The Lamb of God

John 1:29-34

The Lamb of God

This idea of the Lamb of God is a strand that runs throughout the history of redemption. It can be traced all the way back to Genesis 22, when God called Abraham to go to Mount Moriah and offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham, in obedience to God, was prepared to do just that, but at the last possible moment, God provided a lamb as a sacrifice.  it was a substitutionary sacrifice, and that is the idea that underlies the atonement of Christ. Jesus acts as our substitute, and God pours out His wrath on account of our sin onto Him instead of us. God, then, provides a Lamb of His own and accepts the life of that substitute. We are going to talk about that in tonight’s message Lamb of God.

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ^[a]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ³¹ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”

John the Baptist is on the scene. He is the baptizing people, in a baptism of repentance. This has drawn a huge crowd including the religious and political leaders of their day. John warned them all to repent so that they might flee the judgment that is to come.

They ask him who he is? What authority is he speaking this? On what authority is he baptizing. He tells them I am no one. I am nothing more than a voice crying in the wilderness. I am not the Christ. When the Christ comes I’m not even worthy to lose his sandals. To untie the strap of a sandal (before foot washing) was duty of the lowest slave in the house. It’s not about me says John, it’s about the Christ and He is here and you don’t even know it!

They did not like this! Who likes being told they are wrong about something? Especially something you think you are the expert in? In my earlier years in the bank we had a network problem with one of our branch locations in NC. It had been going on for about 2 days and was affecting the branches ability to help customers. Being the person who first got the call I was in a meeting with all the different tech experts & managers.

In the meeting, everyone was blaming everyone else. It’s not my fault. It’s not my job. We should do this expensive thing, no we should do the expensive thing that’s my idea, etc. etc. In general, with any kind of problem solving, you want to look at the simplest solution first. It works more often than it doesn’t. So, I suggested an easy simple solution that no one had tried yet. It could be done in roughly an hour with very little cost associated with it.

I was shot down immediately. When I protested I was told “You are not properly qualified to assess such a situation.  Now in all fairness, I was 23 at the time and everyone else in that room out ranked me in terms of title, experience and education. I kept my mouth shut for the rest of the meeting. 6 Months and 10,000+ dollars later. They finally fixed that network problem! It was the $200 part I suggested they check in that meeting.

This is what is going on! The religious and political leadership has the title, the education and the experience. Yet, John has a relationship with God! That makes all the difference.

After telling them he’s here the next day he says LOOK AT HIM! I hit on this last week but we are a look at me society if there ever was one! We are much more concerned with being famous than being kind. We want our opinions known, validated, and conformed too by literally everyone else in our sphere of influence. We have zero interest in understanding others, particularly those we don’t agree with. This is a far cry from the Biblical command to Love our Neighbor and our Enemy.

Then he tells us exactly why we should look at Jesus and why it is so hard to look at Jesus.

 

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” What that means is that for the whole world there is only one who can take away sin. For the whole world, there’s only one who can take away sin, and that’s this One who will die as the sacrificial lamb God . John the reminds us of what he said the day before, “This is He on behalf of whom I said, after me comes a man who’s higher rank than I, for He existed before me.” Once again the emphasis is not himself but His Savior! , 

John MacArthur says of this verse John the Baptist is saying “Get your attention off me. He came after me in terms of beginning His ministry, but He existed before me. He was born after I was born, and yet He existed before me. Get your eyes on this eternal One. Get your eyes on this exalted One who is of higher rank than I am, the One you don’t know.” – John MacArthur

Takes Away is one word in the Hebrew. Airo. to take upon one's self and carry; to bear away what has been raised, carry off. I don’t know how many of saw the cinematic masterpiece that was Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy, but short version of the premise. Adam Sandler, overgrown man child, accidently adopts a elementary student. On the second day the boy wakes him up crying as the boy accidently peed in the bed. Sandler’s character goes no problem! Then puts newspaper all over the wet sheets. Later that morning while the boy is trying to fix some cereal he spills milk all over the floor! Once again Sandlers character covers it up with newspaper. While temporarily covering the problem in the long run it’s just making things worse and harder to deal with later.

That’s a lot of us, trying to temporarily cover up our sin instead of taking it to the one, and the only one who can bear it, who will take it away!

