Believe in Jesus

Believe: Gospel of John  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  39:44
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Believe in Jesus

Intro
I remember the first research I had to write.
I had no idea what I was supposed to do.
I was in high school and the teacher told me that I had to write on one historic event that happened in the 20th century.
At the time, I was really into war reenactments.
I would go with my uncle on these WWII reenactments of battles.
So that was fresh on my brain when the teacher set the parameters.
I decided that I was going to write on the United State’s development and use of the Atomic Bomb.
The teacher tried to make the task a little easier for us to accomplish by breaking down how to write a research paper.
One week we would gather our sources.
The next week we would annotate our sources.
And so forth, and so on.
And she would repeatedly tell us the most important part of any paper that is being written is the thesis statement.
This is the part of your paper that is going to guide you into writing a research paper, or any paper well.
The thesis statement lets the reader of your paper know what you are arguing for or against.
It gives them the understanding of what to look for in your paper.
Because the reality is, I could write on the Atomic Bomb and come to a completely different conclusion or a different aspect of development than if you were tasked with writing on the same subject.
Different authors will tell construct their stories in such a way as to get their point across.
Though they may be talking about the same subject matter the way they present it and the objective they wish to accomplish may differ ever so slightly.
Depending on the author’s intent.
And that intent is demonstrated not always in the writing itself, but also in the thesis statement attached to that writing.
Sometimes in Papers and writings the Thesis statement is super clear and easy to find.
Other times it is embedded or not even present at all.
So why am I telling you about research papers and thesis statements?
Why and how is this relevant to this morning's study on the gospel of John?
Have you ever thought about why there are 4 gospels?
Well each author under the inspiration of the HS is writing their gospel for a specific purpose and to a specific audience.
God is gracious that the message and audience of those gospels and in fact all of the Bible is written in such a way that it has meaning, application, and knowledge for all people at all times.
That is why we sit here.
That is why we study.
That is why we read, because God speaks to us through his word.
His Word, what we call the bible, is God’s revelation of himself to his creation.
He used over 40 different authors to compile this revelation.
And he guided them through the HS.
He used their personalities and their circumstances to cater his revelation to the people he spoke to.
That I why the gospels though they are all about Jesus differ in the stories that they tell and the way that they tell them.
If you study the gospels you will see that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are very similar in the way they tell the story of Jesus.
They are called the Synoptic Gospels.
Sure Matthew focuses a lot on prophecies being fulfilled, Luke focused heavily on the outcast and the downtrodden while also paying special attention to the Parables of Jesus, and Mark is all about getting to the crucifixion of Jesus as fast as possible.
But they all have the same basic focus on Jesus’ earthly ministry and they are all more alike than different.
Yet the Gospel of John stands distinctly apart from the synoptics.
He has stories and discourse not mentioned in any of the other gospels.
And he is more focused on who Jesus is rather than what he did.
Not to say that the Synoptic Gospels don’t care about who Jesus is, but they talk alot about his earthly ministry, whereas John is driving hard at the divinity of Jesus in each story he tells about Jesus.
Why is John written so differently from the Synoptic Gospels?
Well he has a different goal in mind.
What is his goal in writing his Gospel?
John tells us and is one of the only gospel’s that give us a clear and concise purpose statement and reason that he is writing this gospel.
And he tells us in John 20:30-31
John 20:30–31 CSB
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

That You May Believe

So John is concerned with belief in Jesus the Messiah.
And when you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ, then you will have life in his name.
In today’s world, people believe that belief is enough.
That belief in anything is good enough to bring hope.
To bring peace.
Culture tells us that “It doesn’t matter who or what you believe in, but simply that you believe in something.”
One of the key things that we need to do when we have conversations about words that have been thrown around like believe is that we need to define what it means.
Dictionary “Accept something as true”
Trust in Something.
So what do people put their trust in?
False gods and religion.
Money.
People.
Science.
Government.
Political Alliance.
Family.
Relationships.
And probably the most deceptive is when people put their trust in their own abilities.
Again it doesn’t matter what you believe in, just that you believe in something.
Have you ever heard anyone say, “I’m not religious, but I am spiritual.”
This is a form of belief.
