September 29th, 2024
From The Series: John- So That You
May Believe
Part 04 The Logos Received
John 1:12-18
Mountain View Evangelical Missionary
Church
Here we are in the final portion of
the prologue this morning. Here is a quick recap: the first 18 verses of
chapter 1 are considered the prologue or introduction of the Book of John. In
the first two messages from the prologue we examined the use of the word Logos
to describe Jesus of Nazareth and we saw how Jesus was, and continues to be
rejected by many.
This morning, we will see how John
announces that the Logos is received in this last part of the prologue. This
receiving is not a Plan B by God, we will see this morning that this was always
part of the original Plan of Redemption that was decided upon by the Godhead.
Our attitude about this issue speaks directly to our understanding of the
Sovereignty of God. We will address this further in the final point of this
morning’s message.
I am going to quote and reference a
fair amount of Scripture today because I want you to realize that what I am
saying is what the Bible says and not just my opinion. Not all Scripture that I
quote will be on the screen this morning, but it will be listed in the
bulletin. Follow along with your bulletin open and a pen in hand. If I say
something that piques your interest, put a star beside that passage and go home
and verify what I said was accurate and in context by reading the paragraph
before and the paragraph after the section that I quoted. These things are important,
and I want you to be paying attention. We will be feeding on some really
important issues this morning.
For context, I will read the entire
prologue again this morning before we jump into the final section for a deeper
look. Please open your Bible to the first chapter of the Gospel of John and I
will read the first 18 verses.
READ JOHN 1:1-18
“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In
him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He
came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all
might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as
a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was
coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the
world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He
came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet
to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among
us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from
the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out,
saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has
surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) 16 Out of his
fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For
the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No
one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in
closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”
PRAY
The three points that I see emerging
from this passage are:
1. Christians are children of God.
Contrary to what you may have been told in the past, the Bible says that we are
not all children of God. We will
deal with this shortly.
2. The second point I see emerging
from this text is that Christians are born
of God. Scripture is clear in
multiple places that this is an action of God, by God. We will see what
Scripture has to say about that in a few minutes.
3. The third point I see emerging
from this text is Christians are given Grace. I always seem to need more time
for the third point, so I hope we have enough time to examin the doctrine of
Grace, moving beyond the brief dictionary definition we all know.
With that being said, let’s jump to
the first point: Christians are Children of God. The first thing we need to do
is understand that there is a difference between being created by God and being
a Child of God.
We are all created by God. Every
person, animal, insect, and plant is created by God. Everything in the Universe
is a creation of God. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning
God created…” God continues to create today, He has simply changed His
methods of creating. Now the Lord creates through procreation.
I like the way that the New Living
Translation puts it, “13 You made all
the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Psalm 139:13. Make no mistake, procreation is the method, but God is
still the Creator. As a man married to a creative person who crochets, I like
the image that this verse brings to mind. It is God who knits us together in
our Mother’s womb, even the delicate inner parts of our bodies.
So, that is the Creator God. But not all those who are created are Children of God. Now, don’t get mad at
me, I know this is offensive to some people. I’ll let you in on a secret, I
don’t know who is and who isn’t a child of God. Most likely, neither do you.
That is why we must approach everybody we come in contact with as if they are a child of God. It is not our job to prequalify people before
we share the Gospel with them. Keep that in mind. But, the Bible is clear that
some are born of God and some are not.
In his first epistle, John goes into
this thought in greater detail. We are not ALL Children of God. Some in this
world, I would say most, are children of the devil. How can we tell the
difference? 1 John 3:10 says, “10 This
is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil
are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who
does not love their brother and sister.”
What is our proof of being a Child of
God? 1 John 5:2 gives us some ideas, “1 Everyone
who believes that Jesus is the Christ and is born of God, and everyone who
loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know
that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.”
Living our lives according to the commands of God is proof that we are
His children. Living out the commands in a loving and obedient manner, not from
a sense of obligation, or in an attempt to earn favour with God.
