The Superiority of Christ

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John 3:31–36 (ESV)

31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Opening Prayer

I want us to pick up this morning from last week’s concluding statement by John the Baptist...

John 3:30 (ESV)

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

And I want us to see what JB knew...

Mankind is Not the Source of Truth?

Why is Nicodemus, no matter his education level and extensive knowledge of Scripture, not capable to judge Christ...

Not credentialed to evaluate Christ.

But rather Christ judge Him.

Why is Christ the real evaluator of Nicodemus and not the other way around?

Why must John decrease and Christ increase?

Why must all human beings submit to Christ?

Trust God?

Obey God?

Worship God?

Because of the person of God.

John 3:31–32 (ESV)

31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who came down from His throne...

And, took upon flesh in order to reveal God in fulness.

He has and reveals divine truth as the eternal, divine Son.

All of us, Nicodemus, John the Baptist, all human beings are of the earth.

We understand earthly things.

We speak of earthly things.

We can point to spiritual truths in God’s Word.

We can point to Christ, through the preaching of the gospel.

But...

We cannot grant faith.

We cannot regenerate or grant the new birth.

We cannot forgive sins against God.

We cannot reconcile any one to God.

We cannot redeem ourselves, much less others.

All the things we preach, must be for the purpose of pointing people to Christ.

The One who holds and distributes the spiritual blessings of His New Covenant.

He must increase. All others must decrease.

Let’s look at this list of statements regarding Christ...

John 3:31–35 (ESV)

31 He who comes from above is above all. (repeated 2x) ...He who comes from heaven is above all. (Superiority) 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard (Veracity/Infallibility) 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. (Authority)

Jesus is the superior Teacher. (expound)

Jesus is the superior Prophet. (expound)

Jesus is God come down...

To proclaim and teach the Word of God infallibly in every word He utters.

What Jesus says, and all that He says, is infallible, inerrant, divine truth.

And, all authority and all things are given to Him by His Father.

We see this emphasized further by the statement in...

John 3:34 (ESV)

34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.

Jesus is not merely a prophet who speaks the Words of God on occasion.

He is not at some time able to speak God’s Word and other times waiting or ignorant of God’s Word or Will.

Jesus’ authority to speak as God is unlimited.

The measure of the Spirit of God on Christ is unlimited and unscheduled.

And, so...

John 3:35 (ESV)

35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

All things are given, by the Father, into the hands of Jesus...

Because Jesus was speaking and behaving as God in the flesh...

And, in His humanity, endued with the full measure of the Spirit.

So, Christ is the One who can grant:

the new birth

forgiveness

reconciliation

redemption

deliverance from the domain of darkness

citizenship into the Kingdom of Christ

spiritual understanding

He is above all.

He, being from heaven, authoritatively and infallibly speaks to heavenly things.

He speaks divinely without exception.

He has authority over all things.

He is loved by God the Father.

He is superior over all.

He must increase. All others must decrease.

Let’s think about this...

How is this going for you?

Are you decreasing in your resting in self?

Are you increasing in your resting in Christ?

Are you getting better at acknowledging that your identity and status before God is exclusively dependent upon what Christ has done on your behalf?

Where are you failing?

Are you aware of where you are failing? Do you care to know where you are failing?

In what area of your life are you hoping and trusting in your self-determinism?

These are important questions...

And, the foundational answer is...

Jesus must increase. I must decrease.

Now, let’s look...

Back to the Earthly

In this contrast of Christ and all others in v.31...

We are told all others from Christ are of the earth...

John 3:31–36 (ESV)

31…He who is of the earth [mankind] belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way.

32 He [Jesus] bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.

This is speaking of our natural state.

This is not saying that no one received Christ.

Not only do we know this from the rest of this gospel and NT...

We know this from the next verse.

33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.

So the no one in v.32 is speaking of the condition of man that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about.

No one, Nicodemus, can know, see, perceive, understand the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.

Same thing was stated in Chapter 1.

John 1:11–13 (ESV)

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all [of His people like John] who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

The sinful condition of man hinders from receiving Christ.

But, those who do receive Christ...

How do we explain that phenomenon?

They are born of God.

Paul says, God made alive.

Jesus said they are born again by the power and work of the HS upon the person.

Now, additionally, John tells us explicitly...

The gospel proclaims explicitly...

Faith & Unbelief Have Consequences

John 3:33 (ESV)

33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.

This is more than just some generic truth that God tells the truth.

It means that of course...

But, this is a statement about God’s promises, specifically with regards to God’s promises to save.

So, when someone believes in Christ...

When someone embraces the gospel and is united to Christ by faith...

The promise of God to provide the Seed in Genesis 3 that will redeem a people...

The promise further revealed in the promise that the Seed would come through the lineage of Abraham...

And, this seed would bring a better covenant...

That would bring blessings to the Nations...

One in which the members of that covenant are given a new heart.

They are born again/born from above.

Just as promised of the NC in the OT.

Spiritual circumcision/New Birth is a necessity to receive Christ...

