(The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘after me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. ~John 1:29-34)
Previously it was discussed that Priest and Levites from the sect of the Pharisees had paid a visit to John wanting to know who he was and why he was out in the desert preaching repentance and baptizing with water, he told them he was a but a voice, but there was one who was greater “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” When he said this to them, Jesus Himself was walking up the Jordan valley towards the very location of this encounter and arrived the very next day. John was preaching repentance from sin and baptizing those who repented when Jesus came up on the scene. He sees Jesus and yelled out to his own disciples who thought John might be the Messiah and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He tells them all, that this is the very man that he had been telling them all about, that He is much greater than John himself. That He is preferred before him because He was before him. John is older in the flesh but Jesus was around long before John, which is because Jesus has always been, He is God in flesh. What I find fascinating about this is John admits that he had no idea who the Christ (Messiah) was, but knew He was coming. Jesus was John’s cousin and yet he did not know Him. John would have been around Jesus at times during their childhood and John did not know Him. Now how did John know who Jesus was, how did he know that He was the messiah sent from God to take away the sin of the world? God told him! Just like every single believer that has ever walked the face of this world, God told him. He believed that Jesus was the Christ and knew He was the Christ because God told him. “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” John was baptizing in the Jordan as was his custom to do and who walks up but his cousin Jesus. Jesus rises up out of the water and John sees with his own eyes the Spirit of God descend from heaven onto Jesus and remaining on Him. God had told him that this would happen and who he saw it happen to was the One, the Christ.
Are you a believer? Do you believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God (God in flesh), that takes away the sin of the world? If you do, that belief came about because God the Father revealed to you that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus said, (“Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father ~John 6:65.) Friends, we cannot take credit for anything, we cannot even take credit for the faith that has saved us. God’s design was that He would redeem mankind who had become perverse and sinned all of the days of our lives. You see, it is not a matter that we sin, but the matter is that we have never done anything but sin. At one time I thought sin to be isolated incidents, but the closer I become in my relationship and love for my Lord the more and more I am aware of sin. It surrounds us continually, it is all over us and abides within us, and we are so perverse, we for the most part are completely unaware of it. God is good and Holy and just, and is also merciful. Being good and Holy and just he cannot by his very nature pardon sin, it is His very goodness that condemns us, while dirty with sin we cannot even come into His presence without being destroyed. But God in His love did something unimaginable, (But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us ~Romans 5:8). A Holy and good God became a Man and took the punishment for evil men. God Himself took our punishment, so (that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus ~Romans 3:26). We are saved purely by faith in Jesus Christ alone and if you have that faith you should prostrate yourself before God, giving thanks to Him not only for the blood He shed for you on the cross, but for the faith He gave you that saved you, because that was given to you from Him. Your faith is not your own but His!
Mike Peek
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
John 1:24-28
(Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” These things were done in Bethabara, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. ~John 1:24-28)
Previously we discussed that “Priest and Levites were sent from Jerusalem to ask John who are you?” Now it is mentioned here, that “those who were sent were from the Pharisees.” This is significant because the Pharisees were a group that had basically taken over the religion in the land of Judea. They made all the rules and people had to obey. This was the very group that would oppose Christ, and in whom Jesus would have His most heated discussions, then plotting His death. Now these Pharisees perceived themselves to be the religious authority in Judea, and believed as arrogant as it is, that if a prophet came from God he, would be one of them. So they asked John, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” Basically in there arrogance they were saying; what business do you have doing this if you are not one of us? Basically we are the religious authority, we speak for God, you are not one of us, so what are you doing out here preaching and baptizing people. John comes back with a beautiful answer, basically telling them that they do not have the authority that they think they have, and they don’t even have insight into the plan of God’s redemption for mankind. “John answered them, saying, ‘I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.’” John was saying to them you don’t even know what is going on. He is here, the Messiah is here, He is living among us, and He is in the flesh, walking among us right now. He was saying to them, don’t be concerned with what I am doing, the Messiah is here. John again being the greatest man that ever lived, did not puff himself up, or pound his own chest, and say he himself was someone great, he redirected their attention off of himself, and on to Christ the Messiah, John knew who he was, he knew he was a witness for Jesus Christ.
During this time period, in a rich ruler’s home, he would have hired servants and slaves. The feet were the dirtiest part of the body, people at the time whore sandals, and spent much of their time moving about by walking in the dirt, so their feet were filthy. Only the lowest of slaves, in a rich ruler’s household would be expected to do something as low as to touch the feet of his master, taking off his sandal. John talking about Jesus said “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” He was telling these Pharisees that there was One walking among them, that was so Holy, was so Great, that no one was even at the level of the lowest of lowest slaves in His presence. In the presence of Jesus Christ, John being the greatest man to ever live was not even at the level of the lowest slave in a rich man’s house compared with the Holiness of the One who had come into the world. While saying these things Jesus Christ himself was approaching, walking up the Jordan Valley, John had baptized him 40 days prior and He had spent 40 days out in the desert fasting, He would arrive in this very spot the following day.
