receiving the glorious dress, that wonderful adoption as God has given it in Jesus Christ to be his children. That is our theme tonight as we open God's Word to Matthew chapter 17, as well as Lord's Day 13 in the back of the hymnals. Lord's Day 13, page 877, in Matthew 17, in God's Word, page 822 in your Pew Bibles. We continue to look at our confession tonight, that which is basic to Christianity, that which is essential, the catechism laid out with that organizing motif of what are the essentials of the faith. We look at the Lord's Prayer, we look at the Apostle's Creed, we look at the law of God. We are in the salvation section, the grace section of the catechism, looking at Apostle's Creed and what we confess concerning God's provision, namely the Lord Jesus Christ, and we confess that we believe in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord. We're going to be looking at these two questions and answers at different points in our service tonight. But I'd ask you to respond with the answer to this first one, question 33. I'll read the question if you would respond with the answer. Why is he, that is Jesus, called God's only begotten son when we also are God's children? We answer together. because Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God. We, however, are adopted children of God, adopted by grace for the sake of Christ. This Lord's Day gets at the Bible's teaching on the two types of children, as it were, adopted children, natural children, both part of the family of God according to God's graciousness. We read of this in the Bible, therefore we confess it. We read that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Right? That whoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. The idea of Christ's unique sonship. John 3, 16, but then also 1 John 3, 1, where we read, beloved, how wonderful is the love that God has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God, for that is what we are. So both of these matters being taught in God's word, we want to consider tonight how they are both taught and how they relate one to another. I want to look at Matthew 17. as we consider that Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God. Many passages in the catechism, which we are familiar with, that we could read concerning Christ's eternal Sonship, His divinity, but I want to look at Matthew 17 tonight and think about that as we work our way through this Lord's Day. Look with me then at the Word of God in Matthew 17, verses one through eight. After six days, after Jesus had been talking about his death and resurrection, his suffering, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He was still speaking when behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them saying, rise and have no fear. And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus alone, or Jesus only. Here in these interesting verses, these powerful verses, God speaks from heaven concerning his only begotten son. This is my beloved son. Listen to him. We want to look at that, what that means tonight. It's going to pertain certainly to his lordship. He is the son of God and one who is to be listened to as ultimate authority. Jesus declared himself to be the only son of God. We saw that even this morning as he was talking with his disciples. And he comes from the father, representing the father as the son who does the work. given to him by the Father God in the flesh. The word in John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, has that notion of uniqueness. There is none like him. He's one. of a kind. And so when we talk about Jesus being the only begotten Son of God, what we're saying is that Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God. And we've already seen why that's important, that Jesus be divine, that He might bear the infinite wrath of God against our sin. It is important for us to understand what the Bible teaches as to why he is able to endure, because he is unlike us. If we were to face the wrath of God, we would certainly perish. But he, the one who has been with the Father from eternity, has come to earth. Consider what's being revealed here in Matthew 17. Jesus has been with his disciples for some time. They've seen him get tired. They've seen him when he's hungry, when he's wept. They've seen him troubled by unbelief. They knew his mother. There's a number of things that would have militated against this notion that he was God in the flesh. They confessed him to be the Christ. Yet He seemed so much like them, and indeed He was, but He is, in another sense, altogether unlike them. That is the mystery of the two natures of Christ. We'll be looking more at that as we work through the catechism, but this One who is God and man. The Bible tells us that He was God. He was an exact representation of the Lord. Hebrews chapter one, God, before man. He took on flesh. That is what happened in the incarnation. We need to understand that and to not forget that because so many today have a sense that Jesus was altogether like us, that there was no distinction between us and Jesus. Some will say a good teacher, someone who was very persuasive perhaps. Some of the talks surrounding him. Yet in the incarnation, he does not cease to be God. He takes the nature of servant to himself. Though he is supreme over all, as Colossians 1 says, he sets aside his glory for a time. I think that's a better translation of that word there in Philippians chapter 2. It has been translated in other versions of the Bible that he emptied himself, but he did not cease to be God. He set aside his glory. He humbled himself beyond what we could ever imagine, making himself nothing, though he was worshipped and glorified by the angels in heaven. He was and is and always will be God. He and the Father are one. In his incarnation, he took on flesh, the limitations of the flesh. Yet shortly before his crucifixion, the disciples were enabled to see, three of the disciples were permitted to see his glory there in Matthew 17. As I had said at the outset, he had been talking to them about his suffering, about his impending death. Yet there they see the one who was from all eternity catching a glimpse of his glory. John opens his gospel with that, Truth set before us, John chapter one, he uses those words that echo the words of Genesis. In the beginning, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. There at the beginning from eternity, all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. He made his dwelling among us, walking through the sin-cursed creation, coming to deliver. Jesus is God in the flesh, that mystery, the one who must be heeded, creator of all. He's not made the Son of God at His incarnation as if some new title were given to Him, some new position, but eternally begotten, proceeding from the Father. The Father did not bring the Son into being as though He didn't exist before. Perhaps the best way we can understand the Trinity In this context, the orthodox understanding of the Son is by looking at what it is not. