Fullness of Hope

Hope is on the way  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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John declares the Christmas miracle in theolgoically explosive ways; the word of God declared and proclaimed

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Introduction

Stand for the reading of God’s word. Hands out to receive this.
John 1:1–18 NIV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
NRSV
Living as children of God intro: Yesterday we celebrated Luke’s 1st birthday.
Show picture 1
Eating cupcake picture 2.
I love this because he is clearly not worried about diabetes at this point. or any other issues in his life. He trusts his parents enough to just be and eat. or what he looks like and what others will think of him.

Overview

The gospel of John is a story that will reveal to us the most profound mysteries of life. This story is simply about God, the glory of his character, the nature of his life and his desire to share that life with his creatures. It is about God come amongst us and the mixed response he received to his offer of divine life.
John does not ease us into such awesome topics; he plunges us immediately into the heart of the revelation by giving in the prologue an overview of the themes that will be worked out in narrative form in the story. The prologue helps us understand the significance of what takes place in the story and gives us clues as to what to watch for.
Introductory poem that introduces all the themes. I think you can see three major themes introduced here, with a whole lot packed into each. We will not have time to discuss them all. Those themes, I will mention briefly.
drawing our attention back to creation.
A person’s word is distinct and divine
The divine word became flesh in Jesus
Jesus is God’s tabernacle in our midst.
The one true God of Israel consists of the Father and the son.

Word of God

I think we have heard this text so many times we kind of miss the what is going on here. The weight and beauty of what John does here to grab hold of this theme.
In the beginning was the word:
drawing our attention back to creation.
A person’s word is distinct and divine
Think about this for a second our words that we use are a representation for who we are....we know this right. Like have you ever heard at the end of a cartoon or tv show or radio show....the opinions expressed in this show do not represent the opinions of views of ABC or whatever.....The disclaimer speaks to the very idea that we know words carry and expression and a power.
We also know that words are distinct. You would not take these words and mistaken them for me.
Think about this for a second our words that we use are a representation for who we are....and yet they are distinct from us.
What John is doing here would make sense for the Jew and the gentile audience. The jewish audience in particular had a shelf for this understanding. The word of God has always been used in this manner:
Wisdom of Solomon 18:14–16 NRSV
For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed, a stern warrior carrying the sharp sword of your authentic command, and stood and filled all things with death, and touched heaven while standing on the earth.
“Your powerful word leaped from heaven...”
It accomplishes something. It is God but also distinct from God. This is the shelf that is being created for God to show the fullness of his glory, Jesus, the word of God.
Jesus as the logos, the word of God is the fullest expression of who he is that is why this introduction closes with
John 1:18 NIV
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Just meditate on this for a moment, the Word of God, the same word that spoke creation into existence, the word of God is:
God’s declaration to the world
God’s plan
God’s character
God’s redemption
God’s salvation
God’s relationship with humanity
God’s unveiling of humanity’s purpose
God’s proclamation of the value of humanity

Believe or don’t believe?