Now I imagine that these men departed from John bewildered and confused, they probably had more questions after talking with John than before talking with John. Here was a man that people were coming out to see by the thousands, people all over the land were talking about him, and wondering if he himself was the Christ, and that is why the Pharisees went out to question him. The entire time they questioned him, he did not one time inflate himself, nor say anything great about himself, they surely gave him the opportunity. Do you know any man that given the opportunity to talk about himself would not? John did what God had sent him to do, be a witness for Jesus Christ. Are you doing what God has left you here to do? Be a witness for Jesus Christ. We the redeemed in Christ are not here to entertain ourselves, make money, accumulate a bunch of belongings, grow old and die. Jesus our Lord and Savior has left us here for one purpose and one purpose only, to be a witness for Him, in this lost and dying world. He hasn’t even called us to do a bunch of good deeds, but to be a witness for Him. What happens if you feed a homeless man but don’t share with him the saving faith of Jesus Christ? You fill his belly for a short time, but in the end, he will die and face God in judgment, and be cast into hell if he does not put his faith in Jesus Christ during this lifetime. The Holy Spirit of God has led me to believe more and more every day, and the more and more I read God’s word, I am convinced more and more, that we as believers in Jesus Christ are here for one purpose only. And that purpose is to glorify the God of our salvation, to be a voice in a lost and dying world, that there is salvation from your sins in Jesus Christ. Don’t be so wrapped up in the things of this world, use the things of this world to be a witness for Jesus, be wrapped up in telling people everywhere, that (there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved ~Acts 4:12). Jesus Christ is the Way, the truth, and the life. No one, no matter how much you may like them, can go to God the Father in Heaven except by faith in Jesus Christ alone! Please, tell people about Jesus!
Mike Peek
Previously we discussed that “Priest and Levites were sent from Jerusalem to ask John who are you?” Now it is mentioned here, that “those who were sent were from the Pharisees.” This is significant because the Pharisees were a group that had basically taken over the religion in the land of Judea. They made all the rules and people had to obey. This was the very group that would oppose Christ, and in whom Jesus would have His most heated discussions, then plotting His death. Now these Pharisees perceived themselves to be the religious authority in Judea, and believed as arrogant as it is, that if a prophet came from God he, would be one of them. So they asked John, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” Basically in there arrogance they were saying; what business do you have doing this if you are not one of us? Basically we are the religious authority, we speak for God, you are not one of us, so what are you doing out here preaching and baptizing people. John comes back with a beautiful answer, basically telling them that they do not have the authority that they think they have, and they don’t even have insight into the plan of God’s redemption for mankind. “John answered them, saying, ‘I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.’” John was saying to them you don’t even know what is going on. He is here, the Messiah is here, He is living among us, and He is in the flesh, walking among us right now. He was saying to them, don’t be concerned with what I am doing, the Messiah is here. John again being the greatest man that ever lived, did not puff himself up, or pound his own chest, and say he himself was someone great, he redirected their attention off of himself, and on to Christ the Messiah, John knew who he was, he knew he was a witness for Jesus Christ.
During this time period, in a rich ruler’s home, he would have hired servants and slaves. The feet were the dirtiest part of the body, people at the time whore sandals, and spent much of their time moving about by walking in the dirt, so their feet were filthy. Only the lowest of slaves, in a rich ruler’s household would be expected to do something as low as to touch the feet of his master, taking off his sandal. John talking about Jesus said “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” He was telling these Pharisees that there was One walking among them, that was so Holy, was so Great, that no one was even at the level of the lowest of lowest slaves in His presence. In the presence of Jesus Christ, John being the greatest man to ever live was not even at the level of the lowest slave in a rich man’s house compared with the Holiness of the One who had come into the world. While saying these things Jesus Christ himself was approaching, walking up the Jordan Valley, John had baptized him 40 days prior and He had spent 40 days out in the desert fasting, He would arrive in this very spot the following day.
Now I imagine that these men departed from John bewildered and confused, they probably had more questions after talking with John than before talking with John. Here was a man that people were coming out to see by the thousands, people all over the land were talking about him, and wondering if he himself was the Christ, and that is why the Pharisees went out to question him. The entire time they questioned him, he did not one time inflate himself, nor say anything great about himself, they surely gave him the opportunity. Do you know any man that given the opportunity to talk about himself would not? John did what God had sent him to do, be a witness for Jesus Christ. Are you doing what God has left you here to do? Be a witness for Jesus Christ. We the redeemed in Christ are not here to entertain ourselves, make money, accumulate a bunch of belongings, grow old and die. Jesus our Lord and Savior has left us here for one purpose and one purpose only, to be a witness for Him, in this lost and dying world. He hasn’t even called us to do a bunch of good deeds, but to be a witness for Him. What happens if you feed a homeless man but don’t share with him the saving faith of Jesus Christ? You fill his belly for a short time, but in the end, he will die and face God in judgment, and be cast into hell if he does not put his faith in Jesus Christ during this lifetime. The Holy Spirit of God has led me to believe more and more every day, and the more and more I read God’s word, I am convinced more and more, that we as believers in Jesus Christ are here for one purpose only. And that purpose is to glorify the God of our salvation, to be a voice in a lost and dying world, that there is salvation from your sins in Jesus Christ. Don’t be so wrapped up in the things of this world, use the things of this world to be a witness for Jesus, be wrapped up in telling people everywhere, that (there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved ~Acts 4:12). Jesus Christ is the Way, the truth, and the life. No one, no matter how much you may like them, can go to God the Father in Heaven except by faith in Jesus Christ alone! Please, tell people about Jesus!
