The Light Gives Life

Good morning. There was a little boy who grew up in Ohio. His name was Little Jimmy. Little Jimmy loved his Lone Ranger lunchbox. This was one of those classic ten rectangular lunchboxes that had the handle. Be worth a fortune a day if one still had one. Well, every day, Little Jimmy walked to school very proud of his Lone Ranger lunchbox. One day, while walking back home, there were some bullies. They envied that Lone Ranger lunchbox. Little Jimmy saw them. He could see their desire. He could see their coveting. And so he ran from these bullies. The bullies caught up with him, ripped the lunchbox out of his hand, and were about to begin the bullying. Until one of them said, wait a second, he's a kiner. The other boys stopped, looked at each other, looked at Little Jimmy, the bully with the lunchbox. He put the lunchbox down and without saying a word, they quietly and quickly scattered and dispersed. You see, what they knew was that Little Jimmy had four big brothers who were bigger and badder than these bullies. That name, that family brought with it a certain protection. Being part of that family meant that little Jimmy had rights. Well, really what it meant was that his brothers wanted to protect their right to beat up their little brother, alone. But that name, he's a kiner. That name brought with it certain benefits, brought with it certain promises, it brought with it here today that protection. Another instance where the family should matter, just a couple days ago, my daughter was offended by something one of her friends said. It was an innocent statement. I don't think it could even have been said without malice. But it really bothered her. And it bothered me that it bothered her because I thought those kind of words shouldn't bother my daughter. She needs to be so established as a daughter of Keith and a daughter of Lisa, that she needs to be established as a goat, someone who's loved and cared for, that when other people say things to her, that it doesn't matter. It's my responsibility as a father to make sure my family knows their identity, that they're loved and cared for, and have a certain position in the family. This is the role of the Heavenly Father. He wants us to know that our position and status in the family of God is secure and it's secure not by who we are and what we have done. He wants us to know that our identity as children of God is secure because of the precious blood of Christ that has been poured out for our forgiveness because he is risen and he has shared with us his inheritance. This morning, we're going to be looking at the light of the world that has come so that we know who we are in God's family. The message is this this morning. Jesus is the light that changes us from being children of darkness to being the beloved children of God. Jesus transfers as he crosses us over from being the children of darkness to being children of life, to being children of wrath. being children of mercy. We're going to be continuing in John. This is our our new scripture or our new book where we're beginning. We did verses one through five of John one last week. We'll be doing versus we'll be looking at verses six through 13. I believe this is found and pay on page 886. If you're using a pew Bible. We read verses one through five as a call to worship, I will begin in verse six. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light that came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him. He came to his own. and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Father, we thank you for this great gift you've given to us. You've given us light through your son, Jesus Christ. You've given us new hope, new life, a new identity. Help us, Lord, as we look to your word to shine your truth in our hearts and our minds so that we know you more and we love you because we see your great love for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. We'll be looking at this passage in four parts. First, the light was expected. The light was expected. That's verses 6 through 8. We'll be looking at John the Baptist. Secondly, the light is for everyone. The light is for everyone. That is verse 9. Third, the light is rejected. Verses 10 and 11. The light is rejected. And finally, the light comes to adopt. That's verses 12 through 13. The light was expected. The light is for everyone. The light is rejected. The light comes to adopt. The light was expected. There was a man sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. Prologue starts with the grand truth that the Savior that's coming is God himself. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. It's the great grand truth. Jesus Christ is God, the creator. It begins with a grand scheme that almighty God is coming down. Here, the prologue shifts to more of a historical perspective. God has always, from the beginning, planned this salvation for his people. John represents all of the Old Covenant, all of the Old Testament history that's been pointing towards Christ coming. He represents the Old Testament prophecy and expectation that Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, is coming. John was sent by God. This makes him like Moses and the other Old Testament prophets. He was sent by God with a message. But this is how John the Baptist is different than all the Old Testament prophets. He didn't say he's coming. He got to say he's here. John the Baptist is a witness to Jesus Christ that he is Messiah because he's the last Old Testament prophet. He doesn't just say wait. He gets to say Behold, the Lamb of God who takes the sins of the world. He's a prophet that's blessed with a message. There's no more waiting. There's no more expecting. He's here. Praise God. The Messiah has come. We can see a few things about John's ministry. He's sent by God. He's the last old covenant prophet. He calls the people to repent. That's his primary message. He's paving the way. We must repent of our sins so that we can see God with pure eyes. And he identifies and confirms this is the Messiah. Now, over and over again, it keeps saying he's not the light. He bore witness to the light. He is not the light. He shows us who the true light