The Gospel According to John Chapter 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of man. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. For much of my life, I have been fascinated by the lives of lighthouse keepers. That may seem strange. A lot of people probably know a lot about me and wouldn't know that. It might be because I grew up with a mom who's a little bit obsessed with lighthouses. If you ever get a chance to come to my parents' house and you go into the living room, you'll see instantly what I mean. But I've always thought about these guys who used to man the lighthouses. You know, today, lighthouses are all automatic and just hardwired and nobody's actually there. Or they've just been turned into tourist attractions and so you can go and walk around. But it used to be that somebody had to be there to keep the light going. And I've always been fascinated by this lonely existence, but also how vital it was, and how in the worst times, you know, in the darkest night, in the most intense storms, that was when the job was the most important to keep the light going. Never could just say, well, forget about it tonight, I'm too tired. Or this storm is too bad, I'm just not gonna worry about it. Because you know that at those times, that's when the light is most needed. And if the light goes out, ships crash and people die. And so it's this lonely, boring, and yet incredibly important and urgent work. And I've just always been fascinated by it. And I was thinking about lighthouse keepers as I thought about John the Baptist. this week because he, to me, is kind of a lighthouse keeper. He came at a time when things were kind of dark and stormy for God's people. He himself is not the light. But he was one who was kind of a keeper of the light, a proclaimer of the light. And in that way, he's an example to all of us of the role of a faithful witness to Christ before a watching world, a faithful lighthouse keeper in a dark and often stormy world. There was a man sent from God. whose name was John. These words come almost as an interruption of the flow of John chapter one. I mean, we're learning all about this word who is majestic and who is with God and who is God and who made the world and then all of a sudden there was a man. Where did he come from? We were talking about this word. We haven't even named the word yet. We're not gonna name the word until next week. Why does this part about John come in? It almost feels like We're in this song and then someone interrupts the song to tell us about some other guy. Well, what's also interesting is that when the word about John comes in here in verses six through eight, John the evangelist, when he talks about John the Baptist, emphasizes almost as much as what he was not as what he was. and verses 6-8 are given to us as a deliberate contrast from what has come before in verses 1-5 and what will come after in verses 9-18. We're told, for example, that Jesus is the eternal Word who was with God in the beginning and who is God. But John is a man sent from God. Completely different language and deliberately contrasted. Even though John's birth was miraculous and his calling was remarkable, we need to know he was just a man. Jesus is the light shining in the darkness who is unconquerable and incomprehensible. John was emphatically not the light. but came to bear witness about the light." Why is it that John the Gospel writer, who we call John the Evangelist, is taking such pains to tell us what John the Baptist was not? Why is he, you know, seems like he's almost being down on the guy. I mean, he was a key prophet. It's probably because John was such a popular prophet and had such a large following that John the Gospel writer had to be very clear about who John was and what his role was in redemptive history. You see, John the Baptist had lots of followers. Huge crowds would come out to see him. Many of his followers took John's words to heart when he pointed at Jesus and said, look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And they followed Jesus. but many of them did not. Many of them continued to follow John. Even after John was beheaded, many of his followers continued to show loyalty and devotion to him, and they missed the idea that they were supposed to follow and worship Jesus. And so, a lot of these guys had maybe too low an understanding of who Jesus really was, or maybe too high of an understanding of who John the Baptist was. We all know that A leader of a group can often become a hero and even a god after their death. And it seems that that's what happened to some of John the Baptist's followers, is that they almost worshipped John the Baptist. And so John, the gospel writer, is coming along and saying, you have to really understand, John was important. He had a key role, but he was just a man. He was not the true light. He was a witness to the light. Now, he was merely human, but his mission was vital. He came as a witness to testify about the light that all might believe through him. See, his goal, his desire was that all might believe in Jesus through him. He never wanted to be the focus of people's attention. He never wanted to be the one people would follow. That's why later on in chapter one, when people come to question him, are you the Christ? He says, no, I'm not the Christ. Even when people say, well, are you Elijah then? He even denies that, which we'll talk about because in a sense he was Elijah, but he didn't want people to think that he was the guy they were supposed to follow. Unfortunately, you know how we people are, right? We're just sort of thick-headed. And even though someone tells us something clearly and repeatedly, we just sometimes don't listen. But John's role was to be a witness. John, the gospel writer, uses this term witness three times in two verses. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light. He was not the light, but he came to bear witness about the light. This word that he uses is a legal term. It's used for the testimony given in court. You think about the mission of a witness in a court case. Why would you become a witness in a court case? Particularly, why would you volunteer to be a witness in a court case? It's because you know the truth, you've seen the truth, and you want to do your part to make sure that the outcome of the trial is the just one, is right. And that's the role of John the Baptist. He sees the truth, he knows the truth, and he wants to make sure that when people see Jesus, they understand, they believe, they follow him. That's our goal. That's our call. Our call is not to draw attention to ourselves, to make our own name great, to become a popular church or popular people. Our goal is to point people to Jesus, that we can speak the truth that we have heard, that people might have the right outcome, that they might believe. But John had a particular ministry as highlighted in verse 9, and that is, he was coming to tell people that the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was the forerunner. He was the one to prepare the way. Now, John, the gospel writer, uses this term true light to emphasize Jesus as the true light in distinction against two other kinds of lights. And those are reflective lights that are not truly lights, but just a reflection of the light, and false lights, those who claim to be light, but are really darkness. You know, the world has always been full of people who have claimed to be light, but have actually been darkness. And you can probably immediately think of some very famous ones. Whether it's Jim Jones from the Jonestown Massacre in the 70s, or David Koresh from the Branch Davidians, or the Prophet Muhammad. Those who have come into the world and who have said, I have the truth, but are lying. who say, here is the light, but they're offering darkness. Many people, after the crucifixion of Jesus, thought that maybe Jesus was one of those. Maybe Jesus was just another failed pretend messiah. I mean, first century Israel had seen lots of pretend messiahs come along. and usually things ended poorly. And it seemed to everyone that things ended poorly for Jesus. He was crucified publicly outside the city. That seemed to be the end of it. Yeah, they heard these reports and rumors of resurrection, but who believes that crazy nonsense? This guy was obviously not the light. Well, John's coming to say, no, he was the true light who came into the world. You know, many people in our day are, I think rightfully so, fed up with religion. They've seen many false lights. They've seen many self-seeking and manipulative egomaniacs who manipulate people into funding the expansion of their mansions. They've read of the child abuse scandals covered up by cowardly church leaders. They've heard of the adultery committed by pastors who preach against the immorality of the world. They've seen the church accounting scandals and the pictures of the pastor's mega mansion and private jet. They've had it. They're fed up. They don't want any more of this false light. Religion seems to them like just another way for the rich to get richer and the poor to get taken for a ride. And they're right to think that way because that's what a lot of religion is. And one of the things we need to do is fess up to, you know what, I understand why you feel that way. I get it. I've seen it too. It makes me sick too. There's no excuse for it. There's no justification for it. John the Baptist, when he came, he confronted those very systems. of self-righteous, hypocritical, manipulative religion. The very people he went after were the religious leaders who were pretending they were better than everybody else and sticking it to the poor people and making themselves rich in the process. When Jesus came, that's exactly who he went after. He went into the temple and he turned over the table of the money changers and he drove out the sellers of animals because they were exploiting the poor in the name of God. The true light, as well as the reflectors of light, have always gone after the pretend lights. John did so in the way that we can do so, not as the true light, but as a reflector of light. Ever been blinded by a mirror? Maybe the sunlight catches a mirror and it hits you in the eyes. A mirror can be powerfully bright if it's focused on the true light. It doesn't have light in itself. It's merely a reflection. That's the way that John the Baptist was, and that's the way that we can be. We don't have light in ourselves. If we try to illuminate the world out of our own brilliance, nothing is going to happen. Bring a mirror into a dark room, and you'll wait a long time for it to get bright. but use a mirror to reflect light into the darkness and it can penetrate powerfully. We need to know the difference. We are not brilliant people who have all the answers to the world's problems. We are sinners who have found a savior and we can share him with the world. Jesus, John says, is the true light which enlightens everyone. And this is profound. This is