A second chance to make a first impression
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I was given the privilege to eulogize my Grandfather at his funeral. I wanted to highlight what I thought was his best characteristic, which was his sense of humor and his zeal for life. So I started off by telling a proctologist joke.
If you didn’t know my grandfather well, you would have likely been offended and confused why some guy was telling an off color joke at a funeral. My purpose wasn’t to introduce my Pa Paw to people that didn’t know him, but was to memorialize him with those that did.
For the next several weeks we are going to be looking at the Gospel of John.
And to be clear: I am not the apostle John, and my grandfather wasn’t Jesus, and most importantly, you don’t eulogize the living, you introduce them.
Most of the time if you introduce someone, you do so by saying how they are related to you.
Shane at his work: This is my pastor.
My Wife.
But sometimes, the person you are introducing is so important, you hold in such high regard, you introduce them by their own authority.
Jordon took me to the Beast Feast at Central Baptist Church last Thursday and I met Dr. Sunny Tucker. (He was a regular guy, country, turkey hunter, rides a motorcycle) Executive Director of Arkansas Baptist State Convention.
This morning, through the Gospel of John, we will be introduced to Jesus. Even though you may know Jesus as your savior, and you relate to Him as that, but it’s important for us not to lose sight of who He is. And if you don’t know Christ as your savior, John does a masterful job at the introduction.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
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.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ”
16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
In the beginning
In the beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:
Already there
With (face to face) separate but in a relationship with God.
When you take you have God, you have the spirit of God and now you have the Word.
The Word
The Word
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Genesis 1:
verse 3: All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
20 He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.
11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Isia
The Light
The Light
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Life - Light
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Darkness did not comprehend it.
Foreshadowing that the Jewish people would reject him.
John the Baptist
John the Baptist
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
John 1:
Followers of John - People that believed John’s message of repentance, but never accepted Jesus.
1 It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples.
2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
People today that get cleaned up, come to church, hang out with Christians and their life is improved.
The Church is not the Light.
Children of God
Children of God
John 1:10-
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
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,
General revelation only goes so far. You must be introduced to Jesus.
Rejected by the Jews.
To them He gave the Right
exousia
exousia
Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
If you have accepted Christ He gave you the Right to be a child of God. That cannot be taken from you.
Full of Grace and Truth
Full of Grace and Truth
John 1:14
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Do these Jeans make me look fat?
Grace without truth is patronizing flattery.
Truth without grace is cold and hard.
17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Have you met Jesus?