is. The message is consistent. The purpose of John the Baptist is the same purpose of John the Evangelist. He's calling us to believe in Jesus Christ. Look at verse seven. He came as a witness that all might believe through him. The point is not to believe John the Baptist. The point is to believe his witness that Jesus Christ is the true light. John does nothing. to point to himself. John the Baptist has to work very hard to not have people pointing to him because they wanted to believe he was Messiah. Instead, he continued to point this is the Messiah. We have to realize here is this this beauty is that we're supposed to be like John the Baptist, but we're pointing backwards. We're calling people to believe. And when we believe, that means we're trusting the promise. We are called to believe that the promises have all been fulfilled, that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He is everything the old covenant was looking forward to. We are to not just have an intellectual acceptance of this, but a true trust, a true dependence. We must say these promises are true and these promises have been fulfilled in the one and only Jesus Christ. Our belief is strengthened when we look at the entire story of Scripture as we see how God has orchestrated and ordered and organized all things to come to his purpose. And that is Jesus Christ. He organized everything. He ordered it so that Jesus Christ would come at the right time to the right people and be the Savior for all people. The story is not over. We're now part of this story. We are now called to be light to the world, pointing to the true light longing for has been read when Jesus comes back and puts all things in its proper order. The Messiah was supposed to be expected. We're still expecting him to come back and renew all things. The second thing I want us to see from this passage, the second part, the light is for everyone, the light is for everyone. Here, John begins speaking again about Jesus. We're moving from John because we see here the true light. John was not the true light. Jesus is the true light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He's a true light because when we believe in him, he brings salvation. When we believe in Jesus Christ, he forgives us of our sins. When we believe in Jesus Christ, he helps us. To have new life, he gives us new life to the true light when it comes. Jesus Christ, he truly he helps us see how truly sinful we are, how gross and offensive our sin is. And we see that because he himself, the perfect man, had to die on our behalf so that we could once again be friends with God. One of the most important words that we need to make a decision on interpreting in this passage is what does John mean when he uses the word world? What does John mean when he uses the term world? There's two basic ways in which he will use the term world. One is really a neutral sense, the creation of God. We can see this in John 21 and 21, 25. The world could not contain all that Christ said and did. What John is saying here is that Jesus did so many miracles. He told us so much that all of the world, the created order, all the space of this created order, it could not contain what he did. But I've given you a very precise, specific account for a specific purpose, that you would believe that Jesus is the Son of God. So there's one interpretation that is, it's the neutral sense. The majority of uses for the term world are in a negative sense. The world is the order against God. It is our organized rebellion as his creatures. We have organized a rebellion against God. We can see this in John 15, 18 through 19. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Here, the world is clearly in opposition to God and anything that is of God. The world is that which hates God and in the world is that which hates anyone who is part of what God is doing. We are either in the world and hating God or we're outside of the world loving God. 1 John 2, 15, same author. Do not love the world, or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that the world is, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of possessions, is not from the Father, but from the world." We see here there's a negative sense, there's an offensive sense here of the world. It is that which is opposed to God. And I believe that is the majority of the that is the majority of the senses in which John uses it. So we see here the light has come into the world. Those that are rebelling against God, God has come to them while we were kicking and screaming, fighting against him. He comes down to us. The light comes to the darkness that's raging against the light comes to those who are rebelling against him. It's really fascinating. God is worthy of praise wherever he is. He is always worthy of praise wherever he is. But here, Jesus, he leaves his proper abode, the heavens where he is being praised. And he descends to the world where he is despised, but worthy of praise. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. He descends down from being praised to the world that hates them so that he can redeem the world so that we can join in the proper praise of his glory. Now, that phrase in the middle, which gives light to everyone, Jesus is the light for everyone. Everyone is to hear the gospel. This is the purpose and mission of Jesus Christ that all the nations, all people will hear the gospel. The light is to shine on everyone. I believe Augustine actually gives a great analogy of what this looks like. Pretend there's a city. I know that the city has only one teacher. That teacher is actually a teacher for the entire city, even though he only has a few students in that city. There's one teacher. He has a few students. But what happens is all those students know the rest of the city. His influence goes out from his students into the city so that that teacher is therefore a light to the entire city. This helps us understand our role for how Jesus is a light for everyone. We are his disciples. And as his disciples, we are to be witnesses of his light to everyone. Everyone is to hear the gospel. Now, this is different in this stage of redemption. We're talking about the history that