the second time that John has said this. In verse four, he said, in him was life and the life was the light of men. And I think what he's doing here is coming back to that idea. He's the light of men. What does that mean? He enlightens everyone. And we talked about this two weeks ago, but I think we miss it. Sometimes, Atheists will say, you don't need God in order to be a good person. And I understand what they mean. What they mean is, you don't need to be a professing believer in a God or in a religion in order to be a nice, decent person who does good for other people. And as far as that goes, it's true. And I think we need to acknowledge that. Yeah, you're right. You don't have to be a believer in God in order to be a decent citizen, a law-abiding citizen, a helpful neighbor, a good friend, in that sense. But in another sense, it's profoundly mistaken. Because we all need God to be good at all. because all of our goodness and all of the truth that we know and all of the understanding that we have about anything comes to us from Jesus. He is the light of men. He enlightens everyone. Now, people can share that light with the world. People can be reflectors of that light into the world even without acknowledging the source. You can be a good teacher and teach true things and helpful things. You can be a skilled doctor and perform surgery and heal people. You can be someone who cares for the poor and you're reflecting the light of Jesus even though you don't even know who Jesus is and don't believe the light is coming from him. but the witness to the light. Those who reflect the light more fully are those who understand where the light is coming from, and who are trying to point people not only to the light that God has given them, but to the source of the light. That's what it means to be a witness. Well, from the strength of John's testimony, we turn to the sad reality of the world's rejection in verses 10 and 11. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." Jesus is the creator. He's the word that framed the worlds. He's the light of men, the true light which enlightens everyone. And yet when he came into the world, John says this world that he had made to people whom he had created and enlightened with reason and truth and insight, they didn't know him. They didn't know him. And yet we need to be careful because this is not an innocent ignorance. You know, we've all seen those movies or those TV shows or read those books where the ruler of a land goes in disguise and goes out among his people, right? And he's not recognized as the king or the prince or whatever. And so people just treat him like an ordinary schmuck. And he gets a chance to see how things really are. In that sense, it's kind of an innocent ignorance because there'd be no reason for anybody to know that this is the king or this is the prince. And in a sense, Jesus comes into the world in that way. He's hidden, but he's not really hidden because he does actually clearly demonstrate who he is. And the reason why the world did not know him is that the world did not want to know him. And the reason why the world did not want to know him is because he was God in the flesh and the world is in rebellion against God and really doesn't want God. And so it's like, you know, the villagers see the king in disguise and one of them says, hey, that's the king. And instead of saying, hey guys, that's the king, let's bow down and honor him and do what he says, they say, that's the king and his guards not around. We can get rid of him. That's the ignorance of the world. It wasn't an innocent ignorance. It was a willful ignorance. Sometimes people don't know the truth because they don't want to know the truth. And that's true of us too. There are some things that are true and we're hiding ourselves from them because we don't want to deal with them. From this general statement about the world, though, in verse 11, John focuses in on the Jewish people, on Jesus' own people. He came to his own, he says, and his own people did not receive him. That's actually a stronger condemnation than the condemnation the world receives in verse 10. See, the world did not know him, but his own people did not receive him, which means they did know him, they just rejected him. They didn't want him. All of the first 11 chapters of John's gospel are gonna continue to unfold this theme about why it is that the Jewish people would see their Messiah, their Savior, their King, the Son of David, the promised deliverer, the one they've been waiting for for centuries. They would see him come, unmistakably, clearly come, and would not receive him. It really comes down to unmet expectations and an unwelcome salvation. when the guy you've been waiting for, for so long, finally shows up, but he has no intention of doing what you want him to do, and instead is bringing something that you don't really want, all of a sudden, you don't receive him. And that's really what it is with Jesus. Thankfully, though, after the sad realities of verses 10 and 11, verse 12 begins. Verse 12 begins with that best word in all the Bible, right? But, wonderful, the places when that little word comes in and changes everything. But, to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. to those who did receive him. You see, not everybody rejected Jesus. And we'll see that throughout John's gospel too. We'll see the crowds and the people rejecting him. And then someone comes along who doesn't reject. There were those people who welcomed