Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Good to have you guys back. This week we're looking at one of my favorite books from one of my favorite authors, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. So specifically, we're going to dig into some passages from the book that confronts a man's heart and forces everything back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This week we've talked about the natural law of God and the cost of perfection. And today we're going to discuss the identity of Christ. Ultimately, who is Jesus? How can we categorize him? What do people claim about him? What did he claim about himself? And in order to do that, let's read one of the most, if not the most, famous passage from Mere Christianity. And it comes from Book 2, chapter 3. He told people that their sins were forgiven and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if he was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offenses. This makes sense only if he really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivaled by any other character in history. Yet, and this is the strange, significant thing, even his enemies, when they read the gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that he is humble and meek, and we believe him. Not noticing that if he were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of his sayings. And guys, here's perhaps the most well-known paragraph in the entire book. Here it is. I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him. I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sorts of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. And that's it right there. The famous trilemma. Jesus is either liar, lunatic, or lord. So here's what has been happening with Jesus. And this really isn't a modern invention. This has been happening since Jesus was walking the earth, and we just do the same thing today with a little bit of a you know different technology. But what we do is we try to put Jesus in a box that makes it easier for us to reckon with him. Oh, yeah, like this Jesus fella seemed like a cool dude. He had some good teachings, people that follow him seem to live pretty good lives and they smile a lot. So yeah, sure, I'll I'll take me a little of Jesus, right? Haven't you heard something to that effect? But is that even possible with Jesus? No, it's not. As Lewis rightly points out, if you think that Jesus was a great moral teacher, but you do not simultaneously think that he is who he claimed to be, then the only intellectually honest conclusion that you can come to is that he is a liar. And if you try to wiggle out of that by saying something dumb like, well, he may have not been the son of God, but he honestly believed that he was. He didn't know he was lying, so we can't hold that against him. Then the only intellectually honest conclusion that you can come to is that Jesus is a lunatic, a crazy person, right? But let's be clear Jesus never once said, I have come that you may have great moral teaching. No. But you know what he did say? This is recorded in John 10 10. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that you may have life and have it abundantly. And no, he's not talking about your best life now. He's talking about an eternal life of continuous and constant connection to the Father. And do you know what else he said recorded in John 10? Let's actually start in verse 25. I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Verse 31. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. They picked up stones to stone him? Why in the world would they do that? Well, the religious leaders didn't exactly hide the ball. They picked up stones because they thought Jesus was blaspheming. And blasphemy was a capital offense, punishable by death. But wait, blaspheming? How? Because I've been told by dorks on the internet that Jesus never even claimed to be God. But from Jesus' own mouth, he said, I and the Father are one. Right there. The claim of divinity. So back to Lewis's trilemma. Jesus can only be one of three things liar, lunatic, or Lord. And Jesus doesn't leave the door open for speculation. He's not being obtuse. He was very clear. I am Lord. Do you believe that? If so, stake your life on it. Give your life to Christ. And then what are we to do? More on that tomorrow.

Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.