3: What is Biblical Belief? (John 1:6-18)

Some years ago an English village had a small stone chapel with the traditional ivy that covered the walls. The original builders of the chapel inscribed over the entry arch the words that Paul wrote from 1 Cor. 1:23 "We Preach Christ Crucified," so that everybody who ever entered would know the purpose for which they had gathered. There was, in fact, a generation of godly men who did exactly that. They preached Christ crucified!

Times changed; the ivy grew, and soon the ivy covered the last  word on the sign. Now the sign said, "We Preach Christ."

The once godly men had changed also. Soon other men came and they preached Christ, Christ the good person, Christ the humanitarian, and Christ the ideal teacher. But they did not teach much of Christ, the Savior from sin and the Lord of our lives.

The years passed and the ivy continued to grow. Finally the sign said, "We Preach." And they did just that, they preached economics, social gospel, book reviews, and anything else that would draw crowds and please the people.

We refuse to do that. We believe the Scriptures are the very words of God, written TO people THROUGH people. And while Christmas is a time we celebrate Jesus’ birth, we must never forget His death. In fact, without the CROSS we wouldn’t pay attention to the CRADLE. To that end, we continue our NEW series The Gospel According to John, where John, one of the very closest friends and disciples of Jesus, launches his writing in a different way than the other writers. John starts, not from a human perspective, but from HEAVEN’S perspective.

John 1:1–5 (CSB) 1 In the beginning was the Word [the Word was timeless], and the Word was with God [the Word was sinless], and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created [the Word was limitless]. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

And that WORD was, according to verse 14 - JESUS!

So Jesus was Timeless, Sinless, & Limitless.

And that’s where we pick up in John’s Gospel.

John 1:6–8 (CSB) There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.

We can breeze through verse 6, but let’s tap the brakes and consider the significance of these words: John - was a man sent from God. John, mentioned here, is NOT the author of this text, but is referring to John 'the baptist’ (JOKE: Not John the Methodist, John the Pentecostal, but John the BAPTIST - that’s our boy!). Just after Christmas, we will discover much more about his important prophet of God, let’s do a quick fly-by of this man.

John grew up just like most other Jewish boys of his day, but there was always something a little different about him. John the baptist had an important task that others didn’t have - a forerunner to announce the coming King. Here the Scripture says it this way, “He was not the light”, but was sent from God to point others to the light.

John was a lot like the moon, having no light in and of itself but simply reflecting the light from the sun. So John the baptist was not the light, but he came to reflect 'the light'. It will soon become evident that 'the word' and 'the light' are the same person.

John’s Purpose? To point others to the light, so that all might believe through him. Believe.

“Believe” is used 98 times in John’s Gospel (compared to 241 times in the entire New Testament). The term for believe (Greek pisteuō) = TOTAL TRUST. John has come to point people to the light, to BELIEVE in him.

The Scripture continues…

John 1:9-11 (CSB) The true light that gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

John, the author of this gospel, doesn’t say anything specific about the birth of Jesus. This is about as close as he gets. The true light…was coming into the world, not only was Jesus BORN and LIVED as a human being, but DIED as a human being.

It’s WILD to consider that when Jesus, the true light (aka “the Word”) came to the world HE created, the world (people on the planet) did not recognize him. And even though his own Jewish people were actively looking for their Messiah, they did not receive him.

This is the first time this gospel mentions His rejection, but it will not be the last, as John shows Jesus being rejected by many of his own Jewish people over and over again.

Thankfully, that’s not true of all Jewish people. As a matter of fact, the reason why you’re here today reading from this 2000 year old text from 6000 miles away, now in your language, is because some of his own people DID receive Jesus. We should be grateful for the faithful Jewish folks who helped bring US the message!

John 1:12-13 (CSB) But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

How does one become a child of God? Some say ALL people are “children of God”. But this is EXACTLY what John says is NOT the case. A person is NOT a child of God because they are born physically.

But, as we have said before, from a biblical point of view, while all people ARE God’s Creation, but not all are God’s Children. As we will see in few weeks from John 3, we are not BORN as children of God, but we are REBORN or BORN AGAIN as children of God.

If that’s the case - that we are not children of God by default - how does one become a CHILD of God? Those who will believe in his name (Jesus), are given the right to be children of God. This is not by believing that the Messiah is named “Jesus”. To believe in his name means to trust in Him and His authority - WHO He is and WHAT He says.

Sadly, many Christians have made this out to be nothing more than simply believing Jesus existed and that he died on a cross to pay for our sins, but it doesn’t lead to obedience & life transformation.

BIBLICAL BELIEF = TRUST & OBEY

In other words, if you do not obey, you do not truly Biblically BELIEVE. If you BELIEVE, you TRUST, and if you TRUST, then you OBEY what He says.

I recently watch a debate between 2 solid Christian leaders & 2 homosexual church leaders. The 2 homosexual leaders consistently claimed, “We BELIEVE in Jesus, we love Jesus, we are Christians.” But this kind of BELIEF, is NOT Biblical Belief. By the way, this would be true of other sins too.