Jesus into their homes and into their hearts and lives. There were those who left everything to follow him. There were those who snuck out in the middle of the night to go and meet with him. There were those who remained when the crowds all scattered and who said to him, where else can we go? Lord, you alone have the words of eternal life. Not everyone rejected him to those who received him. They are those who believed in his name. This is clarifying what it means to receive him. To receive Jesus is to believe in his name. To believe in his name is to fully recognize him for who he is as God in the flesh, as the eternal word incarnate. And it is also to believe that the eternal word has come to be our savior. His name, Jesus, means Jehovah saves, the Lord saves. To believe in his name is to believe that that is true, that he has come as the Lord who saves us. The Westminster Shorter Catechism is helpful, as is the Heidelberg Catechism that we read earlier, but question 86 asks very simply, what is faith in Jesus Christ? In other words, what does it mean to believe in his name? And this is the answer. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace. You know what that means? It means it's something God gives you out of His good pleasure. Sometimes we think faith is what we give to God. It's not. It's what God gives to us. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the Gospel. In a few minutes, after we receive the Laces and take up the tithes and offerings, we're going to close our worship service by singing one of my favorite hymns, My Hope is Built on Nothing Less. It's interesting that We're singing this the day after the big wedding because this was our wedding hymn. This is what we sang after we got married as our statement that in our home and in our family our hope would be built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. The opening lines of that hymn really say it all. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name." If you understand those lines and can sing them sincerely from your heart, that's what it means to have saving faith. It is to say, Jesus' blood alone can cleanse me of my sin. Nothing else will do. Jesus' righteousness alone will make me acceptable before a holy God. Nothing else will do. No amount of good works, no amount of church attendance, no amount of money I can put on an offering plate, no amount of good deeds that I do for my neighbor, not being a nice person, not being a brilliant person, not being a successful person, not even being a stunningly handsome person like me, can get us anywhere Only Jesus' blood can cleanse our sin, and only His righteousness can make us acceptable before a holy God. Only. I will not trust the sweetest frame. Nothing I have in this world will get my ultimate trust. I will rest in Jesus' name. To such people, to those who receive and believe, God gives a very special right, the right to become children of God. to be adopted into God's own family, to become the younger brothers and sisters of the eternal Son of God and to become co-heirs of God with Christ. Do we understand what that means? Do we have any idea what that means? You know, at the wedding yesterday, these five adorable girls came down the aisle. and everybody just smiled and lit up inside because they're just so cute. And we all knew who they were, right? Unmistakable who these five are. Well, do you understand that we who believe in Jesus Christ, who are trusting in him alone for our salvation, who have received and rested upon him, We are sons and daughters of the King of the universe, of God Almighty. We're his, which also means that we are brothers and sisters of each other. We belong to each other, which is why it was such a beautiful picture yesterday to see the body of Christ coming together We've been on the receiving end of that the last couple of weeks as you all have had pity on this single dad and have brought me meals and have fed my family. It is wonderful to be a part of the family. But God is our Father. We can call the God of the universe our Father and be granted the access and security that only a child can have with his father. We may have rough days. We may have days when we absolutely blow it. But my children know when they wake up in the morning, they can make a beeline to me. They usually know where to find me. I'm sitting in my big brown chair reading my Bible. And they can climb up into my lap and they can get a hug. It doesn't matter what they did the day before. It doesn't matter if they were in trouble or if they fought with their brother or sister. They know where to find me and they know they can always come. God is a better father than I am, far more gracious and far more forgiving and far more patient, thankfully. And so he knows, and we are always welcome to come to him. But you know, such a right does not come by mere human will. I've already said how faith is a saving grace. John puts it this way, the children of God are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." In Greek, the word order is even stronger than that. I think the ESV does a good job of making that as strong as it can be. But in the Greek, it's even stronger. It says, who, not of blood, nor out of the will of the flesh, nor out of the will of the man, or the husband, but of God were born." That's awkward English. But the emphasis is a triple negative. It's not blood, it's not your bloodline, it's not your ancestry, it's not your heritage. It's not the will of the flesh. It's