So what do we do with this? Acknowledging that the word of life has come. What does this mean for you and me? Well the answer is here in the text.
I will not bore you with sentence structure but there is very intentional linguistic structure to this poem. Some scholars suggest parallel structure of something called a chiasm where the outer most verses parallel and then the next two and so on to show a central verse that is the focus. Now whether that is for sure the intention of John, we can be sure from the reading of the gospel…a major theme is that some believe and they are children and some do not.
John 1:9–13 NIV
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Why do some reject him? Why do some fall away?
Even as we think of the Christmas message consider the layered response from Mary:
Luke 2:18–19 NIV
and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
She is the only adult that lasts until the end. How do some become children of God?
John 1:12 NIV
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
If we had only verse 12 the answer would be human response, for it says that after they receive and believe they are given the right to become children of God. The word right (exousia) may be misleading since it suggests a legal claim. Exousia can also mean “power” or “authority.” The imagery of coming alive as God’s children suggests the focus here is on the power that produces divine life. But it is a power that must be exercised by the person—John does not say “he made them children of God” but “he gave them power to become children of God” (cf. Chrysostom In ).
Let’s start first with verse 13 this is accomplished by God
John 1:13 NIV
children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Children of God are not the same as natural birth, in natural birth there is physical reproduction. A birth in the flesh, not this is spiritual.
It is not of a human decision....in that this is not something solely produced by humanity. Mom and dad decide to have a child, then it is done. The one who holds all of creation, the word of God there from the beginning is the one who extends the possibility and accomplishes this new birth.
From John Wesley:
… If any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may be properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two, -- the doctrine of justification, and that of the new birth: The former relating to that great work which God does for us, in forgiving our sins; the latter, to the great work which God does in us, in renewing our fallen nature.
We often think of the work God does for us in Jesus. Forgiving our sins, but this speaks of the work that God does in us. Becoming children is a change of nature.
I cannot stress this enough.....
However, the other answer for how do we become children of God is in verse 12:
Then, verse 12 speaks of nuanced human response:
Then, verse 12 speaks of nuanced human response:
John 1:12 NIV
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
The greek here has different translations:
some say he gave the “power” to become children of God
some say he gave the “privilege” to become children of God
Then some say he gave the “right” to become children of God
If we had only verse 12 the answer would be human response, for it says that after they receive and believe they are given the right to become children of God. The word right (exousia) may be misleading since it suggests a legal claim. Exousia can also mean “power” or “authority.” The imagery of coming alive as God’s children suggests the focus here is on the power that produces divine life. But it is a power that must be exercised by the person—John does not say “he made them children of God” but “he gave them power to become children of God” (cf. Chrysostom In ).
In the same gospel, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever should believe in him will not perish but have eternal life....whosoever should believe.
Today is an opportunity to believe again (or for the first time) so that we might stand in this truth, in the fullness of grace.
These two held in tandem are paramount, NT Wright describes it this way:
That kind of “making sense” is much more like falling in love than like calculating a bank balance. Ultimately, believing that God raised Jesus from the dead is a matter of believing and trusting in the God who would, and did, do such a thing.
This is where our word “belief” can be inadequate or even misleading.What the early Christians meant by “belief” included both believing that God had done certain things and believing in the God who had done them. This is not belief that God exists, though clearly that is involved, too, but loving, grateful trust.
When things “make sense” in that way, you are left knowing that it isn’t so much a matter of you figuring it all out and deciding to take a step, or a stand.
Again NT Wright describes it this way:
Again NT Wright describes it this way:
It’s a matter of Someone calling you, calling with a voice you dimly recognize, calling with a message that is simultaneously an invitation of love and a summons to obedience. The call to faith is both of these. It is the call to believe that the true God, the world’s creator, has loved the whole world so much, you and me included, that he has come himself in the person of his Son and has died and risen again to exhaust the power of evil and create a new world in which everything will be put to rights and joy will replace sorrow.
And then living like it

Children of God full of hope

what does living like it look like?
Like a kid and his cupcake. (Show picture again)
Yesterday God taught me something watching my son. It really is this simple. Knowing that God has not only ransomed me in love but he has changed me to be son....and in that place I have hope and joy and love. Security. freedom. joy.
We have to be full of hope because the word of God has come and we have seen the light. If you have heard me speak on hope recently forgive me for some repetition but I believe it is so important.
We have lost what it means to be hopefull. Hopeful has become some optimistic sentiment that has little or now power. Think about things that you are hopeful for....I am hopeful the cowboys win the super bowl....dont feel great about that. but what would it look like for the church to be full of hope again. In a world that hope is seemingly absent.
Hope that is more than optimism. Optimism is wishful thinking at worst and positive thinking at best but still purely cognitive and individually experiential.....however the biblical hope is tied to the Word of God, Jesus Christ, and his power at work in us.
Let me illustrate the difference in optimism and hope:
Brother in prison. illustration.
Close
John 1:12 NIV
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
John 1:
John 20:31 NIV
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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