THE HUMBLE WITNESS

JOHN 1:19-28

¹⁹ And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”²⁰  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight^[g] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵ They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

I.  Humble Confession of the Forerunner (v.20)

II. Humble Commission of the Forerunner (v.23)

III. Humble Conviction of the Forerunner (v.26-27

THE TWO COVENANTS

TEXT: JOHN 1:15-18

 15( John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For fromhis fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.^[d] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸  No one has ever seen God; the only God,^[e] who is at the Father's side,^[f] he has made him known.

THE 3 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TWO COVENANTS


I. Mosaic Covenant Judges while New Covenant Saves


II. Mosaic Covenant Supports New Covenant while New Covenant Complements Mosaic  
     Covenant


III. Mosaic Covenant Brings Man to Christ while New Covenant Brings Man to the Father

THE INCARNATION

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

     

            The first five words (And The Word Became Flesh) are the part of the most incomprehensible statement. This is so incomprehensible that the infinite God be confined in the humanity of Jesus Christ, the Creator being one of the creation and the eternal God be part of time. These idea are so incomprehensible. After Apostle John introduced the Word who is the eternal and infinite God, he introduced the Word who became flesh. This not mean the Word ceased to be Word or ceased to be God after He became flesh but He continued to be who He is originally.

PRINCIPLES

1) Jesus Christ is fully God and fully Man 

   These how the Word 

• He is a creator who became one of the creation
• He is the eternal who lived in time
• He is the infinite who confined Himself to finite

2) Jesus Christ revealed His glory to man

• Christ's glory is divine glory (glory of only Son of the Father)
• Christ's glory is the glory of the Father (being one essence)

3) Jesus Christ provided salvation

• Full of Grace - God revealed the very grace of God by which man can be saved (You have been saved by grace....)
• Full of Truth - God revealed the very truth from God by which man can be saved (And the truth will set you free)

APPLICATION

1) I must acknowledge that Jesus is fully God and fully Man

2) I must acknowledge that Jesus is the provided grace and truth for the 

    salvation of man

3) I must acknowledge that Jesus and the Father are one being God

JESUS IS GOD

TEXT: John 1:14
THESIS: The 3 Evidences of Jesus' Divinity


I. His Former Nature

        Jesus became flesh. That's a wonderful and very monumental statement of His divinity. If Christ became flesh, the question would be this, "What was His nature when He was not yet come into flesh?" That would make other religions who do not believe Jesus as God. His former nature will speak about His claim.


II. His Followers' Testimony


       The statement "We see His glory" meaning they witness the very glory of Jesus as the ONE and ONLY. This ONE and ONLY is the exclusivity of Christ as begotten Son who is the very promised and prophesied in the Old Testament. This proves that He is divine.




III. His Former Companion


       Who is the former companion of Jesus when He was not yet incarnate? There is only one answer and this is His Father. He is from the Father. Full of grace and truth is the very attributes of the Father and He came from the Father with full of grace and truth means that their essence are one. This proves that He is fully divine. 

BORN FROM WHAT?

John 1:13

....children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.


            One doctrine that has been misunderstood is the doctrine of regeneration or simply born again, born from above, born of Spirit or born of God. These have only one meaning, this is one is being taken out from darkness into marvelous light. 

            One of the misinterpretations  of this doctrine is that when man believes God that is the moment that he will be born again. The problem with this belief is that regeneration (born again) is depended on when man believes Christ. But the verse here that it is not from any human decision. Meaning to say, it is purely on the basis of God's pleasure and will. 

            One of the tragic contribution of Emperor Constantine was that he imposed that Christianity will be the national religion. During that time people were deceived to the fact that they are Christian but inwardly they are not because once the family is Christian the whole family is Christian. They think this will be according to their own volition.

PRINCIPLES

1) Regeneration is not biological.

             Children of Christian parents cannot be considered born again unless they experience it.

2) Regeneration is not individual decision but God's decision.

            Man will not believe in order to be born again but rather he will be born again in order for him to believe in God.

3) Regeneration is not relational.

            This cannot be imposed by any in authority like the husband who is in authority in the family. Husband cannot imposed to the children and wife that they do this and that in order to be born again.  

APPLICATION

1) I must live in the newness of life because it is the evidence of true born again experience.

2) I must love the Lord God because of regeneration that I am not worthy of.

3) I must long to know the God who took me out from darkness and brought me to light.

RECEIVE OR REJECT

John 1:10-14

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God 

PRINCIPLES

1) The Purpose of His Incarnation

• is to give light to everyone - this mean to reveal the truth about God and His plan
• For the unbelievers, Jesus reveals Himself to them to exposed their sins and gives evidence to their hatred toward the truth which is the light.
• For the believers, Jesus reveals Himself to them to exposed their sins and have life

2) The Response to His Incarnation

• Unbelievers Will Reject 
• These people are ignorant about the Incarnate Word who is the light 
• Believers
• These people will receive Jesus as He is because of the Revealed Truth

3) The Outcome to the Response about His Incarnation

• (Implied) Those who rejected the Incarnate Word have nor right to become children of God
• (Direct) Those who received (repent and believe) the right to be God's adopted son in Christ Jesus

APPLICATION

1) I must believe that Jesus Christ by obeying Him

2) I must know Him more through studying the Scripture

3) I must live as God's adopted son in Christ Jesus

           

The Light Bearer

John 1:6-9

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through Him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world

PRINCIPLES

1) The Light Bearer is Appointed by God

            John the Baptist did not appoint by any man nor himself to be Jesus' witness but rather appointed by God alone. He was appointed by God in prophesy (Isaiah 40  and Malachi 3). His parents knew that he will be used by God for a very important purpose. 

