me. You know that he chastens because he loves. That's why he chases. And if you're going and you're under the heat, the chastening hand of God this morning, and you're wondering why, will you answer then to your own heart, just because he loves me. And the chastening work of God will have its effect in your life, if you will submit to it. And you will have a heart that exers- is exercised by it, then it will bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. But if you rebel against the chastening hand of God, it might go so far that your life will be taken. He said, shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? He's not talking about eternal life. He's writing to sons. It's rather interesting that Proverbs fifteen ten, I believe it is, says. Hmm. The verse suddenly escapes me. I can get the last half of it, but not the first half, so I guess I'll have to look at the scripture. I got it. Correction is grievous to him that forsaketh the way. He that hateth reproof shall die. You see, it is quite possible to go so much in an anger toward the chastening hand of God that your life here would be taken. Many times we talk about sin unto death, and I believe that this could be one of them. That there could be such anger against the Heavenly Father and rebellion against his station, that our life could be taken. Now, certainly, as he judges sons here, it's in the light of love, and in the light of correction, in the light of drawing us closest to. Now there's the judgment of the servant. And the judgment of the servant will take place at the judgment seat of Christ. There is where the Lord Jesus will reward the servant's work, you see. It's not a matter of a judgment of the son, no. That's all been taken care of at Calvary for the sin of the son. And then it was taken care of in correction of the son as he walked along here. But his works as a servant must be weighed by God, whether they be of value or they be worthless, whether they will receive reward or suffer loss. So you see, the one who sits on the judgment seat there, or the bima, the judgment seat of Christ, is the Son of Man. It's his right to judge. And that's the same one that's going to sit on the great white throne. It's his right to judge. All judgment is given to the Son. Now I'm glad that when the Son came in his first advent, he didn't come to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. You see, in his first advent, he came as a savior, and he came that the world through him might be saved. Now, when I get the view of the Lord Jesus in the this position as the son of man and his right to judge, I can see him then as the one that God has sent to bring to pass the new order. For when he was baptized, I hear the Lord saying, this is my beloved son in whom is all my delight. The first man was of the earth, and he was earthly. But the second man was of heaven, and he was heavenly, and he was the one that God found all his delight in. The first Adam became a living soul, but the last Adam became a quickening spirit. The first Adam was found in failure, but now the last Adam, as the son of man, came to save. He came to bring a new order. The first Adam was in failure, but the last Adam is a quickening spirit, and it's his right to quicken whom he will. My, his desire was to quicken Israel, first of all. Salvation was of the Jews, but it was to the Jews. He came to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. But my, when he came to Israel, what did God say to him? Ah, the ox knew his master, and the ass, or the ox his owner, and the ass his master's crew. You see, when he spoke of the animal kingdom, he says it's within the ox to know who his owner is, and it's within the ass to know his master's crib. I used to think, you know, I worked on a farm for years as a boy, and sometimes when after a hard day out there in the field picking up bales or whatever it might be that wore you down a bit, you know, and toward the end of the day, after getting up at four thirty in the morning to do the milking and the rest, and then having a long day, someday coming back with that team, we had another section of ground, which was about a mile away, and they used to take those lines and just flip them over the ladder and lay back on a bale of hay or something, and sometimes I'd doze off just like that, and I'd wake up as I had gone down a mile stretch of the highway and turned into a gravel road, and then into the very farmyard. Those horses knew where their crib was. It wasn't an a- within an animal to recognize that, you see? They could find their way home, but my, when he spoke of Israel, he said, Israel does not know my people does not sin. Israel wouldn't turn to him as the one who owned them and the one who fed them. They said, crucify. And that's what they did. They crucified. They crucified. But you know, mankind really was under Satan's domain. Satan came and he tempted Eve there in the garden. He tempted her with pride. He tempted her with unbelief, and that's what was in her. You know, so many people talk about the first sin being disobedience. The first sin wasn't disobedience, beloved. The first sin was unbelief. That was the first thing. It was unbelief. Eve believed God, believed Satan rather than to believe God. Eve believed Satan when he said, you'll be as the gods, you won't die. Rather than to believe God's word when he said, thou shalt surely die. And so man, then entering in under his dominion, enters under his authority and his rule as the prince of the power of the air, and the spirit of disobedience that works in the children of men. So now the son of man, the last Adam, he comes. Why does he come? He comes to voice the strong man. How? That's what the Lord Jesus told us. When they said he cast out demons by Beelzebub, hmm. Oh, he gave them a, a clear thought. He said, when a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But then when a stronger comes and he takes from his, from him his armor, he divides his spoil. This is what the Lord Jesus did, don't you see, as the Son of Man. The first Adam failed, but now the last Adam comes to spoil Satan, the one who the first Adam put himself under his dominion. He's a stronger man, and he comes and he spe- he spoils Satan's dominion. He takes away his armor. He became victor over him. Where did he do it? He did it at Calvary's