not some carnal desire. That's what's behind that, that children are born because of a passion or desire that husbands have for their wives. And it's not the will of a man. It's God who gives this birth. And so the privileges are entirely dependent upon the God who has given this birth. And God doesn't give new life to children and then set them aside. It doesn't happen. So the questions for us this morning as we close are two. One is, have you been born of God? Have you been born of God? Not, well, my parents are Christians. I was talking to Jeremiah about Silas Brown this morning. I don't know if any of you know the Brown family. Some of you do. Some of you don't. But the Brown family, they go to New Covenant and their son Silas is classmates with my Jeremiah. And I was talking to him about how he and Silas both know the Bible really well. And I was talking to him and he said, do you mean both of our dads are pastors? And I said, no, Silas' dad is a math teacher. And he said, Well, what does being a math teacher have to do with the Bible? And I forget that sometimes my kids probably think the whole reason why we do this Bible thing is because this is my job. But it's not. But children, when I ask if you are born of God, I'm not asking if your parents are Christians or church members or deacons or elders or pastors or they teach you the Bible. I'm asking you. Have you received and are you resting on Jesus Christ alone for salvation? It's not your bloodline that's going to get you into the kingdom of God. It's this new birth that shows itself in receiving and resting and believing on his name. Our son Andrew was born prematurely, more than two months early. He spent over a month in the hospital when he was born. He was born the Tuesday before Easter. I called Dave Barker, I think it was on that Thursday evening, and he was, he says, the only time, he's told me this, the only time my phone's rung during a worship service, he's getting ready to preach the Maundy Thursday service and his phone rings, it was me in the hospital calling him, I had no idea it was Maundy Thursday, I had no idea what was going on, I just wanted to talk to him. Anyway, if you are a child of God, If you have received on Him, if you've rested in the name of Jesus, then here's the second question. And this is a harder question. I don't want to be putting a guilt trip on us, but it's a sincere question. How much does our life look like the life of John the Baptist? How much have we committed ourselves to the task of being a lighthouse keeper? How much have we said, you know what, the darker it is, The stormier it is, the more the world needs the light. If we're going to reflect the light, we have to have our lives focused on the light. So we need time with the Lord. But we also need to be willing to let our light shine. We can't just put it under a bushel basket. Being a witness is not always easy. It costs John the Baptist his life. The Greek word for witness is martyrion, as a noun, and martyreo, as a verb. It never meant someone who dies for their faith before Christianity. But this word witness has become the source of our word martyr for very good reason. Because it has been those who have been a clear and strong witness in the darkest times, who have often paid the price with their lives. But the early church father, Tertullian, said, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. John the Baptist lost his life for shining the light, but he was successful in that people came to believe He became that witness. On October 16th, 1555, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were two such witnesses. One of my favorite stories of these friends, fellow bishops in the Church of England, they were burned at the stake by Queen Mary for their faithfulness to King Jesus. And as they were going, Latimer turns to his friend Nicholas Ridley and says, be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man. For we shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God's grace shall never be put out. That is a committed lighthouse keeper. So perhaps today, King Jesus is asking us that question. Will you be my witness? Jacob Lee shared with us last week that there are 6,000 unreached people groups in the world. Through his ministry, we have essentially adopted one of them, the Oringa tribe in the Yumbe district in northern Uganda. We have one of the 6,000. And we have a witness, and we're supporting him, and we're praying for him. at least 5,999 others. Will we be the witness for Christ in this world? Let's pray. Father, we are overwhelmed with humility and gratitude and joy that you would give us new life, that You would give us faith in Jesus Christ, that You would give us the right to become children of God. Not born of flesh, not born of blood, not born of the will of a man, but born of You and Your grace. Father, I pray that we would be Your children indeed. I pray that those who are here who may not have come to the place of faith in Christ, that You would give them that grace today. And I pray that those of us who belong to you by grace would be your witnesses in the world, that we would not be ashamed, that we would not be pointing people to ourselves or trying to show people how wonderful we are, but that you would show us what it means to reflect Jesus to the world around us. To be the lighthouse keeper, not the light in the darkness of our culture. Show us how to do this and give us the grace to be able to do it. We pray this in Jesus' name.