Divine Identity, Eternal Promise

We are picking up where we left off last week in John chapter eight. Remember the setting of the chapter was the Feast of booths/tabernacles in Jerusalem. Jesus was in the temple treasury where he claimed to be the light of the world. What followed was a battle of testimony and a challenge of identity. Jesus was the bread of life in John chapter 6 who is the ultimate source of satisfaction for a hungry soul. As the light of the world, he exposes the sin in our lives, helps us see the world for what it truly is, and is the way in which we see God.

We are going to see another “I am” statement this morning. When people count the number of “I am” statements in John, they often don’t include this one. The reason for that, is that Jesus is not comparing himself to something. In every other “I am” statement, Jesus compares himself to bread, light, a door, a shepherd, and more. Here, Jesus doesn’t do that. But if you include this statement, there are eight ”I am” statements in the book of John.

We are going to focus on verses 48-59, but to get the proper context, we are going to have to look at the entire conversation beginning from where we left off last week.

In verses 21-30, talks about the fact that he is going away and unless the people believe in him they will die in their sins. He repeatedly tells them that he comes from his father and does his father’s will, but they don’t make the connection that Jesus is talking about the Father, God. If Jesus is lying about this, it makes him a blasphemer, which many think he is. But verse 30 reports that there are many who believed in him. But watch what happens next.

John 8:31–38 NASB95

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”

Here, we see the audience fails again to grasp what Jesus is saying. They seem to think what Jesus is saying refers to enslavement by a foreign power. Jesus says that the slavery we suffer from is not a person, but a condition. He is the cure for the condition.

What Jesus is arguing here is that sin is a condition, like a disease that can’t be treated with Aspirin or Tylenol. It is a condition that can only be cured by death. This sounds ironic, but it is true. Jesus is referring to the death that he will die, and that death will give us new life.

John 8:39–47 NASB95

They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

Notice there is an identity crisis here. There is an appeal from the Jews of national heritage. They are the offspring of Abraham. Jesus is pointing to the reality that their national heritage is not the focus here. Abraham had a relationship with God. He had a covenant with God. These people had taken the foundation of that relationship and used it to create a god in their own image.

If they really knew the God of their scriptures, they should be seeing Jesus for who he really is. Their problem was they didn’t know God. They knew about God. Remember I told you last week not to trade knowing God for knowing the word of God. They had a knowledge of things about God, but they missed God. And Jesus brings up an inconvenient truth.

You are either a child of God, or you are a child of the devil.

We like to believe that because we are all created in the image of God, we are all God’s children. The problem is that is not true. The Bible never refers to people who are lost in sin as children of God. Jesus refers to them as children of the devil. Those who reject God and the one whom he has sent are not the children of God. This is an inconvenient truth, but it is true. If our gospel begins with stating we are all God’s children, it is a false gospel. The group Jesus is speaking to loves the God they have created, but it is clear they have rejected the true God because they have rejected Jesus, whom he has sent to them.

These are hard words to hear, but national identity does not guarantee spiritual identity. Nobody on earth is born into a relationship with God. In fact, it is just the opposite. We are born into sin. We are born with a terminal disease. Our sin separates us from God and aligns us with the devil as enemies of God (James 4:4; 1 John 3:8). We only become God’s children when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, the cure for our terminal disease.

Look at that last statement again. “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

This is extremely important for the I am statement Jesus is about to make. The people are getting mad. Nobody wants to be called a child of the Devil. But see how the Jews respond:

John 8:48–59 NASB95

The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. “But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’ “Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

Let’s break this down for a second. The Jews, in response to Jesus claiming their national heritage as descendants of Abraham means nothing, and calling them sons of the Devil, claim Jesus is demon-possessed. He rejects this accusation claiming he honors his father, something they do not do. He then claims that anyone who keeps his word will not see death.

The Jews reject this because Abraham and the prophets all died. Is Jesus making himself out to be greater than they? YES! He says Abraham looked forward to this day. The Jews question this based on his age, and here it is: Before Abraham was born, I am. This is no accidental statement. The words are very intentional.

You see, there are all sorts of ideas about Jesus. Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that Jesus is God’s first created being, who is Michael the archangel, who because of his obedience to God, became just like God, then came to earth as the one called Jesus. But the Bible teaches us that Jesus did not just claim to be from God, he is God. This statement is evidence of that.

Mormons believe God was once a man like you and me, but he ascended into God status. Along with his spiritual wife, they gave birth to spiritual children who we all are. Jesus is the first of such offspring and his brother is Lucifer, the devil. Again, this is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that Christ is God, has come from God, and not an angel or the offspring of God.

Then you have a myriad of people who believe in a Jesus who conforms to their standards and not the other way around. In our Wednesday night class, we have learned this to be a life from God posture. A life from God posture says God is not involved in the day-to-day parts of our lives. We come to him only when we need something. But a part of this is a God who conforms to our standards. This is not what the Bible teaches. It teaches we are created creatures of a supreme being who have committed crimes of treason. The only solution is to receive a pardon by believing in the Son whom he has sent.

Because Jesus has revealed his divine identity, we must believe in him and embrace his promise of eternal life.

The question boils down to this: which Jesus have you embraced? Have you embraced a false view of Jesus based on the interpretations of false religions? Have you embraced the Jesus that conforms to your standards and exists to help you whenever you want him? Or are you embracing the biblical Jesus, king of the universe, who came to this world, died a death you deserved, was buried, and three days later rose from the dead and promises eternal life for anyone who will believe in him? This is the Jesus of the Bible.