Gospel Solution Part 3a

Introduction

Effect of Sin

Broken relationship with God

Broken relationship with others.

Personal brokenness

Sin affects us in that we are guilty before a holy God and are deserve Judgment.

Sin also affected us in our: Thinking, Will, Emotions, Body, and Spirit

God will Save.

God has declared that He will not leave us in our sin, but will provide a way of Salvation.

The Gospel is the message that God accomplished the goal of His plan of redemption in Jesus Christ. He accomplished dealing with Sin and all the affects of it.

Jesus in dealing with the guilt of Sin also united us with Him and deals with the sin in our lives

Titus 3:1–7 (ESV)

1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Regeneration - “(an idiom, literally ‘to be born again’); παλιγγενεσίαa, ας f: to experience a complete change in one’s way of life to what it should be, with the implication of return to a former state or relation—‘to be born again, to experience new birth, rebirth.’” (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 509. Print.)

Renewal - “to cause something to become new and different, with the implication of becoming superior—‘to make new, renewal.’” (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 593. Print.)

Gospel Solution 3 - Personal Brokenness

Light to the Dark (John 1:1-13)

Clean to the Unclean

Comfort to the Broken

Forgiveness to the Sinner

Light in the Dark room

In the dark room

We can’t see anything. We feel around and don’t know what we are sensing. We have no real clarity in the reality of that room.

We are in the dark.

When the light comes on.

We see everything in the room.

We see the reality of the room. (See things as they really are)

We see what to do. (How to get around the room safely or leave the room)

Biblical theme of light and dark.

“Light and darkness are recurring themes in John’s Gospel. God is light (1 John 1:5) while Satan is “the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). People love either the light or the darkness, and this love controls their actions (John 3:16–19). Those who believe on Christ are the “sons of light” (John 12:35–36). Just as the first Creation began with “Let there be light!” so the New Creation begins with the entrance of light into the heart of the believer (2 Cor. 4:3–6). The coming of Jesus Christ into the world was the dawning of a new day for sinful man (Luke 1:78–79).” (Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Vol. 1. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996. Print.)

In our sin, we are in the dark without clear understanding of our lives or the condition of our lives. We need the Light of God to illuminate our reality of sin.

Jesus is the light of God in our world to bring understanding, guidance, and salvation.

John 1:1–13 (ESV)

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 were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 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.

Jesus is the Light from God. (4) This whole text is about Jesus (1:1-18)

Life - "This phrase is emphasizing that "life" itself comes from the Son, the Word. John uses the term, zoē, to refer to resurrection life, eternal life, God's life.” (Bob Utley)

Light - metaphorically, the light of Divine truth, spiritual illumination; a source or dispenser of spiritual light (Mounce, William D. Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words 2006: 1308. Print.)

Jesus is the Word (vs 1 and 14) and in Him is life. Jesus is the light shining in the darkness. Think about the room illustration.

Jesus brings understanding about God, Ourselves, Sin and salvation.

Jesus shows us the reality of our situation in Sin. (Guilt, suffering, judgment)

Jesus guides us out of Sin into Salvation.

Darkness could not overcome Him (5)

Darkness - (figurative extensions of meaning of σκότοςa and σκοτίαa ‘darkness,’ 14.53) the realm of sin and evil—‘evil world, realm of evil, darkness.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 755. Print.)

overcome - to gain control over—‘to overcome, to gain control of.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 473. Print.)

The spiritual forces, Human forces, or sinful passions could not overcome or extinguish the light of Christ.

John 3:16–21 (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

This is the Judgment.

He gives light to all men. (9)

True Light (9)

True - pertaining to being what something should be—‘genuine, sincere, true.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 674. Print.)

Light - light, in contrast with darkness (σκότοςa, σκοτίαa, 14.53), usually in relationship to some source of light such as the sun, moon, fire, lamp, etc.—‘light.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 172. Print.)

Jesus came to give light to the world.

John 1:9–13 (ESV)

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 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.

Jesus is the light of God that we need to Follow.

John 8:12 (ESV)

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

“I am the Light of the World”

Same as John 1:4, 9

1 of the 7 “I Am” statements of Jesus.

Follow - “to follow or accompany someone who takes the lead in determining direction and route of movement—‘to accompany as a follower, to follow, to go along with.’” (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 201. Print.)

Will not walk in darkness.

“in imagery, and far on the way toward the nonliteral use of the word: to conduct one’s life, comport oneself, behave, live as habit of conduct; fig.” (Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, et al. A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature 2000: 803. Print.)

If we follow Jesus who is the Light of the world we will not conduct our lives like we used to in darkness.

Light of Life

“The object of Christ’s work is to make men sons of light (12:36, 46), and to endow them with the light of life (8:12).” (Vincent, Marvin Richardson. Word Studies in the New Testament. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887. Print.)

John 12:35–36 (ESV)

35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”...

Sons of Light - (idioms, literally ‘sons of the light,’ ‘sons of the day,’ and ‘children of light,’ respectively) persons to whom the truth of God has been revealed and who are presumably living according to such truth—‘sons of the light, children of the light, people of God.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 122. Print.)

Jesus brings us out of the darkness into His Light.

Colossians 1:13–14 (ESV)

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus delivered us from the Kingdom of darkness.

deliver - to rescue from danger, with the implication that the danger in question is severe and acute—‘to rescue, to deliver.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 240. Print.)

Domain - a state of control over someone or something—‘control.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 472. Print.)

John 8:34 (ESV)

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

Romans 6:16 (ESV)

16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Jesus transferred us into His Kingdom.

transferred - to cause a change of state, with emphasis upon the difference in the resulting state—‘to change to, to turn into, to cause to be different from, to transform.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 155. Print.)

Kingdom - an area or district ruled by a king—‘kingdom.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 15. Print.)

Application

In the dark room

We can’t see anything. We feel around and don’t know what we are sensing. (We feel rock walls, Small door made of bars that cannot be opened.) We have no real clarity in the reality of that room. (Small cot in the corner)

We are in the dark.

When the light comes on.

We see everything in the room. (We are in a dungeon)

We see the reality of the room. (See things as they really are)

Reality in our Sin

We are in prison/enslaved in our Sin. Jesus is the light that shows us the reality of our condition in our sin.

He is standing at the dungeon door with it opened saying, “Follow me and I will bring you out of this Dungeon and lead you into my Kingdom.”

What is your answer to Jesus.

“No thank you, I like it here.”

“I will not follow you.”

“I will follow you, thank you for saving Me.”