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is, quote, heavenly Father's only begotten Son in the flesh, unquote. Well, that sounds very orthodox. It sounds right. It sounds like something we could agree with. But elsewhere, they explain that Jesus was, quote, born as were all spirit children of the Father. God was his father, as he is father of all spirit children," unquote. So their understanding is that Jesus was the firstborn spirit child of God, the recipient of the divine birthright. In Mormon theology, Jesus is divine, but it's a derived divinity, something that was given to him. Only later, not the natural son of God, that his sonship was not radically different than ours. He inherited powers of the Godhead and inherited divinity from his father, including immortality. As one Mormon theologian puts it, he is God the second, the Redeemer. That's not what the Heidelberg Catechism is teaching because that's not what the scriptures teach. Scriptures do not teach that Jesus is created. The scriptures in our confession teach that he is like us and yet he is unlike us. He took on flesh to be sure, but he was and is and ever will be God. As the true and righteous man, we've already seen this, he earns for us, restores to us righteousness in life. But he is one also who prays to the Father in his high priestly prayer, John 17, restore to me the glory that I had with you from eternity, in eternity. Such is the sonship of Jesus. The Heidelberg Catechism also wants us to consider the Bible's teaching about the title that we receive from God, that of children. Behold, but love them. Father has lavished upon us that we should be called children of God. 1 John 3 verse 1. The Bible speaks of us as God's children, but we're talking about a different type of sonship of God. being related to God, adopted by him, God's gracious act of adoption. Because of Adam's sin, we're born children of wrath, is what we read in Ephesians. By nature, children of wrath, sons of disobedience, not born children of God. We're not born children of God as if it were our right as human beings. God sent his son so that we might receive the rights of sons through adoption, that of inheritance, Paul says in Galatians chapter 4. God's adopted us into His family, created faith in our hearts that we might believe in Jesus Christ and that through union with Him, we might be welcomed into the family of God. Adoption is great theme in the Bible. As I come to this Lord's Day, I was looking at it, and as I've looked at it in the past, there are so, there's so much that could be said from this Lord's Day. It really could call for many sermons. We're talking, there's many themes here. There's the eternal sonship of God. There's also the adoption of God's children, and then there's also the idea of lordship. So we're not able to discuss fully all that is in this Lord's Day in one sermon. We're seeking to touch on all of these points. Adoption is a great theme in the Bible. Many sermons could be preached on it. J.F. Packer in his book, Knowing God, says this. Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers, for adoption is a family idea. In adoption, God takes us into His family and fellowship. He goes on to explain that justification is the essential doctrine, the primary need, and that is to be reconciled to God, but justification speaks in a legal or forensic term by saying we are reconciled to God. Adoption speaks of us being welcomed into a family. God is a father to us, a picture of being in the family. He goes on to say, sonship to God is not a universal status into which everyone enters by natural birth, but a supernatural gift which one receives by faith in Jesus Christ, a gift of grace. Paul holds this relationship in the highest regard. He opens his letters rejoicing in the fact that we know God as Father through Jesus Christ. Listen to the words of Ephesians chapter one. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. even as he chose us in him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved. That adoption as sons, as inheritors, as those called to be holy, What a marvelous truth for us to consider, part of the family of God, to be received into the family. Matthew 17 expounds upon that or opens that up to us as Jesus reveals who he is. The disciples are rejoicing in what they've seen, and Peter says to Jesus, Lord, it's good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He wants to stay right there to see that as the blessing that the Father, that Jesus wants to give, that they could establish a place there. Yet as we see in Matthew 17, That is not Jesus' intention that they remain there on the mountain. Indeed, he has come to save people from every tongue, tribe, and nation, and he does so, he gathers people in by his word and his spirit. He sends people forth to proclaim this need to be adopted as children. We are not natural children of God, that the fatherhood of God does not apply to all unto everlasting life, but only by grace for the sake of Christ. Jesus comes. He's come to bring people to the Father through His death. 1 Peter 3 says it this way, that He is one who has died the righteous for the unrighteous. Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God. being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit that we might be a part of the family of God. Disciples saw that Jesus was accepted by the father. The father said, this is my beloved son, listen to him. He is the one to whom you must listen. or not to simply hear that word in this place and keep it to ourselves, but to share that wonderful news that the way to adoption into God's eternal family has been opened for us through the work of God the Son. We've confessed that or we've looked at that already. What does it mean that you're called Christian? We saw that in previous Lord's Day. Why are we called Christians? By faith, we are members of Christ and share in his anointing, anointed to confess his name, to confess his greatness as the only begotten Son of God. That's the theme of that next question. That's the focus of that next question and answer. It emphasizes that he is not simply a sibling of ours, but he is our Lord. Why do you call him our Lord? Because not with gold or silver, but with his precious blood, he has delivered and purchased us body and soul from sin, from the tyranny of the devil to be his very