Tuesday, December 31, 2013

As the Light, Jesus Christ reveals our need for grace and truth and points us to the forgiveness and life with God we can have through Him...


During the weeks leading up to Christmas, we spent our time as a church looking at an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John. Today, I would like for us to look at an event that occurred during Jesus life here on earth that is recorded for us in the gospel of John. And it is in this event from history that we will see all of the timeless truths that we have discovered during this series play out in a powerful way. So let’s look at this event from history together, beginning in John 8:1:

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.

John brings us into this event in history from Jesus life by explaining that early one morning, Jesus entered into the Temple in Jerusalem. Now at this point in history, the Temple was the only church. So to worship God, every person would have to make the trip to Jerusalem. John then tells us that as Jesus entered into the Temple, He was followed by a large crowd of people. Upon seeing the all people follow Him into the Temple, Jesus responded to their presence by sitting down and teaching them.

However, Jesus was quickly joined in the Temple by the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees were two different groups of Jewish people who were the self-righteous religious leaders of the day. These self righteous people were opposed to Jesus and were far from God. The previous evening, Jesus had a heated confrontation with these religious leaders who believed that Jesus had violated some of their religious rules.

And the scribes and Pharisees were not alone. John tells us that as Jesus was sitting in the center of the court, these self righteous religious leaders brought before Jesus a woman caught in adultery. These religious leaders then confronted Jesus with this woman and posed a question: "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.”

Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” Now, to fully understand the question that these religious leaders were posing to Jesus, we first need to understand a few things. The first thing that we need to understand is what this woman was accused of. This woman was accused of adultery, which in this case involved having sex with a man in addition to her husband.  

The second thing that we need to understand involves the Law. When John refers to the Law here, he is referring to the first five books that are recorded for us in our Bibles today.  These first five books contain a list of commands that reveal God’s nature and character and the nature and character that the Jewish people needed to possess and display in order to experience a right relationship with God. And in Leviticus 20:10, we read what the Law says when it comes to adultery:

'If there is a man who commits adultery with another man's wife, one who commits adultery with his friend's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death”

Now the question that these Jewish religious leaders posed, if communicated in the language that we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “The Bible says we should put this woman to death for committing adultery, but what do you say we should do?” John then gives us a glimpse into the motivation behind the question by explaining that these self righteous religious leaders were attempting to trap Jesus. You see, if Jesus said that they should stone the woman, then Jesus would offend those who were opposed to the death penalty and were driven by grace. For those people, they would be offended because Jesus was not giving any grace. However, if Jesus said that she should not be stoned, then He would offend the legalists of the day, who were driven by truth. For those people, they would be offended because Jesus was compromising the truth.

So, the self righteous religious people thought that they had placed Jesus in a no win situation. Now here is a question: has anything changed? Do we not often find ourselves face to face with the same question? Do we not find ourselves wrestling with the same tension between the legalism of religious performance based on a list of rules that is driven by truth and the license of living however we want to live because God is a God of grace and He will just forgive us anyway?

How often can we find ourselves surrounded by people who are either religious legalists or irreligious license liver’s that are lobbing bombs of criticism at one another? And that is exactly where Jesus found Himself.

Now place yourself in this story. Imagine that you are in church and, all of a sudden, the doors to the sanctuary suddenly burst open and a group of men were dragging a naked woman into the sanctuary down the aisle. This group of men then dropped this naked woman at Jesus feet and then said “Hey Jesus we caught this woman in the middle of having sex with a man who is not her husband. The Bible says that we need to pass judgment on her and punish her. But what do you think we should do?”

What would you be thinking? What would you be feeling? What would your answer be? Would you be on the side of legalistically punishing her? Or would you be on the side of simply extending grace and letting her go on her way? How would you respond? John reveals for us how Jesus responded in verse 7:

 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

As the crowds who had gathered to hear Jesus teach looked on, Jesus responded to the self righteous religious leaders question by simply stooping down and writing on the ground. Now a natural question that arises here is “well Dave, what was he writing on the ground?” While we could all try to guess what Jesus was writing on the ground, John does not tell us. You see, the issue was not what Jesus was writing on the ground; the issue was the Jesus was ignoring their question.

These self righteous religious leaders, however, were not going to allow Jesus to ignore or sidestep their question. These self righteous religious leaders kept on asking Jesus the same question over and over again. “Well Jesus what should we do? What is your answer?” After being badgered by these self righteous religious people, Jesus stood up, looked them in the eye, and made a powerful statement: "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Jesus basically says “Everyone who is perfect, just line up right here and you can go ahead and pass judgment on her by killing her”.