And it is especially influencing the younger generation that is disenfranchised with church so they are seeking out a way to be spiritual without the truth of God as he reveals himself in the Bible.
You see there are people all around you that think that they believe in God, but do they actually.
Or do they like the idea of belief in God rather than the concrete belief in who he actually is.
Just like we did earlier when we defined the terms about belief, now when you talk to someone about God and Jesus you need to make sure that you are using the same terms and definitions.
For many people Jesus is a good Moral teacher.
He is an example to look up to.
Much like Gandhi, Buddha, or Mother Theresa.
They want to take the teachings of Jesus and separate them from the person and work of Jesus.
People want to take Jesus and mold him, make him, and shape him into their own image.
Because it’s easier to like Jesus when he looks like you.
Jesus is more appealing when he approves of your lifestyle.
When he is your homeboy instead of Lord of all.
When you can shrink him down to fit into the box you want him in
To our feeble minds Jesus is better when he serves us.
But this flies in the face of the biblical teaching about Jesus.
Flies in the face of what John is revealing in his Gospel account.
Jesus isn’t a mere human.
He is God.
And that is John’s Thesis.
His Argument throughout the Gospel.
Jesus is God.
He is the long Expected one.
He is the Messiah.
So if John’s Thesis and point of the Gospel is to prove that how does he do it?
How does he develop his argument to point to Jesus being who he claims to be?
The gospel of John is broken up into 2 main sections with a prologue and and epilogue.
The Prologue is Chapter 1.
The First Major Section of John starts in Chapter 2 and moves through 12.
This is called the Book of Signs.
This concerns and contains Jesus’ public ministry and 7 signs or miracles.
The Second Major Section starts in John 13-20.
This is called the book of Glory.
This contains Jesus’ private ministry to the 12 disciples and his crucifixion and resurrection.
Followed by the Epilogue in chapter 21.
John tells the reader about 7 distinct signs that prove Jesus is God.
He also records 7 “I am” Statements about Jesus to prove that Jesus is God.
And then he uses the Resurrection as definitive proof that Jesus is God.
And we can know that John used these specific stories to meet his specific purpose of having us believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
How do we know this he tells us in
Jn 20:30 “30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.”
Jn 21:25 “25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.”
Jesus is so magnificent.
So awesome.
So worthy of our praise and worship.
That all he did isn’t even accounted for in the Gospels.
And guess what…He’s still working today.
He is still moving in the world.
He is still working in the life of believers.
He is still saving sinners and offering forgiveness.
Just think about it.
Each one of us in here has our own story of how Jesus changed our life.
And that is a book all on it’s own.
John’s gospel and it’s revelation of Jesus is inviting us to find life.
To find freedom.
To find love.
To find liberty.
To find joy.
To find peace.
To find Jesus.
John’s gospel is for all people.
Young and old.
New Believer and seasoned believer.
In Fact, Augustine, the church father, once wrote that “John’s Gospel is deep enough for an elephant to swim and shallow enough for a child not to drown.”
John is inviting us to swim in the richness of God’s Word.
And he pens the gospel in such a way that the language being communicated is both simple and rich.
he uses simple and contrasting descriptions
light and darkness.
life and death.
He repeatedly uses the same words.
Believe used 98 time.
World used 78 times.
Love 61 times.
There are others, but we see that John is writing so simply so that even the youngest and simplest could believe in Jesus.
Meanwhile the scholar and the sage could spend a lifetime learning and growing from this simple message.
Why does he doe this?
Because The most important question you will ever be asked and you ever have to answer is “Who is Jesus?”
It’s a question that is asked multiple times in the gospel of John.
Is Jesus a prophet?
Is he a teacher?
Is he a moral authority?
Is he someone that should be imitated?
Is he simply a tool that you use to get out of going to hell?
John definitively says that there is only one write answer to the question “Who is Jesus?”
And that Answer is God made flesh come to save sinners.
He is the revelation of God.
He is God with us.
He is holier, mightier, and more gracious than we can imagine.
He is overwhelming.
We can stay in the book of John for the rest of our lives and never plumb the depths of it’s truth.
So as we read and study this gospel over the next several months.
I want you to open your eyes to the richness and depth of Jesus.
