I. THE IMPORTANCE OF JESUS

    A. The Jesus question: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13-16)

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

    B. The danger of false views of Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:1-4)

13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

    C. The need to defend the true Jesus (1 Peter 3:15-16)

II. THE REAL JESUS: BIBLICAL BASICS

   A. Jesus’ unique deity

        1. Jesus’ own words (Mark 2:1-10, 23-28; John 8:58)

        2. Apostolic authority (Colossians 2:8-9)

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority

   B. Jesus’ true humanity (John 1:14)

   C. Jesus as the only Savior and Lord

       1. Jesus’ words (John 14:1-6)

       2. Apostolic authority (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

    D. Jesus as the only basis for salvation by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Romans 5:8-10)

III. THE JESUS OF THE NEW SPIRITUALITY (NEW AGE)

      A. The New Age world view: pantheism (all is God) monism (all is one)

      B. The New Age view of Jesus (see 1 John 4:1-6)

           1. Enlightened master, guru, adept, yogi, swami

           2. Jesus is separate from the impersonal “Christ Consciousness”

           3. Jesus is not uniquely God in the flesh--one of many spiritual examples 
               (see Acts 4:12)

           4. Jesus’ crucifixion not redemptive (see Colossians 1:22)

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).

           5. Jesus’ resurrection is not literal (see 1 Corinthians 15)

           6. Jesus’ second coming is not personal and physical (see Acts 1:1-11)

           7. The Bible is not the final authority on Jesus: other sources replace it
               (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

               a. Other supposedly historical documents (Gnostic, etc.)
 
               b. Channeled material (A Course in Miracles)

               c. Near-death experiences (Betty Eadie, Embraced by the Light)

           8. Esoteric interpretation of Scripture: texts out of context as pretexts for 
               theological and spiritual error (see 2 Peter 3:15-16)

V. DEFENDING THE REAL JESUS TODAY

     A. Spiritual warfare and prayer (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:10-20)

     B. Communicating the real Jesus to those who are confused 
         (1 Corinthians 8:5-6)

We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

     C. Defending the reliability of the New Testament (Luke 1:1-4; 2 Peter 1:16) 

     D. Counting on the power of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4; 
          Ephesians 1:18-23)
       

VI. RESOURCES FOR DEFENDING THE BIBLICAL JESUS

Books: 

1.    Douglas Groothuis, Jesus in an Age of Controversy (Wipf and Stock, 2002), Confronting the New Age (InterVarsity, 1988), Deceived by the Light (Wipf