Can you imagine what that must have looked like? Can you imagine a group of self righteous religious people, stones in hand, standing in the middle of church ready to throw them at this naked woman who had been exposed in front of the entire church for the selfish and rebellious person that she was? Can you imagine what they were thinking? Can you imagine this naked and exposed woman at the feet of Jesus?  Can you imagine what she was thinking? Can you imagine what the crowd was thinking as they watched this go on? Who was going to throw the first stone?

 If you were to place yourself in this story, who would you be? Would you be the self righteous religious person? Would you be the woman? Would you be the licentious person saying “let her live however she wants, God, doesn’t care?” We see John provide the answer in verse 9: 

  When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.

John tells us that as Jesus returned to the position of stooping down and writing on the ground, one by one, beginning with the oldest, the self righteous religious leaders left the church service without throwing a single stone. You see, the self righteous religious leaders recognized the reality that they were not perfect. And because they were not perfect, because they themselves recognized that there had been times in their lives where they had selfishly rebelled against God, they were not in a position where they could get in line to pass judgment on the woman by killing her. And the older that they were, the quicker they left, because the older they were, the quicker they were able to recognize that they were not perfect, because their list of selfishness and rebellion was longer.

John tells us that all that were left in the center of the sanctuary was Jesus and this naked woman that had been caught in adultery. Jesus was still there because Jesus was perfect. Jesus was there because He had no sin. However, the woman was there because she had sinned. And this woman was now left before the one person who could pass judgment upon her by taking her life. This woman was left naked and exposed as the selfish and rebellious person who deserved death because of what she had done. John then gives us a glimpse into Jesus response to this woman in verse 10:

Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord."

Jesus basically says to the woman “Hey, where did all the self righteous religious people go who wanted to pass judgment upon you and execute you? Isn’t there anyone left here besides Me who could throw a stone of judgment at you?” Notice the woman’s response: “No one, Lord”. In other words, the woman recognized that it was just her and Jesus. Jesus would be the One that she would answer to for her act of selfishness and rebellion that had left her naked and exposed in front of the entire church. We see Jesus response to this woman in the second half of verse 11:

And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."

Jesus looks this woman in the eye and simply says “I do not pass judgment upon you to kill you either. From now on, let’s stop the selfishness and rebellion”. Notice what Jesus does not say here. Notice that Jesus does not say “You are guilty and you are a lost cause. Just get away from Me. You don’t belong anywhere near Me because you do not measure up to Me”. Jesus does not say that. Notice what else Jesus does not say. Jesus does not say “Hey that’s o.k. just go on your way and live however you want to because I will just forgive you anyway”.  Jesus does not say that.

 Instead, Jesus says. “I forgive you for that, now stop doing that. I love you where you are at, and because I love you, I’m calling you to live better than that.” You see, Jesus responded the way that He did because, as we discovered last week, Jesus is full of grace and truth. “I do not condemn you”, grace. “Go and sin no more”, truth.  I forgive you for that, Grace. Stop doing that, truth. I love you where you are at, grace. And because I love you, I’m calling you to live better than that, truth. Jesus loved this woman where she was at, and Jesus loved the woman enough to not allow here to remain where she was at. Jesus then turns His attention from this woman and towards the crowds that He had been teaching and makes a powerful statement that reveals for us a timeless truth when it comes to Jesus as the Light in verse 12:

  Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."

Jesus resumes teaching the crowds that had come to listen to Him by stating I am the Light of the world. As we have discovered during this series, Jesus, in very being, is life and light. There is a Creator who is light and there is creation that was covered in darkness as a result of the selfishness and rebellion of man. John is revealing for us the reality that Jesus, in His very being and nature, is life and light that helps us see that there is a Creator who is light and life and there is creation that was covered in darkness. Jesus is explaining that, as the Light of the world, that He came to humanity in order to point people to God. And for the person who follows Jesus, that person will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life.

Now when Jesus uses the phrase follow Me, this phrase means to place Jesus as large and in charge of your life and strive to follow His message and teachings. Jesus point here is that for the person who places Him as large and in charge of their life, that person no longer live their lives in the darkness that is driven by our selfishness and rebellion. Instead, the person who places Jesus as large and in charge of their life will experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for as a result of Jesus being the source of life and a light for all of humanity.

And it is here that we see revealed for us a timeless truth when it comes to Jesus as the Light. And that timeless truth is this: As the Light, Jesus Christ reveals our need for grace and truth and points us to the forgiveness and life with God we can have through Him. As the Light, Jesus Christ reveals for us the reality that all humanity is in desperate need of God’s grace in our lives. All of humanity is in desperate need of God’s transformational activity in our lives.

