Latest / Bayside Davis Podcast / The Gospel of John | John 1:15-51

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The Gospel of John | John 1:15-51 · Bayside Davis Podcast

0:04
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Bayside Davis podcast.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: You are now listening to our current teaching series in the Gospel of John.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: The most important question that you will answer in your lifetime is this.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: Who is Jesus?
0:29
SPEAKER_00: From John chapter 1 through John chapter 21, John unpacks and teaches us about the identity of Jesus.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I would argue that the Gospel of John is the most detailed revelation of Jesus' identity in the entire New Testament.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: And in the first 18 verses, and including beyond, there are seven attributes of the identity of Jesus that we learn about.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you missed last week, we learned about, I think, I believe you got through the first four or the first three at least.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: So you can catch that podcast on Apple Podcast or what's the other one that people use?
1:21
SPEAKER_00: Spotify?
1:22
SPEAKER_00: Spotify or Apple?
1:24
SPEAKER_00: You can check those out, Bayside Davis Podcast, listen to those.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: You can catch up to any sermon anytime.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: But this week we're going to learn about the last four.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: So I think you got through three, ended in verse four, and the last four attributes of the identity of Jesus.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: We're going to pick up in verse 5 the fourth attribute of the identity of Jesus that John writes about, beginning in verses 5 through 13, is that Jesus is light.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: And before I jump into this, just to preface, I want us to make sure we know the storyline of the Gospel of John.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: John was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: At this time he was pastoring a church in the city of Ephesus, a church that Apostle Paul started, and he was an old man by this time.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: This is the last of the four Gospels written.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: Written post-AD 70.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: And John is writing this as an old man who had years, decades to reflect on the nature and identity and reality of Jesus.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: And so he pens this incredible opening of the Gospel of John in the first 18 verses, and then we'll get to verse 19 on, which we'll include in this.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: And he talks about who Jesus is first this morning.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: Number one, Jesus is light.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: Notice what he says, verse 5.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: The light, who is the logos of verse 1, which is a metaphor for Jesus, the Son of God.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: The light shines in the darkness.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: You begin to see this picture, this metaphor that we see throughout the entirety of the scriptures, that there is this reality, this conflict between light and darkness, between good and evil, between God and Satan.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: There's this cosmic conflict, and that darkness thought it could overcome or conquer the light which is Jesus, but it could not.
3:36
SPEAKER_00: This verse 5 is talking about the cross.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: How when Jesus was crucified on the cross, the light came into this world.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: The logos entered into human reality, and darkness thought it could conquer the light, but darkness could not conquer the light.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: The light conquered darkness.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: There is this cosmic battle, and some people deny it.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: They're like, there's no good and evil.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: Well, the fact that human beings have a conscience shows us that there's good and evil.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: The fact that you could turn on your news feed or your social media feed or you could go old school and actually watch the news shows that there is good and evil.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: Because most of our news is the sensationalism of all the evil taking place in the world.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: And you see it, it's right in front of you.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: It's the reality of humanity that there is evil trying to conquer light, but darkness can never truly conquer light.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: And so light is a metaphor for this reality of cosmic conflict, but light will always overcome darkness in the end.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6: there was a man sent from God whose name was John.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: By the way, this is John the Bee.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: Or you might call him John the Baptist.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to just say it's not John the Baptist because he's a denominational leader or pioneer.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: John isn't John a Baptist, it's John the Baptizer, which would be a better title for him.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: That's why I like to call him John the Bee.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: So John the Bee steps on the scene.
5:21
SPEAKER_00: There was a man sent from God whose name was John the Bee.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: He came as a witness to testify concerning that light.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, the one that the darkness tried to conquer, so that through him all might believe.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: He himself was not the light.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: He came only as a witness to the light.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: The true light that comes light to everyone was coming into the world.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: The true light that gives light to everyone.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: That's Jesus.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: He was in the world and the world was made through him.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: He's the creator.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: We learned about that last week.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: The world did not recognize him.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: He came to that which was his own.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: He was the creator of humanity.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: He came to us, his creation, but his own did not receive him.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: There were masses of people that rejected him.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: Yet, to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, the name of Jesus who saves, he gave the right to become children of God.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: Verse 13, children not born of natural descent.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: This is not something that you can receive in physical birth, nor of human decision or a husband's will.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: No human being can decide this for you, but only you can believe between you and the Lord, and only you can be born again by God.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: What does he mean, but born of God?