³² And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

John says hey guys. I know you don’t recognize him as Christ yet. I didn’t recognize him as Christ at first either and he’s my cousin! We grew up together! My mom told me the stories of both my and his miraculous birth but I just didn’t get it. Now I do! God opened my eyes, God will open your eyes as well if you let him.

This actually mirrors an aspect of my testimony and lot of yours as well. I grew up going to church pretty consistently until I was about 9-10 years old. I had two godly grandmothers that took me to church with them whenever I visited. I owned a Bible. I lived down the road from a pastor at one point. I could tell you the basic of the Easter & Christmas stories. It wasn’t that I didn’t know about Jesus, it was the fact that I didn’t know Jesus!

This is what John is warning everyone about. You know about the Messiah but you don’t know the Messiah! This is Him! This is the Son of God! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Who are you? I really wanna know!

John 1:19-28  Who are you?

Tonight’s message is entitled Who are you? Show of hands of how many of you just said to yourselves “I really wanna know?” Yeah because of the song! The Who released in 1978 one of their most popular songs “Who are you?” About the lead singers frustrations with life, executives and police officers. The non radio edit of the song has an extra verse in which the singer is struggling with his own identity.

Part of the reason the song still resonates today is most of us don’t know who we are. Who we really are. Let’s see how that plays out in tonight’s passage John 1:19-28

¹⁹ Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

We talked last time about how Jesus, the Logos, creator and sustainer of all things, took on human flesh. This not like us putting on a custome and pretending to be someone else for a while. This is the Hypostatic Union! The great mystery, that Jesus was both fully God and fully Human. Now we have John The Baptist on the scene.

We take for granted knowing who John the Baptist is. We’ve heard sermons and stories all about him. At the bare minimum most of us know he baptized people, and upset the religious and political leaders of his day by calling out their hypocrisy. We know from the previous verses in John 1 that he came not so much to baptize but as a witness! Who is he a witness for? The Logos!

At this point in his ministry he is drawing a crowd, and nothing draws a crowd like a crowd. Also, as a fun thing to do after service, ask David about that crowd we wandered into in Baltimore that time. He loves that story.

The Pharisees see that John is starting to draw a huge crowd. They don’t like being called out on their hypocrisy so the go up to John and go who are you?

Now typically when someone asks who are you?  Particularly in a situation such as this one, we respond with our name and title. Identification and authority. This is not how John choses to respond. He starts with who he isn’t. He is not the Christ. This seems odd but it only seems odd because it’s so convicting.

John told the Jewish leaders who he was not. He did not come to focus attention on himself, because he was not the Messiah. His job was to point to the Messiah. We have the same job, to point to the Messiah.

This is tough! We love ourselves. It’s why Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself! We all love ourselves. We’re very concerned about our own welfare, our own comfort, safety, interests, health, etc. We have a hope we want to realize it. We have a desire we want to fulfill it. We have a need we see to it that it gets met.

Comedian Jim Gaffigan does a bit entitled myself “I want to look at myself while I work on myself. I should make a recording of myself so I can listen to myself while I work on myself while I look at myself. Maybe I can read a self magazine and read about how I can improve myself. I’m going to go on Facebook and look at pictures of myself while I read what myself wrote about myself”  Here’s the thing beloved, if you think a lot about yourself or a little about yourself do you know what you are thinking about? Your self!

John knew what was up. It was not, nor was it ever, nor would it ever be, about him. It’s about Jesus.

²² Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” ²⁴ Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. ²⁵ And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. ²⁷ It is He who, coming after me, ^[i]is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” ²⁸ These things were done in ^[j]Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

They essentially say well if you aren’t the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor Prophet, then you are a nobody and nobodies don’t get to baptize people. John gives them an answer. He quotes Isaiah and says he is the voice crying in the wilderness.

 Isa 40:3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.”

The King is coming, and He is the king’s herald.

A herald had two main purposes in ancient times. He was to announce the arrival of the king. The other was for them and the servants sent along with them to prepare the road for the king. Think of this crew of servants as an ancient DOT.

The gospel of Matthew gives us some insight into John’s appearance on the scene. It says that he arrived preaching. The greek word is the same word you would use for to speak of the arrival of an official. John was the official herald announcing the arrival of a king and what was his message? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It was imminent, the next thing.