And as the Light, Jesus Christ reveals for us the reality that all humanity is in desperate need of God’s truth in our lives. All humanity is in desperate need of truth in our lives. The truth of who God is, the truth of who we are apart from God, the truth of how we can experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for. And as the Light, Jesus Christ points us to the forgiveness and the relationship with God that we can have through Him.

You see, that is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is about an event that occurred in history. Christmas is about an event in history where God revealed our need for grace and truth in our lives by sending His Son Jesus to become a man and enter into humanity. Christmas is about God demonstrating His transformational intervention and activity in the world through His Son Jesus, who says “I forgive you for that and I love you where you are at.

And Christmas is about God demonstrating His truth in the world through His Son Jesus, who says “because I love you, I’m calling you to stop doing that and to live better than that.” And Christmas is about an event in history that points us to the opportunity that we have to experience forgiveness and life with God through Jesus. The forgiveness and life that does not come as a result of living a life of religious performance for God that is based on the belief that we need to legalistically keep  a list of rules for God. The forgiveness and life that does not come as a result of living a life of license that is based on a belief that because God is a God of grace and He will just forgive me anyway.

 Instead, this forgiveness and life comes as a result of responding to God’s transformational activity in the world through Jesus life death and resurrection by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. 

So here is a question to consider? How are you responding to your need for grace and truth? How are you responding to God sending His Son into humanity in order to point you to the forgiveness and life with God that you can have through Jesus?

Friday, December 27, 2013

As the Light, Jesus Christ entered into humanity in order to extend favor and explain God to humanity...


During the weeks leading up to Christmas at the church where I serve we are spending our time together in a sermon series entitled light. During this series, we are looking at an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John. This week, I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week. And as we jump back into the opening section of the gospel of John, we will see John continue unpack the reason why Jesus entered into humanity as the Light. Let’s look at it together beginning in John 1:14:

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

As we jump back into this section of the opening of this letter, there are several questions that we need to ask and answer in order to fully understand what John is communicating here. First, what does John mean when he states that the word became flesh? Simply put, what John is stating here is that Jesus took on flesh and entered into humanity to live among us and experience life on earth. Jesus did not stop being God. Jesus, in addition to being God, took on humanity. Now the big 50 cent theological word that is used to refer to this event is the word incarnation.

As we have already discovered in this series, as the Word, Jesus Christ is God’s ultimate disclosure of Himself. Jesus Christ, as the second member of the Trinity, is the eternal Divine Being who has always existed in a close, personal relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. As the Word, Jesus Christ is the hands of creation through whom all creation came into existence.

And as the Word, Jesus Christ is the source of life and a light for all of humanity. And as the Word, John is revealing for us the reality that Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man. Another way to describe what John is communicating here is to say that Jesus is “God in a bod”.

In addition, when John states that he saw, he is not talking simply about seeing. Instead, John is saying that he perceived something above and beyond what is merely seen with the eye. And what John perceived is Jesus glory. Now glory here refers to the splendor or radiance of something or someone. The splendor that John perceived was the radiance and glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The word begotten literally means to be the only one of its kind or class, to be unique. John is explaining to us that Jesus Christ is the unique, one of a kind, Son of God. There is only one Son of God, and His name is Jesus. And as the unique, one and only son of God, Jesus was full of grace and truth. In other words, John is stating that Jesus, as the Light, is complete and lacks nothing. The word grace refers to possessing divine favor, while the word truth refers to Jesus as being the embodiment of truth.

John’s point here is that Jesus is the unique, one and only Son of God, who completely possesses the Divine favor that we needed. But not only does Jesus completely possess the Divine favor that we so desperately need; Jesus is also the embodiment of truth. John then reminds us of something that we looked at a few weeks ago in verse 15:

John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'"

Here we see John remind us the role that John the Baptizer had when it came to Jesus as the Word and as the Light. As we talked about two weeks ago, John the Baptizer’s mission was to act as a witness who confirms or attests to the truth of Jesus being the Light on the basis of his personal knowledge and belief. You see a witness does more than confirm and establish truth. A witness makes a commitment to the truth. And John the Baptizer confirmed and established the truth that Jesus is God in a bod who is the Light and the Messiah by pointing to an earlier encounter with Jesus when he baptized Jesus.

John the Baptizer’s testimony, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded like this: “One day, I baptized Jesus and saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Him and Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then I remembered that God had told me that the one who the Holy Spirit descended upon and filled would be the one who was the Light and the Messiah who was God in a bod. I was there. I saw it happen with my own eyes. And I confirm to you and am committed to telling the truth that Jesus is far greater than I am because He existed before me as God.”