And day by day you will come to see Jesus as better.
More Glorious.
More Magnificent.
More loving.
More Compassionate.
More Gracious.
Just more than you can ever hope and dream.
If you have walked with Jesus for years I pray that as we study him you will love him more.
If you are a relatively new believer, I pray that you will fall more deeply in love with Jesus.
If you are just curious about Jesus but you don’t know what to do with him, I pray that you will sit and listen.
That they beauty and majesty of Jesus will transform your heart.
John is inviting us to come in and to see Jesus.
He is calling us to believe that Jesus is who he said he is.
He is inviting us to know the king who came down.
And why is John inviting us to know and believe in Jesus?
Jn 20:31 ...and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Jesus came that we may have life.
That we may be made to live.
If you don’t believe and trust in Jesus, right now you are dead.
You don’t have life.
But Jesus came.
He lived, he died, and he rose again, so that you may have life.
So that you may be set free.
Set free from what?
Sin and death.
So now that we know the purpose of John’s Gospel, let’s look at how he begins to tell the story of this God who became man to save his people.
John 1:1–2 CSB
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

Who is Jesus

Earlier we talked about the fact that John is different from the other gospel accounts.
and that it is by design.
This difference is on purpose.
And the difference is apparent in the opening lines of the gospel.
Matthew and Luke’s gospel begin with a genealogy and birth narratives about Jesus.
Mark begins as he starts with his baptism and temptation.
Then quickly leads to his ministry in Galilee.
But John wants to take us further back.
He wants us not to think about Jesus’ birth.
Noth the wise men.
The manger.
the edict of herod.
Not to think about the beginning of his ministry.
He wants us to think all the way back to the beginning.
He wants us to hear the echos of creation.
He wants us to see the reality that there was never a time when Jesus was not.
He was there in the beginning.
John deliberately chooses this phrase to point the readers back to the beginning of the Scriptures.
The first 18 verses in John’s Gospel could be a sermon series all their own, but we are going to move somewhat quickly by only looking at the first 2 verses today.
John’s choice of “In the Beginning” necessitates that we know that Jesus is preexistence to creation.
Meaning that Jesus wasn’t created.
He has always existed
And this is fundamental to our understanding about Jesus.
And I am shocked at how many people believe that Jesus is a created being just like us.
John wants us to know that that is patently false.
Jesus existed before creation existed.
I remember one time having a woman who had been in the church her whole life ask if Jesus was created.
So I don’t want to presume anything upon you right now.
Jesus was not created.
Jesus existed before the world began.
and to top it off, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit existed together before the universe began.
There was never a time when God was not.
There are those who claim to be Christians that do believe that Jesus was created.
That would be the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons.
Bet let me assure you according to Biblical doctrine, they are absolutely 100% wrong.
Because if he was created there is no way that he could be God.
The point of John’s Gospel is that Jesus is God.
Throughout the Gospel of John Jesus gets heat from the Jewish Authorities b/c he claims that he is equal with God.
And he can make that claim b/c is God.
Fully God. Fully Man.
Let’s Read it again.
jn 1:1-2 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.”
Do you notice how John describes Jesus?
He is described as the Word.
That’s an interesting thing to call someone.
Why did he choose this phrase?
One thing I want you to recognize as we journey through this Gospel is that John consistently and purposely uses words and phrases with more than meaning.
And it starts right here with the first verse.
The Greek Word used here is “Logos” and by calling Jesus the Logos John is speaking to both the Greek and the Jewish people.
I’ll begin with the Greek Philosophical understanding of Logos.
They Greek Philosophers referred to Logos as the explanation for order and balance in the universe.
Logos is the logic and foundation behind all things the we can see, hear, and experience.
If it wasn’t for Logos nothing would make sense.
Nothing could make sense.
Logos, for the Greeks, was an impersonal expression of the rationality and logic within the universe.
Logos was creative energy that all things came from and from which all people recieved wisdom.
But it wasn’t personal, thoughtful, or relational.
It was simply a force that sustained the world and allowed humans to make sense of the world.
Now, for the Jewish readers of the text logos meant something similar, but also meant something more.
Remember, John deliberately draws his readers back to the opening line of Genesis 1.