And, God promised and delivered such through the Son of His love...

Jesus Christ.

God has kept His promises to redeem a people out of a status of death and condemnation through their rejecting God...

Into the status of faith in God, love for God, and hope in God.

Every time a person is born again it is a testimony to those around them that God breaks through the hardness of the heart...

And, makes us born again to a living hope in God through Jesus Christ.

So, God’s work in the elect of God through the new birth…

And the fruit of the new birth...

They bear witness to the world that God is true.

God keeps His promises.

Another consequence to faith

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life;

The reward of being in covenant with Christ...

Is eternal life.

Life without sin and sin’s consequences.

Life that never ends.

Life that is good, holy, and filled with joy.

Christ gives to each and every person that puts their faith in Him.

But, if you don’t believe the testimony of Christ...

36...whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

The statement whoever does not obey the Son...

Is another way of saying whoever does not believe the Son.

Just earlier...

John 3:18 (ESV)

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Disbelief in the Son is calling God a liar.

Disbelief in the Son is disobeying the message of the gospel...

Which calls us to faith in Christ.

To be clear if you reject the message of the gospel and reject Christ...

Which is rejecting God...

The wrath of God remains on you for your sins against Him.

The only, and exclusive offer of God for your condemnation to be removed is by receiving Christ, the beloved Son.

Anything else, and all other offers are false...

And are in their totality a rejection of the One true God.

Listen, if you’re not a Christian...

There’s nothing impeding your coming to Christ except your own sinfulness.

The hardness of your heart, the love of your sin.

Those are the walls that we build up, as fallen sinners, to hinder us from receiving the testimony of Christ.

All hindrances to everyone who has rejected Christ are self-made.

We need One who can break down those strongholds that we build up...

We need an omnipotent Savior to break through the walls and chains that we’ve put ourselves into...

And not only impart knowledge but understanding as well.

Christ is the One who can and does this, by His power, through the work of the Holy Spirit of God.

Come to Christ.

Feel the weight of your sin and fall on Christ.

Ask Him to rescue you, save you, forgive you.

He promises that He will not turn you away.

Let’s think about this...

All that the passage teaches us, confronts us with, reminds us, beckons us to heed...

I want us to think about them...

Christ is Superior to All.

Christ speaks infallibly...

—> which means what He commands is infallibly the best thing for you to do.

If Christ is God, therefore Superior to all and He speaks infallibly...

He has and should be seen as the Supreme Authority over all things...

Creation (earthly things), Divine revelation, Spiritual truth...

He is the Supreme Authority in all that He speaks and reveals.

We do not have the wisdom, not the power, nor the origin to exalt our ideologies and philosophies above His revelation.

And, yet do we not do it all the time...

How many of you agree that there are hard truths in the Bible?

But why are they hard?

Are they hard because they’re borderline unrighteous? No.

They’re hard truths because of the hardness of our hearts to submit to the truth revealed by the Christ who is:

Superior over all

Infallible in His revelation.

And, has authority over all things.

Hard truths in God’s Word are hard because we struggle to submit to the very One who is seeking to deliver us from our hardness of heart.

So, ask yourself these questions...

Am I an eager and willing subject to the Word of God?

Am I praying that the Holy Spirit exposes my sins?

Am I praying that the Holy Spirit helps me put sin to death?

Am I praying that the Holy Spirit helps me rest in Christ while pursuing to put sin to death?

Am I acknowledging in my life, the superiority of the Word of God over my ideas, habits, philosophies and views that permeate my life?

These questions and our ability to respond in the positive are important for our sanctification.

Our finding a negative response to those questions should invoke in us sorrow for our sin, a desire to repent, and a reassurance of our need to rest and hope in Christ.

Now, the power of conviction and the power of change in us is the power of the Holy Spirit who uses the Scriptures...

But, God uses means and a general and ordinary means of God for the edification of the Saints is the Church...

So, ask yourself these questions and these questions are important for the health of the church and the mutual edification of the church...

Am I a willing receiver of brothers or sisters in Christ who have concern for me in a specific area of my life?

Not that they are always right, but are you at least willing to receive them and their concerns for prayerful consideration?

Are you regularly going to the Scriptures and God to help you concede that there are areas of liberty, and in those areas of liberty there are other equally valuable options and that those who choose other than you should be equally loved by you the same as those who choose the same as you?

we like cliques of like-minded people, our tendency is to isolate ourself with those cliques, it empowers us to feel right in self

we should not have cliques in the church

I have no doubt based on Scripture that we all struggle with answering these questions positively...

This is exactly why we need to continually subject ourselves to Christ and His Word.

We need to continually rest in the finished work of Christ as our hope and security.

We need to continually and faithfully attend the local church that we’ve attached ourselves to.

We need the ordained means of grace, prayer, praise and the preaching of God’s Word, the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.

We need the ordained means of mutual edification that we are to receive within the church from the Lord’s people.

All of this points to and is a testimony of the Veracity of God and the Superiority of Christ over all.

Closing Prayer