After reminding the readers of his letter of John the Baptizer’s testimony concerning Jesus, we see John reveal another reason why Jesus was greater and how Jesus revealed His splendor and radiance in verse 16:

For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

Now when John uses the word fullness here, this word literally means to bring to fullness or completion. John’s point here is that Jesus, as the Word and as the Light, is the One that brings to fullness and completion the reality that we all have received grace upon grace. But this morning, what does that mean? What does John mean when he states that we have received grace upon grace?

This phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means we have all received grace in place of grace. In other words, humanity throughout history had the opportunity to be the recipients of God’s Divine favor. And now, humanity, in the place of the Divine favor that had been previously offered, had the opportunity to be the recipients of God’s Divine favor in the most full and complete way that was possible.

Now a natural question that arises here is “Well Dave, how did God offered humanity His Divine favor and then replace His Divine favor with Divine favor? That does not seem to make sense to me? I mean, are you saying that God’s Divine favor changes? Are you saying that how we experience God’s Divine favor changed over history?” If those questions are running through your mind, I just want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking. And we see John answer those questions in verse 17:

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

Now when John refers to the Law here, he is referring to the first five books that are recorded for us in our Bibles today.  God gave the Jewish people the Law after they were delivered from slavery at the hands of the nation of Egypt by God through Moses. These first five books contain a list of commands that reveal God’s nature and character and the nature and character that the Jewish people needed to possess and display in order to experience a right relationship with God.

The problem, however, is that the Jewish people, and humanity throughout history, did not follow the commands of the Law. Instead, the Jewish people, and humanity throughout history, rebelled and rejected the Law in order to do things against the Law out of their selfishness and rebellion that hurt God and others.

And as a result of their selfishness and rebellion, the Jewish people, and humanity throughout history, did not possess God’s Divine favor in their lives. Instead, humanity was separated from God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion.

You see, God has been extending His grace and Divine favor to humanity throughout history. God extended grace to Adam and Eve by removing them from the Garden of Eden so that they could have an opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God. And God continued to extend grace to humanity throughout history.

However, unlike Abraham, who responded to God’s grace and favor in his life by placing his confident trust in God and the promises of God; unlike Joseph, who responded to God’s grace and favor in his life by placing his confident trust in God in spite of his circumstances, most of humanity rejected placing their confident trust in God. John explains that while the Law had been given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

In other words, in the place of the Divine favor that had been previously offered, through Jesus Christ coming to humanity as the Light, humanity had been given the opportunity to be the recipients of God’s Divine grace and favor in the fullest and most complete way possible. Jesus Christ is the fullness and completion of God’s Divine Favor to humanity and is the full and complete embodiment of truth that came to humanity.

But not only is Jesus Christ, as the Word and as the Light, the full and complete embodiment of God’s Divine Favor and Truth to humanity. John concludes the opening section of his letter by revealing for us another reason why Jesus entered into humanity as the Light in verse 18:

 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

When John states that no one has seen God at any time, he is not saying that no human being throughout history has ever seen God. After all, as we discovered in the promise series this summer, Abraham had an encounter with God. And in another letter that is recorded of us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Exodus, the leaders of the Jewish nation saw God and had dinner in the presence of God.

What John is communicating here is that no one has been able to perceive or fully wrap their minds around the nature and character of God throughout history. And because of this reality, God sent His unique, one and only Son Jesus Christ, who John states is in the bosom of the Father.

But what does it mean to be in the bosom of the Father? In the culture of the first century, this phrase was used to describe the closest association possible. A person who had such a close relationship with someone was referred to as “being in someone’s bosom”. This is where the phrase “bosom buddies” comes from. John’s point here is God sent His Son Jesus with whom He is in the most intimate fellowship possible to humanity.

John continues by revealing for us the reality that the reason that Jesus Christ, as the Light, came to earth was to explain God to us. Now the word explain here, in the language that this letter was originally written in literally means to set forth in greater detail. In other words Jesus Christ, as the Word and as the Light, reveals and explains who God is in His nature, His character, and His conduct.

By sending His unique, one of a kind Son, as the Word and as the Light, into humanity, we discover that God gave what was most like Him. God sent Jesus into humanity to explain Himself to humanity. So, when we wonder what God is like, all we have to do is to look at the life of Jesus. When we wonder how God feels about a certain issue, all we have to do is look at the life of Jesus and see how He responded or answered that issue.

And it is here that we see God reveal for us a timeless and powerful truth when it comes to Jesus as the light. And that timeless truth is this: As the Light, Jesus Christ entered into humanity in order to extend favor and explain God to humanity. As the Light Jesus Christ took on flesh and entered into humanity so that all humanity could have the opportunity to experience God’s favor in the fullest and most complete way possible. And as the Light Jesus Christ took on flesh and entered into humanity in order to explain God in the fullest and most complete way possible to all humanity.

