THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Gospel according to Luke
Message One—The Man-Savior’s Highest Standard of Morality
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:31-32, 35, 68-69, 75, 78-79; 2:40, 52
I. We need to understand clearly what is meant by the highest standard of morality: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
A. The highest standard of morality is the standard of life required by God—a life in which the divine attributes are expressed in the human virtues—Matt. 5:48. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
B. The highest standard of morality is the living of the One—the Lord Jesus Christ as the Man-Savior—whose life was a composition of God with the divine attributes and man with the human virtues—Luke 1:35. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
C. A living where the human life is filled with the divine life and the human virtues are strengthened and enriched by the divine attributes is what we call the highest standard of morality—6:35; 7:36-50: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. God is expressed in the living that is according to the highest standard of morality—5:12-16. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. If we understand this matter, we will understand the basic and crucial principle followed by Luke in writing his Gospel—8:39. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
II. In the Gospel of Luke we see the kind of man that God intended to have in Genesis 1 and 2—Luke 8:39; Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7, 9: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
A. God’s intention was to have a God-man—Luke 1:68-69, 78-79: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. The man in Genesis 1 was merely a God-created man, not yet a God-man—vv. 26-27. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. God’s intention was that the man created by Him would receive Him, as signified by the tree of life, and thereby become a God-man—2:7, 9. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
B. One day God Himself became a man named Jesus, conceived of the divine essence and born of the human essence—Matt. 1:20-21; Luke 1:31-32: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. The Lord Jesus, the God-man, is a composition of the divine essence with all the divine attributes and the human essence with all the human virtues— vv. 35, 75; 2:40, 52. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. When He was on earth, the Man-Savior lived a life that was the mingling of the divine attributes and the human virtues; this is the highest standard of morality—vv. 40, 52. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
III. The subject of the Gospel of Luke is the Man-Savior and His salvation in the highest standard of morality— 1:31-32, 35, 68-69, 78-79: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
A. The Gospel of Luke reveals that in the Man-Savior we have the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality—v. 35. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
B. The record in the Gospel of Luke has a particular characteristic—to reveal in the Man-Savior the mingling of the divine attributes with the human virtues to produce the highest standard of morality for the New Testament jubilee—1:31-32, 35, 42, 68-69, 75, 78-79; 4:16-19. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
IV. The Gospel of Luke portrays the Lord Jesus as a God-man, the Man-Savior, with the highest standard of morality—9:51-56; 13:10-17; 19:1-10: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
A. In the Gospel of Luke three categories of things reveal that the Lord Jesus, the Man-Savior, lived in the highest standard of morality, with the human virtues strengthened and enriched by the divine attributes: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. Gospel messages—4:16-21; 7:41-43; 12:14-21; 13:2-5. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. Gospel parables—10:30-37; 14:16-24; 15:3-32; 18:9-14. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
3. Gospel cases—7:36-50; 13:10-17; 16:19-31; 19:1-10; 23:39-43. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
B. In 22:47—23:25 the Lord Jesus is portrayed as the true God and a real man: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. The God-man was arrested, mocked, blasphemed, despised, and judged, but as He passed through all this, He is fully portrayed as having the highest standard of morality, as possessing the human virtues with the divine attributes and with the all-surpassing divine splendor. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. As the true God and a real and proper man, He was fully qualified to be the Substitute for the sinners for whom He intended to die—23:34, 43. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
V. The Lord’s teaching in 6:17-49 gives us a clear view of the highest standard of morality: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
A. The Man-Savior has the kind of life described in verses 17 through 49. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
B. Actually, Christ Himself is the highest standard of morality, for He is the man created by God in Genesis 1:26 plus the tree of life mentioned in Genesis 2:9. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
C. The highest standard of morality is now a person living in us and making it possible for us to live Christ—Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:20-21a. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
D. The Man-Savior’s teaching concerning the highest standard of morality is based on the divine life with its expression, the divine word—Luke 6:35, 47-48: (2008 ST, msg. 2)
1. The living that is according to the highest standard of morality issues from the divine life with which we have been born of the Most High—v. 35. (2008 ST, msg. 2)
2. The Lord’s word in verses 43 and 44 reveals life as the source and living as the issue; His disciples are the good trees with the divine life, and out from this life issues a living that is the expression of God. (2008 ST, msg. 2)