Was there an actual St. Nicholas? Was he a Christian? What did he do and believe? Is what he believed relevant to our today? How is the Church in the twenty-first century threatened by the same heresies as it was in the third and fourth centuries?

2. Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a
sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and
bear a Son, and shall call His name
Immanuel.

3. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just
man, and not wanting to make her a
public example, was minded to put her
away secretly. 20 But while he thought
about these things, behold, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for
that which is conceived in her is of the
Holy Spirit.

4. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you
shall call His name JESUS, for He will save
His people from their sins.” 22 So all this
was done that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the Lord through the
prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin
shall be with child, and bear a Son, and
they shall call His name Immanuel,”
which is translated, “God with us.”

7. Myra

8. Image from the St. Nicholas
Center
www.stnicholascenter.org
Cartoonist Thomas Nast drew
several depictions of Santa Claus
for Harper’s Weekly, 1881.

9. In 1822, Clement Clarke
Moore, an Episcopal
minister, wrote a long
Christmas poem for his
three daughters entitled
“An Account of a Visit
from St. Nicholas.”

10. “To the memory of St.
Nicholas. May the virtuous
habits and simple manners
of our Dutch ancestors be
not lost in the luxuries and
refinements of the present
time” —Dr. David Hosack,
New York Historical Society
Banquet, 1809
Sinter Klass

11. "Santa's catch the trolley to Bloomingdale’s”
1860

12. In 1809, Washington Irving
helped to popularize the
Sinter Klaas stories when he
referred to St. Nicholas as
the patron saint of New York
in his book, The History of
New York.

13. In the early 1890s, the Salvation Army needed
money to pay for the free Christmas meals they
provided to needy families. They began dressing
up unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and
sending them into the streets of New York to
solicit donations.

16. Myra

17. What did Saint Nicholas Teach?
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker
of heaven and earth and of all things visible and
invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten
Son of God, begotten of His Father before all
worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of
very God, begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father, by whom all things
were made; who for us men and for our
salvation…

18. What did Saint Nicholas Teach?
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
homoousios
“one substance”
with God, the Father
homoiousios
“of similar substance”
with God, the Father
Origin of the saying:
“there’s not one iota
of difference”

19. What did Saint Nicholas Teach?
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
“only-begotten Son”
μονογενής (monogenēs)
Christ is not God’s “one and only son.”
Galatians 3:26-27 “. . . in Christ Jesus you are all
sons of God, through faith. For as many of you
as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
Galatians 4:5 “we . . . receive the adoption of sons.”

20. What does the Old Testament Teach?
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
Genesis 1:1–3 In the beginning God ( ‫א‬ֱ@‫ה‬ִ‫י‬‫ם‬ –
ʾělō·hîm) created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was on the face of the deep. And
the Spirit ( ‫ר‬‫וּ‬‫ח‬ַ – rûaḥ) of God was hovering
over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said,
“Let there be light” ( ‫א‬‫וֹ‬‫ר‬ – ʾôr); and there was
light.

21. What does the Old Testament Teach?
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD
( ‫ְי‬‫ה‬‫ָ֥ו‬‫ה‬ – yhwh) our God ( ‫א‬ֱD‫ה‬ֵ֖‫י‬‫נ‬‫וּ‬ – ʾělō·hîm) the
LORD is one ( ‫א‬ֶ‫ח‬ָ‫ד‬ –ʾě·ḥāḏ)!
echad:
unified oneness
yachid:
numeric one
bǎḏ:
solitary one

22. 3 Primary Hebrew Names for God
Y _______ - God (Gen. 1:1)
The Almighty One
Y ________ - LORD (Gen. 2:4)
The Eternal, Covenant-Keeping One
Y _______ - Lord/Master (Gen. 15:2)
The Sovereign One
ELOHIM
ADONAI
JEHOVAH

23. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST

24. hay vav hay yod
“Behold the nail, behold the hand!”
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST

26. Exodus 3:14
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”
And He said, “Thus you shall say to the
children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to
you.’ ”

27. Hosea 12:5
That is, the LORD God of hosts. The LORD is
His memorable name.

28. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What does the Old Testament Teach?
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your seed
and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and
you shall bruise His heel.”
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give
you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and
bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

29. What does the New Testament Teach?
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
Christos or Messiah= anointed one
Prophet Priest King

30. Yeshua
Matthew 1:21-23
And she will bring forth a Son, and
you shall call His name JESUS, for He
will save His people from their sins.”
22 So all this was done that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by the
Lord through the prophet, saying: 23
“Behold, the virgin shall be with
child, and bear a Son, and they shall
call His name Immanuel,” which is
translated, “God with us.”
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What does the New Testament Teach?

31. John 4:26
Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What does the New Testament Teach?

32. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What does the New Testament Teach?
But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
John 6:20

33. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What does the New Testament Teach?
Therefore I said to you that you will die in your
sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you
will die in your sins.”
John 8:24

34. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What does the New Testament Teach?
Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up
the Son of Man, then you will know that I am
He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My
Father taught Me, I speak these things.
John 8:28

35. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What does the New Testament Teach?

36. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What does the New Testament Teach?
Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does
come to pass, you may believe that I am He.
John 13:19

37. John 18:5
They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus
said to them, “I am He.”

38. John 18:6
Now when He said to
them, “I am He,”
they drew back and
fell to the ground.
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What does the New Testament Teach?

39. John 18:7-8
Then He asked them again, “Whom are you
seeking?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
8Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He.”
What does the New Testament Teach?
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST

40. True or False
What do you Believe about Jesus?
THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST

41. His Claims were ______
(Two Alternatives)
He _____ His Claims were
FALSE
He was a ___
He was a ________
He was a _____
He was a ____
He ___________ His Claims
were FALSE
He was _______
He was ______________
FALSE
Knew Did Not Know
For He died for His lie
Liar
Hypocrite
Demon
Fool
a Lunatic
Sincerely Deluded

42. His Claims were ______
(Two Alternatives)
You can
REJECT
JESUS CHRIST
You can
ACCEPT
JESUS CHRIST

43. “I am trying to prevent anyone from
saying the really foolish things 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 thing we must
not say. A man who was merely a man
and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a
great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic –
on a level with the 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.”

44. “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 up with any
patronizing nonsense about His being a
great human teacher. He has not left that
open to us. He did not intend to.”
C. S. Lewis

45. Third study of the state of American theology
released by Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research.
Jeremy Weber – October 16, 2018

46. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What do you Believe about Jesus?
When it comes to Americans with “evangelical
beliefs”, the survey found that a majority say:
Ø Most people are basically good (52%)
Ø God accepts the worship of all religions (51%)
Ø Jesus was the first and greatest being created
by God the Father (78%)

47. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What do you Believe about Jesus?
“Strangely, while most evangelicals strongly
believe in justification by faith alone, they are
confused about the person of Jesus Christ. On
one hand, virtually all evangelicals express
support for Trinitarian doctrine. Yet at the same
time, most agree that Jesus is the first and
greatest being created by God, which was a
view espoused by the ancient heretic Arius.”

48. THE NATURE OF GOD & CHRIST
What do you Believe about Jesus?
“These results show the pressing need for
Christians to be taught Christology, especially as
the outcome has gotten worse since 2016.
There is a general lack of teaching today on the
person of Christ, a doctrine for which the early
church fought so hard.”

49. 941-729-6600
941-981-5387
http://faithbiblechurchefc.com
http://TRUTHtransforms.com
sanctitas@aol.com