6:47
SPEAKER_00: It means that you're born spiritually.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: You're born physically through natural descent, but you're born spiritually through God.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: You are made alive spiritually.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Now, what's interesting about this idea that Jesus is light is that this is a major metaphor woven through the storyline of Scripture.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the term light is used in a physical sense many times in Scripture, like the sun light or the light from the stars or a flashlight.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: No, that's not in the scripture.
7:23
SPEAKER_00: But by the way, nobody uses a flashlight anymore.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: Everybody just has their phone light.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: Flashlights are out, phone lights are in.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: And then lights, lights are used in a spiritual realm.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: Divine illumination from God.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: Being able to really see what is truth and reality and human existence.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: In fact, light is a symbol of God's goodness in the Old Testament and God's holiness.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: Light is also a symbol of just the nature of God Himself.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: In the New Testament, light is a metaphor for the life and teachings of Jesus.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: But in this context, light is an attribute of Jesus Himself.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: And it's a metaphor of the salvation that is brought to us through Jesus Christ.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: So John is saying light is an attribute of Jesus and a metaphor of the salvation that Jesus brings to us.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's unveiling in these verses up to verse 13.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: That's why he talks about becoming children of God and being born of God and how Jesus came into the world and the darkness could not conquer him.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: This is all a testimony of the gospel, the good news that Jesus is the light of the world.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: And he came to show us the way and die on the cross and rise again from the grave to bring us salvation.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: The opposite is darkness, and light and darkness are contrasted throughout the Bible.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: At the beginning of the biblical narrative, physical light springs forth as the first created thing.
8:59
SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the story, the light of God obliterates all traces of darkness.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: This is what Jesus came to begin this reality.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Revelation 22, verse 5 says, And night shall be no more.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: They need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord their God will be their light.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: Your true light is the Lord.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: And that's why later in the Gospel of John, Jesus said these words, I am the light of the world.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: John 8, verse 12.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: Think about this light.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: If this room were a dark room with no windows, and all of a sudden we had a thunder and lightning storm, boom, the power goes out.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And we're in pitch black darkness.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: By the way, there's going to be a thunderstorm, I think, on Tuesday.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy it.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: We used to have them all the time in Oregon, but not here.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: And all the light goes out, pitch black.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: The only way that we could see again is that if I grab my iPhone and you grab your iPhone and you turn on your light in a dark room.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: The minute the light turns on, you can see again.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: That's awareness.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: Without spiritual light, there is no spiritual awareness.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: You're just wandering through life and you're trying to navigate, but you don't quite know what to do or where to go, and you're step by step trying to do things on your own, but you're not seeing spiritual reality because you're without spiritual awareness.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: And if you turn on a light in a dark room, you can navigate again without pitch black darkness.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: You trip over the chairs, you trip over people, you don't know where you're going.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: And that is much like life itself.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: Without spiritual light, you're tripping over life and right and wrong and making mistakes and doing things that are consequential to you and other people, and you realize in your soul there's something not right about the life you're living, but then the light turns on and you can navigate again.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: You can walk in a direction God wants you to walk in.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: This is the beauty about Jesus being the light of the world, is we can see reality and truth.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: We can find direction from God.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: And beyond that, he points out the fact in these verses about Jesus being light, he points out the fact that John had a ministry of light in the world.
11:57
SPEAKER_00: In fact, this parallels with what Jesus said in the famous Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, where Jesus said to his disciples, You are the light of the world.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: We are light as the moon is to us a reflection of the true light, the sun.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: And so John the Baptist is illustrated here as having a ministry to shine light on Jesus.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: In fact, many times John is mentioned in the rest of chapter one because he had a ministry.
12:33
SPEAKER_00: And he was a spiritual light in the world, pointing people to the light of the world.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: Should I say that one more time?