cross. That's where he did it. That's where he spoiled Satan, and he spoiled all his principalities and powers and resurrection. When he went right up through his domain. Satan, as the prince of the power of the air, has his domain in the air, and his demons and all his principalities in the air, and Christ in his ascension went right through it. And when he takes up the church, he's gonna take him right through it. He's the victor. He spoils. Don't you see? A strong man. But now, as the son of man, he was tested as to whether or not he could spoil. And the first testing came in the wilderness. When the spirit drove him to the wilderness, and for forty days he fasted, and now he comes out of the wilderness. And there's the words, if thou be the Son of God. Don't you see? He was saying to him, really, take yourself out under the realm of the Father and go ahead and do these things. Cause the stones to be bread. Cast yourself off the pinnacle. Bow down, worship me. But there were two weapons that the strong man had, that Christ had, that were stronger than Satan. The Spirit and the Word. And he answered Satan with the word, it is written. Therein lied the first victory. Calvary's cross was the next victory. Resurrection from the grave was the next victory, and ascension to the right hand of power was the next. He spoiled principalities and powers. You know what that means? He put them off. They were a burden, but he put them off. He spoiled. And it became the Son of Man in glory. He sat himself down as the glorified one. Now, I think in John thirteen we've got the idea, as Satan is about to take up his work there. Judas is offered the sop. This is at the Last Supper, and they're questioning who's going to betray him. The Lord says, the one that I hand the sop to when I've dipped it. He dips the sop and he hands it to Satan. Ever think of what Satan had right there? Satan had a soul. He had a soul. You know this rock opera that's going around called Jesus Christ Superstar Superstar is is a a vi- vile thing. It's outright blasphemy. They've shown it twice in our town. The first time it came through was sort of an amateur group, but the last time it came through, it came with the professionals from New York. And this thing presents the Lord at the Lord's table as a drunkard. It presents him in a light of immorality with one Mary that they wrapped up all four Marys in her. It presents Judas in a good light. Life. And Judas say, saying, well, I really want to know, are you what you say you are? Hmm. Judas really came back after he had betrayed him, and he threw that silver down to the priest and said, I betrayed innocent blood. Oh, he didn't confess him as the Lord, but he confessed him as an innocent one, and he was the devil's inspector. The Lord said, have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? The Lord knew what he walked. He was a doubleton specter. He had a chance to view the Lord Jesus all along the way. But when that stop was handed to him, he had the opportunity of accepting it or rejecting it, but he reached out and he took it, and Satan entered into it. It wasn't to that moment. But now Satan's into him, and he's gone out. Verse thirty one says, therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. Now, the Son of Man was glorified in that betrayal, because here enters the last phase of the step to Calvary, and there was glorification in that path for the Son of Man and for God. Ought not Christ who has suffered and entered into his glory. The Son of Man glorified in a full obedience to the Father, obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Son of man glorified. You know, when I get to heaven, what I'm gonna look for? I'm gonna look for a glorified man. Yes, I am. I'm gonna look for one who has a glory above all men. But I'm gonna look for one who has a glory above all men. But I'm gonna look for a man in the glory, the Son of Man. The Son of Man who was the babe born. The Son of Man who was the seed of the woman. The Son of Man who was the offspring of David. The Son of Man who was born of Mary. And the Son of Man who was crucified. The Son of Man who was glorified. But you know, that Son of Man we read is going to come back again. He's going to come back. He's going to come back in authority. He's going to come back in glory. He's going to come back with a right to judge, and he's going to judge the nation. What a day that's going to be. When the Son of Man judges the nation. There will not be anything unsafe that enters into the millennial reign of the Son of Man, the Son of David. There's a depart into everlasting fire. He came to save, but if they refuse salvation, then there's judgment. He will judge as well, and perhaps tomorrow morning the Lord willing will look at it in the light of the judge. Shall we pray? My Father, we thank thee this morning for the precious truths of the Son of God who became the Son of Man. We thank thee, our Father, that he didn't take upon him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. We thank thee, our Father, that he was made like unto us in a part. And we thank thee that he indeed, as the Son of Man, became our substitute, our redeemer, our propitiator. And we thank thee that he indeed did ascend into glory. Thank thee, our Father, for lifting our thoughts, centering about our thoughts upon him this week. Oh, what a glorious man he is. What a glorious Savior. What a mighty king and mighty God is he. We thank thee for his humility, for his obedience, but we thank thee as well for his glory, and that our praise and our worship can ascend to that place. And we thank thee that in his tenderness he's aware of us, because we do have a priest who has been touched with all the feelings of our infirmity. He's been tried in all points, like as we are sin apart. And so, our Father, we thank thee that he does intercede for us today before thy throne and thy face. We bless thee, our God, for all his works. We thank thee for the one source, but the many springs that we can enjoy in his life. Bless us today as we go our path, Lord, this last day of the year, cause us to look back, to evaluate the days spent and the hours that have passed, to weigh them in the light of eternity, and then cause us to purpose a faithful life in him in the days ahead. For we ask it in Jesus' name, with thanksgiving.