Why We Worship Jesus - Week 2

If Jesus is not God, we're not saved.

And the reason it's important that Jesus is there in creation is that he has the power to create life. Because without the power to create life, he also doesn't have the power to recreate life. There's, there's great hope for us who are dead. And when we're dead in sin, the very God who speaks life into existence has come down to die in our place, rise again with a power to actually give us new life. One other small hangup that some have had in verse three is all things were made through him. Well, the question would be, where did the creation come from? You understand this difference? There's a from and a through. Everything that's created is created through the word or through Jesus. Everything that's created is created from the Father. This is exactly what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8.6. As we think about that, Everything that was made is made through the Son. Everything that was made is made from the Father. Think about Genesis 1 again. If we were to read Genesis 1 with a Trinitarian lens, how would the from and the through maybe help you read Genesis 1 differently? How did God create on day one? He spoke the Word, the Barah. All the creation comes from the power of the Father and comes through the Son. One God. Does anybody remember our rules for knowing what only God does? What's one of them? Only God creates. Here the Father and the Son are both doing what only God can do and there's only one God. Here's where it gets fun. They do it inseparably together. There is no creation with a son, there's no creation with a father. There is no new life without the father, unless he also has a son. All they do, they always do it together. They are one God. This really protects us from modalism. We see each one has a significant, important, absolute work that is tied to who they are as the one God. As we pull back from maybe something that feels a little abstract in that he's creator, that the significance is the assurance that the God who had the power to speak this world into existence is the same God who's come down, died, risen to new life so that we can be born again. For the sake of time, I'm going to drop down to verse 11. That's not because four and 10 are not hugely important, but it's because I hate the clock. Verse 11,

he came to his own, 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 the will of the flesh or the will of man, but of God.

He came to his own. All right. I believe we're getting into the idea of he's come to his own world. He's come to his own people. Uh, possibly, probably he came to his own. Brothers, the Jewish people, they don't receive them. Those who receive him, they do so by faith. Very important. You're not born into the family of God. You're born again in the family of God. The significance is, but all who did receive them, who believed in him, those are, those are the same kind of statements. If you receive him, there's only one way to receive them. You believe in him. As we think about the gospel of John, and I said I wasn't gonna do the whole book again, but I'm going to. Here's John 1, and we're gonna think about John 20, verse 30. What is the purpose statement of John's gospel? That you may believe the Son of God, have life. The God of life, who is now being called the Word of God, everything John's going to write is so that you would believe in him. And John gives us purpose statement after a very important event. After Thomas doubted and then confessed a statement of worship,

my Lord and my God.

All right. Thomas had some questions. Thomas wasn't just quick to jump onto that statement, but it was the absolute response seeing Jesus resurrected in the same way the disciples worshiped him after the resurrection. So I want to connect here from John 1 to John 20, we're going to see belief in him is the whole game. Cause it's the only way to be saved. Salvation has a very specific focus here though. Verse 12 and 13,

he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood nor the will of flesh or the will of men, but of God.

Last week, we looked at the baptismal and the transfiguration and who was speaking and what was happening in those scenes. Father was declaring about Jesus.

This is my son.

Those are the most important, intimate, absolute names we have of God. Father, son. The doctrine of adoption helps us see the importance of these names. Adoption comes from the father. You're born of the will of the father. Adoption comes through the son who shares with you the right to be the son of God. Here, the power of God is John 1, 1 through 3. Salvation is stated in this doctrine of adoption where a whole new way of relating to God is introduced. It's not completely new. There's always hints and patterns presented in scripture. Israel's called the child of God in a couple of places, but adoption is not at the forefront. Adoption is not at the center of the Old Testament covenant in statement, but it is the fulfillment of what the Old Covenant is pointing to. As Paul makes it clear in Galatians that the time has now come to have faith in Christ so that the The Mosaic law is no longer your tutor, but now you have the right to become a child of God. This is something that actually demands of us that we understand the one God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Because the doctrine of adoption means the Father has invited you into the most intimate, close, loving relationship with Him. through his son, and we can go on to John and know that it's the Holy Spirit who actually seals that adoption. This is something new in the New Covenant. Jesus taught his disciples to pray thus,

our Father who art in heaven.