For example:

Unmarried heterosexual couples are intimate outside of marriage.

Those who continually lie, steal, use dirty language, treat others unkindly, abusing alcohol & other drugs…imagine them all saying the same thing, “We believe Jesus. We love Jesus. We are Christians.”

What would you SAY to that person? It's time we graciously tell them the truth...that:

BIBLICAL BELIEF = TRUST & OBEY

Trust is demonstrated by Obedience.

Look how John notes in another letter he wrote.

1 John 3:10 (NET) By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed [NAS obvious]: Everyone who does not practice righteousness—the one who does not love his fellow Christian—is not of God.

SELF-TEST: Are you a CHILD of GOD? Do you really BELIEVE?

BIBLICAL BELIEF = TRUST & OBEY

Back to the gospel text, John has called the hero of his writing “the Word”, “the light”, and the one we must BELIEVE in.

As we already took a peek a couple of weeks ago, we know WHO this is referring to, but John’s audience might be scratching their head at this point.

John has kept his audience in suspense long enough. It is time for the big reveal!

John 1:14 (CSB) The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…

THIS is the ONE the Jewish people had been waiting on. THIS is the one whom shepherds in Bethlehem heard these words about,

Luke 2:11 (CSB) Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

John 1:14-15 (CSB) The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ ”)

What!? John the baptist was a cousin of Jesus - born 6 months before Jesus was birthed in Bethlehem (Luke 1:36). Yet he declares that Jesus “ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.” How could THAT be? Look as John the apostle pulls reveals who Jesus is!

John 1:16-18 (CSB) Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The one and only Son, who is himself God and is at the Father’s side—he has revealed him.

’The Word,’ ’the Light,’ the Creator of all things, “the only Son from the Father”.…is Jesus Christ (Christ means messiah - Hebrew term for anointed).

THIS is the ONE who came from heaven, was BORN and grew up as a human child, who has revealed God’s grace and truth to us. THAT is why Jesus came to earth. THAT is what Christmas is all about…Charlie Brown!

THIS is the ONE that John the apostle was writing about and the ONE whom John the baptist was heralding - that we might believe in Jesus the Messiah! And…

BIBLICAL BELIEF = TRUST & OBEY

Maybe you’ve heard an old hymn by this title - Trust & Obey

In 1886 when the composer of the music, Daniel B. Towner (1850-1919), was the music leader during one of Dwight L. Moody’s famous revivals. He recounts how the song came to be.

“Mr. Moody was conducting a series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts, and I had the pleasure of singing for him there. One night a young man rose in a testimony meeting and said, ‘I am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.’ I just jotted that sentence down, and sent it with a little story to the Rev. J. H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister. He wrote the hymn, and the tune was born.”

TRUST & OBEY (by John H. Sammis, 1887) When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet, Or we’ll walk by His side in the way; What He says we will do, where He sends we will go; Never fear, only trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

You know what?!? I’ve found that to be SO TRUE!!!!

This Christmas season, will the lights, food, parties & presents be enough? And what about when it’s all over? Will you be looking for the next event, the next relationship, the next purchase?

OR will you TRUST & OBEY the Lord Jesus?

FEET2FAITH

When you are tempted to do wrong…will you TRUST & OBEY?

When you are tempted to bypass doing what is right…. will you TRUST & OBEY?

Will you READ the letter of 1 John sometime during this Christmas break (maybe several times)? Share what you are learning or questions you have with another believer.

TRUST AND OBEY, FOR THERE’S NO OTHER WAY TO BE HAPPY IN JESUS, BUT TO TRUST AND OBEY.

PRAY

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

What challenged or encouraged you from today’s teaching?

Read John 1:6-8. How does thinking of John the Baptist being like the moon, and Jesus as the sun, help you to appreciate what John came to do? What are some practical ways that WE can point others to the LIGHT of Jesus in our daily practices?

Read John 1:9-11. How is it that many of the Jewish people did NOT recognize Jesus as Messiah? What are some preconceived ideas WE might have that keep us from trusting Jesus of the Scriptures as well?

What would you say to the person who says, “The Jewish people missed their Messiah,” and blames the Jewish people for Jesus’ death? (Remember that the 1st followers of Jesus were all Jewish.)

Read John 1:12-13 and 1 John 3:10. How would you respond to a person who tries to justify a sinful life yet says, “All I have to do to go to heaven is BELIEVE in Jesus?” How do the Scriptures (based on todays BIG TRUTH - Biblical Belief = Trust & Obey), help you better answer someone like this?

Read John 1:14-18 and discuss the incredible claims about WHO Jesus is.

Consider reading 1 chapter from 1 John (another of John’s letters near the end of the New Testament) everyday, and then contact a same-sex Christian to discuss what questions you have or insights you have gained.

Share any prayer needs and PRAY TOGETHER!