Why Jesus Alone Holds Authority And Life

What if the voice that spoke galaxies into being is the same voice that can wake a dead heart now? We walk through John 5 and discover why Jesus doesn’t just offer life—He is life—and how that changes the way we face sin, judgment, and hope.

Pastor Carl unpacks the seeming tension between believing in the Father and believing in the Son by tracing a clear line through John 3, John 5, and Romans 10. Rather than a contradiction, we find the unity of the Trinity moving toward us: the Father sends, the Son saves, and the Spirit applies the work. We explore what it means to “hear His word” in a world shaped by fallen thinking, and why faith is not naïve optimism but a response to a living Word that raises the spiritually dead.

Then we zoom out to the long horizon. Drawing on Daniel 7’s Son of Man and Revelation 20’s two resurrections, we consider Jesus’ present rule in hearts and His future reign on David’s throne. We talk frankly about the great white throne, the Book of Life, and why everyone will rise—some to the resurrection of life, others to the resurrection of judgment. Far from cold theology, this is a warm call to trust the One who knows our weakness, took our place, and judges with perfect justice because He became truly human without ceasing to be God.

If you’re longing for clarity on salvation, the authority of Jesus, and the hope that steadies you in a shaking world, you’ll find firm ground here. Listen, reflect, and share with someone who needs good news today. If this encouraged you, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it along to a friend who’s searching.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Jesus is God. In fact, he is the creator of all life. And now, as he became part of his creation, the Father saw fit to allow him to continue to have that life. He wasn't given life, because he is life. And with that, he is given authority over mankind because he is the Son of Man. He was born of the Virgin Mary. His father was God. He was the life bringer.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

A great leader emerges from the very heart of a community, someone who truly understands the struggles of the people. The Bible shares that God the Father has entrusted Jesus with authority over us. He's the only one who can save you. Do you know why? Today, Pastor Carl shares how Jesus was the only one who could be the Savior of the world. So he truly understands what you're going through on a personal level. He gave his life for your sins. That's how great a leader Jesus is. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

