Jesus the True Light- John 1:6-13

Introduction

Well good afternoon church!

If you’re new with us, my name is Andrew McClure I’m one of the Pastor’s here, and I’d like to begin by wishing us all a Happy Birthday!

That’s right, this past Wednesday marked 2 years since we launched as a church.

And even amidst the chaos of creating contingency plans due to City Center’s construction, I took some time to reflect on the last two years, and honestly just give thanks to God for all that He has done.

He has laid a mighty foundation for CBC Richmond Hill, and I can’t wait to watch Him build upon it.

It reminds me of the book of Ezra, now we preached Ezra over a year ago, so let me remind you.

The People of Israel had been exiled to Babylon due to their unfaithfulness to the Lord, but God was steadfast in His Love toward His people.

And out of His compassion, he led a return. A return of the people of Israel back to their homeland, and they began to rebuild their homes, and Temple, and worship centered on God.

Well early on in their return, they laid the foundation of the Temple, and once the foundation was completed all of Israel gathered in Jerusalem.

It was a great congregation, and Ezra 3:11 reads “And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.”

Church, He is good, and his steadfast love endures forever!

So would you join me in responding, with praise and giving thanks!

Lord, we praise you! God you are good, and your steadfast love truly endures forever. You have been our rock, our refuge, our strong tower throughout all the good and the bad of the last 2 years! But we have seen you SAVE! Young and Old have turned to find life in you! We have seen you RESTORE! Marriage that were falling apart, are growing again. Families in disorder and chaos, whole and healthy. We’ve seen you DELIVER! People set free from addiction and sin. We’ve seen you HEAL, hurts that led to resentment and bitterness, have been healed through the power of forgiveness in Jesus Name! God, it has been a good 2 years! And do it again! Keep Working! Keep Loving. Keep saving, restoring, delivering, and healing for our good, and your glory Amen!

Amen. You can go ahead and have a seat.

I can’t wait for the next few years! I don’t know what he’ll do, but I know it’ll be great!

But one thing I do know for certain is that for at least a year, we will be in the Gospel of John!

So if you have your Bible, and I hope you do, please go ahead and turn with me to John 1.

I’ve never been to law school. Nor have I ever worked in mergers or acquisitions, and come to think of it I’ve actually never been in sales… And I’ve known my wife Annie for 16 years now, and I’m confident she can say the same.

So where on earth did my kids learn the Art of Negotiation so successfully?

It may just be me, but I feel like every imperative command I give, somehow becomes some hostage negotiation.

At least once a week, the following scenario transpires.

“Kids, if you eat all of your dinner, you can have desert.”

“Okay, well, what if I eat all of my hot dog.”

“Then you don’t get desert, if you eat all of your dinner including your fruit then you can have desert.”

Okay, so, what if I eat all of my fruit, but leave some of the hotdog”

No! This is not a democracy, you do not get a say here.

And round and round we go.

My kids respond to my commands with negotiation.

Now, how many of us are guilty of responding to God like this?

We want His salvation, the dessert, but we don’t want his Lordship.

We want His mercy, but we don’t really want his Monarchy.

We want His Peace, but we don’t want his reign as Prince of Peace.

We want Him as our teacher, but we just don’t want to claim him as our God.

But as C.S. Lewis famously wrote, “You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool… or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let’s not come with any patronizing nonsense about Him just being a good teacher. He has not left that open to us.”

For centuries, we have all tried to make Jesus out to be what we want Him to be.

We negotiate.

But church, He has not left that open to us.

You can call Him a fool, or you can fall at His Feet and call Him Lord and God.

This is not a negotiation, those are your two options.

Reject Him or Rceieve Him

And that is exactly the point that John is going to make in our text today.

So let’s read our text, and then unpack it together.

John 1:6–13 ESV

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

So let’s begin, by looking at what John wants us to see about Jesus.

Then we’ll look at our decision.

The True Light

After revealing to us the Deity of Jesus Christ in the opening 5 verses, John seemingly takes a hard right turn to introduce us to a character named John the Baptist.

John 1:6–7 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.”

Now I’ll cover John the Baptist extensively in two weeks, but his inclusion here is consistent with the other Gospel narratives.

All 4 gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, introduce us to Jesus’ ministry, by first introducing us to John the Baptist, who was a forerunner.

His task was to go before Jesus, and prepare people to meet Jesus, and recognize Him.

This was his task. “To Witness”

Our text says, He came as a witness.