Then Matthew also references Isa 40:3 “Prepare the way of the Lord” He was calling the people to work on the path, to get it ready for the King to arrive. He wasn’t asking people to fix a dirt road, he was asking them to repentant of their sins, to prepare the road in their hearts that they king might enter. That was his purpose and that is the purpose of all true preaching.

His message in essence was repent, repent. Why was it important to repent prior to the arrival of the king? We can’t worship until we deal with our sin. You don’t feel like coming to church, studying the word, praying, fellowshipping? It’s time to check your heart.

That was also the point of baptism. John's baptism was a one-time, one-shot deal; and Jews never did that.  What? Being Baptists, we don’t think baptisms are unusual. They are events to be celebrated! The whole family comes out.

The reasons it stands out so much here, is that the Jews didn’t baptize. The only expection was when a gentile wanted to convert to Judaism. He would submit himself to the baptism that John is performing. The gentle was saying “I am an outsider seeking entrance into the people of God” yet for the Jews the thought process was I was born into the family of God. The kingdom of God was a birthright for them not a choice. They forgot who they were.

For all those times tomorrow, Friday and the next day that we forget who we are I give you this reminder from Ephesians 1.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He ^[a]made us accepted in the Beloved.

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and ^[b]prudence, ⁹ having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, ¹⁰ that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, ^[c]both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. ¹¹ In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, ¹² that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

¹³ In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who^[d] is the ^[e]guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

 

 

 

 

Hypostatic Union

John 1:14-18  


Hypostatic Union


Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one hypostasis, or individual existence. The most basic explanation for the hypostatic union is Jesus Christ being both God and man. 


The Chalcedonian Creed is a creed which was made during the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451. It stressed 4 key points concerning the Hypostatic Union. 

Without confusion: The Lord Jesus Christ is not what you get when you mix blue and yellow together and end up with green. He’s not a tertium quid (a third thing), the result of mixing a divine and human nature.

Without change: In assuming human flesh, the Logos did not cease to be what he had always been. The incarnation affected no substantial change in the divine Son.

Without division: The two natures of Christ do not represent a split in the divine Person. Jesus Christ is not half God and half man.

Without separation: The union of the human and divine in the person of Jesus Christ is a real, organic union, not simply a moral sympathy or relational partnership.

 ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ^[f]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

^16 [g]And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten ^[h]Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Last time we talked about the importance of recognizing God. How he came into his own and they did not recognize him. We also frequenly fail to recognize God when He doesn’t appear the way we think He should. Yet, we have to recognize that He is God and we are not. 


John refers to Jesus as the Word. The Greek here is Logos. This is really important for our understanding of these verses but the Gospel of John as a whole as well. The word Logos had specific meaning for first century philosophy and religion. Both the Greeks and the Jews used the word but it had different connotations for them. 


For the Greeks the word referred to the logical and rational force that governed the affairs of humanity and nature. For the Jews it referred to the one true God. The creator and sustainer of all things. John in referring to Jesus as Logos says to the Greeks, “Hey, this is the guy in charge of everything!” To the Jews He says “Hey, this is your God! The one true God! 


Col 1:16-17 “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or ^[e]principalities or ^[f]powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist”


John goes out of his way in the first 13 verses of John 1 to stress the deity of Christ. He says in the beginning was the Word! Then He says the Word was with God and was God. The fact that Jesus is on equal footing with the Father before creation established that they had a face to face, peer relationship which was an important concept for ancient people. They knew that Jesus wasn’t some lesser God (Of which Greek mythology is full of) but that the Son and the Father were one and the same. 


Then John writes something truly scandalous, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” What?!?!?! 


Most of us have a favorite celebrity. It could be an Athlete, Writer, Movie star, etc. Now imagine getting to meet them. Not at an official celebrity appearance but just bumping into them in your regular day to day. In line at the coffee shop or going down the same aisle in the grocery store. In 2004, in a Seattle Denny’s I ran into one of my favorite writers, Jerry Holkins, author of Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings and Attack of the Bacon Robots. My friends were to nervous to approach him but he hadn’t gotten his food yet so I took a moment to tell him I was a fan and I enjoyed his work. He thanked me, introduced me to his wife, chatted for a moment and then I went on my way. I still talk about this 3 minute window of my life 16 years later! 