Mike Peek
Saturday, July 16, 2011
The Voice (John 1:19-23)
(Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent Priest and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He Said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord”’, as the Prophet Isaiah said.” ~John 1:19-23)
We have completed the prologue to the Gospel According to John, the first 18 verses are basically a summary of the entire message being proclaimed in this gospel, that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God; God in a human body. We were also introduced to the witnesses; the writer John who never refers to himself as John but only as “the apostle whom Jesus loved,” John the Baptist, and the other disciples of Christ. Verse 19 begins with the gospel following the prologue and we are introduced to the Harold of God the one sent by God to prepare the way for the King, the Son of God. Whenever the writer says John he is never referring to himself but John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a very interesting fellow; he had no cares for the things of this world, the riches and lust of it all. He lived in the wilderness and wore the clothes that he could come up with (camels hair and with a leather belt ~Mark 1:6) and the food he could come up with living out in the wilderness, (locusts and wild honey ~Mark 1:6). There was nothing to strange about this for there were many extremely poor people in Judea eating locusts, and wild honey, the point here is that this was the clothing and diet of an extremely poor man, and was not who the Priest and Pharisees would have expected to be the Harold for the Messiah, they were expecting someone like themselves. John was in the wilderness (preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ~Mark 1:4). People were coming out to see and hear him in droves being baptized; many thought he could be the Messiah. The religious elite of the day said we can’t have this, we have to put a stop to it, they didn’t want to upset the status quo, they liked things the way they were, so they went out to question John. So Priest and Levites came from Jerusalem, Levites were there as guards to protect the Priest as a security force. They asked him, “Who are you?” John knowing full well what they were really asking was. Are you claiming to be the Messiah? So he flat out told them, “I am not the Christ.” Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. So then they asked, well if you aren’t the Christ what are you doing out here, what business do you have preaching? They asked: “Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not”. “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
Why would they ask him this? They knew from the Prophet Malachi that God would send Elijah prior to sending the Lord as a Harold. So why did John deny it when the asked him, “Are you Elijah?” Because he wasn’t, they were looking for a resurrected Elijah, the actual Elijah from the Old Testament, they misinterpreted the scripture. He wasn’t the resurrected Elijah, he was one sent in the spirit of Elijah, he was like Elijah, and he had a message like Elijah. The disciples of Jesus asked Him about John and He had many good things to say about him, (“And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come” ~Matthew 11:14). The Prophet they asked John about, I don’t have an answer for, and most scholars don’t agree on it; it could be a second reference to the Messiah, or Elijah or some other Prophet. But either way he neither denied it nor would even call himself someone great, that’s what I admire about John. So at this point they pinned him down; “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” Now John could have said anything here and most men would have but not John, that is why I admire him. He could have said, “I am the son of Zacharias” a great Priest they would all have known of (Ref. Luke 1). He could have said, “I was filled by the Holy Spirit from birth and sent by God” (Ref. Luke 1). He even could have said, “I am the greatest man to ever live,” Jesus said of him (“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist” ~Matthew 11:11). He could have said all of these great and wonderful things about himself, putting himself above these Priests from the sect of the Pharisees and said all these great things about himself, but just like in his dress and the food he ate, he didn’t care anything about worldly notoriety or fame. What did he say about himself? He just quoted Isaiah 40:3, (“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’” ~Isaiah 40:3, Mark 1:3, John 1:23).
What do I get out of these five scriptures in the gospel of John, as we begin? John the Baptist got it, he understood, he knew his place, he knew it wasn’t about him, it was about God, that this is God’s creation not ours it is his. What did John know that I hope one day will become what I know down to the fiber of my being? He knew that he was an unprofitable servant, he had simply done what was his duty to do, he knew as we will see later on that he wasn’t even worthy to untie the shoes of Jesus Christ much less mention himself in the same sentence. He knew the truth of Luke 17:10, (“when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’” ~Luke 17:10). The more and more I study God’s word, the more He reveals to me in His scripture, the more I know I don’t know anything. I am just beginning to understand what Christ did on that Cross on Calvary, He took the punishment for every single human being that has ever lived or ever will live, for every single sin no matter how awful, there is only one sin that is unpardonable and that is to deny Jesus Christ as Lord! People including myself like to think that they are somehow better than someone else, that somehow we deserve Heaven more than someone else. I am no better than any man, women, or child that has ever lived, that lives now or ever will live. We are all “unprofitable servants”, we are slaves bought with a price, the price of the precious blood of God.