This is courtroom language, and should provide courtroom imagery in your mind.

A Witness is called to the stand to testify to what they have seen, heard, or known.

And that’s why John was SENT by God, to testify to people what He knows

And the Gospel Writer makes it clear in verse 8, that John the Baptist was just a witness.

John 1:8 “He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.”

Now this distinction was important, because we find in Acts 18 & 19, a whole group of people were still disciples of John the Baptist, and were more willing to associate themselves with John the Baptist than with Christ.

They had wrongly elevated John. They took the witness, and made him the subject.

They took he who was to prepare the way, and mistook him for the Way.

Or as our text says, they took the reflection and witness of the light, and confused him with the true light.

But John the Baptist wasn’t the light. He was a Witness.

Called, and Sent to Testify…

So John the Baptist wasn’t the Light, instead it was Jesus. Jesus was light.

Look at verse 9, John 1:9 “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

John was just a reflection, but the True Light, which just means, real or genuine. The Authentic light… was coming to give light to everyone!

Now this doesn’t mean that everyone will be saved, but that everyone will see His light, and make render their own decision about him.

And this Genuine Light, was coming into the world.

Now that’s an interesting statement isn’t it.

If the Light, who is not a part of this world, must come into this world. What does that say about our world?

It says, that we currently live in Darkness.

And this is exactly what the Scriptures attest.

1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”

This world has been given up to darkness, due to the spreading decay and depravity of sin.

Our world is one of darkness.

Author A.W. Pink beautifully sums it up, “How tragic, then when we read that God sent John to bear witness. How tragic. How pathetic that there should be any need for a witness. Who needs to be told the sun is shining!? Well, the blind. The blind need to be told. What a revelation of man’s condition.”

We are spiritually blind, walking in great darkness.

So God in His mercy sends someone to testify… THE LIGHT IS HERE, the LIGHT IS SHINING.

So let me try and summarize.

John the Author, and John the Baptist are revealing Jesus to Us.

Like witnesses in a courtroom taking the stand, they are testifying to us that Jesus is the Light, and that he was coming into the world to shine on us all.

But listen church, his audience then, and each one of us now sit like a jury.

Following that Courtroom Imagery.

The John’s are Witnesses… and we must take our seat in the jury box.

We must weight thier claims, and stories, and testimonies, but at the end of the day we have to make a decision.

Either Reject Him, or Receive Him.

Those are your options, there is no negotiating, only deciding.

So let’s now look at the first of our two options.

To Reject Him.

Reject

John 1:10 “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.”

Do you see the Irony that the author is wanting us to get!?

He made the world, us. He formed and fashioned us, out of his own image. With care, and tenderness, and thought, and intentionality, and love!

And yet the world that he so lovingly made, didn’t even recognize him.

And this is the first category of peple that Rejected Jesus…

The World.

The World

And that’s because the World doesn’t recognize Him.

This is a statement of condemnation.

The depravity and darkness of mankind was so great, that it failed to recognize their own maker.

And this is still occurring all the time today!

Romans 1:21 “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

The darkness of mankind’s heart is so great, we fail to see the LIGHT.

How can this be!?

Well for one reason, it’s because we have an enemy.

I briefly touched on this last week, but Satan and His angels are referred to as the domain of darkness.

Eph 6 tells us that Satan rules over this present darkness.

Satan and His emissaries are darkness, and only seek to lead you into more and more darkness.

But he’s crafty, because 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us that “ Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

But he’s not Light. He’s counterfeit. It’s a costume. It’s a trick. A con. A deceit

All intended to draw you further and further into darkness.

This is his ploy.

2 Corinthians 4:4 “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

DID YOU HEAR THAT?

Do not underestimate the role Satan plays in keeping you and your loved ones, this community, our country, and our world from recognizing Jesus.

So Satan’s influence is one of the reasons people don’t recognize the Light.

But later in the Gospel of John we learn another reason why the world doesn’t recognize Jesus.

John 3:19–21 “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed..”

That’s calling a spade a spade isn’t it.

So let’s get real church.

John’s saying that the main reason people in general won’t come to Jesus, is because THEY DON’T WANT TO.

They love their sin, more than they want a Savior.

People don’t want to give it up. Don’t want to be exposed.

They love the Dark.

Is this not true for us today? Is this not true for many of you?

You want to negotiate. We all do.

We think we can have Jesus, and yet live in the Dark.