You see, that is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is about an event that occurred in history. An event where God decided to reveal and explain Himself to humanity by sending His Son Jesus as God in a bod so that all humanity would have the opportunity to experience God’s grace and favor by responding to Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

So here is a question to consider: How are you responding to the grace and favor that God desires to extend to you through Jesus as the Light? How are you responding to sending His Son into humanity in order to reveal and explain Himself to humanity?

Friday, December 20, 2013

As the Light, Jesus Christ entered into humanity to make known His desire that we trust in Him in order to live in relationship with Him...


This week, we have been looking at a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John. Wednesday, John revealed for us the reality that the Jewish people, whom God had chosen to enter into a special relationship with, responded to Jesus appearance to make Himself known and to shine a light on who He was as God in a bod by rejecting Him instead of accepting Him. Jesus, as the Light, came home and was told by the very people that He desired to have a special relationship with “we don’t accept you, go away, we don’t want you here.”

And that is how humanity throughout history has responded to God. The world, the very creation that Jesus created and everything in the creation, is hostile to God and sets itself in opposition to God and His kingdom. The entire world, me, you, humanity throughout history refused to accept and live in the relationship with God and one another that we were created for. Instead, we rejected that relationship so that we can love ourselves and do things out of that selfishness and rebellion that hurts God and others. And it is this selfishness and rebellion that the Bible calls sin. And it is this sin that separates us from God.

Now a question that arises here is “well Dave if that is the case, if what you said is true, if all of humanity refuses to accept a relationship with God Jesus but rejects God, then why did Jesus even bother to come in the first place? And how does one receive Jesus anyways? What does that mean? Today, we see John provide the answers to those questions in John 1:12:

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

In these verses we see John unpack what he means when he uses the phrase receive Him. However, to fully be able to wrap our minds around the significance of what John is saying here, we first need to wrap our mind around some words. When John uses the word received here, this word means to recognize and acknowledge one’s authority.  You see, while those in the world who place themselves in opposition to God and the kingdom of God by refusing to acknowledge, accept and recognize Jesus as God in a bod, John makes it clear that there are those who responded to Jesus making Himself known by recognizing and acknowledging who He is.

John the explains, that for those who respond to Jesus making Himself known by recognizing and acknowledging who He is, that Jesus gave them the right to become children of God. But what does that mean? John’s point here is that Jesus provides the person who recognizes and acknowledges who He is as God in a bod the capability to experience a change in their nature that results in entry into a relationship with God as part of the family of God.

John then answers the question “how does one receive Jesus” with the statement “to those who believe in His name”. Now the word believe here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, is the same word that is also translated trust in our English Bible. This word literally means to entrust oneself with complete confidence to someone or something. So to receive Jesus, John states that we need to place our confident trust in Jesus name.

Now this does not mean that we use Jesus name like it is a magic formula that we tack on to an end of a prayer. To believe in his name is to have a confident trust that Jesus is who He claims to be and who the Bible claims Him to be. It is to place our confident trust in the reality that Jesus is rightfully and accurately represented for who He is, what He has done and what He has promised to do.

John’s point here is that when we respond to Jesus making Himself known to us by placing our confident trust in Him and recognizing and acknowledging who He is by accepting Him as being large and in charge of our lives, we become a part of the family of God. That is what John is referring to in verse 13 when he uses the phrase “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” The phrase were born refers to the process by which one becomes part of the family of God as a child of God.

In verse 13, we see John reveal three ways that one does not become a part of the family of God. First, John reveals that we do not become a part of the family of God by being born of blood. This phrase refers to one’s physical birth parents and family tree. In other words, we do not become a part of the family of God in relationship with God by being born into the right family. Just because your parents or grandparents are Christians does not mean that you are automatically a follower of Jesus. And being a part of the family of God has nothing to do with one’s nationality, or ones ethnic or cultural background.

Second, John reveals that we do not become a part of the family of God by the will of the flesh. Now, the will of the flesh refers to our sexual desires. John’s point is that we do not become children of God simply because our parents desired to have children and acted on that desire to have children. Our sexual desires that result in physical birth does not result in our spiritual birth as a child of God.

Third, John reveals that we do not become a part of the family of God by the will of man. The will of man refers to our desires as human beings. John’s point here is that we do not become children of God simply because there are people around us who desire us to. And it is not our desire to perform for God by keeping a list of rules for God that results in us becoming a part of the family of God.

Instead, John explains that we become a part of the family of God as a child of God because we are born of God.  John here is revealing for us the reality that becoming a part of the family of God as a child of God is solely the result of God’s transformational activity in our lives. It is only through God’s transformational activity in our lives that flows from His desire to bring us into an eternal relationship with Him that results in us becoming a child of God as a part of the family of God.

We experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for not as a result of our resume, our relatives, or our religious performance. Instead we experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for by responding to Jesus entrance into humanity as the Light in order to make known and shine a light on who He is as God in a bod by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

And it is here that we see John begin to provide us the timeless answer as to why Jesus entered into humanity as the Light. And that timeless answer is this: As the Light, Jesus Christ entered into humanity to make known His desire that we trust in Him in order to live in relationship with Him. Jesus Christ, as the Light, left Heaven and entered into humanity as a baby born to a teenage girl in a cave that first Christmas in order to make known and shine a light on the reality that He is the One who is the real and genuine source of life and light.

And Jesus Christ, as the Light, left Heaven and entered into humanity as a baby born to a teenage girl in a cave that first Christmas in order to make known and shine a light on the reality that we can experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for as a part of the family of God by responding to God’s transformational activity in our lives through Jesus by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

So here is the question to consider: How are you responding to Jesus, as the light? How are you responding to Jesus desire that you trust in Him in order to live in relationship with Him? Are you still responding to Jesus entry into humanity in order to make known and shine a light on who He is by refusing to acknowledge or recognize Him as God in a bod? Are you still responding to Jesus entry into humanity in order to make known and shine a light on who He is as God in a bod by refusing to accept Him as Lord and Leader, but reject Him?

Are you trying to rely on your resume, your relatives, or your religious performance for God as a means by which you can become a part of the family of God as a child of God? Or are you responding to Jesus entry into humanity in order to make known and shine a light on who He is as God in a bod by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader?

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Rejecting The Light...


This week we are looking at a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John. Yesterday, we saw John reveal for us the reality that Jesus, as the Light, came into the world. Jesus Christ, as the second member of the Trinity, as the eternal Divine Being who has always existed in a close, personal relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, did not remain distant and disinterested up in Heaven. Instead Jesus, as the Light, left Heaven and entered into humanity as a baby born to a teenage girl in a cave and spent His first night on earth in a feeding trough for animals.

Now the fancy church mumbo jumbo talk word for what John is describing here is the word incarnation. The word incarnation simply means to take on flesh. In other words, Jesus Christ is God in a bod. Jesus, as God, as the Light, entered into humanity and took on flesh without ceasing to be God. John then explained that Jesus, as the Light, entered into humanity in order to make Himself known to humanity. Jesus, as the Light, entered into humanity in order to shed light upon who He was to humanity. Today, we will see John reveal for us what happened when Jesus entered into humanity as the Light to make known and shine a light on who He is in John 1:10:

 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

Now to fully understand what John is communicating here, we first need to understand a couple of terms. The first term that we need to understand is the word world. Throughout the gospel of John, the word world is used in two specific ways. First, the word world is used to describe the universe that Jesus created. This is John’s point in the first half of verse 10. Jesus, as the Light, entered into the very creation that He created. As God, Jesus did not remain apart from His creation, but took on flesh and entered into the creation as God in a bod.

Second, and most often in John’s letter, the word world is used to refer to everything in the creation that is hostile to God and sets itself in opposition to God and His kingdom. This is John’s point in the second half of verse 10. John is stating that Jesus, as the Light, entered into the very creation that He created and everything in the creation that is hostile to God and sets itself in opposition to God and His kingdom did not know Him.

Now that leads us to the second term that we need to understand, which is the word know. The word know here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, means to recognize or acknowledge someone or something. So John is revealing for us the reality that while Jesus, as the Light, entered into the very creation that He created to make Himself known and to shine a light on who He was as God in a bod, everything in the creation that is hostile to God and sets itself in opposition to God and His kingdom did not acknowledge or recognize Him as God in a bod. John then reveals exactly how Jesus was neither acknowledged nor recognized for who He was as God in a bod in verse 11:

 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

Now if verse 11 was written in the language we use in our culture today, it would sound something like this: “He came home, and those who were His people did not accept Him”. Now a natural question that arises here is “Well Dave what do you mean that He came Home, I thought Heaven was His home? And who were His people anyways?”

In another letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament called the book of Colossians, we discover that everything was created by Jesus and for Jesus. In other words Jesus created everything that exists and everything that exists was created for Jesus. Jesus owns everything, including this planet.

However, when Jesus entered into this planet that He created and that is His own to make known and shine a light on who He was as God in a bod, those who were His own did not receive Him.  The “His own” that John is referring to here are the Jewish people, who God had chosen to be in special relationship with as His chosen people. With this statement John is revealing for us the reality that the Jewish people, whom God had chosen to enter into a special relationship with, responded to Jesus appearance to make Himself known and to shine a light on who He was as God in a bod by rejecting Him instead of accepting Him. Jesus, as the Light, came home and was told by the very people that He desired to have a special relationship with “we don’t accept you, go away, we don’t want you here.”

