Who Is the Light of the World?
Notes
Transcript
John 8:12-30
“I AM the Light of the world”
The world is only darkness
Almost every cultural force would like to convince you otherwise
In the twisted rejection of truth, people even take darkness and try to make it desirable and beautiful
The Batman
“Since 1939, Batman has adapted to fit his era. Born under the looming war and the aesthetics of film noir, the flawed and all-too-human superhero has transformed to reflect the moment’s anxieties. Matt Reeves, the latest director to take on the Dark Knight, could not have predicted the darkness COVID-19 would have plunged the world into when he first accepted the project, but the paranoia of our era feels perfectly encapsulated in The Batman. This superhero seems to ask, “What hope is there in this dark, tormented world?””
There is no light in sinful man, but all unbelieving people walk in spiritual darkness
A picture of those who do not believe
Isaiah 59:7-11- Bible
Jesus is Light
Allusion to the pillar of cloud/fire in the wilderness
Exodus 13:21-22- And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
He is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s foretold Servant
Isaiah 49:6- he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
He is the light which brings knowledge of Truth
2 Corinthians 4:6- For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
He is the light which brings life
John 1:4- In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The reason that you have hope is that Jesus is Light
If this were not so you would still be blind and in your sins
Theological precision and the Trinity
What we believe about God really matters
Many Christians, and maybe many of you, believe that as long as we get the broad strokes right, then the rest is merely consequential and unimportant
But God has given us a book, and He intends that we know Him rightly since He has revealed Himself in it
Therefore we better be as precise as we can be
The doctrine of the Trinity is not negotiable
It is vital to knowing Jesus rightly
If you reject the Trinity of God, then you reject Christianity
Am I overstating the importance of the Trinity?
Am I just being divisive and picky?
I don’t believe so
Salvation and the Trinity
Jesus explicitly connects salvation with Himself and the Father
The context also connects the Holy Spirit salvation (7:37-38)
Each member of the Trinity has a unique role in salvation
It is the Son who dies to make atonement for the sins of His people
It is the Father’s wrath which is appeased, and it is the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration
He has been sent from the Father and will be returning to Him
Isaiah 53:4-10- Bible
Unless they believe that He is the Messiah, then they will die in their sins (vv. 21-24)
Without knowing the Son, you don’t know the Father
Verse 19
Pray for the Jewish people, who are in mass rejecting Jesus
Jesus’ testimony and the Trinity
He is making an argument of validity
In Jewish law, one who bears witness about himself without other witnesses has no valid argument in court
They must have witnesses for their argument to pass muster
His testimony is true even if He is bearing witness about Himself
This is becasue He has come from the Father
Verse 14
John 7:28- Bible
He still connects His truthfulness to the Father
However, He is not bearing witness about Himself
He is bearing witness in accord with the witness of the Father
Verses 17-18
John 5:31-32- If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.
John 8:28-29- Bible
Final judgment and the Trinity
Jesus says that He judges no one
His point is that He does not judge anyone with the kind of judgment that they judge with
Their judgment is merely a human superficial judgment
Their judgment is according to the flesh
He judges with true judgment
He knows the heart because He is God
John 5:30- I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
His judgment accords with the Father’s judgment (v.16)
It is by the Son that the judgment of the Father happens
Revelation 19:11-16- Bible
Do you have the Light of Life?
If not, would you come to Him and trust Him today?
If you do, may you set your eyes on Him and walk in His light and life this week