But that’s not an option. You don’t get it both ways. This isn’t a negotiation.

No He is the Light, and He shines on everyone… Light and Darkness can’t cohabitate.

But we try… we want Jesus, but we don’t want to give up our sin.

So the World Rejects Jesus, because of Satan’s interference, and because we love sin more than a savior.

But John references another group that rejects Jesus.

Israel

John 1:11 “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

Who is he reference here!? The Jews. Right, the people of Israel.

God’s own people. The chosen people. His covenant people.

The OT is laced with Scriptures that talk about Israel being God’s own people.

Psalm 135:4 “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession.”

Israel was God’s own people.

According to Romans 9 it was the people of Israel who had received the law, and the prophets, and the covenants, which were all designed to point them to a Messiah. A Savior.

That’s right, for centuries God had been preparing the Jews to receive a Messiah, through the Old Testament.

In fact, there are over 300 specific prophecies that refer to a Savior… so you would think they would at least receive Him, for gracious it was He who they had been so anxiously waiting on!

But like a spoiled child on Christmas, who eagerly and excitedly rips open his present only to find socks…

so the Jews, didn’t just fail to recognize Jesus… no… they just didn’t want Him.

Discarded Him.

Like socks for Christmas, they thrust him aside!

Jesus wasn’t what they wanted. He wasn’t what they had envisioned.

You see, they wanted a Political Messiah. A Monarch. A Warrior, Savior who would break the yokes of Rome from their backs.

All the while, refusing to see that it wasn’t Rome they needed saving from… it was Sin.

They didn’t see a need for a savior from Sin. So they rejected Him.

He came to his own, yet his own chosen people rejected Him.

What a tragedy.. one so great that it actually brought tears to the eyes of Jesus (Luke 13:34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”)

Such a tragedy, that it caused unceasing anguish to Paul (Romans 9:2 “that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” )

This rejection, is deeply personal.

It can be likened to the story of an old mill worker who worked days and nights, wearing himself out, just to afford college for his son.

His boots were always holed, and his pants always tattered. He went without, so that his son could have a life he never had for himself.

Well after several years, he had done it. And he sent his son to the state university several hours away.

And after a year or so, he had scrounged and saved enough money to go and pay his young son a visit. He had never been to the big city before, but he wanted to see his son.

After traversing the dorm lobby for a few hours, he finally saw him.

And in his torn and tattered clothes, and unkept hair, he began waving and calling his son’s name…. but his son, so embarrassed looked to his friends and said, “I have no idea who that is…”

Jesus, the True Light, who shines on everyone, came to His Own, but His own did not receive him.

What about you this morning?

Which category are you more like?

Do you reject Jesus like the world…

you simply love your sin, and living for yourself more than the light?

Are you unwilling to give up your sinful lifestyle, in order to feel the warmth of Jesus’ light?

Or do you lean more like the people of Israel?

He’s just not what you were expecting? He hasn’t fulfilled your vision of who you think he should be?

He hasn’t blessed you enough financially, or answered that prayer, or given you what you think should be the good life?

Be careful… because if those thoughts float around in your head and heart, you’re not far from flat out rejection of Jesus.

So that’s a choice, as we sit like a Jury listening to John the Apostle, and John the Baptist we can weigh their claims and reject him.

But… our text ends on a high note. Not all rejected him.

look with me at John 1:12–13 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Receive

It’s not all hopeless. Many did, and many do reject Him… but not all!

In fact, to all who receive Him.

Church, underline that word All!

As verse 9 attests, “Jesus has come to give his Light to everyone...” and all who receive him.

So who does the all refer to? Who is included in the “everyone.”

ALL! You and Me, and your grandparents, and grandkids. Everyone!

as 1 John 2:2 attests “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Rather your Jew, or Gentile, rich or poor, young or old. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, or what you’ve failed to do. Rather the baggage you bring is bigger than this building, or if the mess of your life is seemingly unfixable… He shines for You. Jesus freely offers Himself for all.

And all you have to do… is Receieve Him

It’s a matter of incredible simplicity!

You Receive Him… or another way of putting it, is you believe in His name.

Their the same thing, John writes, receive him, believe in his name. They’re synonymous.

All you have to do is Receive Him.

As the tree does nothing but to receive the Light, so we do nothing but receive His Light.

But we must receive Him for Who He is, not who we want Him to be, or wish him to be.

Remember, no negotiating.

And let me clear something up.