It is true that we are living in a
period of Grace, but that does not mean Grace replaces the Law. This is a
misinterpretation of God’s Word. It is a misunderstanding known as
antinomianism and was taught to be a heresy by the early church. In Matthew 5:17-18
Jesus taught us these very words, “Do not think that I
have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them
but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and
earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will
by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
In other words, Jesus not only fulfilled all that the prophets proclaimed about
Him, but He also fulfilled all the requirements of the Law in order to try and
earn your way to heaven. Jesus’ once for all our sins sacrifice was sufficient
to repair our relationship with the Father.
But what does it mean to believe
“that Jesus is the Christ”? James 2:19 tests us with this thought, “19 You believe that there is one God. Good!
Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” Think back to the many
encounters that Jesus had with demons in the Gospels. The demons recognized
Jesus when they came face-to-face with Him. One even asked if it was the
appointed time for His appearance. So,
James tells us that simply recognizing that there is one God is not enough to
save us. Believing there is one God is not enough to save us. We must believe
that Jesus is the Messiah and that His completed work on the Cross was complete
and accepted by the Father as payment for our disobedience and sin against Him
as God.
This is important and worth a slide.
The good news is that even belief and faith
are gifts that are supplied by God
to us. Ephesians 2:8-9 explains this to us, “8 For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works so that no one
can boast.” We must recognize that even our faith is a gift from God. If
we received Grace from God as a result of our
faith, then it would be by our works
that we are saved. Verse 8 proclaims that both grace and faith are gifts from
God. This is why verse 9 is in the text, “so that no
one can boast.”
This thought, that I can do nothing
to earn my way to God was one of the primary reasons that I recognized the
Christian faith as true. The false religions that I had been studying earlier
in my life all contained an aspect of works. A balancing of good deeds versus
bad deeds. All in an attempt to show that I was worthy of entrance to heaven.
Only Christianity teaches that you can do nothing before Salvation, it all
falls on Jesus and the Holy Spirit to do the saving. Our work begins after Salvation through the sharing of
the Gospel to bring more to the Kingdom of God and living an exemplary life by
following the commands of God.
Let’s look back at the first two
verses in today’s passage, verses 12 and 13, “12 Yet
to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” Let’s
circle back to what it means to be Children of God and Born of God.
To become Children of God is not our
doing. Verse 13 says, “Children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” Let’s
take these one at a time. Children born not of natural descent. John is
referring primarily to the Jews here who were so proud of their heritage and
genealogy. But the same applies to us who are not of Jewish descent but may
have been born into a Christian home or family. Your Christianity is an
individual calling and applies only to you. You do not inherit your Christian
faith from your Christian mother, father, or grandparents.
The same applies to your children. Don’t get me wrong, I
think being raised in a Christian home with godly parents who live out their
faith daily, is a tremendous advantage. It is a moral head start that will help
your children do well in the world. But are you teaching them God's Word in
your home? Do you, or did you, practice family devotions in your home when the
children were young? Was Jesus present in the home Monday through Saturday, or
just evident in your life for a couple of hours on Sundays?
The second point in this verse makes
it clear that your being saved was not your decision. “Children
born not of natural descent, nor of
human decision…” Don’t get mad at me, that’s what the Bible says.
The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is the source. While Jesus was talking
with the Pharisee Nicodemus at night, Jesus taught him some interesting things.
John 3:3, 5-6 records, “3 Jesus
replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they
are born again.” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no
one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” By the way,
the born of water does not refer to
Baptism as you might think. Water is often used as a metaphor for the Word of
God or Scripture. Being “Born of Water and the Spirit” refers to the hearing of
God’s Word and the work of the Spirit in us.
Paul writes the same instruction to
Titus in the Letter that bears his name, “4 But
when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he
saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his
mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy
Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus
Christ our Savior,” Titus 3:4-6. According to these passages,
regeneration happens before salvation.
Just as the LORD told the prophet,
Ezekiel, “26 I will give you a new
heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in
you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel
36:26-27. This is more proof that salvation is of the Lord. Can you give yourself a new heart?
