The Gospel: It Really Is Good News

Judgment or Salvation?

John 12:44-50 is a conclusionary passage that summarizes the themes of the last 7 chapters of the book. We have been studying John in Sunday School for a while, but there is so much that happens in this book were going to have to spend some more time here in Wednesday Nights and our new M&M’s. So lets read John 12:44-50 together.

John 12:44-50

John 12:44–50 (ESV)

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.

And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.

And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

You don’t need to worry about how the Trinity works, if you believe in Jesus you believe in God.

We need to understand that creation, God, and reality are immensely complicated. Everything that happens around takes a crazy amount of mathematics and physics to event function. I am a firm believer that knowing how something works makes using things around you easier, but sometimes what we need is the simplified version of a function. Jesus is the simplified function of a relationship with God. And this is what God wants you to know about the relationship God wants with you.

God is more focused on saving and restoring you than judging you.

Jesus says that those who hear his words but do not keep his words are not judged, BUT those who reject him entirely will be judged.

Now does this mean we can recognize Jesus words as true, but ignore what he calls us to do? NO! Romans 6:1-2 says.

Romans 6:1-2

Romans 6:1–2 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

belief changes action, and if you believe in Jesus then your actions will reflect that as true.

So what does it mean. I means that grace is bigger than we think, and judgement is less part of the focus. It means that God is for us, not against us. It means while

Justice will be served and that sin still needs to be dealt within our lives; God’s desire is to save you from yourself and restore relationship with as many people as He will have Him.

Rejection of Jesus is very different than disobedience to God.

A good example of this is a parent to a child. My daughter is smart enough to know how much she can push the line before I will actually do discipline. She knows that ultimately I will always love her and that I will always forgive her and that as Townsends, when we make mistakes, we fix them.

Deliberate disobedience to someone defines your relationship with them.

We have talked about this multiple times in reference to how being married works. As a husband or as a wife there are several expectations that must be maintained in order for my wife and I to be considered married or faithful. Sometimes we can reject a relationship without explicitly saying we have done so, and we make ourselves liers. We have talked about what it means for Alicia and my marriage if I never come home. If I don’t spend time with her or sacrifice for her. If I were to start romantically seeing other women or Alicia started to romantically see or talk to other men, that would say something about our relationship status. If you see God’s desire to give you grace as license to do things that dishonor God, It says something about your relationship status with God.

What you do tells a story of whether you hear the words of Jesus or whether you have rejected His words.

John 12:50 says that God’s commandment is eternal life. When we look at the commandments of God its not to limit us or to stop us from being free, but the opposite. God’s commandments bring freedom and life.

John 12:50

John 12:50 ESV

And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus tells us why he came. He says,

Luke 4:18-19

Luke 4:18–19 ESV

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

This is the Gospel of the Bible clearly said. God created the world and all its inhabitants and we turned from God as we tried to be gods ourselves with our sins. God knew that this would lead to our destruction. Since the beginning God began a rescue mission to defeat sin and bring salvation, freedom, justice, sight and liberty to everyone who was stuck in their sinful desires.