John #02 - There Came a Man
That you may believe … and have Life" #2 - Gospel of John
John 1:6-9
There Came a Man …
This has been a week of unexpected tragedy, unimaginable actions, overwhelming grief and uncertain days.
Perhaps you have struggled with trying to wrap your mind around the senselessness of it all. Perhaps you have struggled with the whys and the "what nows".
These are sad days. These are trying days.
But are these days that should truly surprise us?
Hitler
Stalin
Ceausescu
Amin
Hussein
Ku Klux Klan
Jim Jones
David Koresch
Dahmer
911
Afghanistan
Iraq
Columbine
Virginia Tech
We live in a sinful fallen world … but
Has the world ever been like this?
Since we left Eden has the world ever NOT been like this?
Cain
Nimrod
Goliath
Philistines
Nebuchadnezzar
Assyrians
Ninevah - who sacrificed children to their gods
Antiochus Epiphanes - who destroyed Jerusalem, desecrated the temple and did unspeakable things to those who resisted him
Nero's atrocities and those of Caligula and so many other Caesars
People what is my point?
What kind of world did Jesus, the Word of God, God Articulated enter?
Was it that much different from our world?
We have gotten sophisticated, refined, and Civilized … but we are still sinners. We live in a fallen world.
And God sent his Son.
But throughout the history of this fallen world, when God moves to intervene, he does an interesting thing … he involves men and women in the process of salvation and deliverance.
Return with me to John 1
READ 1:6-9
The hope of the world is Jesus Christ, and yet the pattern of God, throughout history involves God's invitation to godly men and women to join him, sold out, surrendered, set apart, empowered, and employed in calling people to turn to the Lord God Almighty, Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Savior, and Lord.
Can you see it? The great paradox is seen here. This beautiful treatise of John, verses 1-5, and verses 10-18 is interrupted by the introduction of a man.
John is teaching us about the wonderful provision of God to bring about the salvation of mankind. And as in every move of God in history, there is room for a man.
Oh … do we have any real men here today?
Oh … do we have any real women here today
Oh … is there a boy or a girl here today that understands their destiny in the plan of God?
In the middle of the plan of God … at his invitation … there Came a Man …
1. Sent From God
A. Sent -
Greek - /ap-os-tel-lo/ to order to go to a place appointed …
John was sent because God called him to Go
1. it was preordained - that he would Go.
Eph 2:10 says we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do
God told Jeremiah, "I know the plans that I have for you …" Jer 29:11
God loves you and has a plan for your life …
When you realize that he has a plan for you, verse 12 says "then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you … 13 you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"
2. it is purposed in God's plans and God's plans will always succeed
Pr. 19:21 "many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails"
3. Positioned - John wasn't where he was by accident, it was God's providential hand. If his parents had given birth at the normal course of life, he would have been born 30 years earlier and not have been positioned to be the forerunner to Christ.
Look around you, if you are a follower of Christ, you do not live by chance, not by your own might, not by your own power, but by his Spirit says the Lord
What has God uniquely positioned you to do. Where are you that God has readied you for ministry
There came a man … SENT …
B. From God -
Theos
He was FROM God
1. That means he was God's Ambassador
2. He was God's Representative
3. He was on God's Agenda …
John came from a good line. His Father and Mother were good, godly, upright people. His Father could trace his line all the way back to Aaron. But an interesting thing happened. Because John was born to old parents, his parents probably died when he was young. Then God took him out in the wilderness, the desert, and there he became somewhat of an anonymous wild man. Dressed in animal skins … a man no one knew coming from no where …
So when he came … he was lost to all identification except that he came from God …
He was not John bar Zechariah …
He was John … The Baptist
We need to see ourselves as nothing more than servants from God
I would like to be known as Jim, of God … yes I'm Pastor Jim … yes I'm Jim, Lisa's husband, I'm Jim AJ and Bryan's Dad, I am Jim a friend, or a musician or a sportsman … but I most of all want to be Jim … Sent FROM GOD …
Where are you FROM?
There came a man … sent from God … he …
2. Came as a Witness
A. Came
Greek - erchomai /er-khom-ahee/ to come … from one place to another, to come before the public
The one who is sent from God … cannot stay where he is … he must COME …
Seems like a simple thing … but too often we say "Lord, bring them to me …" but we don't go to them. I'm preaching to the preacher here too people. To be sent, we have to leave where we are
Some of you have come from a mighty long way to follow God … well don't get comfortable now, come ALL the way.