Here John says “The Word, The Logos! The Creator and Sustainer of all things. Took on flesh, took to himself flesh, the physical nature of humans! Greek mythology was full of the gods taking on the appearance of human but they weren’t actually human, they were playing dress up. In Christ, God became fully human while remaining fully God. The fancy seminary word for this is Hypostatic Union. 


J.I. Packer has said, “Here are two mysteries for the price of one — the plurality of persons within the unity of God, and the union of Godhead and manhood in the person of Jesus. . . . Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation.”


Then John says and He dwelt among us! It’s one thing to take on being fully human, it’s quite another that he dwelt among us! There’s a whole section of the internet that is devoted to people meeting Shaquille O’Neal at Walmart and taking their photo with him. Here’s a man worth 3-400 million shopping at Walmart! He could literally buy the entire store if he wanted with what is essentially lose change to him. He could have whatever he want delivered pretty much whenever he wants but he choses to go and shop himself. 


John says that Jesus dwelt among us! He didn’t have to! He certainly didn’t have to be a poor carpenter 2000 years ago. He could have had comfort, luxury, wealth and privilege but he chose not to. Every single day, He chose to dwell among us. Imagine if you could snap your fingers and make things happen. *Snap* I’ve got an 8 figure bank account. *Snap* All my loved ones are healthy *Snap* I’m taller, skinnier and have 9 pack abs. *Snap* Turn these stones into bread. That’s not just a temptation He dealt with in the wilderness, but every day of his life.

The question then is why? Why do this? So, we could behold His glory and see that it was full of grace and truth! John The Baptist Witness testified of this pointing to Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. When we start to receive Jesus in His fullness we also receive grace and then more grace. Grace for grace sounds like a NT concept, maybe something Paul wrote about it. No! It’s actually from Exodus chapters 32-34. Moses and the people had received grace, yet they were in tremendous need of more grace, and more grace after that. Just like us.  


When I was still in the youth, David gave us all a playing card. Then he had us write on the playing card and place it in our wallets. He said whenever you are having a bad day, a tough time and you think “No one understands” I want you to take out this card, look up the verse and be encouraged. What’s the verse? 


Hebrews 4:14-16  Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.


That is the blessing of the Hypostatic Union. That God understands us at a level like no one else. One of our great fears is that the more people get to know us the less that they will like us. Yet, this is not the case with Christ. Fully God, Fully Human, Fully knows us and Fully loves us. A Hypostatic Union of Grace.

You better recognize!

John 1:10-13

You better recognize!


Listening to Pastor Dave’s sermon the other  Sunday I was inspired! Specifically, I was inspired to change my intro. Pastor Dave’s use of All up in the koo-aid and don’t even know the flavor, made me think of lots of fun 90s phrases that aren’t in the common vernacular anymore. 


All that and a bag of chips, which was a compliment, kinda. The person or thing being described is everything one could possibly hope for, and they come with a side dish. Because who doesn't want a snack for later?


Talk to the hand! Which was when you were done listening to someone’s nonsense.

As If, made famous by the cult classic, Clueless, the phrase “As if” was used as an alternative to “Whatever” and/or No way!” depending on the context. 


Props! meant you were giving proper acknowledgment to someone for doing something impressive. Mad Props if you were very impressed. 


Then, there’s the title for tonight’s sermon, you better recognize!  the phrase you said when you felt someone needed to acknowledge your proficiency or authority regarding a particular matter. Turn to John 1:10-13 and you better recognize!

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His ^[c]own, and His ^[d]own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the ^[e]right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.


Last time we talked about John The Baptist aka John The Witness. Who was he a witness to? Everyone! Who was he a witness for? The Light! Specifically the light of the world, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 


He was in the world, and the word was made through him, but the world did not know him. He was here and walked among us. Lived among us for 33 years!  What’s the biggest compliment we say after meeting a celebrity? Oh they were the most down to earth person. Where do you think that phrase comes from? Right here! In which God came down to earth!

The same God in which it is written in Psalm 113:6 “Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?” actually took on human form! He dwelt among us!


A mere glance downward is an act of humility for our God! Yet, we, His children, stink so much of pride we allow it to destroy all our relationships. 


