The Season of Forgiveness: Receiving God's Gift through Christ

Introduction

Everything we have have been exploring, all of the concepts introduced to us by John build on each other. We must remember that this is the writings of the Holy Spirit through John’s pen.

2 Peter 1:20–21 LSB

20 Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes by one’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever made by the will of man, but men being moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit providing light to you and me in a comprehensive way, in a progressive way

Let us not learn the new while forgetting what we have already seen. Up to this point we have learned that:

The eternal Word became flesh

That is, that The Word—who always was—became what He never was—and what He will always be. Forever united to humanity, that is, He is the God-Man. John also testifies,

The eternal Word became flesh

We beheld His glory, full of grace and truth

John and the disciples not only witness the physical glory of the Son but they saw Him display the attributes and characteristics of God.

They the glory of authority over everything, the glory of mercy and grace unmatched, they saw the glory of truth spoken with undeniable clarity.

They saw the glory of what true holiness looks like and in Him they saw the very embodiment of love.

He revealed to them who God is and who they are. These last two weeks we have been feeding on who Christ is as the Word who became flesh.

Now, John shifts from who He is to what He gives: forgiveness and adoption. Because Advent is not just about God coming near, but it is about God making Us His own.

To that end, we will examine John 1:9-13 and then drop to verse 29-34. (pray)

I. (John 1:9–10)

John 1:9–10 LSB

9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

We understand the concept of light in the Scriptures don’t we?

Throughout the pages of your Bible you see how light represents revelation, truth, purity, life, God’s presence. Yet everything before Christ was a shadow of what was to come.

But a shadow cannot exist without light — and the shadows of the Old Testament were only preparatory, cast by the true Light who was coming into the world.

The light that exposes reality , reveals God, the light that alone can lead us out of darkness and John says that this Light enlightens everyone.

Now, that does not mean universal salvation or general revelation or even inner illumination. It means that Christ as the Light shines on each person in either salvation or in condemnation.

John 3:18–21 LSB

18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.”

The Light cannot be ignored, everyone sees it and either runs to it and are saved or run towards darkness and there they are destroyed.

Christ’s coming confronts every human soul with truth —truth about God and truth about themselves.

No one can encounter Jesus and remain neutral. But then John makes this heartbreaking statement

“He was in the world.”

The very world He created — the world formed by His own power — the same world that owes its existence to Him. Yet

“the world did not know Him.”

Humanity did know Him once, in the garden, that us until sin drove us into hiding. Man went from communing with God to saying,

“I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” (Genesis 3:10)

The the world continued to hide from God from that moment. Generation after generation hiding until the Word, the Light was forgotten and went unrecognized. Hosea sayss

“…there is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land.” (Hosea 4:1)

“Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” (Isaiah 1:3)

No wonder in

John 14:8–9 LSB

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Humanity does not naturally see Jesus for who He is. We do not naturally understand our need for Him. We do not naturally seek Him. We are blinded by sin, pride, and darkness.

Yet our blindness did not stop His coming; our ignorance did not cancel His mercy.

This is why forgiveness is not something we can earn or discover on our own —forgiveness must come to us. Light must come into our darkness. God must reveal Himself where we were unable to find Him.

The miracle of Advent is not humanity searching for God, but God shining His Light into a world that wasn’t even looking for Him. And yet — in coming into the world, Jesus reveals not just our blindness, but God’s mercy.

Romans 5:8 LSB

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Because even though the world did not know Him, He still came. Even though we were blind, the Light still shone. Even though we were estranged and guilty, He still moved toward us.

Forgiveness begins not with our search for God, but with God’s pursuit of us — the true Light entering a dark world to open blind eyes and bring sinners home. But John shifts focus from the world in general to Israel in particular

II. (vv.11)

John 1:11 LSB

11 He came to what was His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

He went to His own chosen people. The receivers of His laws and promises, His covenant and His Scriptures but they did not receive him.

The One whom they prayed for, longed for, sang about was finally there but they wanted nothing to do with Him.

The land was His, the Scriptures were His, the promises were His—and yet the people to whom all these things pointed refused Him.

His own people who He had personally turned into a Nation refused to accept Him as the Revelation sent by the Father. Isaiah had long before prophesied of this Jewish national unbelief.

“Who has believed our report” (Isaiah 53:1)

tragically, as a nation, they did not. Jesus did not come as a stranger to Israel. He was the fulfillment of every shadow:

The Lamb of the Passover, the Manna from heaven, the Rock that gives water, the Prophet like Moses, and so on.

God kept His promise. The Light entered the only nation prepared to receive him and they did not. This was not ignorance but rebellion.

Isaiah 65:2 LSB

2 “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,

Israel had been given: covenants, prophets, Scriptures, the temple, the sacrifices, the promises, the lineage of the Messiah Himself. They knew He was coming, the rest of the world didn’t but they did.