Don't just come to Salvation
Come as a Witness
To come … that definition said it doesn't just mean to "leave" it means to come before the public … or to come IN public
To be sent from God, we don't come in secret. We don't come covertly. We don't come, hoping no one will know … we come publicly, visibly, …
B. As a Witness, to testify
Greek - martyria /mar-too-ree-ah/ a testifying … what one testifies, testimony before a judge
Martyreo /mar-too-reh-o/ to be a witness to bear witness i.e. to affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced something or that he knows it because taught by divine revelation or inspiration
Let the world Judge, John has come to give a witness
To testify … isn't that what a witness does?
To testify to what you have seen, heard, experienced been taught
A witness doesn't leave where they are sent to be quiet, to quietly live their lives in obscurity
They are called sent, they leave to speak up to give witness to the truth about Jesus Christ … "about the Light"
There are a lot of witnesses out there … witness to their own success … witnesses to their way of living … to their own personal gospel … but John and any true Witness of Christ testifies about the LIGHT … and he knew that HE wasn't the Light …
Some people come to testify to put someone down … to put someone out … but that's not why John came … he came … he was sent … for an important purpose …
3. That All might Believe
A. That
"THAT" Hina /hin-ah/ … in order that … so that …
The point is the one from God … sent, gone from their own way … joining in the plan of God recognizes that they have a "THAT" … to their life …
Is there a "SO THAT" in your life? Or are you just living a "so what" life.
God calls men, women, boys, and girls into a SO that… life.
Some of you are waiting until you grow up … to join God
Some of you are waiting until you think you are prepared … to join God
But nothing about our lives is meant to be so what … but whether we are waiting … or going … we are meant to join God and live a "So THAT" existence
B. All
Pas …
God is no respecter of persons … John didn't come to call the good people
John didn't come to call the men
John didn't come to call the women
John didn't come to call the boys and girls
… John came that ALL …
That's YOU and ME to … we are part of All
Oh look at somebody and say "I am part of all"
John came for you
Somebody came "so that" You might
Jesus died for you … but somewhere along the way God sent someone …
And there came a man, or a woman, a boy or a girl … that YOU … would …
C. Believe
Greek - pisteuo - /pist-yoo-o/ to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, to place confidence in …
John's life was not so that he could be rich
John did not come so that he would be famous
John did not even come simply so that he could change the world or relieve the political tension in the world.
John came so that they would believe
Believe what?
Believe that they were in darkness
Believe that darkness is NOT the best or even a marginally good thing
Believe that there was only one true light … Jesus Christ, the Word, Creator, with God and in equality, Eternal, and God Almighty is the light of the world, the way out of the darkness
John was NOT the answer … He was sent from God … called to join in an eternal purpose to call people to believe
We are NOT the answer …
But we are here to point people TO the answer
We are here to be a witness to the Light that has come into the world
If you believe that Jesus is the Light of the World
The Bread of Life
The Water of Life
A Living Stream
The Hope of the World
The Answer …
In the midst of sin, tragedy, questions, conquest, what are you going to do?
When someone is distraught and distressed saying, "what am I going to do?"
are you going to Tell them?
Do you believe that Jesus is the answer?
If someone were driving down a road and you knew that it leads to a blind curve followed by a washed out bridge, would you tell anyone?
In John 5:17 - Jesus said … My Father I always at his work to this very day, and I too am working
What we see in John chapter one is revelation that God is at work
And his highest work was sending Jesus Christ to die for our sins and yet even in that work that only he could do, he includes man.
There came a man and his name was John
There came a man and woman named Zechariah and Elizabeth
There came a man and young woman named Joseph and Mary
There came disciples
There came people, in love with Jesus to draw the attention of the world that they may believe
If I were to ask you … What is happening in your work place?
What is happening in the lives of your neighbors, family, classmates, coworkers?
You could probably tell me that. You could tell me the marriages that are in trouble, the babies being born, the teenagers making bad choices, the people using harmful substances
But what if I followed that up with the question …
What is GOD doing in your neighborhood, workplace, school, in the lives of your friends, family, classmates, and coworkers? What would you say?
'I don't know …"
"Nothing …"
Why would you say "nothing" … "because they don't believe in God …"
So do people have to believe in him for him to be at work?
Was God working when Jesus came?
Yes.
And there came a man sent from God … that all may believe
God was at work and man didn't yet believe
He came while we were still sinners to demonstrate his love for us
"Alright Pastor, but I've looked and God really isn't doing anything around me …"
Really … Jesus said "My Father is always at his work to this day, and I, too am working"
God is ALWAYS at work, and Jesus said "I too, am working"
So God is a liar, we just don't see it, or we refuse to see it.
But when we see it, God is revealing it to bring us in with him to work with him
There came a man … sent from God
The prophetic voice of God had been silent for 400 years, Israel was still under foreign rule, but worse yet they were controlled by the power of sin, and Jesus Christ, the Word of God, came and was born in Bethlehem. The law of God didn't set them free but just revealed the depth of the bondage. And there came a baby, God in the flesh, Immanuel, and they called him Jesus.
