That you might Believe- An overview of John (2)

Intro: I was going to take this final week in the gospel of John to look at John 21 again and the 2 additional qualities of one who follows Jesus but as I was planning out our January Sermon series I realized that I will be speaking on this same topic then so today we are going to look at the gospel of John in its entirety.

Funny Illustration about drawing conclusions without all the facts

We have just finished an entire year studying this gospel.

Each week we have progressively taken the next section of the book and exegetically walked through it together so that we could see and understand the meaning That Christ intended his church to see.

Our goal (today)

To see the gospel of John in its entirety.

To understand the truths the apostle John intended for his original audience to glean &

To embrace why this book is still so important for us today.

The gospel of John is one of the simplest books of the Bible to understand .

This is why so many people begin their bible study in this book.

PRAY

Transition: So who is author of the gospel of John?

Authorship

One of the most undisputed authorships in the Bible is the gospel Gospel of John, Even though John never mentions himself by name in the book.

the fourth gospel was written by John the Apostle, A fisherman, The son of Zebedee and brother of James, one of the first four of the 12 disciples called by Jesus.

These facts are important because This account of the ministry and work of jesus is written by an eye witness who was there and testifies to it’s truth,

Although John never mentions his own name in his writings, he always refers to himself as the beloved disciple - the disciple loved by Jesus.

We see examples of this in

John 12:23 “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved” .

(John 19:26 “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

So Why does John not mention himself by name?

I believe that John explains his reasoning for not including his own name in

John 3:30 (ESV)

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John wants the name of Jesus Alone to be exalted

John is so in love with Jesus that He wants to make sure this book is all about Jesus and nothing about himself.

And so when it comes to the author of the gospel of John- It is written by someone who loved Jesus, by someone who walked with Jesus, by someone who was an eye witness to the ministry of Jesus and by someone who gave his entire life to serve Jesus.

and this is why John in his final note to the reader says in(John 21:24

John 21:24 (ESV)

This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

Transition: Because we can trust the author we can trust the message of the author

So what was John’s purpose for writing his gospel?

The Purpose of The Gospel of John

Illustration: Research Paper Thesis

How many of you have ever written a Research paper in college?

When I was in college I had to write dozens of research papers.

at Bible College I wrote papers about Theology, about doctrine, about Culture, and about Christian living

at Iowa State I wrote papers on the history of America, on the Government , and on Scientific discoveries.

But even though all of these papers where different in content, The one thing that always had to be clear -no matter the topic- was the thesis of my paper-

What point am I trying to prove?

What is the purpose of my paper?

The apostle John Makes his thesis very clear in the gospel.

Now in College your are suppose to state your thesis at the end of the introductory paragraph,, but John waits until the end of his letter to give the reader the clear purpose statement of his book.

Look with me at John 20:30-31 “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John’s Thesis statement , His Purpose in writing this gospel is 2 fold

For the reader to To Believe in the deity of Jesus Christ

Which means to believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God

For the Reader to To Gain eternal Life with God.

Which means to live in Heaven forever with God.

Johns thesis is that Eternal life requires Belief in Jesus alone.

Transition ; and this brings us the overarching theme of the book John

The Theme of the Gospel of John

John accomplished this purpose in His gospel by giving us the proof that Jesus is who He claims to be and that belief in Him is the only way to gain eternal life.

The over arcing theme of the gospel of John can be summarized in one word “Believe.”

In Fact John uses this verb “Believe” 98 times in this book to emphasis His thesis, which is more than the other 3 gospels combined.

The other common words used in the book are Jesus, the Father, the world,Life, glory, Love, Receive, and Eternal.

These are not just overused words in the book of John but these are the words that encapsulate the good news of the gospel.

The theme of the Book of John is the gospel that brings salvation

WALK THROUGH SLIDE The Father Loved the World So Much that He sent Jesus take their place and pay the debt of sin that they owed and if they would Believe in Jesus and Receive him as their substitutionary sacrifice for their sins then they would receive Eternal life and live with God in His glory forever.

John spent 3 years at Jesus’s side watching and participation in His earthly ministry,. He heard Jesus’s stories, He listened to Jesus’ sermons, he watched Jesus perform many miracles, He listened to Jesus pray, and he was there during Jesus’S final days before his death. but John tells us that he didn’t include all of theses accounts in this book.

he chose certain ones that what would help us believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be.