We didn’t know him. We didn’t receive him! We didn’t recognize! 


For the majority us music is as important aspect of our life from the mid-teens through the early 20s. During that time for me I had an intense concert going phase. I saw in excess of 100 different bands across a span of roughly 5 years. I have some permanent hearing damage in my left ear that was totally worth it! I went to concerts all over NC & VA. I went to ones where there were 20,000+ people that required me selling a kidney to afford the ticket. I went to some where it was free for the 20 of us in attendance. One of the things I liked about it was when I met new people there it was easy to strike up a conversation since we both enjoyed this particular band. I met all manner of people from all over the world. I met a guy named Bruce, I think, that saw Stryper on the original To Hell With The Devil tour! 


In the fall of 1998 Me and two of my friends got tickets to see a Christian Rock Band named Bleach. We were fans. We owned both albums, knew all the songs by heart, seen the music videos! We got to the concert early and Jared was with us. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get Jared somewhere early? To this day I’m not sure how we did it! While we were waiting around we got to chatting with some of the other concert goes and met a super cool guy named Dave. We made small talk and went on our way. Later that night, after both opening bands were done, Bleach took the stage! Guess who the lead singer was? Our friend Dave! 


We had met and talked with the lead singer of one our favorite bands and we had no idea! We were so stunned! He didn’t look the way we thought he would look based on videos and album covers. He didn’t talk the way we thought he would talk based on musical albums. Had we only known! Had we only recognized him!


This is exactly what John is talking about! All of Israel since Genesis 3 had been hoping for, praying for, studying about, teaching about, looking for the messiah! Then He shows up! Not for quick small talk but lived among them for 33 years! Openly teaching, preaching and working miracles for the last three yet so many people did not recognize Him! 


We sit there and think. How silly! How stupid! How could they possibly be that dense! Yet, are we any different? You said we weren’t there. We didn’t meet Him. We didn’t see the miracles. Malarky! Most of you have a miracle in your hands right now! 


“The Bible is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in the fulfillment of specific prophecies and claimed that their writings are divine rather than human in origin.”


That the Bible got written is a miracle! That the Bible exists is a miracle! This one book contains everything you need to know about Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior! I know many of your testimonies and a lot of them involve ignoring God, running from God and avoiding God. All of us had a point where God stopped us, got right in our face and said “Child! You better recognize!” Then by the grace of God we did recognize! We knew Him for who He was. We knew Him as Master, Savior, Sustainer, Creator, the one who has authority to speak into every aspect of our lives. In that moment beloved, we were born again! 


who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.


We ride that Jesus high for a few weeks or months but slowly slip back into the old ways of doing things. To the old masters, back into the darkness. We start to think that these things happened as an act of human will, as perhaps emotional decision making but the reality is it’s not our will but His! 

John MacArthur says the following “ How? You were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. Only God can do this miracle. And here, we are introduced to the true nature of God with regard to the gospel. God is by nature a Savior. He is a Savior whose mighty power causes us to receive His Son and to believe in His name. He will have much more to say about this later on in the gospel, but at the very foundation we need to know that in this ministry of evangelism and gospel presentation and giving testimony and witness to Christ, God will work to give life to dead sinners. It is His heart to do that.

God our Savior, God our Savior, said the apostle Paul again and again and again. God, who is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe. He is a saving God. “Who is a pardoning God like you?” Read Ezekiel 36 and 37. God presents the New Covenant of salvation. Read Jeremiah 31. God is by nature a Savior. It’s in His heart to give life to dead sinners. This is what we need to know as the foundation, the bedrock essentials for Christians. We need to know that God by nature is a saving God who gives life to dead sinners.” 

As Christians we must daily recognize whose God and whose us.

Actiones Secundum Fidei

John 1:6-9

Actiones Secundum Fidei


The Gospel of John is the fourth section of what some call the four-fold gospel, with four voices giving different perspectives on the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Christian writers as early as Origen (a.d. 185-254) understood that there are not really four gospels, but there is one four-fold gospel.

The Gospel of John was probably the last of the four written, and written in view of what the previous three had already said. This is one reason why John’s account of the life of Jesus is in many ways different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke.