And what is God doing in Genesis?
He is creating.
And how is he creating?
By Speaking things into existence through his Word.
So John is linking Jesus with the word that was creating in the beginning of all things.
He also show us how Jesus wasn’t a created being, but that he was there before creation.
Listen to this verse from Ps. 33:6
Psalm 33:6 CSB
6 The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and all the stars, by the breath of his mouth.
God is speaking the world into existence and it is his word that made it all.
Why is John setting out to prove this point that Jesus was in the beginning, that he was with God and that he was God?
He doesn’t want us to miss out on the truth of who Jesus is.
Through him are creation and salvation.
Through him is peace and love.
Through him we see God.
I have often said if we want to know what God is like all we have to do is look at Jesus.
This Word that John wants us to know and believe is
God Made Man.
Jesus is the self expression and reflection of God.
God has revealed who he is through the sending of Jesus.
Through Jesus’ works, signs, and miracles we can see what God does.
He accomplishes what appears to be impossible.
But they are possible for the one that created all things.
I want to read some other verses that bolster what John is saying here.
Hebrews 1:1–3 CSB
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Colossians 1:15–20 CSB
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Jesus is the pure, holy, and perfect revelation of God.
And in Jesus’ coming things were going to be different.
So by bringing us back to the beginning John is wanting us to see that The arrival of Jesus is the start of a new beginning.
That there is a new creation that has come.
That a new covenant is starting.
That things are about to change because God has come to live with us.
What is this new creation?
That people believe in Jesus the Son of God and through that belief they are changed.
They are renewed.
They are made whole.
We are transformed into the creation we were intended to be from the beginning before Sin.
So What?
What do we do with what God has revealed to us through John’s Gospel.
1. Well the first thing we should do is believe in Jesus.
We should believe in the all-powerful, mighty, holy, and authoritative God-Man that is revealed to us.
It is not belief that saves us.
It is not belief that changes us.
Many people believe in many things.
John tells us that it isn’t belief itself that transforms and saves us.
It is the object of belief that changes us.
We can believe in any and everything, but until we believe and trust in Jesus our belief is in vain.
Trust in him. find life in him.
2. We need to be reminded who Jesus is.
Jesus Doesn’t become who we want him to be.
He is who he is.
He is already who we need him to be.
Too often we do want to shrink, change, and manipulate Jesus into being who we want him to be.
We want to convince ourselves that what he said isn’t true.
I see this all the time on Social Media.
People try to change and distort Jesus’ teachings to be more inclusive.
To dumb down the reality of Sin.
To tame the person and work of Jesus.
And I would be happy if this simply happened by some disembodied voice on the internet, but unfortunately there are people within the church that do the same thing.
Throughout history the name of Jesus has been used to demonize others.
It has been used to elevate some while crushing others.
It has been used to manipulate.
It has been used to overlook sin.
The Name of Jesus because of it’s power, authority and influence has been used by some to destroy the lives, hearts, and souls of some.
Because instead of knowing, trusting, and obeying the real Jesus we tend to make a Jesus shaped me.
A jesus that will serve my every whim.
My every need.
My every desire.
We try and make him fit my agenda.
But can I tell you something. Jesus won’t fit in your box.
If he existed before creation as John suggests then that means he is outside of creation.
And for us, a creation, to try and fit Jesus, the creator, into a box is simply foolish.
Many have been pushed away and are disgusted by a Jesus made in the image of man.
They have no desire to love or pursue Jesus b/c many so called Christians have used Jesus to hurt others.
And if that has happened to you. I want to apologize.
This is not the Jesus I serve.
The is not the Jesus revealed to us in Scripture.
If you haven’t given your life to Jesus, If you don’t trust him as Lord and savior.
I want to invite you to come and see.
I want to invite you to believe.
I stand here and pray that Jesus will reveal himself to you.
And I promise you that once you experience the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus you will never want to leave.
If you are a follower of Jesus, I want you to know that John is speaking to you too.
He is reminding you of the Jesus you fell in love with.
He is telling you to continue to believe.
Continue to live.
Continue to trust.
I look forward to the rest of this journey.
I look forward to you learning more about Jesus and trusting him more.
Let’s pray.
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