The Central Character of the Gospel of John:

John doesn’t waste any time in introducing the central character of His story. . In chapter one John begins to build the case that the gospel is all about Jesus. and that he alone has the authority to bring salvation to mankind.

John 1:1–5 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John wants to make sure the reader understands from the beginning that Jesus is the central theme of this book.

and for the rest of the 21 chapters - this book is all about Jesus and the proof that He is God.

Elmer towns in his commentary on John Describes the centrality of Jesus through this book by showing the reader that Jesus is central to every chapter in this bool

Jesus is the central character in Every chapter of this book.

DONT READ JUST HAVE SLIDE ---CHAPTER:

(we see )Christ as the Word of God

Christ as the creator God

Christ as the Savior

Christ as the water of life

Christ as Deity

Christ as the Bread of Life

Christ as the Heavenly One

Christ as the light in Darkness

Christ as the light of the Word

Christ as the Good Shepherd

Christ as the resurrection and Life

Christ as the Center of Attraction of all history

Christ as the Servant

Christ as the coming One

Christ as the Vine

Christ as the Preeminent One

Christ as the Intercessor

Christ as the Faithful One

Christ as the Lamb of God

Christ as the Victorious One

Christ as the Risen Savior

When it comes to the gospel of John it is all about Jesus.

Transition: John so eloquently gives us a chronological story of the 3 year ministry of Christ, but like we mentioned before, His purpose was ”to include only those things that would help us as the readers to believe in Jesus.”

Throughout the book ,John builds a case that Jesus is who he claims to be so that we can come to the conclusion that what He says must be truth.

and so John Presents 8 witnesses in this book to testify of the deity of Christ .

The 8 witness of Christ’s deity in this gospel of John.

Illustration: Court room- Witnesses prove the case.-

How many of you have every had to do jury duty?

I have been summoned for jury duty 4 times in my life.

I dont know how people get out of Jury duty but I seem to get selected every time.

The role of the Jury is to hear the testimony of the witnesses and to look at the facts so that they can determine what is truth,

There is something about our human nature that we want to see proof before we fully commit to believing anything.

The apostle John understands this human nature to want to see the proof that Jesus is who he claims to be.

and so Built into the story line of John’s Gospel are 8 witnesses of Christ’s deity.

And its these 8 witnesses that prove Jesus is who he claims to be.

lets look at these 8 witnesses in the gospel of John .

The testimony of John the Baptist .

John 1:32–34 (ESV)

And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John the Baptist was a prophet sent to prophecy of the coming Messiah and He bore witness that Jesus was this sent Messiah.

The testimony of the Disciples.

John 15:27 ESV

And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

The 12 disciples lived with Jesus walked with jesus listened to jesus and saw the miracles that Jesus performed.

This qualified them as eye witnesses to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah

The testimony of Moses.

John 5:46 ESV

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.

The Old Testament prophets wrote about Jesus and testified about His coming

In fact did you know thatJesus fulfilled all of the OT Messianic prophecies which totaled more than 400.

scientist calculated that The odds of one man fulfilling just 48 of these prophesies would be 1 with 157 zeros behind it.

The point is this Jesus did the impossible. He fulfilled all of the prophesies and the testimony of Moses and all the other OT prophets prove it .

The testimony of God The Father.

John 5:37 ESV

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,

God the Father said this is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The testimony of the father proved the deity of Jesus.

The testimony of _the Holy Spirit.

John 15:26 ESV

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

The Holy Spirit has one task and that is to bear witness of Jesus. His purpose in being sent to earth is To point people to Jesus, to draw them to jesus, to convict men of sin that separates them from Jesus, and to eternally secure the redeemed in Jesus.

trans: John Now Puts Jesus himself on the stand.

Testimony ofJesus:

in chapter 8 When Jesus is questioned about His deity He Takes it a step farther and says I am not just the Son of God But I AM God.

John 8:58 ESV

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

( This was a tremendous assertion of Christ.

In this one statement He is making Himself equal with Old Testament deity.

Every Jew who would have heard Jesus Claim to be” I Am” would instantly think of Jehovah’s words to Moses in the Old Testament,

Exodus 3:13–14 ESV

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

Church family- we need to understand that When Jesus Identified himself as “I Am”- He was making the claim that He was Jehovah God - the God of the old testament- and the God of Moses.

