Sermon Starters: Jesus as True Humanity

I am preaching this Sunday and also working on some sample chapters for a new book proposal. My sermon relates to a small portion of the sample chapter.

The sample chapter is titled "True Humanity" and is part of what I am calling a "biblical systematic theology" (rather than a systematic biblical theology). It is meant to be my version of Wayne Grudem's Biblical Doctrine, which comes at theology from a 5 point Calvinist point of view. Grudem thinks he is unfolding biblical doctrine, although I suspect what he does is largely proof text his own theology.

I will of course also be giving my theology and fly it very close to the surface of various biblical theologies. But an authentic biblical theology ends up constructing numerous theologies, plural: Paul's theology, Johannine theology, etc... Even in each of these we can probably speak of developments and variations. That is not what I am trying to do.

I will acknowledge that I am creating a systematic theology--the Bible itself does not. As such I will have to interact with the voices of the Christians of the ages, tradition, reason, experience, etc... But I intend to fly the plane low to the text. I am not an expert in these other areas. It will be heavy on Bible but broader than biblical theology.

Preface, preface, preface. The chapter is what would conventionally be called anthropology. Most theologies turn at this point to Adam and the image of God as the starting point. I intend to approach it the other way around, Christ as the key to true humanity and the image of God. Here's a first draft for the chapter outline:

7.1 Christ and Adam (the latter as a biblical foil for the former)
7.2 The Faith-full Christ (true humanity in relation to God the Father)
7.3 The Sinless Christ (true humanity in life)
7.4 The Governing Christ (true humanity in relation to the creation)
7.5 The Prophetic Christ (true humanity empowered by the Spirit)
7.5 Humanity in the Image of God

But this is not Sunday's sermon, whose outline is:

1. Introduction from 2 Corinthians 4: Paul's identification with Christ's sufferings, WWJD with a twist.

2. The empowered Christ (Acts 2, playing it by the human rules to where there is nothing Jesus does on earth that Christians cannot also do through the power of the Spirit)

3. The sinless Christ (Heb. 4, tempted yet without sin, so also 1 Cor. 10:13 we can be through the power of the Spirit)

4. The faith-full Christ (2 Cor. 4, Romans 3:22, Phil. 2 and friends), Christ was raised because of his faith and faithfulness to the point of death. So also we will be justified before God on the basis of our faith.