The Life
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Recap: Last wee we looked at that God the Father through the Son is responsible for all that is. Nothing has slithered into the world apart from the sovereign purpose of the World’s Creator. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was created without Jesus. Life did not simply happen in some sort of random process, it was done with purpose.
The youth on Tuesday playing a game, like a TAG in the dark sort of game using a flashlight.
READ: John 1:4-5
PRAY
Jesus is life
Jesus is life
English Standard Version Chapter 1
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Vs. 4 In him was life
What does it mean by life? In the Bible, life flows from the living Father through the Son. We saw last week with Pastor Matt that Jesus is the agent in creation and redemption. The Father send his son into the world who is thirsting for “real” life.
“Life” shows up 36 times in the Gospel of John. So it’s important to take note of.
Verse 3: Another way of translating: was not anything made. That which has been made was life in him. Not only through Jesus that life was created, but redemption. The second person of the Godhead, the “Word,” is the source of all life in this universe. Not only does he have life, but life itself is found in him and comes through him. Not only is he the source of all life we see around us, but the a living soul. Not only is he the creator of all things, but the creator of all new things.
and the life was the light of men. This great verse that tells you and me what it means to be Christlike. Jesus wants you to be a lamp that reflects his light in the world. He wants you to reveal God to those around you; he wants you to warm others so that they will seek after truth and love; he wants you to be a guide to others; and he wants his light shining in and through you to bring others to life. He urged: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).
Gospel Move: Just as Jesus he spoke light and brought life into the dark void of pre-creation chaos, so Jesus brings light and life into the dark world of sin and death. His “new creation” order is none other than the long-promised epoch of redemption and restoration of which Israel’s prophets spoke, and angels longed to see. He sends us out to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to those who are in darkness. The Good News that Jesus Christ died for their sins and rose again. That they can have life.
Application:
John points us to the one who created all life and brings us to the one who also brings spiritual life. John 3:16 tells us that God loved the world and sent his Son, “that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
What do you think of when it comes to eternal life?
It’s not just a quantity, but it’s also quality. It is the life that God has, lived in us now. It is not the prolonging of our earthly kind of life, but the heavenly life that begins in us the moment we believe on Jesus, and it never ends. Unending millions of years from now, the life that is of God will still be ours in and through Christ.
But what would be the opposite of eternal life?
So here’s a big point. If Jesus is life and that life in him is eternal, at the moment you rest in him as light, the opposite of eternal life is not mere death, but eternal condemnation. He said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). So to receive eternal life is to be saved from God’s holy judgment and enter into Christ’s eternal reign of glory.
People think that turning to Jesus will take all the fun out of life. But when you come to Jesus, your capacity for joy is vastly increased. Sin only deadens us and saps our life, whereas Christ fills us with wonder and purpose. G. Campbell Morgan tells of meeting as a boy an older man who had been converted to Christ through the ministry of his father. A few days after the man’s conversion, Morgan encountered him in a garden. He was holding something small and gazing into his hand with wonder. Morgan asked him what it was, and with a voice filled with awe the man showed him a leaf that had fallen from a tree. “The beauty of God,” he exclaimed. He had been awakened to the wonder of life! Contrast that with the experience of Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution. He turned his back on God and committed himself to secular humanism. His biography reveals that in so doing he lost his taste for life. As Darwin grew older, he admitted that he could no longer get anything out of poetry, music, or art. Life lost its flavor, and he lived out his days in a world without wonder or joy. Apart from Christ, joy is at its best dependent on happy circumstances. For the Christian, however, joy is the inward result of the Holy Spirit’s blessing; Paul wrote: “For the kingdom of God is … a matter of … righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17)
Transition: This is what John wants us to see in Christ: “In him was life.” Are you really living? Do you feel that your life matters for something important? Are you excited about things, or just keeping occupied? Jesus has life to give to those who trust in him. “I came that they may have life,” he said, “and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
Jesus is light
Jesus is light
English Standard Version Chapter 1
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The light shines in the darkness
There’s a pointing to what Christ will do. People loved darkness because their deeds are evil, we will get into that in chapter 3.
What is the first thing light does?
It reveals. When you walk into a dark room, you turn on the light in order to see. That’s what the Prophet Isaiah was saying.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
Humanity was living in a spiritual darkness, ignorant about God and living in superstition. So Jesus came to reveal God.
So let me ask you this:
Do you know God? Do you know what God is like? Jesus came to reveal God to you. He is the light of men. He comes to shine the light into the darkness. Jesus came to bring us into fellowship with God as worshippers in spirit and truth.
What’s another thing light brings?
Warmth. To “walk in the darkness” is to walk in sin and moral depravity, but the light of Christ warms the heart so that it is changed. This spiritual transformation is what Jesus meant in John 12:46
I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
What’s one more thing that light brings?
Guidance. We think of the glory cloud of light that guided Israel through the desert during the exodus. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Likewise, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). If you come to Jesus Christ in faith and follow as his disciple, he will be a light to guide you “in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Ps. 23:3).
BUT What the reaction to when the light shows up? Those in darkness hate it.
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.
It’s like all of those vampire movies when the drapes are suddenly flung open and allowing the light into the dark room. They histed at the sight.
Why do they react like that? Because those in the darkness don’t want their actions to be exposed.
the darkness has not overcome [or comprehended, understood] it This is gold, listen to this. John wants us to see something. The Darkness will not prevail over Jesus, and even if the forces of darkness kill him, he will rise. Life is in him. He is life.
Just like how creation couldn’t overcome its Creator, Darkness can’t overcome the light.
Those who run from the light to hid their evil in darkness need the words of spirit and life to give them the ability so see and enter the kingdom of God.
Application: In your darkness, he can bring you into the light. Darkness never overcomes the light. When Light shows up, darkness disappears. In your life, do you feel like darkness is overcoming? Look to the Light of the World.
Transition:
So What?
So What?
BI: Just as Jesus creates life and light when there is none, he creates a new life and brings light into the lives of those who were dead and in darkness.
Why does it matter that we know this about Jesus? He is our Saviour. He is the one who can save you. The Bible describes you as dead in your sin, but Jesus is life. In your death, he can bring what is seems to be impossible, possible.
Sending: Who are you pointing people to? In the darkness of this world? In the lifeless world? What are you pointing people to? In our actions we point people to the on who is light and life, but we must also tell people about the one who is the light and life. We are disciples of Jesus Christ who have experienced the saving life and light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we go into this Dark and lifeless world, to tell of the one who is light and life. Are you pointing people to him who is life and light?
Do you know the one who brings life and light? In the depths of your soul, do you feel as though you are dead? Do you feel a deep darkness? Do you long to be a live? Do you long to be in the light? Then I point you to the one who is life and light. The one who through all things were created, but the one who can bring your dead soul to life again. The one who is the light that shines into the darkness.
BI: Just as Jesus creates life and light when there is none, he creates a new life and brings light into the lives of those who were dead and in darkness.