When Jesus claimed to be I am , He was saying I Am the self- existent one- Comparable to no other.

I AM “God manifest in the flesh to mankind.”

I AM without a beginning or an end ending. I am Alpha and Omega.

7 times John Records Jesus Testimony in using the name “I AM” to reveal His character to the world.

The 7 I Ams of Jesus (ONLY READ THE VERSES)

I Am the bread of Life (ch. 6)

John 6:35 ESV

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

I Am the light of the world (ch. 8)

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

I Am the Door (ch. 10)

John 10:9 ESV

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

I Am the good shepherd (ch. 10)

John 10:11 ESV

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

I Am the resurrection and the Life ( ch. 11)

John 11:25 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

I Am the way the truth and the life (ch. 14)

John 14:6 ESV

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

I Am the vine (ch.15)

John 15:5 ESV

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Transition: Jesus not only claimed to be God with His words but He also did what only God could do. He performed super natural miracles.

the 7th witness of Jesus is the testimony of His Miracles

The testimony of Jesus’s Miracles.

John 10:37–38 (ESV)

If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

Jesus says the purpose of His miracles

To display the power of God which proves His own Deity so that it will produce faith from unbelief.

(Dont say )THE SIGN MIRACLES

John chooses to use the word Sign to describe these super natural works of Jesus because he does not want the reader to get caught up in the work itself but to understand the message of the miracle.

John Records 8 MIRACLES that prove the deity of Jesus

Ch. 2 - Turned water into wine - proving He has power over creation

Ch. 4- Healed a nobleman’s son without having to be with him physically He simple said go home I have healed the boy - proving He has power over space

Ch. 5 -Healed a man instantly who had been lame for 38 years - proving He has power over time

ch. 6 Feed over5,000 with one boys small lunch - proving He has power over provisions

ch 6 Walked on the sea in a raging storm- proving He has power over natural law

ch. 9 - Healed a blind man that had no hope - proving He has power over physical laws

ch. 11 Raised Lazarus from the dead -jesus has power over death

ch 21 - Filled the discipels net with fish after they were unsuccessful all night- proving to his disciples that He has Soverign power over all things in life

These miracles in an of themselves, Testified that jesus was God, They were proof that Jesus possessed divine power. Power only God could have.

Transition: Finally the last witness John Calls in defense of Christ’s deity is...

The testimony of Changed Lives

There is no better testimony for Christ’s deity than from those who experienced God’s grace and love in their life personally through Jesus.

John 4:39 ESV

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”

This Samaritan town proclaimed Jesus because they experienced Jesus power in their lives when He in love came to that Samaritan women at the well.

John 9:38 the blind man after being healed said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”

The blind man who Jesus Healed miraculously proclaimed Jesus after he experienced Jesus power in His life.

John 12:17 ESV

The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.

the crowd that saw Lazarus come out of the grave Continued to proclaim Jesus because they witnessed his power

Transition: The gospel of John systematically builds the case for Christ’s deity. John beautifully piled on witness after witness to prove Jesus is truly who he claimed to be.

All so that we Might Believe in Jesus

All so that we might receive life through his name

BRING IT HOME

John’s Thesis for His book is summed up in one word. BELIEVE

Our contemporary American culture is all about belief right now - we hear it over and over and over again on the radio on the television and on social media.

- Our culture is trying to convince us that it doesn't matter what or who you believe in, as long as you believe in Belief.

As long as a person has faith in something their life will be better off.

We are so deceived in this world,

Our selfish culture wants people to believe that there are many ways for fulfillment in this life

It tries to convince mankind that if you just believe in your self more than you can find your happiness.

Our own human nature wants us to believe that there are many different ways to get right with God you just have choose what feels right to you,,

The ruler of this world (Satan) is trying to convince mankind that you can be good enough on your own to gain eternal life.

The gospel of John doesn't teach us to just believe in something that seems right, or that feels good, or that fits our lifestyle .

John is describing a belief that is so much deeper than a feeling He has layed out the case for a believe that will radically change your life forever.

In fact it is so radical that it goes against every self preserving fiber in our human nature

I WANT TO LEAVE YOU WITH ONE VERSE as we go today

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Don' fall into the lies of this world. don’t just believe in belief- the Bible is so clear there is only one way to heaven and that is through belief in Jesus Christ.