This is the manuscript of the third sermon in the "God's Affirmative Action Program"
In 1965 the federal government of the United States initiated affirmative action programs to see that businesses right some wrongs, balance some imbalances, correct some faults—ultimately, to bring reconciliation. God also had an affirmative action program designed to bring reconciliation—reconciliation between God and man. On these Sundays leading up to Christmas, we will examine God’s affirmative action program.
This third sermon in the series and in it we consider God's affirmative program in more detail and our own response to it.
John 1:1-13 NIV [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. [4] In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. [6] There was a man sent from God whose name was John. [7] He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. [8] He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. [9] The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. [11] He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. [12] Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— [13] children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Text:
“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11–12 NIV).
God’s affirmative action program, which we have been talking about here in December, affirmed people’s need for salvation. Under God's affirmative action program, through his Son Jesus, God came into the world to fulfill his plan to bring people back to himself and provide all mankind with an equal opportunity for reconciliation with him.
He sent his Son, referred to in John’s gospel as the Word, to be born on earth for the dual purposes of revealing God and redeeming mankind. In the prologue, the beginning of John’s gospel, he says that the Word, God’s Son Jesus, was life and light.
As we said last week that John the Baptist was the messenger, He was the man who came to bear witness to the light.
John 1:6-8 NIV [6] There was a man sent from God whose name was John. [7] He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. [8] He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Verses 9-13 of John 1 gives us the response that people gave to the message that the light of God had come into the world.
The response was generally negative. Jesus came to his own earth and to his own people, yet he was rejected by most of them. However, He gave those that accepted Him the privilege of becoming the very children of God.
John 1:11-13 NIV [11] He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. [12] Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— [13] children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Today let’s consider the response to God’s affirmative action program in more detail. And consider carefully your own response to it.
I. First of all the response was local not global or universal. Let me explain.
A. Nothing is ever universal until it is first specific.
The universal light that could light up the life of every person in the world became a unique, specific person—Jesus of Nazareth. The one who existed from before the beginning of the world came into this world at a specific place on the globe and at a specific time in history.
It is one thing to talk about light and life as concepts, but they become real to us when those concepts are made specific to us. We best understand light and life only when we see them saturate a single life. God has always made the big picture universally known by showing us specific examples.
1. God loves all peoples and all races, but through a specific people—the Jews—God revealed himself.
2. God loves all families of the earth, but in a specific family—the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—God worked out his love.
3. God delivers all people from the bondage of sin, but in a specific event—the exodus—God demonstrated his power of deliverance.
4. God existed for all time, created the world, and desired to reconcile sinful mankind to himself; but in a specific person—Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh. In Jesus God made his plan for salvation known to all people.
Galatians 4:4-7 NIV [4] But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. [6] Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” [7] So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
B. Nothing is ever really known until it is first experienced.
What God had been trying to get across to all of mankind was experienced in Jesus Christ. In Jesus God’s plan for mankind became known to people. They could see the light that shone brightly in our world because of Christ’s coming into the world. All people had the potential to have their own lives illuminated by that light. Everything that had been known intellectually about acceptance, forgiveness, and family could finally be experienced through a relationship with Christ.
God’s love for all mankind became evident when the light that was the Word entered the world he had created in the specific person of Jesus of Nazareth. This event is what we celebrate at Christmas.
The Apostle John in his gospel was careful to show that the person that we know as Jesus of Nazareth, existed from the very beginning. The Christ who was born into the world on that first Christmas was not different from the God who had always existed. That shows the continuity of the personality that we know as Jesus. He has always existed.
John 1:1-3 NIV [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
There was a continuity in his existence. He was in the world already; in fact, he had always been in the world. But in the birth of the baby in Bethlehem, the one who had always been in the world took on a specific personality that we could see and know.
The same God who had always been in the world, who had in fact created the world, chose to enter his world as a baby. No wonder the angels sang!
Luke 2:13-14 NIV [13] Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, [14] “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
No wonder the star shone brightly!
Matthew 2:1-2, 10-11NIV [1] After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem [2] and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
[10] When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. [11] On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
It was a time for joy and wonder: the Savior was born!
Through the birth of Christ the God who had always been in the world came close. He could be seen. He could be touched.
1 John 1:1-3 NIV [1] That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. [2] The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. [3] We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
John wanted to emphasize the point that God Himself came in the flesh. That’s very important because when John wrote his gospel, many people believed that matter, stuff you could touch, was evil and that a good God could not have created a world composed of matter. So,these people refused to believe that Jesus was really a man, a fleshly incarnation. Instead, they claimed he only appeared to have a physical form thus he could never truly die.
John, on the other hand, went to great lengths to clarify that the eternal God not only created matter, he took on human flesh; he became matter.
John 1:14 NIV [14] The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
When he had a body and a personality, he could be seen, touched, and really known. God was personified in Jesus when the Word became flesh.
II. Let’s be practical in our response to God’s affirmative action program
Because God took on human flesh and became a person in Jesus Christ, everyone is confronted with Christ and forced to make a choice.
As I have said before, light doesn’t leave people neutral, you have to make a decision. We see this principle when Jesus told Nicodemus,
John 3:19 NIV [19] This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Jesus is the Light of the world, and He will not leave us unchanged.
The light that can illuminate every life in the world has to be received. God did not force himself into the world, nor does he force himself into human lives. People must choose to reject Jesus or to accept him.
A. People can choose to turn away from the light.
They can refuse the life that he offers through faith. Like it says in our scripture this morning; Christ came into the world that he had created, but the world did not receive him. He came to the people he had made and to whom he had made himself known, but his own people did not receive him.
B. People can refuse and turn away from the light or people can choose to turn toward the light.
John said that those who accept Christ are given the right to become the children of God. Notice that those who become the children of God do so through the miraculous means of new birth, not by human will or effort.
John 1:9-13 NIV [9] The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. [11] He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. [12] Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— [13] children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
God’s grace is what has made redemption possible. We become a part of God’s family by grace through faith.
Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV [8] For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— [9] not by works, so that no one can boast. [10] For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:19-20 NIV [19] Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
Romans 8:15 NIV [15] The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Galatians 4:6 NIV [6] Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
Conclusion
The religious leaders in Jerusalem had been trying to arrest Jesus during the Feast of the Tabernacles. But they were unable to make a move because of Jesus’ profound teaching that was having a significant impact on everyone who heard Him.
One of the most significant activities during the Feast of the Tabernacles was the lighting of the large lamps, which symbolized God’s presence with Israel in the wilderness by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night. It was within this context that Jesus made His extraordinary claim:
John 8:21 “I am the light of the world”. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”.
Those who follow the light that emanates from Jesus Christ always see clearly because they have the very Light of life.
The world we live in is blanketed by spiritual darkness. This may feel discouraging. But there is a source of light, powerful enough to light up a clear path for you and me to travel. That light is Jesus, the Light of the world. Those who follow Him, will never walk in the dark.
Each of us must respond to God’s affirmative action program. Will we reject Christ and continue to live in darkness? Or will we accept Christ and step into the light?
Prayer
Father, help us trust in and always cling to Your light, despite the arguments and pressure of unbelievers around us. May we be influenced by and submitted to You. You alone have light to penetrate the darkness.
Sermon Audio
No comments:
Post a Comment