And that is how humanity throughout history has responded to God. The world, the very creation that Jesus created and everything in the creation, is hostile to God and sets itself in opposition to God and His kingdom. The entire world, me, you, humanity throughout history refused to accept and live in the relationship with God and one another that we were created for. Instead, we rejected that relationship so that we can love ourselves and do things out of that selfishness and rebellion that hurts God and others. And it is this selfishness and rebellion that the Bible calls sin. And it is this sin that separates us from God.

 Now another question that arises here is “well Dave if that is the case, if what you said is true, if all of humanity refuses to accept a relationship with God Jesus but rejects God, then why did Jesus even bother to come in the first place? And how does one receive Jesus anyways? What does that mean? Again if those questions are running through your mind, I want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking.

Friday, we see John provide the answers to those questions…

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

"The Light" is "God in a bod"...


During the weeks leading up to Christmas at the church where I serve, we are spending our time together in a sermon series entitled light. During this series, we are looking at an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John. This week I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week. And as we jump back into the opening section of the gospel of John, we will see John continue unpack this idea of Jesus as the Light.

After revealing for us who Jesus is as the eternal expression of God that is the source of life and light for humanity; After providing evidence from the life of John the Baptizer to back his claims regarding Jesus; John makes a shift from answering questions regarding who Jesus is as the Light to begin to answer questions regarding why Jesus entered into humanity as the Light. We see John make this shift beginning in John 1:9:

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John brings us into this section of the gospel of John by proclaiming not only who Jesus is as the Light, but what Jesus did as the Light. As we discovered two weeks ago, Jesus, who John described as the Word, is life and that life functions as a light that resides with the Divine. So as the Word, Jesus, in His very being and nature, is life and light that helps us see that there is a Creator who is light and life and there is creation that was covered in darkness. Thus, Jesus is the source of life and a light for all of humanity that points people to God.

Here, we see John further unpack that reality by stating that Jesus was the true light who came into the world. When John uses the word true here, this word literally refers to what is genuine, authentic, or real. In other words, John is saying that Jesus is the real deal; Jesus is the genuine article. And because Jesus is the real deal and the genuine article, He is the One who is the real and genuine source of life and light. 

While many people throughout history have chased after and pointed to various religious or philosophical systems as a means of explaining and experiencing life and a relationship with God, John’s point is that there is only one true and genuine source whereby humanity can experience life and a relationship with God. And that source is Jesus.

But not only is Jesus the one true and genuine source whereby humanity can experience life and a relationship with God. In addition, John explains that Jesus, as the Light, came into the world. Jesus Christ, as the second member of the Trinity, as the eternal Divine Being who has always existed in a close, personal relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, did not remain distant and disinterested up in Heaven.

Instead Jesus, as the Light, left Heaven and entered into humanity as a baby born to a teenage girl in a cave and spent His first night on earth in a feeding trough for animals. Now the fancy church mumbo jumbo talk word for what John is describing here is the word incarnation. The word incarnation simply means to take on flesh. In other words, Jesus Christ is God in a bod. Jesus, as God, as the Light, entered into humanity and took on flesh without ceasing to be God.

Now a natural question that arises here is “well Dave, why would Jesus do that? If Jesus was God up in Heaven, why would He leave Heaven and become a human being?” If you that question is running through your mind, I want to let you know that it is a great question to be asking. And fortunately for us, John begins to provide us the answer to that question when he states that Jesus, as the true Light, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

What is so interesting here is that the word enlighten, in the language that this letter was originally written in literally means to make known or to shed light upon. John’s point here is that Jesus, as the Light, entered into humanity in order to make Himself known to humanity. Jesus, as the Light, entered into humanity in order to shed light upon who He was to humanity.

Tomorrow, we will see John reveal what happened when Jesus entered into humanity as the Light to make known and shine a light on who He is as God in a bod…

Friday, December 13, 2013

As the Light, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise and plan for all humanity...


This week, we have been looking at the opening section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of John. Wednesday, we saw John give us a front row seat to a conversation that John the Baptizer had with a group of people that John referred to as the Jews. Throughout the gospel of John, John uses the phrase “the Jews” to refer to a group of Jewish people who were self-righteous religious people who were opposed to Jesus and who were far from God.

A delegation of these self righteous religious people had confronted John the baptizer over his practice of baptizing the Jewish people who were responding to his message. Today, we will see that one day after this confrontation, the One who would follow John the Baptizer, the One who was the Light, enters into the story in verse 29:

 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! "This is He on behalf of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.' "I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water." John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. "I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.' "I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God."