There are significant events in the ministry of Jesus that Matthew, Mark, and Luke all include yet John leaves out, including:


· Jesus’ birth, baptism, temptation in the wilderness, · Confrontations with demons, · Jesus teaching in parables, · The Last Supper, and The Ascension.

John is a Gospel written for a specific purpose: that we might believe. 


Tonight we continue to dig into the gospel of John with a message entitled Actiones Secundum Fidei, which is a Latin phrase that states we act according to what we believe or believe (ourselves to be). 


 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. ⁹ That^[b] was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.


What do we believe? Why do we believe it? And most importantly how does that belief play out in our day to day lives? These are important questions. I submit to you that the actions we make and take on a daily basis derive directly from what we believe and what we believe ourselves to be.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. Now this is specifically referring to John the Baptist not John the Apostle and Gospel author. John typically refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. We will spend many a Wednesday discussing that particular title, but not tonight. These verses here are specifically about John the Baptist.


What do we know about John the Baptist? His background and motivation is covered in more detail in Luke and Matthew. We see John The Baptist as the herald of Jesus the King. We see miraculous circumstances regarding his birth.


John was no "crowd pleaser." He willingly confronted the hypocrisy of the religious establishment ( Matt 3:7 ; Luke 3:7 ). He did not hesitate to expose the immorality of Herod and chose to die a martyr's death rather than compromise his convictions. Yet, what do know most about him? He baptized people! Most importantly Jesus. Interesting that’s not the focus her in verse 6. Who was he? A man. Where did he come from? He was sent from God.


Sent here is ap-os-tel'-lo. Sent to an appointed place, on a mission. Who is the sender? This is of vital importance here! Who is the sender? God! The sender is always of much greater importance than who is being sent or where. I spent 16 years doing IT. When I was still at my manufacturing job the CEO would come to visit about once a month. I would let the people I worked with know “Hey the CEO will be down next week. My availability will be limited.” True Story: I once got a call from the team lead of the QA Lab. He was down and couldn’t do his job and the call went like this: No, I’m at the lake. I’m doing something for the CEO. I’m setting up WIFI on his boat. Yes, you heard me correctly.  No, I’m as serious as Gary Oldman. Sorry, That’s a Harry Potter joke.  I’ll come by when I’m done.


Now beloved in my five years in manufacturing IT how many times did I tell the CEO that what he wanted me to do had to wait because I was busy with other things? How many times? Zero times! Why is that? Because I wanted to stay employed. Now, next question. How many of co-workers went and complained directly to the CEO that I wasn’t available to them because I was to busy working on His stuff? Zero! Why? Because they too wished to stay employed! He was the boss! He outranked everyone there! You did what he said, or you got another job, bottom line.


Why is it that we pay so much respect to earthly bosses whom the majority of could care less for us, but when it comes to the almighty creator who died on our behalf we constantly tell Him that we are to busy, too tired, or that He’s got the wrong person and to send someone else? The unmitigated gall we possess as sinful human beings!


This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe


What did God send John to do? To be? A witness! Not John The Baptist but John The Witness! What does it mean to be a witness? We talk about being a witness and witnessing but what does it really mean? It means we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people in word. It also means that our actions match those words. Does that mean we are perfect in all things? No! It’s impossible. It does mean that when we fall short though we confess, we repent and reconcile whenever possible.

The Greek here for witness is mär-tü-rē'-ä. It actually has three meanings. In a legal sense it’s a witness giving testimony to a judge. In a historical sense, it refers to a historian giving testimony to the past. In an ethical sense, it refers to giving testimony to someone’s moral character.

Here in Person County, in the year 2020. If you belong to the Lord you also are sent as a witness. You are sent to work, you are sent to school, you sent to family and friends. You are sent all over the county, state, country and even the world! As a witness!


In a legal sense, we tell people for Jesus the righteous judge that will one day hold us accountable for our sin.


What do we tell people? We talk about Jesus in the ethical sense as the one who lived that perfect moral life! That everything He does is good and how much He knows us and loves us!


In a historical sense we tell them that this is the Word of God and these things really happened! That there is hope for us because of what Jesus did.  What about Genesis and creation and evolution and the flood etc. etc. We’ve been covering some of these questions in Sunday School and my dear friend and brother, Chad Hayes said the following  “Either way I think it clearly explains at the end of the day it not so much how it started but who started it. God created it, and more importantly how it was finished on the cross at Calvary.”