Father And Son: No Contradiction

From Spiritual Death To Life

Life In Himself And Judgment

What Son Of Man Really Means

Two Resurrections Explained

Great White Throne And Book Of Life

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Let's get into a study of God's Word, because that is why we're here. The Word is important. The Word helps us to renew our minds. Because we think earthly, we think fleshly. And God has a different perspective on things because He's not corrupted by the fall. He's pure, He's holy. Even who He is changes who we are. And that's what we've been looking at in John chapter 5 as Jesus has had a dialogue with the Jewish leaders, or maybe we should call it a monologue, because he's telling them a thing or two. And we pick up that monologue in verse 24 of chapter 5. He says, Most assuredly, truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death to life. You got to hear his word. That reminds me of the verse, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Right? And Jesus is described as the word. So when he speaks, he brings life. Are you listening? So you believe the word that he says, and you believe in him who has sent him. Who sent him? The Father has sent him. Now that's interesting. So to have eternal life, I need to believe in the Father. But didn't he say in chapter 3 that you got to believe in the Son? Remember when he's talking to Nicodemus, chapter 3, beginning at verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. In the wilderness, the complaining Israelites were getting stung by vipers. And the solution was to make a bronze serpent and put it up on a pole, and when you looked up at the pole, you were made healed. You were made whole. You were healed. In the same way Jesus would be lifted up on the cross, that whoever looks upon him and believes would be healed. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So in John 5, he says, You believe in the Father. In John 3, he says you believe in the Son. Is this an apparent contradiction in the Bible? No, because part of what he's doing here is showing how he and the Father are one, but two distinct persons in the Trinity. Two different roles, two different personalities, but the same vision, the same focus, the same will, the same life, the same power. And we'll see more of that as we go. Paul puts it this way in Romans 10 9 if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Basically putting the two together. Believe that Jesus is the one, and believe that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And to simply put it, Paul did this in Romans 3, uh 6.23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. The gospel is we have fallen and we are stuck in sin, and there's nothing that we can do about it. But God, in his great mercy and love for us, has given us a gift, and that gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Anyway, so those do go together. We believe in the Father, we believe in the Son, we believe in the work of the Holy Spirit, that the wages of sin were death, that we were stuck in death, we were born in death, but now we've been given life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Verse 25 Most assuredly, truly, truly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. Now he's not talking about physical death yet, he will in a couple of verses here, but he's talking about the fact that we were born spiritually dead, and he has come to declare the word of God, and when you hear the voice of the Lord speaking, he will bring you life as you believe in the message of the gospel. Here are a couple of verses that point that out. Romans 5 8, but God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Christ died for us when we were hopeless, Christ died for us when we couldn't do anything for ourselves. Christ died for us and we forsook him, and yet he died for us. And when we believe in the message that he gives us, he makes us alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin. And Jesus is saying, I am here, I'm speaking words of life that bring the dead to life. The dead don't know they're dead until they're told that they're dead. Verse 26. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. There's so much in this, but let me just quickly say that there's one thing that the Jewish leaders recognized that God did on the Sabbath day, works that he did on the Sabbath day. This all comes from Jesus making, doing a miracle on the Sabbath day, and they coming against him for it. Well, God brings life on the Sabbath day, and he also brings judgment on the Sabbath day because he's still at work and doing these two things. And Jesus is equating the work of God with himself. Do you see the picture? God is declaring over and over again that he himself, or Jesus is declaring that he is God as well as the Father. And as the Father has life in himself, so he's granted the Son to have life in himself. In other words, you know, I was given life by my parents. If you plant a seed in the ground for a tree, that brings life to the tree that comes. But God has life within himself. Nothing gave him life. He is life. And Jesus is God. In fact, he is the creator of all life. And now, as he became part of his creation, the Father saw fit to allow him to continue to have that life. He wasn't given life, because he is life. And with that, he is given authority over mankind because he is the Son of Man. He was born of the Virgin Mary. His father was God. He was the life bringer. He is life. And so he has authority over this. Now, many times he talks about being the son of man. Have you noticed that? And you wonder what that means. In this case, it means, you know, he was born of mankind. And even though he was the son of God, he is the son of man. And as the son of man, he he represents mankind. He he understands mankind. He lived as man. He lived the perfect life and he died the sinner's death. But the point is he was one of us. He is one of us. And he knows us and he knows our plight. And so he's the perfect one to execute perfect judgment upon mankind. But this phrase Son of Man means a couple other things. First, here's a verse that you're I'm sure you're familiar with. David as a shepherd, out in the field, looking up at the heavens and just glorying in who God is. Psalm 8, beginning in verse 3. When I consider your heavens and the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor. David is looking at the position of mankind. You created Adam, and now we were all created, we were all born from Adam and Eve. So we're the Son of Man. And you made us, mankind, a little lower than the angels, and yet we will rule over the angels someday. So again, that's that's the first look at what the son of man is, the definition of it. As opposed to, you know, an angel. We are created. We are men, we're lower than the angels, but we'll be ruling over the angels. But there's another psalm that kind of points it a little more toward how Jesus is using it. In Psalm 80, starting at verse 17, it says, Let the hand, let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, upon the Son of Man whom you made strong for yourself. Then we will not turn back from you. Revive us, and we will call upon your name. Restore us, O Lord of hosts, O Lord God of hosts, cause your face to shine, and we shall be saved. There's this idea that there's one that his hand will be upon that will cause Israel to return to God, because in Psalm 80 they realize that they've drifted from the Lord, which is a great prayer for us to pray for our nation today. But we need that man of his right hand to come and bring strength so that we will turn back to him. But something even more blatant, and this is what I believe Jesus is referring to over and over again when he calls himself the Son of Man. Daniel chapter 7, Daniel has a vision, and beginning at verse 13, it goes something like this. I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, somebody that looked like a man, coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the ancient of days, and they brought him nearer before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. Who does that sound like? That sounds like Jesus. But that sounds like Jesus in the future, still to come. Jesus is coming, he's going to be setting up a kingdom on the throne of David, an everlasting kingdom. And that kingdom is still to come. But if they were familiar with the scriptures, they would know exactly what he was talking about because they're looking for that Messiah to come. And here he is, and he's declaring himself, but they're rejecting him. So over and over again, he refers to himself as the Son of Man. Here's a clue. I'm referring to Daniel chapter 7. I am the Son of Man. And yet I am not come to set up my kingdom yet. At least not physically, at least not fully. I'm setting up my kingdom in the hearts of people, in the hearts of believers, because I'm coming to pay the sin debt for all mankind, that whoever would believe would not perish, but have everlasting life. So he's he in these things he's declaring that he indeed is God. He indeed is the Messiah. He indeed is the Son of Man who is to come to set up his everlasting kingdom. Well, back to our study in verse 28. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. First he was talking about the spiritually dead, and now he's talking about the physically dead, which are comprised of people who were both spiritually alive and spiritually dead. He's talking about two resurrections. And I want to share something with you here. This is from a book called Dispensational Truth by a fellow named Clarence Larkin, who made this at the turn of the century. And he's just a book full of these kinds of charts that kind of give you an idea how things work. And uh big chart, isn't it? So we're in the age of the church. This was after uh the Lord died and rose again and ascended into heaven, and then Pentecost came. And when Pentecost came, that was the beginning of the church age, the church of the gospel, when we start proclaiming the truth of who Jesus is. And that truth applies to all of creation from Genesis forward, because by faith you have been saved. And there's a resurrection, a first resurrection, and a second resurrection at the end of this chart. The first resurrection is made up of folks that are translated or raptured. Those that are alive at the time of Christ's return will be changed and given new bodies, a resurrected body. But if you read 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, you realize that uh we don't go first, but those that have died in Christ would go first, and we would go with them uh right afterwards. I mean, it'll be like a twinkling of eye, but those who have died in Christ will be raised to life first. And we all meet Jesus in the air. And then the tribulation starts. And then during the tribulation, people actually come to faith in Jesus Christ, but their life will be required of them. And those tribulation saints, those that are martyred, will be resurrected at the end and join us in uh judging the world for a thousand years. We will rule and reign. This group that is from the first resurrection will rule and reign with the Lord for a thousand years. But while we are ruling and reigning with the Lord for a thousand years, those who are still dead without Christ remain in the grave until the end of the resurrection, when the second and end of the millennium, and there the second resurrection will happen. And what is called the great white throne judgment will happen. And that's when everybody who did not trust in the Lord would be judged for the works that they did, found unholy, unworthy, full of sin, and end up in the lake of fire for eternity. So that implies, you know, there's eternity in your bodies forever. You will have an eternal body. It will either have eternal life with the Lord, because the Lord is life, or it will have eternal death in the lake of fire, where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth forever and ever, because you've rejected the life. It's based on these verses from Revelation. Let me go, since they were hard to read on that, let's go through it here. Revelation chapter 20, beginning at verse 4, it said, and I saw thrones, and I and they that sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Those were part of the first part of the first resurrection. Those who were raptured that were still alive, and those that were brought out of the grave. We rule and reign with the Lord. Then I saw souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on the foreheads of or their hands. Those that were martyred during the time of the tribulation. It would be much easier just to submit to the Antichrist, to worship the beast, just that way you could take care of your family, you can have food to eat, you can you could survive. But you have to deny Christ. And they found real faith in Christ during that time, and and there was no way that they were going to give that up. Not for a few years of being taken care of. Instead, they'd rather give up their lives, suffer, and die for Christ's sake. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Those that came from out of the tribulation and those that came before, all of us together rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him for a thousand years. Let me see if I can get this uh this statement right. If you're born once, you're gonna die twice. But if you're born twice, you're gonna die once. You don't want to be part of the second resurrection. The second resurrection is the resurrection of the dead, the dead in sin, the dead without Christ, who will be judged Christless, and who will suffer condemnation for ever and ever. Verse 11, it says, I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, and from the face of the earth, and whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which was the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books, and the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each according to his works, because our works are far from the righteousness of God, the holy requirement of God. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, and anyone not found in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. How do you get into the book of life? You accept the one who is the life. I'm the way, the truth, the life, who is the word. If you are found in Jesus, you are in the book of life. Do you know anybody who is not in the book of life today? Pray for them. Share with them. Shine the light of Jesus, reveal the word to them. Because they don't want to be part of the second death. Back to our study. Verse 30. He continues on and like a good rabbi, brings up lots of things to consider. I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own, but the will of the Father who sent me. You know, I remember in the garden when he is praying, he says, Not my will, Lord, but yours be done. Because as a man, he he certainly did not want to go through this crucifixion that was ahead of him. But as the God man, as the man that's surrendered to the will of the Father, he says, But your will is better. Your will is good. And he brings up the fact that you know he can do nothing of himself. As a man, he emptied himself, and yet he's filled with the Holy Spirit, and he does the will of the Father. He's empowered by God just like we can be. When we realize the works of our flesh can accomplish nothing, he without God can do nothing. But of course, how can he be without God? Because he is God, and that's where my gears start getting stuck. But the fact is he identified with us. And he realized the things that I do, he said, I do because of the Father, his will, the one who sent me. And if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. Now this that the way that's written, it sounds a little odd. But according to the law, if you're going to, you know, be a witness in a crime, you need two or three witnesses in order to collaborate what happened. If it's just one person giving their opinion versus the other person giving their opinion of how they saw it, you might have a conflict of an idea and it doesn't work. So it's not that he's saying that his witness is not true because he is the truth. And what he's saying is is right. But if it brought, if he if it was according to a court of law, he can't do this himself based on himself, right? So he needs other witnesses to bear witness to who he is. There is another who bears witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. Of course, he's talking about the Father. The Father bears witness of him, and he knows that the witness is true.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

That's Pastor Carl of the Mountain Cross on Come On Up. We're currently going through the book of John. We're so glad you've been with us, and we know there's so much to get out of this gospel book. One of the most powerful moments is in a well-known passage in John chapter 3. Jesus is meeting with Nicodemus and explaining what it means to be born again, not physically, but spiritually. As you might have memorized, Jesus speaks this to Nicodemus, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. What a promise from God! It sounds so easy, right? But sometimes the pressures of life can push you further away from wanting a relationship with God. Let me tell you, the most important decision you'll ever make is being in right relationship with God. He wants you with him for eternity. So don't be waiting around for the right moment. The best time to choose Jesus is now. If you'd like to learn more about what all of this means, head over to themountaincross.com and click on How to Know God. The Mountain Cross is a group of believers in Jesus who seek to grow in faith by simply teaching the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter. We meet on Sundays at 10 a.m. at the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville. We look forward to worshiping with you. Well, that's all for today, but come on up to the mountain with us again as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come on Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.