And there came shepherds and they told everyone in town what they had seen
There came an aged man of God named Simeon who had been praying for the Messiah and he testified that the light had come
And a there came a prophetess named Anna and she praised God for sending the redemption that Jerusalem needed.
Don't you see it?
There came men called disciples
There came women called followers, lovers of God
There came apostles like Paul
There came Pastors like Timothy, Titus, James, Jude
There came laymen like Mark, Luke, Stephen
There came godly women like Lydia, Eunice, and Pricilla …
God has always seen man as his greatest creation … his most beloved
God spoke and order came out of nothing
Worlds came into being
The beauty of this world, trees, flowers, birds, waters teeming with fish, beautiful animals, a beautiful garden … but that wasn't enough and God formed, God breathed and
There came a man … Adam
There came woman … Eve
Man grew increasingly wicked Gen 6:5 says that every inclination of the thoughts o his heart was only evil all the time … the Lord said "I will wipe mankind … from the face of the earth … But There came a man … Noah … who found favor in the eyes of the Lord … and was used by God
Famine was taking over the land and threatening to destroy the promised line of Isaac though Jacob, Oh but there came a Man … Joseph used by God
Salvation had turned to bondage in Egypt … God's people nothing more than slaves, property … OH … but there came a man … Moses used by God
Godless nations attacked Israel but Oh there were men like Gideon, Oh there were women like Deborah used by God
Goliath and the Philistines mocked God and called his power and goodness into question … Oh but there came a young man a boy really … David used by God
God's people were threatened with Genocide by a wicked Media Persian plot … Oh but there came a woman … Esther used by God
Oh the listening people didn't have anything to eat, and the disciples didn't have anything and wanted to send them away … Ohhhh … but there came a boy … who was willing to give what he had to God and 5 biscuits and a couple of Galilee perch and Jesus fed thousands of people.
What do we do in a sinful world?
What does the world need?
We need men and women, boys and girls who will realize that God didn't stop working in 30 AD or 100 AD … or in the Dark Ages
I was in college and helping with a discipleship class. This girl sat down to practice sharing her personal testimony of giving her heart to Christ.
She said, "I grew up in a small town in Texas, I was a good girl, but had never really known what it was to give my heart to Christ." She said, "I knew who Jesus was but I was not his follower. But … there came a boy to our town my junior year in high school. He was the first real Christian that I had ever known. Some people didn't really accept him, some mistreated him because he stood for Christ, but I wanted what he had and in May of 1983, at the First Baptist Church, I gave my heart to Christ."
She was crying … I was crying … why? Because I was that boy, who just came, sent on a mission. Because when I was a freshman in high school, I decided it was time to get serious about following Christ with my whole life. I decided that I would live for God no matter the cost. And so when I went to High School I wasn't just a student, I was one coming from God, sent by him that others would believe.
"Oh Lord Jesus … could people begin to line up here at this altar … could they stand around the water cooler at work, or over a cup of coffee and say
"Our marriage was heading for divorce, oh but there came a couple who showed us that they loved each other because Jesus had taught them what love really was and we could make it too"
Could someone that lives down Mulanphy say "I had decided that no one loved me no one cared, that I had to make my own way the best I could, but there came a man and he told me that Jesus loves and Jesus Christ came in and showed me love, salvation, and forgiveness."
A teenage girl could line up here and say, "I was pregnant because someone convinced me they loved me when all they wanted was to use me, but there came a girl, who told me that Jesus loved, Jesus made me that Jesus has a plan for my life … and one day there will come a man who will love me AND my baby."
Boys dealing with drugs
Fathers trying to be good dads and husbands
Women trying to find their way
Girls needing love
Young people trying to find direction
Lost
Hopeless
Confused
Rejected
Unforgiven
Oh but there came a boy
Ohh but there came a girl
Ohhh but there came a student
Ohhhh but there came a women
Ohhhhh
Ohhhhhh
Ohhhhhhh there came a man
Sent from God pre-ordained, purposed, positioned, leaving where they are, willing to be a witness to what they have seen, heard, come to understand, about the Light of the World Jesus Christ, so that any, and all, foreknown by God, Called in his purpose, destined to be like Christ, will believe in Jesus, call on him as Lord, and be justified, sanctified, and glorified like Christ
Ohhh do we have any real men here today
Any real women
Any real boys, girls, students,
Any real Christians … Surrendered to God, sold out and following him calling people to follow him too …
Oh … there came a man
Will you?
Will you
Will you?
Will you?
Somebody out there is praying
God is inviting … will you?