I’m not talking about accepting him into your heart.

No, no no. That’s a huge mistake, to equate receiving with accepting him.

Remember the Rope Bridge I mentioned last week. Now many of you weren’t here, but imagine you’re on a hike and you come to a perilous cliff, and the trail continues on the other side of the chasm, but the only way to get there is to cross a swinging rope bridge.

Now it’s one thing to say, “I believe this bridge will support my weight.”

It’s something altogether different to start walking.

Receiving Him, believing in His name is the walking type of belief.

Receiving Him, will always lead to a Response.

Belieing in Him, alters you. It changes you. It gets you walking.

Many of you I fear have believed in Jesus, as proverbial fire insurance. You want to be saved. You want to be able to check assurance of eternity off your to do list so that you can go about living your life as you want to live, and I fear, that what you have isn’t biblical belief, but negotiated rejection.

You have received him on your own terms, but he has not left us up to that.

No, he is not to be accepted… but submitted to.

And church, when you enslave yourself to Jesus… its a paradox, but you actually become free.

Because, believing in Jesus comes with many unbelievable benefits, but John gives us a big one.

John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”

Well, what does that mean! IT MEANS EVERYTHING!

You see, you were designed by God and loved by Him, but because of your sin you have rejected Him! And consequently, you actually live under the tyranny of Satan. You live in darkness, following the course of this world. Seperated from God. Loving the dark, avoiding the light. And in your sin, you cannot enter the presence of the Father. He’s too holy, to be in fellowship or relationship with our depravity.

So your sin, my sin, all of our sin must be forgiven, our debt must be paid, our slate wiped clean before we can have relationship with God.

Well listen, THE LIGHT has come to do just that! He has paid for our sin, so that by beliving in His name we can be adopted back into the family of God.

In 2018, some friends of ours became famous.

Their story was aired on ABC Nightime News with David Muir, and hundreds of thousands.

You see Daniel and Paige Zezulka were part of our church in Watkinsville, GA and had obeyed the call of God to step into fostering.

Well they had this beauiful 10 year old girl placed with them who had bounced around in the foster system for about 3 years.

Well, one night they gave her a present, and in it was a framed message.

Little Ivy read it out loud, and it read, “I’m going to be adopted.”

When the reality hit, Ivy just crumbled in tears.

She found where she belonged. She experienced Love. It was her gotcha day.

Church, when you believe in Jesus and receive Him for who He is you get your own gotcha day.

And when you’re adopted by God to be his child, all of a sudden your desires will change and you’ll want to live to please your Father.

You’ll also have access to His presence, for all your needs.. mercy, grace, provision.. He’s a good father who provides all our needs.

You get the right to become God’s child.

It’s an unbelievable, neverending benefit.

And all you have to do is Receive Him.

Conclusion

But let me conclude with verse 13,

John 1:13 “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Here is where many of you get tripped up.

You see, this light, this salvation, this adoption does not occur because of blood lines.

It isn’t that the Jews were descendents of Abraham that earned their Salvation.

And church listen, it isn’t because you’re grandmother was a Christian, your parents are Christian, or you were raised in a Christian Home.

Everyone of us must sit in the Jury and make our own decisions!

But, this is also not because of the Will of your flesh

This means, that it has nothing to do with your own effort or strength, or striving.

No amount of good deeds, or wishful thinking, or worldly success.

No penance to perform, no membership fees, and no contracts to sign.

So many people reject Jesus, right here.

You here about His Love, His Light, His freely offered Salvation, and you think, “This is too good to be true.”

The scam callers have convinced you that “nothing can be free” there must be a catch somewhere.

So you try to pay for it. You try to clean yourself up, thinking you can make yourself presentable enough to be accepted.

You try and do a bunch of good, and change, and become a good person, so that God will adopt you.

But that’s the Will of Your Flesh, and if you lean into that… you will reject Him, for He must be received.

But this is also not because of the will of man.

Nobody in your life can will this for you.

No matter how deperately I preach, or burdened I am to pray.

No matter how much your parents, or kids, or coworkers want this for you…

It does not happen by the will of man.

Instead, what does John say.

“But of God.”

This is all because of God.

God alone gives us the right to become his children.

And he has made it possible, by Sending the Light into this darkness world to shine upon all.

But you can either reject him… or you can receive him, but you cannot negotiate Him.

So why don’t you stand with me, I’m going to pray, and then our team will come up and lead us through a song of response.