John tells us that as Jesus approached from the distance, John the Baptizer made a powerful proclamation: "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” In Jewish culture, a spotless lamb that was without blemish was required as a sacrificial offering to God. The spotless lamb was offered as a substitute to pay the penalty for acts of selfishness and rebellion that had been committed against God.

John the Baptizer is revealing for us the reality that Jesus, as the Light, was the sacrificial lamb that belonged to God and was provided by God to deal with the selfishness and rebellion of all humanity throughout all human history. Jesus, as the Light, was the sacrificial lamb without blemish that the prophet Isaiah predicted and proclaimed that the Messiah would be some 600 years earlier in Isaiah 53:7. John the Baptizer then continued his testimony to confirm and establish that Jesus was the Light by pointing to an earlier encounter with Jesus when he baptized Jesus.

John the Baptizer’s testimony, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded like this: “I did not know that Jesus was the Light as the Messiah, all I knew was that God had given me the mission to proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven was near and to baptize those who responded so that the Messiah would be revealed and exposed publicly as the Light. Then one day, I baptized Jesus and saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Him and Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then I remembered that God had told me that the one who the Holy Spirit descended upon and filled would be the one who was the Light and the Messiah. I was there. I saw it happen with my own eyes. I am a witness that confirms and establishes the truth that Jesus is God in a bod who is the Light and the Messiah and I am committed to that truth.”

Now you might be thinking to yourself “Well Dave that sounds great, but is there anyone else that can corroborate John the Baptizer’s testimony? Is there anywhere else where the event that John is testifying to is recorded and can serve as evidence to his claims? If that question is running through your mind, I want to let you know that it is a great question to be asking. In another account of Jesus life in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew, we see another of Jesus closest followers record for us the testimony of John when it came to John’s encounter and baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:13-16:

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

This morning, can you imagine what John must have been thinking and feeling? Here is a man that has been proclaiming, God is coming, the kingdom of Heaven is coming, and there right before his eyes is the promised one of God, the Light, the Messiah Jesus. And then the Light, the Messiah, who you have just been saying will provide a greater baptism that people will publicly proclaim and identify with than yours, asks you to baptize Him? John responds to his situation by stating “I have need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me”?

John recognized his need for identification with Jesus as the Light and responded by wanting to have Jesus baptize him. Yet Jesus replies to John’s request by saying “permit it at this time for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”. But what does that mean? And why would Jesus, God in a bod, without sin, without a need to change the trajectory of His life, want or need to be baptized?

You see, Jesus told John the Baptizer that He needed to be baptized not because Jesus had ever sinned; Jesus wanted to be baptized because He wanted to identify Himself with sinful humanity, even though He never sinned. When Jesus stated that He fulfilled all righteousness, what Jesus was saying was that He fulfilled all the requirements necessary to be our rescuer and deliverer from sin. And one of the ways that He did that was through this act of baptism. This act was Jesus way of identifying Himself with us so that He could allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful life so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

And we see God the Father’s response to Jesus desire to identify with us in verse 16. We see all three members of the Trinity present as the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus to fill Him with the Holy Spirit as God the Father states “this is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. And it is here, in the mission and the testimony of John the Baptizer, that we see God reveal for us a timeless and powerful truth timeless truth when it comes to Jesus as the light. And that timeless truth is this:  As the Light, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise and plan for all humanity.

You see, it was John the Baptizer’s baptism of Jesus in fulfillment of the mission that he had been given by God that provides us the proof that confirms and establishes that something happened in history. It was John the Baptizer’s baptism of Jesus in fulfillment of the mission that he had been given by God that provides us the proof that confirms and establishes that Jesus was God’s ultimate disclosure of Himself. It was John the Baptizer’s baptism of Jesus in fulfillment of the mission that he had been given by God that provides us the proof that confirms and establishes that Jesus Christ, as the second member of the Trinity, is the eternal Divine Being who has always existed in a close, personal relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

It was John the Baptizer’s baptism of Jesus in fulfillment of the mission that he had been given by God that provides us the proof that confirms and establishes that Jesus Christ is the source of life and a light for all of humanity. And, it was John the Baptizer’s baptism of Jesus in fulfillment of the mission that he had been given by God that provides us the proof that confirms and establishes that what happened in history some 2,000 years ago was the fulfillment of a promise and a plan that God had made to all humanity.

So here is the question to consider: how are you responding to the testimony that confirms and established that something happened in history that fulfills God’s promise to provide all humanity an opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that you were created for as a result of Jesus Christ, as the Light, prevailing over selfishness, sin, rebellion, and death?