Scripture tells us we were dead in
our trespasses. What can a dead man do to save himself? I have heard the
analogy of sinners being like a drowning man clinging to Jesus as to a
life-preserver. But Scripture says we were dead, not drowning. We were unable to cling to anything when we were
still lost in our sins. Praise God we were born again! Born into the family of
God. We are now heirs, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives is
the proof of this inheritance.
Believers no longer belong to the
devil, nor to those whose father the devil is. 1 John 3:7-8 gives us this
promise. Listen to this, “7 Dear
children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is
righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is
sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” Do
you believe what Scripture says here, friends? “The one
who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” Identify
the pronoun here: “The one who does what is righteous”, that would be you and
me as believers, “is righteous, just as he is righteous”. Just as who is
righteous? Who is the only one righteous? Who is the “he” in this verse? Jesus
Christ. But, “8 The one who does what
is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the
beginning.”
Are you prepared to believe as
Christians that you are Children of God, not born of heritage, merit, or your
choice, but Born of God through the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit?
There is another requirement of God’s
Children besides just obedience to Him. God's children are to love one another.
John 13:33-35 says, “34 “A new command
I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one
another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples if you love one another.” Being Children of God has a vertical
aspect to it and a horizontal aspect to it. This is why we are to reconcile
with others in Christ, who we have a disagreement with. This is how we show we are
true disciples of Jesus Christ.
One last thing before we move onto
the point that Christians are given Grace. At the moment, today in our present
lives, we do not fully appreciate what this means: to be a child of God. 1 John
3:1-2 explains this to us, “1 See what great
love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did
not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and
what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ
appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” We will
not fully appreciate what it means to be a child of God until we are in His
presence. It is not until we see His perfection for ourselves in the New Eden
that we reach our state of perfection in our Glorified bodies and our
sanctification is complete. Oh, what a day that will be!
Ok, let’s move on to the final point
for this morning’s sermon, “Christians are given Grace”. Look at verse 16 of
John Chapter One with me, “16 Out of
his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” The
phrase “grace in place of grace already given” refers to the piling on of grace
that one experiences as they go through life with Jesus. As we grow in our
maturity and sanctification with Jesus as Lord, the Grace that we receive only
multiplies and we experience God’s blessings in more and different ways. Even
when we go through hardships, if we are mature enough, we can recognize the
blessings those hardships contain and we receive more grace in our lives.
But what does it mean to speak of
“the fullness” of Jesus Christ? Out of His fullness means that Jesus contains
the full attributes of God, not just Love. We cannot speak of God's love
without speaking of His wrath. We cannot speak of His mercy without speaking of
his judgment. We cannot speak of heaven without speaking of hell. We cannot
speak of a Saviour without speaking of our sinfulness.
Why is this important to grasp? It is
important to understand the true Jesus in all His fullness, or we risk our
salvation. 1 John 1:1-3, "1 That which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning
the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and
testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the
Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we
have seen and heard, so that you
also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and
with his Son, Jesus Christ." In these three verses, John is
attempting to impress upon us the fullness of Jesus Christ. That Jesus shared
all the attributes of the Father and that they were one in purpose and essence.
Jesus and the Father are one.
We do not have the option to paint a
different Jesus than He actually was. We must accept and worship the fullness
of Jesus, not some pared-down idol of our own making. To worship any other
Jesus than the full and complete version of Jesus causes us to risk our
salvation, because we are not following the true Jesus.
We have pastors and denominations
leading people away from the true Jesus. Many false teachers give you the
sugar-coated Jesus because He is easier to sell and fill the church with.
John makes this point again in verse
18, “18 No one has ever seen God, but
the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with
the Father, has made him known.” No one is closer to the Father than the
Son. It is the closest relationship that has ever been. Closer than any husband
and wife, or parent and child. The only way that you could have a relationship
that is close to being this close is to clone yourself. But
even then, it would only be a shadow of this true relationship because the
Father and Son and Spirit have been one since eternity past.