own. He is the son of God who has come to bring victory. He is the son of God, the one to whom we must listen. Do we see in His power and His greatness? He is one who is without sin, one such as we need, as the writer of Hebrews says, one who is perfect, unblemished, the one who provides perfectly for our sins, and the one who is to be listened to, the one whom we must listen to, to learn His commands. He has won. The victory He has provided redemption through His precious blood. It's not with gold or silver, but with His precious blood that we have been redeemed. He is Lord over redeemed humanity. He is Lord over all, but we confess Him as our Lord. For by faith, He is our Lord and Savior. Sort of be warned against the notion that he is altogether like us, that he is simply a co-laborer, for he has been given supremacy over all things. He is the one who has won the victory, the one who has come to defeat our enemy. Even the accuser, Satan himself, has done this by giving himself as perfect atoning sacrifice. He is the one who is our commander, that also the application here. He is the one who is our Lord and therefore as such our commander, the one who tells us how we are to live, the one who explains to us what weapons we fight with. As he instructs us through his word, we learn that we fight with the weapons which he has given, not the weapons of the world. but with the divine power that he gives to destroy strongholds. In bringing the word of God, Paul says, 2 Corinthians 10, we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and seek to take every thought captive to obey Christ. That is the nature of our call. to turn people to God, to see the state of their hearts and of their lives that they would turn away from sin, embrace Jesus Christ by faith and be saved. The armor that we wear in this army of which God is, of which Jesus is Lord is found in Ephesians chapter six. Listen to these words. Take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm. Stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. All the accusations, all the attacks, We can put a shield up against them, the shield of faith, as Christ is our Lord, the one who has delivered us. We are to follow after Him, as the hymn says it, what He says we will do, where He sends we will go. We will never fear, but only trust and obey. Note what it says there. Our whole nature is delivered. He has delivered and purchased us body and soul from sin and from the tyranny of the devil. I've been adopted as his children to be holy. Paul says in Ephesians, as we've read earlier, but body and soul, what does that mean? That means that it matters what we do in our bodies. It's not only a confession that has a bearing on where we will go when we die, but how we live in this life. Listen to what Paul says in Romans chapter six. He very much focuses on the here and now and how we live. Romans six verse 17. But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. And earlier, verses 12 and 13, therefore let sin not reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who've been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. It's been said that the body is The place where the battle between good and evil is incarnated. It matters what we do in the body. It matters, young people. It matters, you're people of God, what we do in the body. It matters how we view the body, for Christ is Lord over our bodies. He wants us to worship God with our bodies. That's seen in the verse that the writers of the Catechism put forth, and that is 1 Corinthians 6, verse 20. Identify that passage which says, your body's a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. You are not your own, you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body, with your mind, with your actions. Writer of the Catechism, Zacharias Ursanus said this, Christ can claim lordship over our lives for four reasons. By right of creation, he made us. By right of redemption, he saved us. By reason of preservation, he keeps us. And with respect to ordination and appointment, for God has exalted Christ and placed all things in subjection under his feet. There's a lot here, but these are the big truths that are set before us to comfort us. The catechism means to comfort us with this information. We belong to God and nothing can defeat us, for Christ is our Lord. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. He is the victory over the visible world and the invisible world. Everything is under him, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 27. He's our Lord, but he's Lord over all. We catch a glimpse of that in Matthew 17, seeing his glory. He goes to the cross by choice, not in weakness. He gives his blood by choice for your redemption. His death has set you free from sin and from the tyranny of the devil. That's the comfort that we have in this truth of Jesus as the only begotten Son of God, our Lord. His claim of being the I am offended the Jews greatly for they understood what he was saying. He was saying that he was God. And the New Testament attributes the title Lord to Jesus. The purpose is clearly theological. It's clearly theological. It's not good manners, but affirmation of Christ's divinity that leads his disciples to address him in this way. And as we consider this and as we think about how it pertains to coming to the Lord's table in this, in this fact that he is the only begotten son of God, the one who is, perfect in righteousness, we have assurance to come to the table. We have assurance that as our Lord and Savior, we are those who can come near, that He is the one to whom we listen, the one in whom there is life. He is glorified only when we declare him to be such, to be the only begotten Son of God. He is not merely a good teacher. He is not, as some say, simply a preeminent example of someone who possessed a God consciousness to the full. He is the Son of God, the one who is our Lord, who has delivered us, purchased us to be his very own. He is the one who is the head of the church, He is the one who will come one day to establish His rule over all, placing all under the Father. Indeed, this is a most glorious confession that we believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, our Lord. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for helping us Bring together the teaching of Your Word. We thank You for confession. We thank You for the reflection upon the truths that are found in Your Word that ground our faith, that give us assurance that in Jesus there is protection, there is redemption, that there is life in Him. May we go forth knowing this truth, not merely as confession, but as comfort. We pray that you would hear us for His sake. Amen.