God gives eternal life in His Son
Notes
Transcript
God gives eternal life in His Son
God gives eternal life in His Son
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
In my house we love to watch murder mysteries and court room drama’s. My wife prefers the hallmark channel versions of these stories and I prefer something a little more realistic, but none the less, we like the idea that there is a mystery that needs to be discovered.
Sometimes there are intense courtroom scenes that make everything come together. It could be a surprise witness, it could be evidence that was newly discovered, or even a cross examination in which the defendant cracks under the pressure. We have all seen these kind of stories and they tend to capture a bit of emotion which startles the jury. I especially love the scenes where they call a witness to the stand that the prosecution doesn’t know is coming. It is at that point that that part of the story comes out that puts things together and the opposing team is left sitting there shuffling through paperwork trying to come up with something to stop this testimony from being admitted but it is too late, the jury has heard it and they were not ready to defend it.
By the time these scene end there is usually a closing argument before the case is rested and left up to the jurors to decide.
What we have be fore us today in this text, is like a a case in which we hear testimony and we are left to make a decision. The break down is simple. In verses 6-8 we have the testimony. In verses 9-10 we have reasons given why we should accept the testimony, and in verse 11-12 we have consequences of accepting the testimony. Usually I would like to preach to you and exposition using much study of greek language and making sure that the context is accurate and so the conclusion and applications are trustworthy. For this sermon I would like to try something different.
If you could indulge me a bit here today and pretend that the Apostle John, who is writing this to us, is actually acting as an attorney who will be calling witnesses to the stand. There are some surprise witnesses to be called and a very simple conclusion that will leave us as the jury to decide with the most weighty of all implication on that decision.
As we work through the text, let’s enter a courtroom and hear the case displayed before us.
John is now advanced in years and seems to be weathered by much persecution and travail. His life has lead up to a moment like this, he will now present a case before us. This is a case that he himself has already given testimony to, but now he will call others to testify. Who will he call and what will there testimony be?
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
There are 3 that John will call to testify. The Water is first. He stands before us as the jury, and declares, “I call the water to give Testimony to Jesus of Nazareth.”
Shocked by this surprise witness, we watch as the water comes forth to fill the witness box and be sworn in. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“I the waters of Jordan, do swear to tell the truth.”
“Were you there when Jesus of Nazareth was baptized by John the Baptist?
“Yes, I was there.”
It is at this point that John must explain somethings. The waters of the Jordan were used to another man who used these waters for baptism. His name was John the Baptist, and he was a forerunner to the Messiah, he proclaimed a baptism of repentance. He called on the people of Israel to prepared their hearts for the coming of the Messiah by confessing and repenting of their sin, and asking God to cleanse them.
Their baptism was a public affirmation of repentance from sin, an external act symbolizing an internal reality. And understanding the culture of that time, you needed to know that Gentiles who were converting to Judaism were the once who would be baptized. So when John is in the waters of the Jordan baptizing Jews, he is helping them to acknowledge that they are no better than Gentiles because of their sin, and they needed to become in reality the people of God. John baptism is a baptism of repentance because it is calling God’s people back to God in their hearts.
But John the Baptist knew something special was happening the day Jesus showed up.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
It was John the Baptist that makes this statement about Jesus. John knew that Jesus had no sin to repent of and therefore had no need to be baptized. So John tries to convince Jesus that it is really him that Jesus should be baptizing.
14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
John is shocked by the reversal of what he knows to be true. He is the sinner, Jesus is the sinless one; he is the lesser, Jesus is the greater.
27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
Later in his life they ask John about Jesus and he said this...
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
And yet, although Jesus was sinless, it was still necessary for him to be baptized
Why? Why would someone who is perfect need to publicly acknowledge sin and draw close to God by repenting?
Jesus is baptized to publicly identify with sinners
Jesus is baptized to publicly identify with sinners
Jesus is publicly identifying with sinful humanity that he is here to save. People did not understand what the mission of their Messiah would look like, and still to this day get some very key things wrong about Jesus. Some will preach the idea that Jesus was just a man who had the Holy Spirit in him and so he did miracles, and now you are a man or woman who can have the Holy Spirit in you and you should do miracles too… They teach that Jesus left his deity (Godlike qualities) in heaven when he came to earth, and that his blood was that of a humble man who taught us ethical and moral high ground in knowing God better.
This was something that the first century false teachers taught, and they are still teaching it to this day, and we believe it is heresy.
And so understand what the water testifies about Jesus is the first step in getting it right when believing in Jesus Christ, because it shows that He identified with sinners at the beginning of his public ministry. See his baptism is his first public showing of himself as divine and it happens while he is identifying with sinners. Don’t miss this, because many fail to see it. And this didn’t make sense to John at first, so Jesus explains it to him.
15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
See Jesus always performed what God would require of his people. He was there to represent sinful humanity to a Holy God and would also represent a Holy God to Sinful humanity… And So Jesus is the God-Man who is 100% God and at the same time he is 100% man. We have fancy theological words for this and call it the “hypostatic union”.