John the Baptist is the last old covenant prophet. The entire Old Testament is really focused on one particular people and one particular nation. Yes, all nations are in view, but there's one particular people, one particular nation. God now says it's focused on everyone. The gospel is for every kind of people, every people, every race, every tongue. We see the expansion in John. The way he actually organizes gospel gives us a little glimpse of the expansion of the gospel. Chapter three, probably the most popular chapter of the Bible, especially of John, where Jesus and Nicodemus, they have this conversation. And there we have the key dialogue with Jesus and Judaism. Following that, Jesus goes to Samaria, a people despised by Israel. The next people group over there, they're half Israelites. Jesus goes and he speaks to a Samarian woman who is an adulterer. He breaks three boundaries. He shouldn't be talking to a Samarian because they're not Jews. They're not Israelites. He should be talking to a woman and he certainly should be talking to a sinner like an adulterer. He breaks three boundaries. We see that it goes from being Jews to Sumerians to the outer parts of the world. In chapter 12, somewhere from last week, chapter 12 is where this this gospel takes a major transition. You can separate John into two parts, one through 11, 12 through 21. Chapter 12, there's a key transition. Look at verse 20. Now, among those who went up to worship at the feast, were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who were from Bethsaida and Galilee, and asked him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered him, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. John has intentionally put, I believe, that the Greeks are coming. All nations now will have the light shine upon them. The hour has now come. for the Son of Man to be glorified. Now, Baptists don't typically recognize this day on the Christian calendar, but today is Pentecost Sunday. This is the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the church and, well, created the church. And the Holy Spirit came down to make the church the light It's important for us to recognize this because now our mission is to be the light. They killed the light. The light rose again. The light then created a church, his body to be instruments of the light for everyone. The gospel is for every kind of person, every race, every walk, every human being. Let's make sure we also remember that the gospel is for every kind of sinner. The adulterer, the murderer, The liar, the slanderer, the idolater. This is good news for us because we are all these kinds of sinners. I appreciate Ben's prayer for Dr. Gosnow. How many of us were disgusted by him to the point where we didn't pray for him? That should be the Christian response. That was a model of a Christian response to that sin. Yes, in our in our eyes, he looks like the worst kind of sinner. And we need to pray that when justice is served, when he hears guilty, he has a resounding sound in his ear that he's going to be declared guilty by God, the father, unless he believes in God, the son who died for his sin, if he believes in him. There's two applications, I believe, from this passage. First, if you are not a Christian, if you're not a Christian, you cannot say, I am too sinful to be saved. If you're not a Christian, you can say it, but you're believing a lie by saying it. If you're not a Christian, there is no sin outside of the boundary of God's power to save you. Our sin is not greater than God. Where our sin abounds, God's grace abounds. Our sin does not keep us from the gospel. Our sin keeps us from the holiness of God to worship Him, to know Him. The gospel is that which reconciles us. We are not too sinful to be saved. We are all sinful. God doesn't save the good ones because there are no good ones. They're sinners. If you think you're too sinful today, Praise God that he has shown you the light of your sin. He's shining light to let you see how gross your sin is and how despicable it is. But do not believe the lie that that sin is too much for God to save you from. Repent and believe in the gospel. The second application is for Christians. And it's for us to think about. Who is it that we think is unworthy of hearing the gospel? Who is it that you look at in your neighbors, your friends, folks who are public figures, who is it you think there's no way God would ever save them? There's no way that God could possibly save that kind of sinner. When you recognize who you think that about. Begin praying for them. Pray that God would soften your heart so that you would see the power of the gospel. Pray that God would give you a heart to befriend them and then share the gospel with them. The light is for everyone and we are to be the light. The witnesses to the light. Let's look at our third part of our passage. The light is rejected. Verses 10 and 11. The light is rejected. He was in the world and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own people did not receive him. The world, this term is really in focus here in verses 10 through 11. He's already come to the world, that's verse 9. Now he is he was in the world. He made the world. The world did not know him. Now, the first real pickle of interpretation is what does it mean that the world was made through him? What does it mean that the world was made through him? One option is to say, well, he made the darkness. He made the evil world that is opposed to him. Well, let me just go and start by saying that's out of bounds. That is out of bounds. God cannot be tempted. He does not tempt anyone. God is perfectly good. He is not the author of evil. He is perfectly good, perfectly righteous. That is out of bounds. One other way of getting around this is to maybe think, well, John's just changing the way he means the word world here. Here he's speaking of the neutral, whereas everywhere else he's clearly referring to the darkness, that world that's opposed to him. That's not really good interpretation of Scripture. I think a better way is this. John is intentionally saying that world that is opposed to him, God created the people that are opposed to him. He did not