Mike Peek
We have completed the prologue to the Gospel According to John, the first 18 verses are basically a summary of the entire message being proclaimed in this gospel, that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God; God in a human body. We were also introduced to the witnesses; the writer John who never refers to himself as John but only as “the apostle whom Jesus loved,” John the Baptist, and the other disciples of Christ. Verse 19 begins with the gospel following the prologue and we are introduced to the Harold of God the one sent by God to prepare the way for the King, the Son of God. Whenever the writer says John he is never referring to himself but John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a very interesting fellow; he had no cares for the things of this world, the riches and lust of it all. He lived in the wilderness and wore the clothes that he could come up with (camels hair and with a leather belt ~Mark 1:6) and the food he could come up with living out in the wilderness, (locusts and wild honey ~Mark 1:6). There was nothing to strange about this for there were many extremely poor people in Judea eating locusts, and wild honey, the point here is that this was the clothing and diet of an extremely poor man, and was not who the Priest and Pharisees would have expected to be the Harold for the Messiah, they were expecting someone like themselves. John was in the wilderness (preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ~Mark 1:4). People were coming out to see and hear him in droves being baptized; many thought he could be the Messiah. The religious elite of the day said we can’t have this, we have to put a stop to it, they didn’t want to upset the status quo, they liked things the way they were, so they went out to question John. So Priest and Levites came from Jerusalem, Levites were there as guards to protect the Priest as a security force. They asked him, “Who are you?” John knowing full well what they were really asking was. Are you claiming to be the Messiah? So he flat out told them, “I am not the Christ.” Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. So then they asked, well if you aren’t the Christ what are you doing out here, what business do you have preaching? They asked: “Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not”. “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
Why would they ask him this? They knew from the Prophet Malachi that God would send Elijah prior to sending the Lord as a Harold. So why did John deny it when the asked him, “Are you Elijah?” Because he wasn’t, they were looking for a resurrected Elijah, the actual Elijah from the Old Testament, they misinterpreted the scripture. He wasn’t the resurrected Elijah, he was one sent in the spirit of Elijah, he was like Elijah, and he had a message like Elijah. The disciples of Jesus asked Him about John and He had many good things to say about him, (“And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come” ~Matthew 11:14). The Prophet they asked John about, I don’t have an answer for, and most scholars don’t agree on it; it could be a second reference to the Messiah, or Elijah or some other Prophet. But either way he neither denied it nor would even call himself someone great, that’s what I admire about John. So at this point they pinned him down; “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” Now John could have said anything here and most men would have but not John, that is why I admire him. He could have said, “I am the son of Zacharias” a great Priest they would all have known of (Ref. Luke 1). He could have said, “I was filled by the Holy Spirit from birth and sent by God” (Ref. Luke 1). He even could have said, “I am the greatest man to ever live,” Jesus said of him (“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist” ~Matthew 11:11). He could have said all of these great and wonderful things about himself, putting himself above these Priests from the sect of the Pharisees and said all these great things about himself, but just like in his dress and the food he ate, he didn’t care anything about worldly notoriety or fame. What did he say about himself? He just quoted Isaiah 40:3, (“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’” ~Isaiah 40:3, Mark 1:3, John 1:23).
What do I get out of these five scriptures in the gospel of John, as we begin? John the Baptist got it, he understood, he knew his place, he knew it wasn’t about him, it was about God, that this is God’s creation not ours it is his. What did John know that I hope one day will become what I know down to the fiber of my being? He knew that he was an unprofitable servant, he had simply done what was his duty to do, he knew as we will see later on that he wasn’t even worthy to untie the shoes of Jesus Christ much less mention himself in the same sentence. He knew the truth of Luke 17:10, (“when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’” ~Luke 17:10). The more and more I study God’s word, the more He reveals to me in His scripture, the more I know I don’t know anything. I am just beginning to understand what Christ did on that Cross on Calvary, He took the punishment for every single human being that has ever lived or ever will live, for every single sin no matter how awful, there is only one sin that is unpardonable and that is to deny Jesus Christ as Lord! People including myself like to think that they are somehow better than someone else, that somehow we deserve Heaven more than someone else. I am no better than any man, women, or child that has ever lived, that lives now or ever will live. We are all “unprofitable servants”, we are slaves bought with a price, the price of the precious blood of God.