12:41
SPEAKER_00: He was a spiritual light in the world, pointing people to the light of the world.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: This is what we are called to do.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: We have a ministry, a spiritual light in the world, pointing people to the light of the world, like the moon reflects the light of the sun.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: And we learn six things, six things about John the Baptist's ministry as shining light of Jesus in chapter one of the Gospel of John.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Notice these six things we learn.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: Number one, he pointed people to Jesus, verses six through eight.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: He pointed people to Jesus.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
13:23
SPEAKER_00: He came as a witness to testify concerning that light.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: He was like pointing people to the light.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: Notice, so that through Jesus all might believe.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: So John's ministry was to point people to Jesus.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: That's your ministry.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: That's my ministry.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: Not look at me, look at him.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: Don't ever say, look how amazing I am, look how spiritual I am, look how much Bible knowledge I know, look at how much spiritual disciplines I practice.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: That's a danger of the spiritual discipline movement.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh, I you know, wake up at 5 a.m.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: and I have silence and solitude, and I read my Bible, I pray, and I go on a walk for the Lord, and like I fast all day.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Like, no, it's not about you.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: All of that is about Him.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: And your ministry is to point people to Jesus.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: Number two, verses 19 through 28, he knew who he was and who he wasn't.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: Notice what it says in verse 19.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: Now this was John's testimony.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: When the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was, he did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, I am not.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: This is great.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: How many people say, I am not something?
14:51
SPEAKER_00: I am not the Messiah.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: They asked him, Then who are you?
14:55
SPEAKER_00: Are you Elijah?
14:55
SPEAKER_00: He said, I am not.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: Are you the prophet?
14:58
SPEAKER_00: He answered, No.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: Finally, they everybody wants to be everything.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: It's like, no, we're we have limitations.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: Finally, he said, Who are you?
15:08
SPEAKER_00: Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us, the religious system.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: What do you say about yourself?
15:13
SPEAKER_00: John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, Why then do you baptize if you're not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?
15:30
SPEAKER_00: He says, I baptize you with water, John replied, but among you stands one who you do not know.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whom sandals I'm not worthy to untie.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan where John was baptizing.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: John knew who he was and who he wasn't.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: John was like, I'm not the Messiah, I'm not Elijah, the great prophet in the Old Testament, and I'm not uh I'm not the prophet, I'm just a preacher pointing people to Jesus.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: I'm just a voice.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm not the only voice, but I'm a voice pointing people to Jesus.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: John knew his limitations and he knew his purpose.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: Both are important in your life.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: I feel like in Christianity everybody wants to be everything, and in culture, everybody wants to be everything, but you've got to know your limitations, which helps you to know your purpose.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: You can't be everything, only God can do that.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: And none of us are God.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: You agree with me?
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Agree?
16:45
SPEAKER_00: So John knew who he was and who he wasn't.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: That's a part of unveiling your identity or discovering your identity.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: To know who you are and to know who you aren't is a part of understanding your identity as a human being.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: Then, third, notice what John also did in his ministry to shine light on Jesus.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: Number three, he testified to Jesus' pre-existence.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Look at verses 15 and 30.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: Verse 15.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: John testified concerning him.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: 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.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 30.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: He says something similar in verse 30.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: This is the one I meant.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: I said, A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: He kept preaching that same message.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Jesus is before me, which means he's eternal and has always existed.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm just a man.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: I was born physically.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: As the first time I ever existed, John would say, but there's one coming after me who has always existed, and his name is Jesus.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: Verse 4 number 4, notice what also John did in his ministry, shining light on Jesus.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: He identified the Lamb of God.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 29.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: Then in verse 35, notice verse 35, he also proclaims this.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: He says, The next day John was there again.
18:36
SPEAKER_00: The two of his disciples, when he saw Jesus passing by, he said, Look, the Lamb of God.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: You know what's interesting?
18:50
SPEAKER_00: Like the Lamb of God is obviously creative language.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: Jesus wasn't like a little lamb.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: What are the sound lambs make?
18:59
SPEAKER_00: Bah, ba, whatever it is.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't a little lammy.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: No, Jesus was the lamb of God, Isaiah 53.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: He was the sacrificial lamb of God who was crucified for the sins of the world.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: One writer said, in one sense, the message of the Bible can be summed up in this title.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: The question in the Old Testament is, where is the Lamb?