create the opposition. He did not create the rebellion. He did not create the sin, but he created everyone who is opposed to him. And he's coming back to save those who are opposed to him. Last week, we saw the category of creator creation. That's a very important basic category. This morning, we're going to see some more categories. Of that creation, when God created it in the beginning, it was good. It was perfect. We can go back to Genesis one after each day. It was good. It was good. It was good. God created this world good. Well, what happened? Us, we rebelled. Now the world is full of sin and darkness because we introduced it to this world. That's why we are longing for the perfect world that we read about in Revelation, where there is no more darkness, where we will see God face to face and our sins are completely conquered and wiped away. I believe when John is saying he made the world, he is declaring they are his because he created them, not the way they are in their rebellion. But he created them and they are now rebelling against them. So this interpretation really helps us with John 316. For God so loved the world. That he sent his only begotten son. He he loved the world, he he loved those who were opposing him, he does not love the darkness, he does not love the rebellion, he loves those he created and rebellious him enough to send his son to die at their hands. This helps us see the power of the gospel. John declares, he came to his own. He came to those he created. He came to his own and they rejected him. Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 26 that really helps put some flesh on this. There's a master of a vineyard and he goes away and he lets tenants oversee this vineyard. And while he's away, he sends a servant and the servants at first, they beat some and then they they kill some of the servants and the master of the vineyards upset. He's wondering what's going on. And so he says, well, surely they will respect my son. So the master of the vineyard sends his son to the vineyard. And the tenants there, they kill him, saying that if he is dead, then we will get his inheritance. That's right before Jesus goes to the cross. That's what we did to the son of God who created us, who left us to be responsible for this world. We killed his son. We abused his prophets. We killed some of his prophets. But now he sent his son and we killed him. The most amazing part about the gospel is that in Christ's death, we do get to share in his inheritance if we believe in him as a son who died for our sins. or application from this, we must see how far our sin has removed us from God. We must see that we are that rebellious world that has refused God and rejected him and that he is the mighty God who loved us even though we were sinners. We must also realize that if the world hated Jesus, as Jesus taught in John 15 that we read earlier, they're going to hate us. Are we sharing the gospel in a way that makes it clear that sinners will be under the wrath of God? Another way of asking this, are we avoiding sharing the bold truth of the gospel because we're afraid of offending our neighbors and having the inconvenience of having neighbors upset with us because we've offended them with the gospel? Who is it that we're afraid of offending in the name of being a neighbor when really what we're saying is you're going to go to hell? I'd rather you go to hell for the sin that you have against God rather than you be upset with me for sharing the gospel with you. I do want to give us a warning as we are called to be the light. One of the worst things we as Christians can do is present the gospel as if we are righteous. One of the worst things we can do as Christians is present the gospel as if we are righteous. We are to come, we are to go out and declare the righteousness of Christ. And the best way to do that is to talk about how sinful we are. Don't talk about sin as some abstract concept out there. Don't talk about sin as other sinners. Talk about sin in your own life. If you don't know anything to talk about, pray that God would illuminate all the sin that is clearly and abundantly there in God's eyes. If you're not a Christian, We are all unrighteous. Forgive us for pretending in our facade to be righteous. It is only the righteousness of Christ that saves us. The fourth and last thing we'll see from our passage, the light has come to adopt. The light has come to adopt. Let me read this in context of verse 11. He came to his own and his own people did not receive him. But To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. That conjunction is so powerful. They did not receive him, but. all who did receive him, all who do believe in him. As John has said, I am writing to this, this, this, this gospel. I'm writing this good news so that you believe in the son and you will be forgiven. They have rejected him, but you can receive him by believing in him. Notice here, it's believing in his name. The name is tied to the identity of Jesus Christ, Yahweh saved. We've just finished Exodus. The whole point of the book is to reveal the name of God. We have even a clearer and better name. It's not just the Yahweh who was committed to saving this people from from slavery and taking them to a promised land. It's Yahweh who saves us from our sin and death and wrath. That is the real emphasis of this passage. He gave the right to become children of God. He gave the right to become children of God. Now, notice being a child of God is not by the blood of men. It's not by the will of the flesh. It's not with the will of men. What is challenging here is it's not being a son of Abraham that makes you a child of God. John being read by Israelites, they would have been tempted to see, oh, if I'm born into the family of God, if I'm born in the nation of Israel, God's people, then I'm a child of God. No, as Paul makes clear, the child of God is a child who has faith. It is only by faith that we are children of God. Clear in Paul, clear here in John. It is not our heritage. It's not our circumcision. It's the circumcision of the heart. That gives us new life. Last week, we looked at regeneration. We talked about being born again or born