Mike Peek
Saturday, July 9, 2011
The Word Became Flesh (John 1:14-18)
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at anytime. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
John 1:14 has to be the most profound and full verse in all of scripture. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. There is absolutely no doubt, to any Greek or Hebrew reading this that the writer John was referring to God when he said the Word. In the Old Testament God was referred to as the Word many times: the Word of the Lord came to Abram, the Word of the Lord came to Moses, the Word of the Lord came to Isaac and Jacob, the Word of the Lord came to Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and on through the prophets. For the Greeks there was a word “Logos” which meant Word. It was a philosophical essence of all reason, it wasn’t attached to a specific person or being, it was consider to be a floating essence responsible for all things and responsible for keeping all things in the universe in place. So for the Jew and for the Greek, when John wrote this Gospel they would have had no doubt that he was referring to God as being the Word, weather they believed that Jesus was He or not. When reading this gospel they would have either believed him, or labeled him a heretic, but would understand that John was saying that God became a man. It wasn’t until modern times, man becoming disconnected from “Logos” and would have denied that John meant anything else other than God becoming a man and dwelling among us. All modern cults have two things in common:
1. They have just enough truth to make someone think that they are Christian.
2. They all deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, that He is God.
The major theme if this gospel is the Deity of Jesus Christ!
Think about how powerful and amazing this is, God became a man. The ancient one who sits on the throne, the one who spoke the universe into existence, the one who always has been and is and is to come, the first and the last, the Alpha (beginning) and the Omega (last), the One who is infinite became finite, the One who is everywhere became incarnate. God became a man and dwelt among us, with the same type of body we have and living with all the same problems we live with everyday. God knows your problems; God understands your problems, because He became one of us with one major difference, without sin. John said, “and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”. The glory of who He was concealed in human flesh. (He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him ~John 1:10). John was on the mountain with Peter and James, he saw Jesus transfigured, and he never forgot it, (and He was transfigured before them. His face shown like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light ~Matthew 17:2), and then they heard the voice of the Father declare Him, (This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him! ~Matthew 17:5).
The writer wanting us to know he wasn’t the only witness told us that John the Baptist bore witness of Him as well, and not only John but every believer who has received His fullness in grace and truth bares witness of Him. John had been preaching repentance and telling people that there would be someone coming after him and that they should be waiting for Him and that He existed long before him, and when Jesus began His ministry and John knew Him he declared Jesus as being the one he was talking about. John was born before Jesus and began his ministry before Jesus but yet He was before him because He always has been, because He was in fact God. Jesus told the people in the temple about Abraham and they said: (You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham ~John 8:57)? Jesus told them: (Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM ~John 8:58). They picked up stones to kill Him but He disappeared. In His fullness which every believer has, He brought truth. Truth that He was the Way to eternal life with the Father in Heaven, and by grace through Him all of your sins are forgiven, verse 16 says “and grace for grace” as though grace never stops, it just keeps flowing out of Him, just like the ocean waves, just one after another. And it is a good thing that it never stops, if grace ever stopped flowing from Heaven we would be in trouble.
Verse 17 talks about the law being given through Moses and grace and truth coming through Jesus Christ. Why do people try to change this, seriously why? What does the law do but show us what terrible people we are, it gives us the knowledge of sin, and makes us aware that we need a savior. Most people just bounce along in life and think they are pretty good people and they are doing well; good people go to Heaven right? That would be true if there were any good people but there are not, (for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God ~Romans 3:23). Then there are others who think if you follow the letter of the law you will be good enough, that is what the Jewish people try to do and they fail. What are you if you break one of God’s laws just one time? No matter how often you get it right, if you break one of God’s laws even once you are a law breaker, it doesn’t matter if it is once are a billion times you are a law breaker. And still others even try to make rules to follow on top of God’s laws to try and make sure you don’t break the laws, and that in itself breaks the law. So my friends what is the single purpose of the law? The single purpose of the law is to bring the knowledge of sin (for by the law is the knowledge of sin ~Romans 3:20). And for this purpose the law must be preached, because without the knowledge that you are a sinner, you cannot appreciate and appropriate grace. God set it up this way, first He gave us the law through Moses, then grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. I don’t mean sometimes, I mean every single time the gospel is preached, law must be preached first and after the law has been preached you give grace and truth in Jesus Christ. That is the way God made it and that is the way it should be done, any other way is not the gospel at all but some other gospel that did not come from God!