Jesus in his flesh did all things required of mankind to be right with God, and never asked for an exception or exemption. Jesus even paid temple tax to wicked rulers who were persecuting God’s people. Go read Matthew 17:24-27 when he encourages his followers to pay the temple tax for him and them.
Jesus had a perfect obedience, which is what qualified him alone to be the sinless sacrifice whose death atoned for our sins lives before God.
It is at this explanation that we return to the courtroom scene. The Apostle John has sworn in the waters of the Jordan river and explained all this about Jesus to the jury, but then turns to get the testimony of the water...
“Please tell us what you saw...”
“ I saw Jesus of Nazareth coming down into the water with the rest of the people that were coming to be baptized. He walked down to John and John then immersed him in the water and brought him back up.”
Then what did you see?
“I saw something I have never seen before...”
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
When John is invoking the testimony of the Water here, he is speaking of this moment when the ministry of Jesus Christ was inaugurated. It was not like other moments when someone would be baptized. This time we see the trinity… The Son is soaking wet standing in the waters of the Jordan river, while the Spirit is somehow to be understood descending on him in the form of something that looks like a dove, and at that moment they heard the Fathers voice from heaven speak.
There was no modern technology at that time that could project an image of a dove like a hologram, or a hidden PA system that could sound like a voice speaking from above… And yet there it is, the testimony of the water. The very water that Jesus was immersed into when his public ministry began to reveal him as more than a man from nazareth.
Truly nothing like this has happened before or since.
John then says, “Thank you for your testimony water, you may exit the witness box.”
And before we the jury can even process this testimony, he then calls his next witness.
“I would like to call the blood to testify next please.”
And just like the water, the blood now enters the witness box and is sworn in.
“Do you, the blood of Jesus Christ swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“I do.”
John has now called the blood of Jesus shed on the cross at Calvary to be his next witness.
“Blood, where were you the day that Jesus was crucified? Were you in his body?”
“Yes I was. I can testify that at his trial before Pilate, Jesus was scourged with the cat of nine tails. The punishment left his back a bloody mess. The crown of thorns caused me to run down his face and soak his beard. The nails were driven into his hands and feet. And when he was placed on the cross, I ran down his head, hands and feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did ever such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?”
John continues his questioning, “Can you tell us if Jesus actually died on the cross?”
The Blood knew it was true because it remembers that moment when the blood burst forth from his body… There is a flashback in its mind at that moment… Remembering his last words.
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
John again asks the Blood, “Can you tell us if Jesus actually died on the cross?”
“Yes” said the Blood, “I can verify that he actually died. As the blood of Jesus, I bear testimony that Jesus is the Son of the living God.”
The death of Jesus represents God to man
The death of Jesus represents God to man
How does his death represent God to man? I would submit to you that it does in how God revealed his power and displayed himself to us.
John then turns to the Jury and says, We heard the Father speaks from heaven at Jesus’ baptism and we have heard this testimony about Jesus’ death, but I wonder, did God speak then too?
Let me show you how the Father gave testimony in striking fashion on that day in which the blood testifies. Back up to just before Jesus died on the cross and the blood testified to being released from his body. What else happened that lead up to that moment? Jesus has been nailed to cross and is hanging publicly being disgraced and mocked...
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
Right in the middle of the day there was 3 hours of darkness that covered the land. This supernatural darkness symbolizes the Father forsaking the Son as the sin bearing sacrifice. It was at that moment that Jesus sensing for the first time in eternity, his seperation from the Father...
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
It was at the moment of Jesus’ death that something extraordinary happens in another astonishing miracle.
51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
Now for those of us who know nothing of the temple, this sounds like some drapes were ruined because of a little tremor that shook things up. But it is so much more than that. After 3 hours of darkness Jesus cries out and gives up his last breath and there is an earthquake and inside the temple the veil os torn from top to bottom… What is the veil and who cares how it was torn?
See this curtain separated the Most holy place (where no one could enter but 1 priest), from the holy place (where very few priests would minister).This curtain was too large and heavy for a man to tear, especially from the top down.The Father is showing that he is accepting of Jesus’ sacrifice, through which the way into his presence is opened.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
The Father testifies at not only his baptism but visibly displays his power at his death showing his approval and acceptance on behalf of the sinful humanity that Jesus came to represent before him. But… His blood is not ordinary blood. Is Jesus in his humanity is representing us before God, then His blood being shed is representing God to us because it is the Blood of God which established his church.
This was part of what the Apostles taught us about the church of God, that it was obtained by his own blood. So Paul warns us as pastors in acts...
28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
It was the blood of God that was spilled for us on that day, and it was this blood that John calls to testify to Jesus Christ.
John replies, “Thank you Blood of Jesus, you may step down from the witness box.”
“I have one more witness”, John goes on to tell the jury.
“I would like to call the Holy Spirit to the witness box.”
Now I really want to keep us this kind of story telling to really drive it home, and yet there is something that almost seems irreverent about talking about God the Holy Spirit in this way.
Do you really need to hear how this would go down? Let me allow scripture to show you what kind of a testimony we could expect from the Holy Spirit… From Jesus’ own words...