19:27
SPEAKER_00: And in the four Gospels, the emphasis is behold the Lamb.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the book, uh the Bible, in Revelation 5, 12, you see all the people of God in the heavenly choir singing, Worthy is the Lamb.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: Where is the Lamb?
19:47
SPEAKER_00: Behold the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: That's the entirety of the Bible, that Jesus Christ is the sacrifice to save and redeem human beings.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: That's what John said.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: Then number five, I don't know how we're gonna get through all this, but we're gonna try.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: Number five, John received divine confirmation from God.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 32 about Jesus.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: Verse 32.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: Then John gave his testimony.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him, on Jesus in his baptism.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: The man on whom you see the spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: I have seen this, John says, and I testify that this is God's chosen one.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: God communicated to John the Baptist that when the Messiah got baptized, that there would be a sign of divine confirmation that Jesus was the chosen one, that there would be the Spirit of God coming down and empowering him for his ministry.
21:01
SPEAKER_00: And John saw this and gave divine confirmation that Jesus was truly the light of the world.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: And then finally, number six, six things about John's ministry.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: He directed his disciples to follow Jesus, verses 35 through 42.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: This is so important and crucial.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: The next day, verse 35, John was there again with two of his disciples.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: When he saw Jesus passing, he said, Look, the Lamb of God.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus, not John anymore.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, What do you want?
21:38
SPEAKER_00: They said, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying?
21:41
SPEAKER_00: Come, he replied, and you will see.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent the day with him.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: It was about four in the afternoon.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who had heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: The first thing Andrew did was find his brother.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Brother Simon and tell him we have found the Messiah, that is the Christ.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: And he brought him to Jesus.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: If you have a brother or sister, that's your job.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: Bring him to Jesus.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, son of John, you will be called Cephas, which, when translated, is Peter.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: In other words, these were John the Baptist disciples who now were disciples of Jesus.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: John's entire ministry was to connect people to Jesus.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: I love this.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: John was like, follow Jesus.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: He is the one, not me.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: Don't follow me, follow the Lord.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm not the one.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: You're not the one.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: We're not the ones.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the one.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: You know, some people get into Christian ministry because they want to be a star or celebrity.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: And they quickly realize that Christian ministry is not being about being a star or a celebrity.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: It's about being a servant who points everyone to Jesus.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: And they become delusioned and often quit because the light is no longer on them.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: This is what part of the problematic nature of everybody wanting to be famous on social media, that type of culture, invading Christianity.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: It's a dangerous thing.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: If God wants to make you famous, let Him make you famous.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: But trying to be a celebrity, you know, and take all the limelight is not a healthy thing as a human being.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: In fact, it has a crushing weight on the human soul.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: We're not meant to be the light.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: We're meant to point people to the light.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: And if you study and read about celebrityism in just American history, you quickly realize that it's very true how crushing a weight that is on the human soul.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: That many celebrities go through very difficult seasons of addictions and suicidal ideation and depression and anxiety because we're not meant to be that.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Only Jesus is meant to be the true light in the world.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: And our job is to do what John does is say, I'm not him.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: It's not me.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: And point people to Jesus.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: So we only got through number one.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: Number two, verse 14, which is also number five if you were here last week.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is fully God and fully human.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is fully God and fully human, verse 14.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: Notice what John then says.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: Notice this first phrase.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: Really important.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: The word became flesh.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: Underline it, circle it, highlight it in your Bible.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: John is saying Jesus became a physical human being.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, the Son of God, became fully human and yet remained fully God.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: This is what theologians call the incarnation of the Son of God.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: That God, the Logos, took on flesh and blood and became like one of us.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: John says the word became flesh, the incarnation of Christ, and made his dwelling among us.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: An interesting phrase, made his dwelling among us.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: This is a Greek term that means to dwell in a tent.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: This is Exodus language.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: John uses Exodus language here, the book of Exodus, second book of the Bible, which the people of God, they were freed from oppression in Egypt to go into the promised land to serve and worship God.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: And as they're traveling through the desert of Sinai, what do they do?
