Light of the World
Notes
Transcript
Handout
LIGHT OF THE WORLD
INTRODUCTION:
READ
STAND – READ – PRAY
THE FIRST 13 VERSES OF JOHN’S GOSPEL ARE PART OF WHAT IS KNOW IN LETERARY TERMS AS A PROLOGUE.
- PROLOGUE – AN INTRODUCTORY SECTION OF A LITERARY WORK.
SO WHAT WE ARE READING HERE IN THE OPENING VERSES OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN ARE INTENDED TO SET THE STAGE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WRITING.
AND THERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT TRUTHS FOUND IN THIS PART OF JOHN’S PROLOGUE.
- THE ETERNALITY OF CHRIST (V1)
o IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD…
o AND WE KNOW THAT JOHN IS REFERRING TO JESUS CHRIST AS THE WORD…
o BECAUSE OF THE STATEMENT IN VERSE 15…
§ (ESV) – 15 (JOHN BORE WITNESS ABOUT HIM, AND CRIED OUT, “THIS WAS HE OF WHOM I SAID, ‘HE WHO COMES AFTER ME RANKS BEFORE ME, BECAUSE HE WAS BEFORE ME.’”)
o SO THE LOGOS…THE DIVINE EXPRESSION OF GOD…
§ HAS ALWAYS EXISTED, JUST AS GOD HAS ALWAYS EXISTED…
- THE DEITY OF CHRIST
o THE WORD WAS GOD…
§ CHRIST IS NOT A GOD, AS SOME FAITH PRACTICES WOULD LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE...
§ CHRIST IS GOD…
§ HIS DEITY IS ON FULL DISPLAY BOTH HERE IN VERSE 1, AND IN VERSE 3, WHERE WE WITNESS…
- HIS ROLE IN CREATION
o (ESV) – 3 ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM, AND WITHOUT HIM WAS NOT ANY THING MADE THAT WAS MADE.
o CHRIST WAS NOT JUST PRESENT AT CREATION…
o HE WAS AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN THE WORK OF CREATION…
§ EVERYTHING WAS MADE THROUGH HIM…
· THROUGH – BY REASON OF, FOR THE SAKE OF…
· IT’S A WORD THAT DESCRIBES THE CHANNEL OF AN ACT…
o NOW YOU MAY NOT THINK THAT THE WORD “THROUGH” IS THAT IMPORTANT, BUT LISTEN TO THESE PASSAGES WHERE THE SAME WORD IS USED IN THE SAME CONTEXT…
§ (ESV) – 25 CONSEQUENTLY, HE IS ABLE TO SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST THOSE WHO DRAW NEAR TO GOD THROUGH HIM, SINCE HE ALWAYS LIVES TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM.
· SALVATION IS SECURED “THROUGH” HIM…
§ (ESV) – 9 IN THIS THE LOVE OF GOD WAS MADE MANIFEST AMONG US, THAT GOD SENT HIS ONLY SON INTO THE WORLD, SO THAT WE MIGHT LIVE THROUGH HIM.
· LIFE, BOTH IN THE CONTEXT OF HOW WE LIVE TODAY, AND THE LIFE WE WILL INHERIT FOR ETERNITY IS PROVIDED “THROUGH” HIM…
§ (ESV) – 20 FOR ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD FIND THEIR YES IN HIM. THAT IS WHY IT IS THROUGH HIM THAT WE UTTER OUR AMEN TO GOD FOR HIS GLORY.
· PROMISES ARE FULFILLED IN HIM, SO WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD “THROUGH” HIM…
§ (ESV) – 16 FOR BY HIM ALL THINGS WERE CREATED, IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH, VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, WHETHER THRONES OR DOMINIONS OR RULERS OR AUTHORITIES—ALL THINGS WERE CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM. 17 AND HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER.
· THE WORLD WAS CREATED “THROUGH” HIM, AND IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER…
§ (ESV) – 2 THROUGH HIM WE HAVE ALSO OBTAINED ACCESS BY FAITH INTO THIS GRACE IN WHICH WE STAND, AND WE REJOICE IN HOPE OF THE GLORY OF GOD.
· ACCESS TO GRACE IS GRANTED…ONLY THROUGH CHRIST…
- AND ON, AND ON, AND ON, WE ARE REMINDED OF THE IMPORTANCE OF EVERYTHING FLOWING “THROUGH” CHRIST…
- WE ALSO SEE THE ILLUMINATING EFFECT OF CHRIST, WHICH IS WHERE I WANT TO SPEND THE REST OF OUR TIME THIS MORNING…
o JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD…
o IN VERSE 4, JOHN STATES THAT LIFE, FOUND ONLY IN CHRIST JESUS, IS THE LIGHT OF MEN…
§ WE SEE THE EXCLUSIVITY OF ILLUMINATION…
§ THERE IS NO OTHER SOURCE FROM WHICH MAN FINDS LIGHT AND LIFE…
o IT IS NO COINCIDENCE THAT JESUS STATES IN “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD…”
- THE TRUTH IS THAT “LIGHT” DOES NOT NATURALLY BELONG TO HUMANITY…
o BECAUSE OF THE FALLEN NATURE OF MAN, OUR NATURAL INCLINATIONS ARE TOWARD DARKNESS…
§ WE EXPEND A GREAT DEAL OF ENERGY TRYING TO COVER (OR DARKEN) OUR SINFULNESS…
§ WE EACH WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE BRIGHT, CHEERFUL, HOLY INDIVIDUALS…
§ WHEN THE REALITY IS THAT WE ARE, TO USE JOHN’S WORDS FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION…
§ WRETCHED, PITIABLE, POOR, BLIND, AND NAKED…
o (ESV) – 17 FOR YOU SAY, I AM RICH, I HAVE PROSPERED, AND I NEED NOTHING, NOT REALIZING THAT YOU ARE WRETCHED, PITIABLE, POOR, BLIND, AND NAKED.