2) The Light Bearer Must Have a Knowledge about the True Light

            In verse 7, 8, and 9, the purpose of the light bearer is to witness of the Light who is Jesus. He must not witness about himself nor other people but Jesus alone must b proclaimed. 

3) The Light Bearer is the Instrument to Make the True Light Known to Every Man

APPLICATION

1) If we are witnesses of the Light (Jesus Christ), we must consider the calling of God.

2) If we are  witnesses  of the Light, we must not seek our glory but seek God's glory alone.

3) If we are  witnesses of the Light, we must know Him by meditating the Scripture.

4) If we are witness of the Light, we must do our best to bring the Light to all men through evangelism. 

THE REVEALED TRUTH

Joh 1:4-5

 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

           Jesus is God and was prove in terms of His preexistence and His role as creator. Verse 4 to 5 He is the very revelation in order to understand God. There are lot of verses in the Bible that tells about His as the very revelation of God especially in the first three verses of chapter one of Hebrews.

PRINCIPLES

1)  Truth is the Source of Life

            This is another proof of His divinity. The phrase "IN HIM" is the exclusivity of Jesus as the only source of life and apart from Him there is no life. This is why every man who are not in Christ (unbelievers) are spiritually dead and no life in them. Remember that Jesus is the Truth. Truth and Life are inseparable. There will be no life in believers if they do not know the truth (never know Jesus). 

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2) Truth is the Light that Gives Life

              The revealed truth is the light of men. Life and light are inseparable. In John 6:68 Peter confessed that the Word of Eternal Life comes only from Jesus. The Word is pertaining to the truth and Eternal Life is pertaining to life. The two cannot be separated and they are the revealed truth. 

3) Truth Prevailed Over Darkness

              In Genesis, the importance of light is expressed. When God created light, darkness was all around. This is the picture of the sinfulness of man (darkness) and the need of light which comes from God alone and this is through Jesus Christ. Truth will confront every lie like darkness consumed by light. 

4) Truth is Rejected by those Living in Darkness

              Most people who heard the Gospel which is the very truth that gives are rejecting it. Why do they reject the truth? The reason is because men loves darkness and they hate light because their sins will be exposed (John 3:19-20)

APPLICATION

1) The revealed truth must be proclaimed knowing that this source of life and serves as light.

2) Jesus Christ must be trusted knowing that truth only comes from Christ which is the life and light for the dead living in the dark.

3) Truth must be believed and not rejected because to reject the truth is to reject Christ Jesus.

4) Walk continue in Christ whose the life and light of the souls.

IMPERSONAL OR PERSONAL CREATOR

John 1:2-3
"He was in the beginning with God. 
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."


            Why did John use the term LOGOS meaning WORD instead of Son of God in connection with the Jesus Christ in John 1:1?


1) The Hebraic Concept


            The Hebrew people knew that everything was created through God's Word. For example, "God said 'Let there be light" and in the creation the phrases "God said", "God called" gives an idea that through LOGOS the whole universe came into existence.


2) The Greek Concept


            The Greek believes that a Supreme Being created the whole universe. But they believe that the power of God that made everything come into existence is impersonal. The Greeks called this impersonal power to create as LOGOS or WORD. 


          Apostle John chose the term Logos to connect to both Jews and Greeks in order to introduce who Jesus is.


PRINCIPLE


1) He was in the beginning with God. This tells the intimate relationship and fellowship with God. (Note : It does not imply Jesus is different from God in nature but the purpose is to set the distinguishing mark in terms of work)


2) All things were created through Him (Affirmative). This tells us the unique role of Jesus Christ in creation. He is the very instrument so that everything will exist.


3) ..and without Him nothing was made that was made (Negative). The implication of this is Jesus is God in terms of creation. Without God there will be no creation. This gives an idea that the complete work of creation is a creation of one God. God the Father and God the Son are one.


APPLICATION


1) We must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is not impersonal but personal. Therefore we must give reverence to Him.


2) We must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the creator of ourselves. Therefore we must value my life by worshiping Him and obeying Him.


3) We must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the creator of everything around us. Therefore we must take good care of the things He have given for us for our own good and for His glory.






          

IS JESUS CHRIST TRULY GOD?

IS JESUS CHRIST TRULY GOD?

John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

PRINCIPLES

1) The Preexistence of Jesus Christ.

            In the beginning was the Word tells that His preexistence. He is not only exist before the creation but He exists from the very beginning. That is why He is described as the ALPHA and the OMEGA. He was before even the creation of the heavenly realm (angelic realm).

2) The Second Person - Jesus Christ

            And the Word was with God tells the distinction of  the Second Person to the other Persons in the Trinity though the Holy Spirit is not mentioned. John used the word GOD and not the Father in order to give distinction of the Word with the other Persons in the Godhead. Jesus is the Word to emphasize His work which is distinct to the other two Persons in the Godhead.

3) The Divinity of Jesus Christ

           And the Word was God tells the Divinity of Christ. He did not become God but He is God from the very beginning. He is God and proves in His preexistence and His work as Logos- representation and the very revelation of God.

APPLICATION

Christian must believe that Jesus Christ is God. Anyone who did not believe Jesus Christ as God is not of God.


                                                                                        Grace and Peace to You from the Lord Jesus Christ