Verse 18 says that Jesus declared God. At no time in human
history past did man see God! God through the Word spoke to His prophets and His prophets in turn told the people God’s will. We knew of His creative ability because of creation and we knew of His moral character because of the law, but we did not know Him. Human beings exist in time and space. We take up a certain amount of space and exist along a plain of time moving forward. God exist outside of time and space, God is eternal. Since we as human beings cannot go outside of our existence to perceive God, what had to happen, God had to come into our existence and that is what He did in the God Man Jesus Christ. Jesus was in the bosom of the Father at all times even before creation. He said, (“He who has seen Me has seen the Father ~ John 14:9), and further said, (“I am in the Father, and the Father in Me ~John 14:11). Jesus was the complete embodiment of God in a Man. He revealed who God is to us, what God is like, His moral character, what is important to Him, who is important to Him, and His love for us. God came into our existence and was revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
John 1:14 has to be the most profound and full verse in all of scripture. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. There is absolutely no doubt, to any Greek or Hebrew reading this that the writer John was referring to God when he said the Word. In the Old Testament God was referred to as the Word many times: the Word of the Lord came to Abram, the Word of the Lord came to Moses, the Word of the Lord came to Isaac and Jacob, the Word of the Lord came to Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and on through the prophets. For the Greeks there was a word “Logos” which meant Word. It was a philosophical essence of all reason, it wasn’t attached to a specific person or being, it was consider to be a floating essence responsible for all things and responsible for keeping all things in the universe in place. So for the Jew and for the Greek, when John wrote this Gospel they would have had no doubt that he was referring to God as being the Word, weather they believed that Jesus was He or not. When reading this gospel they would have either believed him, or labeled him a heretic, but would understand that John was saying that God became a man. It wasn’t until modern times, man becoming disconnected from “Logos” and would have denied that John meant anything else other than God becoming a man and dwelling among us. All modern cults have two things in common:
1. They have just enough truth to make someone think that they are Christian.
2. They all deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, that He is God.
The major theme if this gospel is the Deity of Jesus Christ!
Think about how powerful and amazing this is, God became a man. The ancient one who sits on the throne, the one who spoke the universe into existence, the one who always has been and is and is to come, the first and the last, the Alpha (beginning) and the Omega (last), the One who is infinite became finite, the One who is everywhere became incarnate. God became a man and dwelt among us, with the same type of body we have and living with all the same problems we live with everyday. God knows your problems; God understands your problems, because He became one of us with one major difference, without sin. John said, “and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”. The glory of who He was concealed in human flesh. (He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him ~John 1:10). John was on the mountain with Peter and James, he saw Jesus transfigured, and he never forgot it, (and He was transfigured before them. His face shown like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light ~Matthew 17:2), and then they heard the voice of the Father declare Him, (This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him! ~Matthew 17:5).
The writer wanting us to know he wasn’t the only witness told us that John the Baptist bore witness of Him as well, and not only John but every believer who has received His fullness in grace and truth bares witness of Him. John had been preaching repentance and telling people that there would be someone coming after him and that they should be waiting for Him and that He existed long before him, and when Jesus began His ministry and John knew Him he declared Jesus as being the one he was talking about. John was born before Jesus and began his ministry before Jesus but yet He was before him because He always has been, because He was in fact God. Jesus told the people in the temple about Abraham and they said: (You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham ~John 8:57)? Jesus told them: (Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM ~John 8:58). They picked up stones to kill Him but He disappeared. In His fullness which every believer has, He brought truth. Truth that He was the Way to eternal life with the Father in Heaven, and by grace through Him all of your sins are forgiven, verse 16 says “and grace for grace” as though grace never stops, it just keeps flowing out of Him, just like the ocean waves, just one after another. And it is a good thing that it never stops, if grace ever stopped flowing from Heaven we would be in trouble.
Verse 17 talks about the law being given through Moses and grace and truth coming through Jesus Christ. Why do people try to change this, seriously why? What does the law do but show us what terrible people we are, it gives us the knowledge of sin, and makes us aware that we need a savior. Most people just bounce along in life and think they are pretty good people and they are doing well; good people go to Heaven right? That would be true if there were any good people but there are not, (for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God ~Romans 3:23). Then there are others who think if you follow the letter of the law you will be good enough, that is what the Jewish people try to do and they fail. What are you if you break one of God’s laws just one time? No matter how often you get it right, if you break one of God’s laws even once you are a law breaker, it doesn’t matter if it is once are a billion times you are a law breaker. And still others even try to make rules to follow on top of God’s laws to try and make sure you don’t break the laws, and that in itself breaks the law. So my friends what is the single purpose of the law? The single purpose of the law is to bring the knowledge of sin (for by the law is the knowledge of sin ~Romans 3:20). And for this purpose the law must be preached, because without the knowledge that you are a sinner, you cannot appreciate and appropriate grace. God set it up this way, first He gave us the law through Moses, then grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. I don’t mean sometimes, I mean every single time the gospel is preached, law must be preached first and after the law has been preached you give grace and truth in Jesus Christ. That is the way God made it and that is the way it should be done, any other way is not the gospel at all but some other gospel that did not come from God!