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Just before his crucifixion, Jesus taught us about the Holy Spirit, telling us that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, he will testify concerning Jesus. Jesus said that one of the primary purposes of the Holy Spirit was to point people to Jesus as Savior. Jesus also taught us that the Holy Spirit will not magnify himself but he will magnify the Lord Jesus.
If John was to call God the Holy Spirit to testify, I think we know what he would say, but lets think about it. If John were to ask, “Holy Spirit, were you present in Jesus’ earthly ministry?”
“Yes. I was present at his birth, I was present at his baptism. I was present during his earthly life, and I was present at his crucifixion, his resurrection and his ascension. I was present with him in eternity past before the incarnation, and I will be present with him as the third member of the trinity for all of eternity. It is my testimony that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God.”
Upon hearing that I would remind you that God the Holy Spirit reveals the significance of Jesus coming into this world. It is God the Holy Spirit who first deals with our hearts when we are lost in sin and doubt. We cannot be saved unless God the Holy Spirit draws us to salvation. The work of the Spirit is so important that we cannot be saved without apart from him. The Holy Spirit draws us to Jesus and teaches us spiritual truth about the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is his job to impress on our hearts the truth of these things.
The Spirit testifies to us and seals truth within us
The Spirit testifies to us and seals truth within us
this third witness to Jesus Christ does a work in us that no man can do and no man can undo… He is the Spirit of truth and he takes the gospel message and causes our cold dead hearts to believe it and be made new. And he keeps us until we are called home or Christ returns for us.
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
These three testify to Jesus as the Son of God, the divine one who is God the Son, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, our Lord and Savior. John has been writing this letter to the church so we will not be fooled by false teaching and we will know truth and be kept in that truth. He is writing to us to ensure that we Love God and that we love each other because we belong to God and all this testimony is about Jesus being at the heart of the truth.
And So, according to the Apostle John all 3 of these witnesses agree about Jesus. The Water, The Blood, The Spirit. They make up the testimony here but what are the reasons we should accept this testimony?
9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.
John Points out to us that many have recieved the testimony of the apostles, but they are mere men. Yet there is an inward testimony that comes from the Spirit and is God testifying within us to truth.
This testimony, the testimony that God the Spirit brings is greater than verbal testimony from men. It is seen in the water When the Father testifies to Jesus as his Son, and it is seen in the Blood when Jesus dies on the cross and the Father accepts his blood as atonement for our sins. AND all this is revealed by his Spirit to us.
If this testimony is an inward reality you are convinced of, it lives in you. How did it get there? How did you come to believe such a truth? You were not there and could not validate these claims with your own eyes.
Yet there is something that happens when you believe… It becomes something in yourself. An awareness that you have deep inside that you cannot ignore. Some thing that wasn’t there one day is now alive and it speaks to you from deep within. But there are only two types of people according to John’s assessment. Whoever believes and whoever does not believe.
For those who do believe they have a testimony inside of them. They are convinced down to their souls that it is truth.
And then there are the whoever’s that do not believe… they make God out to be a liar.
John is making the case that those who believe can have an inward reality of God, or not believe and be calling God a liar. Which is it that you would want to be. Someone who has truth alive within them or someone who is opposed to God calling him a liar?
But just to drive it home, John will give us the consequences of accepting this testimony or rejecting it.
11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Here is what we how know this truth inside of us know… That God gave us eternal life in his Son.
Eternal life can be found in no other way. There is nothing else we can do to gain eternal life but to receive it from God as a gift. It is not earned by our good works or even kept by our good behavior once we have recieved it.
Many people in this world are looking and searching for something transcendent beyond the world they see around themselves now, but it can only be found in Jesus Christ the Son of God. He is the way the truth and life, no on can come to Father but by him.
If you believe the testimony of the water and the testimony of the blood and have been born again by the Spirit, then you know this truth as your reality...
God gives eternal life in his Son
God gives eternal life in his Son
God does not sell us eternal life based off of our law keeping, and he does allow us to “do” enough good things to merit such a reward. God simply GIVES eternal life in his Son.
This is the gospel… the Good news about Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter what you have said and what you have done… Because your sin qualifies you to be saved if you believe this truth. Jesus Christ, being fully divine. 100% God and 100% man left eternity to step into time and take on flesh. He did this perfectly fulfilling the law of God. And in his man-being he represented Man to God living perfectly like no other human ever could because of sin.
Jesus did for us what we cannot do for ourselves and lived a perfect life. And he goes on to die an innocent death. HE dies in our place for our sin in the most public way and in so doing he demonstrates God to Man.
The divine dying for the sinner. And the Father displays his power from heaven at that moment and shows us that a way has been opened into his Holy presence because of the Blood that was spilled. The Blood of God secured for mankind an eternal reward and that is eternal life with God.
This is something that in our sinful flesh we will try to constantly earn because it is hard to understand the kind of love that freely gives the greatest gift in the entire universe… and yet that is exactly what makes this good news.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
There are 3 that testify and there are 2 options. Believe or reject it. there is then one of two outcomes for you.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Do you have the Son? Do you have Life? This is a question that will haunt you until you can answer this question. you will never know rest and life until you can say, “Yes I have the Son!”
Today let us pray to that end.