That's new. That is a new benefit and privilege that The word coming to be with us provides by way of adopting us into the family. And I want you to see how important it is that God is truly Father. Jesus is truly Son. That's why those names are so important. Because it comes alive in the doctrine of adoption because we actually get to share in the full inheritance of the son who shares with us the right to become children of God. What was another work that only God does? Salvation is here. Only God can save sinners. This salvation is of God as the Father has declared us, not just alive, but now near. What marked the Old Testament worship? Think about Sinai. Fear, distance. Think about what's supposed to mark the New Testament church with the nearness of a family kind of language of adoption. I'm actually gonna finish this, maybe, we'll see. Uh, 14 to 18 continues. Now we go back to the word. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. If John one is supposed to remind us of Genesis, what is John one 14 supposed to remind us of? What, what, what, what, what book of the old Testament is, is being alluded to here. Exodus. It's helpful to keep in mind. He, he pitches in each world among us and we have seen his glory. All right, so only God creates, only God saves, only God reveals. We've seen his glory. Glory of the only begotten, I'm gonna just throw that in there for you,

the only begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and full of truth.

John bore witness about him and cried out, He whom I said, he who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me. For from his fullness, we have received grace upon grace for the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only begotten God who was at the father's side. He has made him known.

I'm not. Assuming that John is intentionally wants to think, oh, he's a creator, he's a savior, he's a revealer. But we can see if those rules stand true, all three of these are very clearly presented here in this prologue. He has made him known. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. That word who created all things, he now has come to be like us. And we could have some fun here because God made man in his image. It's likely he made us and designed us beforehand in order to enter into our nature. But that's just a fun thought. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. There's a covenantal way in which he unites himself with us. That statement,

we have seen his glory, glory as the only begotten son from the father, full of grace and full of truth.

That is a grand, bold statement. And it just kind of, let's step aside from that parentheses.

For from his fullness we have received grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Verse 17, what kind of statement do you think that is regarding Moses and Jesus? There's two phrases, how do they relate to each other? Okay. Or like, think nerdy grammar. There's somewhat parallel statements. What kind of parallel statements? Why would you see contrast? Okay. I put in parentheses for my text, but. So I think it's a contrast. The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth through Jesus Christ. If we're supposed to be thinking about Exodus, what did Moses ask to see? What could he not see? All right, if we're working with a contrast, Moses was allowed to see God and his goodness, but he wasn't allowed to see the glory. Notice what we see when the word becomes flesh. The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And in his coming with his grace and truth, the Word become flesh. We've seen his glory. There's a contrast because Jesus is greater than Moses. Moses being the great prophet, Moses who told us about God in all true ways, in all good ways, but there's something Moses could not see, therefore there was something Moses could not reveal. Verse 18,

no one has ever seen God. The only begotten God, who's at the Father's side.

Okay, we have to wrestle with, we're flipping around with terms here. No one's ever seen God. No one's ever seen the glory of God. I'm gonna say that first statement is about the one God. No one's ever seen the one God. However, the only begotten God, who is that? First, second, or third person, or the whole. The only begotten is the Son. No one has ever seen God, but the only begotten of God, who is at the Father's side. The actual word here is bosom. There's a nearness of the Son to the Father. He has made Him known. The God who created us with the power just to speak life into existence came to be with us to die and give us new life. The God we had sinned against, whom we created distance from because of our rebellion, drew near to us so that we would be able to draw near as a family, like around a table, calling him Father. I'm not convinced Adam got to call God Father. There seems to be a new benefit and privilege because of what Christ came to do for us now. And then finally, as we're thinking about why we worship Jesus, he's created us, he's worthy as a creator, he saved us, we can see the glory of God. That's what the Old Testament longed for. After Moses' request, that's what everyone longed for, and it wasn't allowed, except now, He who came down from heaven, from the side of the Father, from the nearness of the Father, he's come down to make him known. We can know God because Jesus has revealed his glory as he has revealed himself in grace and truth. So to answer the question, why would we worship Jesus, It's because of what he does. God woos us. We first worship God because of what he does. He saved us. He revealed himself to us. We worship God first because of what he does so that we'll learn how to also worship him for who he is. So we regularly think about Christ, him coming, The birth, him dying, that's the cross. The resurrection, that's the empty tomb. He's ascended, he will return again. We also need to be able to think about who he is as the one glorious God of grace and truth that's worthy of worship because of who he is. So to conclude, I pretty well think, we didn't get to look through the worship passages, but we talked about Thomas. He declared Lord and God. If you're gonna think about how John is gonna talk about worship, Read John 4 and 5. Who's worthy of opening the scroll? Hallelujah, the Lamb of God who died for us so that we can now come into the very presence of God. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you did not leave us in our sin, distant, but you spoke promises from the very beginning, and we can see the beauty of how you've developed those themes and those promises and those patterns and how they all come to fruition in Christ. We pray that as we meditate upon the great dissension of God becoming man, so that we could come back to you. I pray we would know how to enjoy and revel Jesus the Word with the power of creation. Jesus the Son who allows us to call you Father. Jesus full of grace and truth who allows us to see you in your glory as we're given new hearts and new eyes longing for you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.