They even knew what city, even what tent, house, or cave to find him in based on a star. They were prepared alright they just did not want him, they rejected Him because He did not conform to what they wanted

They wanted deliverance from Rome not from sin “are you kidding I love my sin, its just the consequences I do not like. Take those away but leave my sin alone, ‘mine’”.

They wanted a throne, not a cross, “what do you mean a Lamb meek and mild, send me Lion what do I want with a Lamb”

They wanted power, not repentance “show me those neat tricks you showed our forefathers in Egypt now that’s entertainment repentance is boring”

They wanted a Messiah who would affirm them not rescue the darkness they loved. Israel’s rejection becomes a mirror for the whole world

people reject Jesus not because He is unclear, but because His Light exposes what we would rather keep hidden.

And if Jesus is rejected then also is His offer of forgiveness. Why? because forgiveness requires admitting guilt. Salvation requires surrender.

John 9:39–41 LSB

39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “Are we blind too?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

But as much as there is a wide and grand door that leads to damnation where multitudes upon multitudes of people travel because of their rejection, that is not the end of the story,

III. (vv. 12-13)

John 1:12–13 LSB

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Rebellion against God is the first principle of this wicked world. But there are those whose attitude is not of this world but of heaven those are the ones, those awakened by God to receive the Light they once resisted.

“many who have received Him...those who believe in His name”

But what does it mean to receive Him? Remember I told you that John builds from the ground up. His theology is systematic. To receive Him is not simply agreeing with a few facts,

It does not mean just acceptance of the historical narrative of the man named Jesus who lived and died in first century Judea.

It means the acknowledgement and acceptance of all that John has already said Jesus is. If you cannot, will not accept the fact that In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

Then you have a caricature of Jesus that is not who He is. This is why John began his writing the way he did. Taking you from the eternal, personal Word of God who was in the company of God is Himself God and creator

To the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. All of that must be accepted or you have not received Him. You have received somebody else not it is not Him.

The Jehovah Witnesses who believe Jesus to be a created being have not received Him. The Mormons, who believe that Jesus is just one of millions of emanations of humans who became Gods have not received Him.

The Hebrew Roots Movement people who deny His equality in divine essence with the Father have not received. To receive Him means to receive “Him” not some other version of Him.

I have counseled couples where spouses would not accept each other by who and what they are. They keep trying to change each other into the version they want.

In the same way, many people want a customized Jesus—one who saves but does not rule, forgives but never confronts, comforts but never commands.

How many know that this does not work? To imagine a different person is to reject the one that you claim to love. It becomes lip service. This is the reason Jesus asked such a profound question:

“…who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:16)

Peter acknowledged him as the Christ and the unique Son of God. This was as much as had been revealed at that time. But after the cross and the resurrection, Peter embraced who He is,

“…our God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1)

Doubting Thomas, after the cross and resurrection would fall at the feet of the Master and exclaim,

“My Lord and My God” (John 20:28)

John pairs receive Him with,

“…those who believe in His name…”

To believe in His name is to trust who He is and what He has done — that He is Savior, Lord, Redeemer, and the only One who can reconcile us to God.

And it is to these people, and these people only that,

“…He gave the right to become children of God…”

No one is born a child of God by nature. No one enters God’s family by effort. No one earns forgiveness by good works. This is given

The Judge becomes a Father. The sinner becomes a son or daughter. The guilty receive grace. This is the language of adoption — God granting a legal right, a new identity.

How does this happen? John first tells you how it does not happen

“Not of blood” — Not by physical descent. Being Jewish didn’t save Israel, and having Christian parents doesn’t save you.

“Nor of the will of the flesh” — Not by human effort, discipline, moral reform, or spiritual performance.

“Nor of the will of man” — Not by someone else's desire for you. Not even the prayers or hopes of others can make you a child of God.

BUT OF GOD

Forgiveness and adoption are th e work of God alone, in this passage we see the doctrine of election in big bold letters. Salvation is not a human achievement. It is a divine miracle.

The baby in the manger came to create a new family. The Word became flesh so we could become children of God. He took on our nature so we could share in His kingdom.

This is why forgiveness is the greatest gift of Advent because we could never reach for God so God reached for us. So when John the Baptizer sees Jesus he says,

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)

Forgiveness is not emotional. It is not God pretending we are not guilty. Divine forgiveness requires atonement. Israel’s lamb died every year but could not remove sin

The Lamb of God could carry the guilt, satisfy divine justice, take the sin away. John B explains:

John 1:30 LSB

30 “This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’

Jesus is younger in age, but older, much older, eternally older in existence. He continues,

“I did not know Him, but He who sent me… said, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descending… this is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” (vv. 31–33)

Forgiveness is not just pardon, it is transformation, it is new life. The Light has come. The Lamb has come. Forgiveness has come and Adoption is possible not because of who we are but because of who He is.

John concludes this section testifying that he himself saw these things that confirmed Jesus’ divine identity.