Message Notes

Decoding the Da Vinci Code, Part 1
September 12, 2004

 

A few claims in the book “The Da Vinci Code”

          *Jesus was revered as a human for the first 300 years of Christianity. In a close vote at the council of Nicea in 325 AD they decided to declare him divine. The emperor Constantine was mostly responsible for this. The reason they chose to declare Jesus divine was so they could secure their own power base. 

 

          *Jesus fell in love with Mary Magdalene, and they had kids together. Their descendants live in France to this day.

 

          * When Constantine declared Jesus was divine, he rounded up and burned all other books which disagreed with this view. He also killed or persecuted the people who chose to view Jesus as just a man. This is where we get our word for “heretic,” from a root word with the meaning of “chose.”

 

          * Almost 80 Gospels were written about Jesus. 4 were picked by Constantine in 325 AD to be included in the Bible. The rest were banned and burned if possible. Not all were burned though. Some were hidden to escape the fire. We have found these “hidden gospels.” They show us who the real Jesus was.

 

          * The Holy Grail is Mary Magdalene, her secret marriage to Jesus, and the documents that prove it. The power of that secret is enough to unravel the foundations of Christianity. The church has diligently looked for the Grail for centuries so they could suppress the truth. A secret society called “The Priory of Sion” was established in 1099 the keep the secret a secret until the right time to reveal it to the world. At any given time, 4 men on the earth know the location of the “Holy Grail.”

 

          * Leonardo Da Vinci was a Grand Master in the Priory of Sion. His works contains hundreds of clues about the real story of Jesus and the Holy Grail.

 

Who is Jesus, really?

 

1) The Old Testament prophesied that God would come to the earth as a man

Isaiah 9:6 (700 BC) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 

Daniel 7:13-14(500 BC) "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

 

Daniel 9:25 (500 BC) "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.'

 

**458 BC – Decree goes out (Ezra 7:11)
**Seven ‘sevens’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’ = 483 Years
**483 years after 458 BC is 25 AD! Jesus most likely began his ministry in the SUMMER of 26 AD! (It seems that since it is less than seven years the extra 6 months isn’t mentioned)

 

2) Jesus claimed to be God

Matthew 26:63-65 But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God."
⁶⁴"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.

 

3) The rest of the New Testament claims He is God

John 1:1, 14a In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

 

Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form…

 

4) Early Christians believed He was God from the beginning, not 325 AD. It was a belief that many died for.

Ignatius of Antioch, (Letter to the Ephesians 1, [110 AD]) "Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the Church at Ephesus in Asia . . .predestined from eternity for a glory that is lasting and unchanging, united and chosen through true suffering by the will of the Father in Jesus Christ our God"

Irenaeus, (Against Heresies 1:10:1, [189 AD]) "Nevertheless, what cannot be said of anyone else who ever lived, that he is himself in his own right God and Lord . . .may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth"

 

Clement of Alexandria, " (Exhortation to the Greeks 1:7:1, [190 AD]) "The Word, then, the Christ, is the cause both of our ancient beginning for he was in God—and of our well-being. And now this same Word has appeared as man. He alone is both God and man, and the source of all our good things

 

Tertullian, (The Soul 41:3, [210 AD]). "God alone is without sin. The only man who is without sin is Christ; for Christ is also God"

 

Origen, (The Fundamental Doctrines 1:0:4, [225 AD]). "Although he was God, he took flesh; and having been made man, he remained what he was: God"

 

5) The Bottom Line: He is God. What we do with that is our choice.

I Kings 18:21a,b  Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."

 

Acts 17:27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

 

Romans 3:23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

A prayer to begin a real relationship with God: Dear God, I want a real relationship with you. I realize that I have sinned against you and been my own boss.  I turn from my sin to you, and ask you to forgive me.  Jesus, I know that you died for me and rose again.  So I ask you into my life, as my leader. I accept the forgiveness that you freely give. Thank you for dying for me.  Help me now to live for you. Amen.

 

 

Next Week: What about the “Hidden Books,” the so-called “Gnostic Gospels?” How did we get our Bible? Can we trust the Bible?