26:33
SPEAKER_00: How do they live?
26:34
SPEAKER_00: How do they survive?
26:35
SPEAKER_00: Where do they sleep?
26:36
SPEAKER_00: They pitch tents.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: These tents were temporary dwelling places.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: Any campers in the room?
26:43
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand if you're a camper.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: We've got some campers.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: You guys are awesome.
26:47
SPEAKER_00: I like hotels, you like camping.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: So what is he saying here?
26:53
SPEAKER_00: He's saying Jesus pitched his tent among us.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: Meaning, earth, the incarnation, was a temporary dwelling place of God in the flesh.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: If you missed last week, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Jesus is God, the second person of the Trinity, God the Son.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: God dwelt among us.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: God's dwelling place is an interesting study in the Bible because in the Old Testament, God's presence dwelt in the tabernacle.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: As they were walking through the wilderness, God's presence dwelt, I think that's a slide.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: God's presence dwelt in the tabernacle.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this, Exodus 40, 34, and 35.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: And Moses was not able to enter the Ten of Meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: And then they got into the promised land and they built this beautiful temple, and this was the epicenter of worship in Jerusalem, the center of God's people in the city where the temple was.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: And this is the place that God dwelt in the Old Testament, in the temple.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: Listen to 1 Kings 8, 10, and 11.
28:13
SPEAKER_00: And when the priest came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: For the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: It was the place where God's presence dwelt.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: And then you get to the New Testament.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: And there's this shocking reality in the New Testament.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: John says, God dwelt with us.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: He became like one of us, and he dwelt with us.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: In fact, this is affirmed over and over in the New Testament.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 1, verse 23, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: Colossians 2, verse 9, for in Jesus the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: God in the flesh.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: And notice what John says, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: Another interesting term, Theomai.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: In the ancient world, Theomai meant to watch as in a theater.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: Anyone remember the first movie you ever saw in a theater?
29:31
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: No, not many of you.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's because you grew up in nobody goes to movie theaters anymore.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: They get on their iPhone and this little screen, they watch a movie.
29:44
SPEAKER_00: They get on their laptop and they watch a movie.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: You used to go to theaters.
29:48
SPEAKER_00: You want to know what the best selling movies of all time are in the US, in theaters?
29:57
SPEAKER_00: Best selling movies of all time.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: Highest sick ticket sales of all time.
30:01
SPEAKER_00: I bet you wouldn't even guess.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: Number one, Gone with the Wind.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: You don't even know what that is.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: Number two, The Sound of Music.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: Number three, Star Wars.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: Number four, E.T.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: You guys know that mu movie?
30:21
SPEAKER_00: You guys gotta watch the great movies.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: You wanna know?
30:27
SPEAKER_00: The highest ticket sale movies of all time in theaters around the world?
30:32
SPEAKER_00: You guys want to know?
30:34
SPEAKER_00: Number one, the Titanic.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: Number two, Avengers Endgame.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: Number three, Star Wars, the 1977 edition.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: Star Wars fans in here?
30:50
SPEAKER_00: Anybody like Star Wars?
30:51
SPEAKER_00: We got some Star Wars fans in here.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: Number four, Avatar.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: Just a few fans.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: Number five, Gone with the Wind.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: Number six, Sound of Music.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: Number seven, E.T.
31:08
SPEAKER_00: Greatest movies of all time.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: I got a better movie of all time.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: He came to this earth.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: And the disciples said, the disciples said, we beheld his life as if we were watching a movie in a theater.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: They must have watched him in awe and wondered, who is this man?
31:32
SPEAKER_00: There was something so different, so wonderful, so powerful, so glorious about Jesus, they were beholding him.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: They were watching his life as though it was a single event, a movie to behold.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: When he calmed the storm, when he fed the 5,000, when he healed the blind, when he cast out demons, when he raised the dead, when he appeared in glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, when he died on the cross and then rose again from the grave, they were beholding his life as in a theater, and they were amazed.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: They had never seen anyone like this before.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: And that's why Charles Spurgeon says, depend on it, my hear.