- AND SO WE DESPERATELY NEED THE LIFE THAT COMES ONLY FROM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD…
- AND THIS IS ONE OF THE PRIMARY MESSAGES OF CHRISTMAS; THAT THIS LIFE HAS BEEN MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH CHRIST…
- SO LET’S THINK ABOUT WHAT IT IS THAT LIGHT DOES…
1. LIGHT DISPELS DARKNESS (V5)
a. (ESV) – 5 THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS, AND THE DARKNESS HAS NOT OVERCOME IT.
i. IT REVEALS WHAT IS HIDDEN…
ii. IT SHOWS THINGS AS THEY TRULY ARE…
1. SOMETIMES, DARKNESS OBSCURES THE TRUE NATURE OF THINGS…
2. WHICH IS WHY SINFUL DEEDS ARE OFTEN COMMITTED IN DARKNESS…
iii. BUT DARKNESS CANNOT OVERCOME LIGHT…
1. THERE IS NO DARKNESS SO DARK THAT LIGHT CANNOT DISPEL IT.
2. STUDIES SHOW THAT THE FAINTEST LIGHT IS VISIBLE EVEN IN THE DARKEST OF CONDITIONS.
b. THIS IS REALLY GOOD NEWS FOR US, BECAUSE IF THE DARKEST DARKNESS IS EASILY OVERCOME BY THE FAINEST LIGHT…
c. THEN THERE IS NO DEPTH OF SPIRITUAL DARKNESS THAT CANNOT BE OVERCOME BY THE LIGHT OF CHRIST…
2. LIGHT IS TRANSFORMATIVE (V12-13)
a. (ESV) – 12 BUT TO ALL WHO DID RECEIVE HIM, WHO BELIEVED IN HIS NAME, HE GAVE THE RIGHT TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD, 13 WHO WERE BORN, NOT OF BLOOD NOR OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH NOR OF THE WILL OF MAN, BUT OF GOD.
b. IN THE BEGINNING PART OF VERSE 12, WE SEE THE SCOPE OF THE TRANSFORMATIVE WORK OF CHRIST…
i. TO ALL WHO DID RECEIVE HIM
ii. NO ONE IS EXCLUDED…
iii. YOUR SKIN COLOR DOESN’T MATTER…
iv. YOUR NATIONAL ORIGIN DOESN’T MATTER…
v. YOUR SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS DOESN’T MATTER…
vi. YOUR PAST FAILURES DON’T MATTER…
vii. WHAT MATTERS IS WHETHER YOU HAVE RECEIVED HIM BY FAITH…
c. IN THE SECOND PART OF VERSE 12, WE SEE THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE TRANSFORMATIVE WORK OF CHRIST…
i. WHO BELIEVED ON HIS NAME
ii. THE CALL IS TO BELIEVE…
iii. THERE IS NO CALL TO BECOME A BETTER PERSON…
iv. OR TO LEARN SOME DEEP OBSCURE TRUTH…
v. OR TO COMPLETE SOME PRESCRIBED TRAINING…
vi. THERE IS JUST THE CALL TO BELIEVE…
d. AND IN THE LAST PART OF VERSE 12, WE SEE THE RESULT OF THE TRANSFORMATIVE WORK OF CHRIST…
i. HE GAVE THE RIGHT TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD…
ii. THE RESULT OF THE TRANSFORMATIVE WORK OF THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD IS THAT HE GIVES TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE…
1. A NEW FAMILY…
2. WE ARE INCLUDED AS CHILDREN OF GOD…
3. BUT KNOW THIS, THERE IS A RESPONSIBILITY WE ASSUME AS PART OF THE FAMILY OF GOD…
iii. IN , JESUS REFERRED TO HIMSELF AS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD…
iv. AND IN , HE SAID, “AS LONG AS I AM IN THE WORLD, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.”
v. BUT IN , JESUS SAID, “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.”
vi. IN THIS STATEMENT, JESUS INCLUDES HIS FOLLOWERS IN THE RESPONSIBILITY TO BRING THE LIGHT OF CHRIST TO A WORLD FILLED WITH DARKNESS.
e. AND AS WE CELEBRATE GOD’S INTERVENING ACTIVITY IN THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, WE ARE REMINDED OF THIS RESPONSIBILITY…
f. HE GAVE US THE RIGHT TO BECOME THE CHILDREN OF GOD, AND WITH THAT RIGHT COMES THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SHARE THE LIGHT OF CHRIST WITH A WORLD COVERED IN SPRITUAL DARKNESS…
CONCLUSION:
THIS PASSAGE REMINDS US THAT BEHIND “LIGHT” STANDS A “LIFE,” NAMELY THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST.
OURS IS A CULTURE THAT FIRST TRIES TO FIND ITS ANSWERS IN THE CLOSED SYSTEMS OF SCIENCE…
BUT JOHN REMINDS US THAT OUR SEARCH FOR MEANING AND ENLIGHTENMENT CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN THE LIFE-GIVER HIMSELF…
CHRISTMAS IS A WONDERFUL TIME TO CELEBRATE WITH THE GIVING AND RECEIVING OF GIFTS…
BUT LET’S BE SURE THAT WE DON’T OVERLOOK THE MOST IMPORTANT GIFT EVER GIVEN, THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE, GIVEN TO IN THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS CHRIST…
AND LET’S EACH ONE BE SURE THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED THIS GIFT…
BECAUSE THIS GIFT…THIS GIFT IS THE MOST PRECIOUS AND IMPORTANT GIFT EVER OFFERED…
INVITATION…