Also, there’s a 4th key element to being a witness that we often overlook, listening. If you’ve ever been to or in a trial as a witness you know the amount of time you spoke was minor in comparison to the amount of time you spent listening. For the longest time I’ve heard that the reason people aren’t in church is due to hypocrisy. There’s actually a new complaint arising in those studies now and it says that the main reason our evangelism fails is not hypocrisy but our unwillingness to listen. Lost people feel that you were only nice to them to give them a sales pitch and move on.


Barna research group validates what this theory. Listening without judgment is the number one thing not-yet Christians want but very rarely experience when talking to Christians. In an increasingly polarized culture, the great need of the times is found in  James 1:19 to be “quick to listen and slow to speak.” If we truly want to be witnesses to Jesus Christ we need to use our ears as much, if not more, than we use our mouths. In a society where discourse consists of yelling at people louder and louder until they agree or go away, this is going to be a challenge. It’s also going to be a wonderful witness that God will use and bless.  


John’s witness was not of himself, as frequently we get caught up in want to lift up our leaders on high instead of letting them point to the One on high.


That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world


Verse 8 gets overlooked sometimes. Yet it’s a key element to the whole John the Witness narrative. Who is he to witness to? Everyone! He is a witness, testifying about Jesus as the light of the world and that light is for anyone and everyone who seeks it.


Daniel Harrell with Christianity Today says “As Christians, we hang crosses on our walls and around our necks to remind ourselves how mercy is nonnegotiable. Jesus died on a cross for our sins and we didn’t deserve it. Theology labels the cross the passion of Jesus, a righteous anger that’s righteous because it bends toward the reconciliation of all things, a fierce power that taps into long-suffering, motherlike mercy for the cause of new birth”


In 2016 I counselled many people struggling with outrage over the election and all the divisiveness it brought with it. I heard on more than one occasion, “I don’t see how anyone could vote for “blank” or the “blank party” and be a Christian. Do you realize the essence of that statement? Vote for the right person or your going to hell. I have something very important to tell you, Jesus is neither a registered democrat, nor republican, He’s not even American! We tend to live our lives as if God was created in our own image, not vice versa. We are all on equal footing at the cross. 


Galatians 3:26-28 “²⁶ For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”


Those of us that believe that, it is well beyond time to put that into Action.

Back to the garden

John 1:1-5


Back to the garden.


Quick caveat, as you turn to John 1:1-5. I want you to think of tonight’s message as prologue.

1969 is notable for a lot of things. However, I feel that three standout more so than the others. July 20^th 1969 was when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Sept 23^rd 1969 was when our fearless leader the Reverend Doctor M. David Chambers was born. About a month before that momentous day, was August 15^th-18^th 1969. Any guesses to what that was? Woodstock!


Popular Singer and Song Writer Joni Mitchell was unable to attend Woodstock. She was going to appear on the Dick Caveatt show later that week and would have been unable to attend both events. Her agents talked her into doing the TV show vs. Woodstock. There in her hotel room in NY as she watched the televised coverage of the festival she penned the following lyrics which became the official theme song for the festival.


We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
back to the garden


The garden referenced in the song is the garden of Eden. Woodstock was about advocating for peace and love, and the way things were before the fall of man. Even it they couldn’t admit that or even realize it.


That song also serves as the inspiration for tonights message. Turn to John 1:1-5 as go into a sermon entitled “Back to the Garden”


 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[a]comprehend it.


It’s been almost 2 months so lets get right to it shall we? It is 2020. The times in which we live are in flux. There is no shortage of voices whether they be personal, private, professional or public suggesting that if certain politicians are elected to office (or not), or certain industries are allowed to survive (or not), or certain ideas are given airtime (or not), the world as we know it will come to an end. Some of this is simply clickbait, engineered by people who make money off of or find enjoyment in fear. But some of it is based in reality.

Wars are raging. Ecological disasters are increasingly frequent and devastating. The threat of mass shootings hovers over our schools, our public gatherings, and our places of worship.

The world, it would seem, is on fire. Fear and uncertainty have set it ablaze.