32:19
SPEAKER_00: You will never go to heaven unless you are prepared to worship Jesus Christ as God.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: You can behold his life as we walk through the Gospel of John in the most brilliant ways.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: The facets and the beauty and the light that will shine from the life of Jesus Christ will change your life.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: You will be in the theater in the Gospel of John, and you will be beholding the glory, the brilliance, the beauty of the Son of God, and you will say, like all of us, many of us, this is the Son of the Living God.
33:00
SPEAKER_00: Notice what else John says.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: We might make it.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: Notice what else he says, verse 15.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: Actually, verses 14 through 17.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: He says that Jesus was full of grace and truth.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, number, number three, four, five, six, I don't know where we are.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: Number three this week, number six, if you tracked with us last week.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was full of grace and truth.
33:30
SPEAKER_00: And then he says, John testified him.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: He cried out, saying, This is the one I spoke about when he said, He comes after me, he surpassed me because he was before me.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: Out of his fullness, we have received grace in place of grace already given.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: By the way, let me just say, verse 16 is really important.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: Out of the fullness of who he is, John is saying, We have received grace upon grace upon grace.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: In other words, endless amount of grace.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was full of grace and truth.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: Now, all of us know that some people are grace people.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: They're just nice and kind and generous.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: They're like, you want to be around grace people, and then there's truth people.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: They're honest.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: The grace people are nice and kind, and truth people are honest and like real, and they want to say how it is and how they think.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: But the reality of Jesus is we need both grace and truth.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: There is a perfect balance in these two attributes, and Jesus embodied that balance perfectly.
34:46
SPEAKER_00: Tim Keller wrote, The Great Theologian, truth without grace is not really truth.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: And grace without truth is not really grace.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: Truth without grace crushes people.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Grace without truth deceives people.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: Truth without grace is harshness.
35:11
SPEAKER_00: Grace without truth is hypocrisy.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: God is the perfect balance of both.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: And we want to become more like Jesus.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: We want to become the perfect balance of both.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: Truth without grace crushes people.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to do that.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: And grace without truth deceives people.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to do that.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: Truth without grace is harshness.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to be harsh.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: And grace without truth is hypocrisy.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to be hypocrites.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: We want to have this perfect balance in our life as we become more like Jesus.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: Grace is God's orientation toward us.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: Imperfect, flawed people.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: He loves us, He pursues us.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: He rose again for us.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: He wants to forgive us.
36:04
SPEAKER_00: He wants to redeem us.
36:05
SPEAKER_00: Grace is the gospel and redemption.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: And truth is Jesus.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: He's the incarnate reality of truth.
36:15
SPEAKER_00: And as you read your Bible, you have truth.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: As you read your Bible, you see the way of life that God calls you to.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: You want to live that out.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: This is the gospel is grace, and the way of life is truth.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: We need both of these things in our life.
36:31
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: Then finally, number seven or number four today, I've confused all of you.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: If you were here last week, you understand.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Number four today, Jesus explained God to humanity.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: Jesus explained God to humanity.
36:51
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18, no one has ever seen God but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father.
36:59
SPEAKER_00: He has made him known.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: No one has ever seen God.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: In fact, we read about that over and over again.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: 1 John chapter 4, verse 12.
37:09
SPEAKER_00: No one has ever seen God.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: 1 Timothy 1 17, to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honored, glory forever and ever.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Invisible.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: 1 Timothy 6.16, God who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: John 6.46, not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God, he has seen the Father.
37:37
SPEAKER_00: So you're like, wait a minute.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: Didn't Moses see God in the desert?
37:40
SPEAKER_00: Didn't Isaiah see a glimpse of God's presence?
37:44
SPEAKER_00: Let me explain this.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: No person in history has seen a full revelation of the presence and glory of God.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: They've seen revelations of the presence of God, but they haven't seen a full revelation of the presence and glory of God.
38:03
SPEAKER_00: John Calvin wrote, when he says that no one is seeing God, it is not to be understood of the outward seeing of the physical eye.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: He means generally that since God dwells in inaccessible light, he cannot be known except in Christ, his lively image.