from above here, that being born again is tied to adoption, receiving the right to be children of God, being transferred from darkness into the light. See, when a family adopts a child, as we see modeled throughout this congregation, a child once had a different name. Now they have a new name. Child once had a different future, but now they have a new home. They have a new life. Many of them went from being poor to being rich. Many of them went from being orphans to having parents. We, when we're adopted, we go from being under the wrath of God to being beloved by God. The father sent his son to adopt us so that whenever he died on the cross, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, he takes our sin, he takes our punishment, he takes the wrath of God that we deserve. And in exchange, he gives us his righteousness and a right to be a child of God. The Son of God shares his inheritance with us. Now this means something very significant. Let me try to point this out by comparing us to Adam. Adam, before the fall, had a pretty good deal. A lot of us would like to go back to that because Adam at least didn't have weeds and thistles in his garden. As many of us are trying to start a garden, we can experience the fall there in the dirt. We have it better than Adam. Because at best, Adam was just a beloved servant of God. Adam was just a beloved servant of God. He was a friend of God. In Jesus Christ, we're sons of God. We're not servants of the house. We're children who get to sit at the table in the house. Let me try to translate that into today's world. Today, we get to go open the fridge in God's house. When I first went to my in-law, well before they were my in-laws, I remember it was so intimidating that the fridge, when my wife would open, my girlfriend at the time, Lisa, would open it, it was so full. I could see sodas and cheeses and desserts, but I dare not. open or touch that fridge. It was not a right yet of mine. But after we were married, oh, how I love to go to the fridge. I open it with boldness and I leave happy. You see, that's the difference. We're children. We get to make ourselves home with a loving father who says, this is your house. This is your family. Make yourself at home here. You're not a servant in the home. You're a child of the home, which makes all the difference. Our new status as children must be the most important identity marker we have. That must be our identity. Our identity cannot be found in our feelings, in our gifts, or our success. Our identity must first and foremost be Jesus Christ died for my sins. I'm forgiven. Jesus Christ has risen again to give me righteousness and a new status, a new home, a new name. Because I believe in the name Jesus Christ, I have new benefits. If you believe in the name of Jesus Christ, you have new benefits. We get to pray to God as a loving father. That's a benefit that only Christians really have. Yes, everyone else can call him a father. He is our father because we believe in the truth and he's given us sonship. Secondly, we have a place at the table, we get to eat, we get to fellowship, we can see God face to face one day and we can pursue that pure vision today. And that new identity, we know we are loved. We know we are loved no matter what suffering you go through, no matter what trial you go through. You know you're loved if you're part of the family and you know you're loved because the father sent his son to die for you. As part of the family, we know God disciplines us for our good when we go through suffering, when we go through trials, we know that God is doing this for our good and we know that regardless of the suffering we endure, God is working in us and will bring about his glory and our good through it. We must constantly remember we're sons of God. The world is constantly trying to tell you something else. The world wants to remind you of your failures. The world wants to remind you of your sin. The devil certainly wants to plague you with remembering your sin. But we continue to go to the Word, to go to Christ, knowing our true identity. We have been made children of God. It is by God's will. We may be afraid that we're going to fail as children of God. But see, it was never our success that made us children of God. It was never our choice to become children of God. It was the will of God alone. And if He had said, you are mine, you're His, and that's that. It's not our choice. It's not our will. It's the will of God. And if God will that he doesn't change his will, it's perfect. Your adoption papers are sealed with the Holy Spirit. It will not change. God never stops loving you. Now, we may stop enjoying that love. That's because we choose to sin. Because we choose to love the light, the darkness of the world and not the light of the kingdom. We must pursue the life to enjoy that adoption. But again, your identity is not built upon the fact that you enjoy it. Your identity is built upon the fact that Christ has declared it. If you're not a Christian this morning, this promise is for all who receive him and for all who believe in his name. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. That's first John 5 one. John is consistent. If you believe you are a child of God. This means we truly confess our sin. We truly depend upon him. We know that without him we have nothing but death and the wrath to come. Here the call to believe. Christian, remember that it is God's love that has made your identity secure and sure. Will you pray with me? Father of light, we... Father of light, we praise you. You are the one and true God, the one source of goodness in this world that is dark and evil. We praise you because without your grace, we would have already consumed one another with our sin and envy and evil and darkness. We thank you for the grace that constrains our sin, that restrains our sin. I praise you that you have not just kept us from destroying ourselves because of our sin. You have come into this sinful world. You have sought to redeem us and give us life. We praise you, Almighty God, for delivering us. from darkness into the kingdom of your beloved son, the true light. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.