Sermon Tone Analysis

liberty bible church          10~/7~/07 a.M.

By Tom Zobrist

“is it possible to see god?”

John 1:14-18

introduction

Illus. of an old fort in the wild west was about to be attacked.

The wily old General sends for his trusty Indian Scout.

"You must use all your thirty years of skill in trying to estimate the sort of army we are up against here."

The trusty Indian Scout laid down and put his ear to the ground.

"Heap large war party," he says, "maybe three hundred braves, four chiefs, two on black stallions, two on white stallions.

All have war paint...many, many guns.

Medicine man also with them."

"Good grief!" exclaims the General, "you can tell all of that just by listening to the ground???" "No, General," replied the Indian, "I can see under the gate."

When it comes to God, many claim that they have seen Him in ways that most never have nor will this side of Heaven; miraculous visions where they see God in physical form.

Some of their testimonies conjure up thoughts of the OT saints like Jacob or Moses or Ezekiel and NT saints like Paul or Stephen.

The question is, can Christians today see God in visions like some of these saints of old?

If so, why don’t we all have this opportunity and if not, why not?

Is it possible to see God? 

OPEN to passage.

*Prop.

*In this passage, we see how God has been revealed to man.

Open in PRAYER.

PREVIEW the passage.

We’ve been going though this 18 verse prologue into the Gospel of John.

We have seen that Jesus is God and that John the Baptist came to be a witness of who He was.

Many rejected John’s witness.

Cf. v 10-11 But all who received Him, could be called the children of God.

Cf. v 12-13 Today we finish the prologue and see how the glory and character of God are made visible to a sinful world.

First…

 

 i. the glory of god revealed vs. 14-15

Illus. of when Jesus came to this earth, there was no glowing head in the manger.

So how is God’s glory revealed?

A.     the glory of god is revealed through Jesus.

How?

V 14a   1.

Once again, the Word refers to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God.

That becomes even more clear in these 5 verses.

He didn’t just look like a man.

He was a man.

He was God and man at the same time.

Cf.

Phil.

2:5-11 (Our Scripture reading)

            2.

“flesh” does not refer to human nature or sinfulness.

It refers to the fact that He became a physical being and “dwelt among us.”

Illus. of how God dwelt among His people in the Tabernacle in the wilderness.

The word for dwelt is from the Greek word for tabernacle.

Jesus was tabernacled among His people for a while.

God’s presence was with the people of the world.

V 14b  3.

His glory was evident.

Wait, I thought his glory was revealed.

Other than on the Mount of Transfiguration, that indeed John was a witness to, Jesus’ glory was not revealed.

So what does this mean?

V 14c   4.

It was a unique glory from the Father that only the Father’s Son could reveal.

It could be seen in His life, His miracles, and in His death and resurrection.

It is different from the glory evident in the lives of God’s other children who have believed in Jesus.

V 12 It is unique to God’s Son alone.

V 14d  5.

His glory is a gracious and truthful revelation to man.

By His grace we are saved and this is true.

That that receive this are children of God and those that reject it are not; very black and white and very unpopular.

The glory of God is revealed in Jesus.

b. the glory of god is echoed through the rest of the children

       Illus. of how younger siblings look up to and brag on their big brothers or sisters.

There is something different here with John the Baptist.

V 15a   1.

As the older cousin of Jesus, John the Baptist would be considered superior to Jesus from a legal perspective.

Yet, it was John who bore witness of Jesus and directed people to Him.

V 15b  2.

“preferred” means “is ranked higher” than.

Jesus was born after John, His ministry started after John’s, yet by John’s testimony, Jesus ranks higher than John.

Why?

V 15c   3.

Because Jesus was before Him! Cf. v 1-5 John knew this and he told the people about Jesus.

We’ll talk more specifically of what John’s ministry was and how it related to Jesus’ message next week.

*Trans.

*THE GLORY OF GOD IS REVEALED IN JESUS.

It is seen in His life, ministry, death and resurrection.

We have the privilege of witnessing to the world about these events.

Now, what about…

 

ii.

the character of god revealed vs. 16-18

Illus. of Grandfather in Heaven quote- “We want, in fact, not so much a father in heaven as a grandfather in heaven: a senile benevolence who, as they say, “liked to see young people enjoying themselves” and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, a good time was had by all.”

Source unknown

Although this sounds great, this doesn’t really reveal what God’s character really is.

What is it like?

First…

a. the character of god is gracious to us

V 16a   1.

“we” and “all” refer to John and all believers since.

“fullness” refers to the sum total of all the spiritual favors brought through Jesus.

We have all received the grace of God through Jesus Christ if we are born again.

V 16b  2.

“grace for grace” is literally “grace in place of grace.”

Like waves continually pounding toward shore, so God’s grace keeps coming to those who are His children.

Even in trials, our lives are full of God’s grace; one after the other.

Illus. of the glass is half full or half empty.

We should be full glass people when we realize how much of God’s grace is in our lives.