38:22
SPEAKER_00: So John says at the end of verse 18, are you guys still with me?
38:25
SPEAKER_00: You good?
38:26
SPEAKER_00: Amen if you're with me.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: He says in verse 18, Jesus has seen God.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is himself God, verse 18, who is himself God, and Jesus is in the closest relationship with God the Father.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: That's some definitive statements.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: I want you to make an observation.
38:51
SPEAKER_00: The way that John begins his introduction to the Gospel of John in verse 1 is almost the exact same way he ends his introduction to the Gospel of John in verse 18.
39:02
SPEAKER_00: He begins with Jesus with the Father, face to face, and Jesus is God, and he ends with Jesus with the Father, face to face, and Jesus is God, and then he closes with this definitive statement that unveils the rest of the Gospel of John.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: He says, He, Jesus, has made him, God the Father, known.
39:29
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to know Jesus?
39:31
SPEAKER_00: Let's explore the Gospel of John together.
39:34
SPEAKER_00: He, Jesus, has made him known.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: This is an important word.
39:54
SPEAKER_00: The Greek term here is from where we get our English term, exegesis, which means to explain or expound upon something.
40:02
SPEAKER_00: This is what every good Bible teacher should do.
40:06
SPEAKER_00: They explain, they unveil, they make known the heart of God from the Scriptures, the teachings of Scriptures, the context of Scripture, the theology of Scripture.
40:18
SPEAKER_00: They expound it, they exegete the text.
40:21
SPEAKER_00: This was my first experience at 17 years old going to a church.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: They just were explaining the Bible, and I was riveted.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: And then I started reading some of the great expositors, exegesis experts of ancient times, of the old times.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: I started reading, first of all, H.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: A.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: Ironside, who taught verse by verse, book by book, through the Old and New Testament at Moody Church in Chicago.
40:53
SPEAKER_00: And then I started reading G.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: Campbell Morgan, who in the 1800s was the most influential expositor of scripture in London, England.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: And then I started reading John Calvin and Warren Wearsby and Chuck Smith and Chris Wall from the great state of Texas, who taught a famous Bible teacher in Texas.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: And I started reading all of these great expositors of scripture, and they motivated me because I was like, I want to do that someday.
41:27
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know I got these commentaries.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know you were supposed to just use them to study the Bible.
41:33
SPEAKER_00: I just read them like books.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: And I was so excited.
41:38
SPEAKER_00: I was learning so much about the Bible from these great Bible teachers who were exegeting, who were expositing the text of Scripture.
41:49
SPEAKER_00: You can't explain something you don't know.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like the Artemis II astronauts who saw the dark side of the moon for the first time.
42:03
SPEAKER_00: And then I got a text this week.
42:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't think Kurt is here this morning.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: Where are you?
42:06
SPEAKER_00: Kurt skipping out on church.
42:08
SPEAKER_00: Is Kurt here this morning?
42:09
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm just teasing.
42:10
SPEAKER_00: I love Kurt.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: I don't think Kurt's here this morning, but he sent me a text and he was with one of the astronauts this week who saw the dark side of the moon.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: It's his friend.
42:21
SPEAKER_00: They were wrestling friends at the university they went to.
42:24
SPEAKER_00: They wrestled, wrestlers together.
42:26
SPEAKER_00: Now they're followers of Jesus, and one's an astronaut.
42:29
SPEAKER_00: It's pretty awesome.
42:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't know why I told that story.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: The point is, you can't explain something you don't know.
42:37
SPEAKER_00: Now they can explain something they know.
42:44
SPEAKER_00: The great FF Bruce wrote this: Jesus is the exit Jesus of God.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has fully explained God to humanity.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: When the disciples said, Show us the Father, Jesus answered, Do you not know?
43:02
SPEAKER_00: Even after I've been among you such a long time, anyone who's seen me has seen the Father.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: If you know Jesus, you know God.
43:14
SPEAKER_00: If you know Jesus, you know God.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: He came to die for you.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: He came to save you.
43:21
SPEAKER_00: He came to redeem your life.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: He came to make you spiritually alive.
43:25
SPEAKER_00: He came to show you his grace and his love.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: He is the reason for your existence.