Verse 18 says that Jesus declared God. At no time in human
history past did man see God! God through the Word spoke to His prophets and His prophets in turn told the people God’s will. We knew of His creative ability because of creation and we knew of His moral character because of the law, but we did not know Him. Human beings exist in time and space. We take up a certain amount of space and exist along a plain of time moving forward. God exist outside of time and space, God is eternal. Since we as human beings cannot go outside of our existence to perceive God, what had to happen, God had to come into our existence and that is what He did in the God Man Jesus Christ. Jesus was in the bosom of the Father at all times even before creation. He said, (“He who has seen Me has seen the Father ~ John 14:9), and further said, (“I am in the Father, and the Father in Me ~John 14:11). Jesus was the complete embodiment of God in a Man. He revealed who God is to us, what God is like, His moral character, what is important to Him, who is important to Him, and His love for us. God came into our existence and was revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Believe and Receive (John 1:10-13)
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Jesus came in human flesh to the very world He created; it was through Him that God made everything. So He came into the very world He made and the world did not know it was Him. Can you imagine what that must have been like for Him, how painful that must have been, He was God but He was also in human flesh so therefore felt all the pains and hurts that we feel. Can you imagine how painful it must be to be rejected by the very world that you made, out of love with your own hands? The closest that we can come to in this is our own children and that still is not a good comparison because we did not make them, God made them we just are given the privilege of raising them, but after raising them if they reject you it causes extreme pain and as painful as that is I can’t imagine being rejected by the world. And He wasn’t just rejected by the world He was rejected by the very people He claimed as His own, the Jewish people, the sons of Abraham, the sons of Isaac, the sons of Jacob. When the Word came in human flesh He came yes to redeem all of His creation but He appeared specifically to the people of Israel. He was born of a Jewish mother, a descendant of King David, He was born in Bethlehem of Judea, and He was raised as a Jew and lived as a Jew under Jewish traditions and customs. When His ministry began He came preaching, teaching, and healing the Jewish people. The Jewish people were looking for their promised Messiah sent from God and He came to His own, and His own received Him not. Prophesy after prophesy was fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in their presence and yet they did not receive Him. He told them repeatedly that He was the fulfillment of those prophesies that He was in fact the One they were looking for. John a prophet sent from God testified of who He was, God the Father testified of who He was, the very works of Jesus Christ testified of who He was; works no man had ever seen before, (The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind” John 9: 30-32), and the law and the prophets testified of who He was.
Verses 10 and 11 make you want to say poor God, how terrible for Him, and then verse 12 there is a big but, and that but is Satan’s defeat. (But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God John 1:12-13.) Jesus did not come to redeem everyone; He came to redeem all that the Father gave Him. (“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” John 6:37. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” John 6:44. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father” John 6:65.) You do not save yourself by any means, God saves you. Before time began, before creation God had your name written in The Book of Life, God knew before He even created this world He would send His son to redeem those whom He had written in His book of Life. This world is not ours, this world was created not for us, and this world was created by God and for His purpose. God has saved me! I don’t know why but I know he has! I often ask, why me? I don’t deserve it and have done nothing to deserve it and yet He has. God the Father gave me to Jesus before I was born and from the time I was born He was drawing me to His Son and He granted this to me. Why? I don’t know but He did, and I am forever grateful that He did. Verses 12-13 tell us how we are saved, we are saved by believing and receiving. By believing in the name of Jesus Christ, believing who He is, the only begotten Son of God, God in human flesh; (Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” John 8:58.) Jesus is God in human flesh, the great I AM came into the very world he created. We are saved by believing and receiving; we are saved by receiving Jesus as Lord. Believe that Jesus is the Messiah and receive Him as Lord; now you cannot do this yourself it is God the Father who does this.
The Jewish people thought it was by birth right, because they were sons of Abraham that they were children of God. They thought it was by the efforts of man in keeping the Law that you are made right with God, yet no one has ever kept that Law but the one who came from God, Jesus Christ. We are not saved by birth right (not of blood), we are not saved because you were born into a certain race of people; it is by faith through the grace of God, Abraham was saved by faith and the true children of Abraham are spiritual children saved by faith. Some even in the Christian church say that they are Christians because their Mom or Dad where Christians but they themselves have never been born of God and never had a saving faith themselves that saved them and are therefore doomed. It is not by the will of man. There is not one thing you and I can do to save ourselves! We have each sinned against God, we have all broken His laws a multitude of times and there is nothing we can do to change that. No amount of good works going forward can make up for all the wrong we have done and all the wrong we do all the time (And all our righteousness are like filthy rags Isaiah 64:6.) The Lord has led me to give and I enjoy giving, I have set aside a certain amount to give this year, it doesn’t matter if I give $1 or if I give $1,000,000 neither will earn me favor with God. I am a sinner, I was a sinner in my mother’s womb, but God in His unfailing mercy gave me to His Son Jesus, I do not deserve salvation what I deserve is death and Hell. But God by His mercy gave me to His Son and His Son did something unimaginable, His Son who was without sin, took my punishment on the cross, He took the death and Hell that I deserved and because He was God, He came back to life when He was ready. Now all the sins I previously committed are paid for, all the sins I commit now are paid for, and all the sins I will commit in the future are paid for by the death and resurrection of my Lord Jesus Christ. On the cross all of my unrighteousness was applied to Jesus, and all of His righteousness was applied to me so that now when God looks upon me he doesn’t see an unclean sinner, He sees Jesus, He sees one of His children, and only now are my good deeds a pleasing and acceptable aroma to God because they are done in righteousness, not in my righteousness but in the righteousness of my Lord Jesus Christ, for His glory. Do you believe in Jesus Christ and have you received Him as Lord, have you been born of God?