We cannot have this level of
closeness, but we can still receive the benefit of this fullness from Jesus.
Colossians 2:9-10 says this, “9 For in
Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and
in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” In Christ we are complete.
The grace of Jesus Christ permits us to rest in His completed work for our
salvation.
But what of grace? God’s grace flows out of his
inter-trinitarian, gift-giving life. Even in humanity’s fallen state, God
freely grants to his creatures good things they do not deserve. The greatest of
these goods is Jesus Christ.
One of the most amazing ways that God
show His grace to us is explained in Exodus 34:6 which reads, “The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness”. Think about that for a minute. The point that God is slow
to anger with His rebellious creatures should cause us all to shout hallelujah
choruses all day long. The fact that the Lord did not erase us from existence
the first time we sinned or even the last time we sinned against Him is a
testimony of His love for us.
Because of our rebellion, we are all
deserving of hell. The people who question God by accusing Him of sending good
people to hell is absurd. Romans tells us that there is no one good, not one.
We as humans like to grade goodness on the bell curve, and even then it does
not look good for us. In our fallen state, everyone fails to reach that 100%
mark in goodness. It is part of our human nature to think that good is all
relative. We constantly compare ourselves to our neighbours, friends, or family
members and we tell ourselves that we aren't that bad, so-and-so is worse, look
what they have done.
The problem is that we are comparing
ourselves to the wrong standard. Our standard for goodness is not our neighbour
or even our parents. The Gold-medal standard for goodness is found in the
person of Jesus Christ. So, when you compare yourself to Jesus, how’s that
workin’ for you so far?
When we understand that God’s grace
is the unmerited divine favour, a favour from which comes many gifts and that
the greatest of these gifts is Jesus Christ, then friends what more could we
need? Our fullness in life should be found in Jesus. If you lost all the
blessings that you have received from God tomorrow, would you still love your
Lord?
If you were like Job of the Old
Testament and lost all your children and grandchildren, all your belongings and
all your savings, would you be like Job and say to the Lord,
“2 “I
know that you can do all things;
no purpose of
yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who
is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke
of things I did not understand,
things too
wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said,
‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question
you,
and you shall
answer me.’
5 My ears had
heard of you
but now my eyes
have seen you.
6 Therefore I
despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:2-6
Is repentance a regular
occurrence for you? When was the last time you repented of your sins to the
Father? The World hates that question! When we repent, we are forced to
remember our mistakes and our shortcomings. We are forced to admit our
imperfections, our need for a saviour. The Worldly do not wish to be reminded
of their needs in this area.
Don’t be like the World,
be like Job. I ask you again if you lost everything tomorrow, would you still
love Jesus? Would your salvation be enough? Have you accepted the salvation
that He is offering you?
CONCLUSION
I want to close with this quote from
C.S. Lewis who once described himself as the most reluctant convert in all of
Britain.
“I never had the experience of
looking for God. It was the other way round: He was the hunter (or so it seemed
to me) and I was the deer. He stalked me like a whitetail, took unerring aim,
and fired. And I am very thankful that this is how the first (conscious)
meeting occurred. It forearms one against subsequent fears that the whole thing
was only wish fulfillment. Something one didn’t
wish for can hardly be that.” [C. S.
Lewis, Christian Reflections[1]
Take joy in the fact that you had
nothing to do with your salvation. As Lewis said he was glad he didn’t wish or
ask for salvation, if it was of Lewis’ doing, he might change his mind and walk
away.
Doxology:
In place of the usual doxology, let
me leave you with these words from Jesus Christ:
“37 All those
the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive
away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to
do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who
sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up
at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks
to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them
up at the last day.”
Go
in peace, you are dismissed.
Pastor
Paul’s Points:
1)
Christians Are Children of God.
2)
Christians Are Born of God.
3)
Christians Are Given Grace.
Questions
to meditate on this week:
A.
Have you accepted the fact you are a Child of God?
B.
Have you accepted that not all are a Child of God?
C.
Have you accepted that salvation is of God?
[1] Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000),
177.
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