One Savior: Jesus

The Big Idea:

4,300 total religions in all the world in 2021.

109 - 117 billion people have been born in the history of mankind.

Today’s culture often leads us to form our ideas about God, about the universe, or even about ourselves based on our own experience. It tells us that we can define or create our own meaning and purpose.

As Christians, we are “counter-culture” in the fact that we establish our theology, our world view, our ideas about God, the Universe and ourselves based on God’s word. We believe that scripture is our guide for these matters and actually supersedes, is greater than, our own perceptions, our own experiences, our own feelings.

Over the next 7 weeks, I’m going to be continuing our “Gospel Foundations” series of messages— this is a series of suggested passages and sermons that Pastor Ernie and Nick, and others have been delivering here at Walnut Creek. I’m putting a bit of my own creativity into the series, and calling it our “Only One” series.

Jesus alone brings together man’s deepest need and God’s greatest desire.

What is our deepest need?

To be wealthy? To be famous?

To be respected? To make our own choices?

To be loved?

We all may answer that question differently!

We all, if we have lived long enough to consider our lives— have probably felt what many in history have called a “God-shaped” hole in our hearts. A longing for meaning and purpose. One philosopher, Blaise Pascal, lived in the 1700’s in France, and in his writings called Penses’ (or thoughts) made this observation.

“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.” - Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII(425)

Mankind is broken. We were created to be in close fellowship with God, with creation, and with each other. But since Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, together they introduced sin to the world, and our relationships with God and each other are broken. Genesis 3.

Men and women throughout history have thought about this, and tried to describe the brokeness that we all live out. Even King Solomon, the wise man and teacher, describes our situation like this:

“And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.” King Solomon Ecclesiastes 1:13-14

It seems that we are hopeless. Right? and without God we typically fall into one of three categories of experience:

Three “conditions” of our brokenness:

Our self-image is too high, which is pride

Our self-image is too low, which is dispair

or we fluctuate between both!

We can easily fall into one extreme or the other. The knowledge of God, without the understanding of our own sin, leads to pride.

But the knowledge of our sin, without the knowledge of God, leads to hopeless.

Think about that for a moment. Do you struggle more with a prideful or a hopeless perspective of life? Are you judgemental or easily angered by the decisions or situations that you see others fall into? These are the characteristics that we read about with the Pharisee’s. Jesus constantly corrected these leaders because they seemingly had tremendous knowledge of God— but didn’t remember their own broken and sinful hearts. Jesus said things like “Why would you point out the speck in your brothers eye, when you’ve ignored the plank in your own eye...” He often stated the Truth to these prideful people.

Or maybe you struggle with hopelessness in your view of the world. Your world is little darker, and you have very little expectation for yourself and others. It’s always going to be bad. You don’t trust. And Jesus was often the defender of these people. I think of the women and those who had physical and emotional challenges that he interacted with. He restored them with compassion and love. He is the Good Shepherd. He defended them with strength and authority. He granted them grace.

The deepest need of man is to find meaning and purpose. That often comes , for those struggling with pride, through the truth. And some, those struggling with hopelessness and despair, need God’s unmerited favor— Grace.

What is God’s greatest desire?

For us to believe in him ?

For us to give money to the church?

For the world to help the poor?

We all may answer this question differently also!

I would like us to let God speak to us for himself— What is his greatest desire for us and the world? Apostle John helps give us some indications:

1 John 4:19 ESV

We love because he first loved us.

Revelation 21:3–4 ESV

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

God’s greatest desire is to be in close relationship with you and me!

Thus, Jesus, who is fully God and fully Man— is the ONLY salvation for you and me. No other world religion connects both our deepest need with God’s greatest desire. Apostle John, who walked and learned from Jesus directly, writes these words to help us understand this wonderful truth:

John 1:14–18 ESV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (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.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

This BIG idea has three parts:

The INCARNATION

I. v. 14 “The Word became flesh...”

“Word” is translated Logos, defined as “the nature and function”

This “Word” or “Logos” that John is talking about is the literal nature and function of God. It was a shockingly new way of thinking. That somehow the infinite could penetrate the finite. The nature and function of God became a real person. That the endless could become bound by a body. That the all powerful creator of the universe would be born as a baby. That God would become man. We know this today as the doctrine of the “Incarnation”. This thought of an “incarnational” God was and is a completely unique concept in the world. In John’s time, and even today there are two extremes that we observe in the world religions:

Two incorrect extremes in understanding the doctrine of “Incarnation”:

Eastern Religions: Budda, Confucius, Hinduism: “Incarnation in everything” Man is inherently “good”.

Western Religions: Judiasm, Islamic faith: “Incarnation is impossible!” Man is inherently “bad”.

v. 14 “and we have seen his glory…full of grace and truth.

Grace: unmerited favor, “getting what we didn’t deserve”

Truth: that which is true and in accordance with reality

John was a witness to all that Jesus had accomplished while on earth. He writes with the experience of seeing Jesus express both Grace and Truth in his teaching, his relationships, and even in his death, burial, and ressurrection! We are also witnesses to God’s glory today. We can see him in our everyday lives, and we experience him through the Holy Spirit. We should seek to live with grace and truth in balance just like our Lord Jesus did. If you’re struggling with pride—realize the great grace that God has shown you— and you should show that to others. If you are struggling with hopelessness or despair, pray that God would show you the truth about who you really are. A unique, loved and priceless child of God. Chin up- Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow… All fear is gone-- We do have hope, even in the darkest moments.

While I was a coach and a teacher working with students, I used to think of it this way: A student-athlete generally would need to be corrected in one of two ways— either a pat on the back (grace)— or a kick in the pants (truth). I used to also sense whether they needed me to tell them a funny joke— or remind them of the importance and urgency ahead. Knowing when to administer either more grace or truth was the artform to helping them accomplish their very best.

The IMPARTATION

v. 16 For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

I like the Amplified Bible translation: “For out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].

What does that word “Fullness” mean to you? Jesus is fully human, that means that he knows every pain, temptation and struggle that you and I face.

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

But Jesus is also FULLY God. He is the form, function and nature of God the Father in the Flesh.

Philippians 2:6–7 ESV

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God—

And as a result of HIS FULLNESS — we are imparted grace upon grace, gift upon gift.

The INFORMATION

V.18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Check the punctuation on that sentence again…

We can know God? Yes, if we know Jesus, we know God!

John 6:46 ESV

not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.

The Incarnation is what gives us the impartation of the information that we need for our salvation.

Don’t ever forget that Jesus is the Only Savior. He will never fail you. He is truly the answer for our deepest need and God’s greatest desire.

To summarize — I just want to share a great song that Ann Wilson has written. It’s simply called My Jesus.