Jesus came in human flesh to the very world He created; it was through Him that God made everything. So He came into the very world He made and the world did not know it was Him. Can you imagine what that must have been like for Him, how painful that must have been, He was God but He was also in human flesh so therefore felt all the pains and hurts that we feel. Can you imagine how painful it must be to be rejected by the very world that you made, out of love with your own hands? The closest that we can come to in this is our own children and that still is not a good comparison because we did not make them, God made them we just are given the privilege of raising them, but after raising them if they reject you it causes extreme pain and as painful as that is I can’t imagine being rejected by the world. And He wasn’t just rejected by the world He was rejected by the very people He claimed as His own, the Jewish people, the sons of Abraham, the sons of Isaac, the sons of Jacob. When the Word came in human flesh He came yes to redeem all of His creation but He appeared specifically to the people of Israel. He was born of a Jewish mother, a descendant of King David, He was born in Bethlehem of Judea, and He was raised as a Jew and lived as a Jew under Jewish traditions and customs. When His ministry began He came preaching, teaching, and healing the Jewish people. The Jewish people were looking for their promised Messiah sent from God and He came to His own, and His own received Him not. Prophesy after prophesy was fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in their presence and yet they did not receive Him. He told them repeatedly that He was the fulfillment of those prophesies that He was in fact the One they were looking for. John a prophet sent from God testified of who He was, God the Father testified of who He was, the very works of Jesus Christ testified of who He was; works no man had ever seen before, (The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind” John 9: 30-32), and the law and the prophets testified of who He was.
Verses 10 and 11 make you want to say poor God, how terrible for Him, and then verse 12 there is a big but, and that but is Satan’s defeat. (But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God John 1:12-13.) Jesus did not come to redeem everyone; He came to redeem all that the Father gave Him. (“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” John 6:37. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day” John 6:44. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father” John 6:65.) You do not save yourself by any means, God saves you. Before time began, before creation God had your name written in The Book of Life, God knew before He even created this world He would send His son to redeem those whom He had written in His book of Life. This world is not ours, this world was created not for us, and this world was created by God and for His purpose. God has saved me! I don’t know why but I know he has! I often ask, why me? I don’t deserve it and have done nothing to deserve it and yet He has. God the Father gave me to Jesus before I was born and from the time I was born He was drawing me to His Son and He granted this to me. Why? I don’t know but He did, and I am forever grateful that He did. Verses 12-13 tell us how we are saved, we are saved by believing and receiving. By believing in the name of Jesus Christ, believing who He is, the only begotten Son of God, God in human flesh; (Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” John 8:58.) Jesus is God in human flesh, the great I AM came into the very world he created. We are saved by believing and receiving; we are saved by receiving Jesus as Lord. Believe that Jesus is the Messiah and receive Him as Lord; now you cannot do this yourself it is God the Father who does this.
The Jewish people thought it was by birth right, because they were sons of Abraham that they were children of God. They thought it was by the efforts of man in keeping the Law that you are made right with God, yet no one has ever kept that Law but the one who came from God, Jesus Christ. We are not saved by birth right (not of blood), we are not saved because you were born into a certain race of people; it is by faith through the grace of God, Abraham was saved by faith and the true children of Abraham are spiritual children saved by faith. Some even in the Christian church say that they are Christians because their Mom or Dad where Christians but they themselves have never been born of God and never had a saving faith themselves that saved them and are therefore doomed. It is not by the will of man. There is not one thing you and I can do to save ourselves! We have each sinned against God, we have all broken His laws a multitude of times and there is nothing we can do to change that. No amount of good works going forward can make up for all the wrong we have done and all the wrong we do all the time (And all our righteousness are like filthy rags Isaiah 64:6.) The Lord has led me to give and I enjoy giving, I have set aside a certain amount to give this year, it doesn’t matter if I give $1 or if I give $1,000,000 neither will earn me favor with God. I am a sinner, I was a sinner in my mother’s womb, but God in His unfailing mercy gave me to His Son Jesus, I do not deserve salvation what I deserve is death and Hell. But God by His mercy gave me to His Son and His Son did something unimaginable, His Son who was without sin, took my punishment on the cross, He took the death and Hell that I deserved and because He was God, He came back to life when He was ready. Now all the sins I previously committed are paid for, all the sins I commit now are paid for, and all the sins I will commit in the future are paid for by the death and resurrection of my Lord Jesus Christ. On the cross all of my unrighteousness was applied to Jesus, and all of His righteousness was applied to me so that now when God looks upon me he doesn’t see an unclean sinner, He sees Jesus, He sees one of His children, and only now are my good deeds a pleasing and acceptable aroma to God because they are done in righteousness, not in my righteousness but in the righteousness of my Lord Jesus Christ, for His glory. Do you believe in Jesus Christ and have you received Him as Lord, have you been born of God?
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