Historically speaking, this is nothing new, so we shouldn’t make too much of how chaotic the world appears in comparison to past eras. Since the Garden of Eden, our core human failure isn’t disobedience or pride or the absence of faith (although those are certainly reflections of our fallen state). Rather, it’s our tendency to point our sincerely held beliefs in the wrong direction (Rom. 1:21–23). Another word for it is idolatry—devoting ourselves ultimately to that which isn’t ultimate.

Every generation repeats this same cycle. Devoting ourselves ultimately to that which isn’t ultimate. We know things are wrong, we know life isn’t the way it should be. We want to get back to the way life was before the fall, we want to get back to the garden.

A generation tried this with Woodstock and for a moment or so people had hope. Yet, it wouldn’t last. Then when I was elementary school as the oh so popular All-Star Charity single! For those that are to young to remember that it’s when a bunch of popular artists of the day would all get together to sing a song about world peace and the proceeds from the single would go towards a charity. The more popular ones were Do they know it’s Christmas? Give peace a chance, hands across America and we are the world. For a moment there was hope then same ol same ol. When I was in high school in the mid to late 90’s the big thing was saving the environment! Reduce, reuse, recycle! There was even a wide variety environmental cartoons where the hero stopped the villain whose typical goal wasn’t world domination but to pollute the oceans and kill sea turtles. I remember when the city first started collecting recycling and I was all gung ho about it as a 7^th grader. Just ask my dad. I really felt like I was making a difference with each empty Pepsi bottle I recycled. Then I would see people toss whole bags of trash just out the window going down 501.

Despite our best efforts, humanity suffers most fundamentally not from a lack of faith, but from a misplaced faith. The whole of human history we can see humanity at least to some degree recognizing it’s sin problem, but then attempting to cover it up themselves. Adam and Eve tried fig leaves. Able tried bringing his own offering instead of what God requested of him. People tried to build the tower of babel. While it’s not recorded in the biblical flood account, I’m willing to bet you at least one person tried building their own boat after listening to Noah preach.

All throughout the Old Testament you see the never ending tragedy of God’s people trusting in things other than God himself. They trust in themselves, in their kings, in their political leaders, in their technology, in their history, in their wealth, yet it is only when they trust in God do they have any hope or peace. There is a world desperate to place its faith onto to anyone or anything that promises peace, safety and prosperity. That desperation is only going to grow in 2020.

I know many of you feel sad, confused, or even laugh a little as missionaries speak here and tell of the assorted idols in whatever foreign country they are serving in. How ridiculous we think! That they worship god’s made of wood or stone. Yet, the human heart, is an idol factory.

We make them anytime we pledge our loyalty to religious, business, or political leaders and believe them when they say they alone can fix what ails us, they hold the truth, or they are worthy of our devotion. We make them anytime we “betray and hate each other” (Matt. 24:10) over differing ideologies. And we make them whenever we abandon our primary calling to love God and our neighbor and replace that calling with another passion, project or cause.

When we do this. We are no different then those hippies at Woodstock saying “Drop Acid not bombs man!” We can’t expect different results.

This is where we are in 2020 and this is where we are at 2000 years ago when the Apostle John wrote “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^[a]comprehend it.

There are many of you that have lost focus on Jesus in the last year or so and have been trying to find your back to the garden without him. There are many of you that will lose your way in 2020 distracted by social media, the presidential election, or just your day to day living. There sadly, will be significant number of you, 100% certain that the world will end based on the results of Tuesday, November 3^rd 2020.

“The end is still to come,” Jesus told his disciples. “All these are the beginning of birth pains” (Matt. 24:6, 8). This doesn’t mean is our present experiences are somehow insignificant or less painful than what’s to come. It simply means that, in order to live as “faithful and wise servants” (v. 45), we have to operate with an accurate picture of reality, and this starts by acknowledging that the end has not yet come. That God is still on the throne. 

Our study in the gospel of John will point us the way back, the way back to the garden, the way back to God. And it is in this time—not some other time—that God has called us to demonstrate a faithful presence. Our time is best spent, not in quibbling over which politician,  organization or technological innovation, will or won’t save us, but in remaining faithful to the God has called us to stand as witness in the here and now. With a society so eager to believe in something, we must point them to something to believe in.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me