Intro:
You heard it said before about a son He is a Chip off the old block
Meaning He
looks like his dad or He acts like His dad.
A)When we say that it is not
always a compliment A wife might yell You are
just like your father! - ---- Not excited about that.
B) But when we are referring
to Jesus that is another story- in fact one of the major themes in the gospel
of John is that Jesus is just like His Dad
C) The Son is just
like the Father Jesus is just like the Father because He is indeed
God.
1)He is God become man The
Word became Flesh!
D) And so in Johns gospel
he makes mention of Seven I am statements
that Jesus made.
1)[ I Am] linking Himself to
the name of God in Exodus
2) Moses Asked who should
I tell them is sent me? Tell them I AM
..
E) Jesus makes at least 8
statements in John using this title all of which declare his claim to be God.
1)
Seven of those statements are meant to give clarity & insight into the
nature and ministry of the I AM
The
First we saw in John Ch.6 Bread of life
The 2nd we come to here in
12 Then Jesus
spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows
Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
A)Now it is this statement
that sets up the Dialogue here in Ch.8 it is this statement I am going to
consider in detail on Sunday.
B) But tonight we will
briefly consider it to set the stage for the dialogue which follows that Jesus
has with the religious leaders.
C) Begin by setting the
scene: Day after the feast of Tabernacles
Everything
that occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles was designed to remind the Israelites of the time their forefathers spent
in the wilderness.
A)So for a week they camped
out in booths or tents
B) Each day the priest would
take a golden pitcher
. Pool of Siloam
remembering how God provided water out of the rock.
C) And each evening in the
temple courts, two giant candelabra (two Menorahs,
the many-branched candlesticks used by the Jews), were lighted and they
illuminated the whole the temple court.
This
was done in remembrance of how during
the years of the wilderness wanderings, the tabernacle was lit by the shekinah glory of God.
A)So each evening the Lamps
were Lit to commemorate how the glory of God dwelt there in the Tabernacle.
Light"
is one of the three things which God is said to be. In
A) and in
B)These expressions relate
to the nature of God, what He is in Himself.
C)
Think about light- light points the way: Lighthouse for
ships at sea to find the shore { Jesus as the light
D) Light illuminates so we
can see clearly Stumble in the dark turn on the
light not going to trip over things
1)
Jesus as the light allows us to see things clearly {
Steve
Barton Van goh Closer you get to Jesus greater you
see
Light
also reveals flaws Man is seen more clearly in light of Christ
A) He is the measuring stick
not my neighbor
B) Measure Love /
forgiveness / kindness / patience in light of Him
Now
I believe that this verse is not to be looked at as the condition of those who
come to Christ
A)In other words only those
who dont walk in darkness can come to the light
B)On the contrary I
believe John is declaring this is the byproduct
of those who come to Christ the result the
evidence
B) They no longer walk in
darkness Walk = To order ones behavior
C) Before coming to Christ
We meandered in Darkness stumbling all over the place.
D) But now we have been
brought into the light Since Jesus is the light of the world as we follow
Him draw close to Him
1)We are naturally going to
walk in the light as well.
So
when Jesus made this Declaration of Deity the Pharisees fully understood that
is what He was doing - clearly seen by their response! V.13
The Pharisees
therefore said to Him,"You bear witness of
Yourself; Your witness is not true."
A)The Pharisees are
basically calling Jesus a liar! -
Aa)And according to OT law you need to two witnesses in a court of law
B) Your own testimony wasnt
good enough. -
C) But Jesus responds by
giving them a 3 fold reason why His testimony is
true. - First He says
14 Jesus
answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness
is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know
where I come from and where I am going.
#1
Light doesnt need anyone to bear witness of it.
Go into a dark room and turn
on the light there no need to announce it
A)Wake my kids up in the
morning for school turn on the light
B) I dont have to announce
hey the light is on ! They get it painfully they get it.
C)Jesus was fully capable of
bearing witness to Himself His actions were clear
His testimony was true!
1) He was shinning brightly
in a dark world.
D)They dont know
where they came from; they can only speculate. But the Lord Jesus knew from
where He came.
2nd 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no
one. [ according to the flesh] 16 And
yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the
Father who sent Me.
#2 He is not to be judged after the flesh.
Any judgment that
you or I make is after the flesh.
A)Our judgment is limited
because we simply do not have all the facts.. If one judges according to the
flesh, he will naturally follow speculation.
B)The Lord Jesus says that He
does not judge according to the flesh. He gives the judgment that comes from
heaven.
1)
He gives Gods viewpoint, Gods estimation. This is revelation, and it differs
from mans point of view.
C) That is why the hostility
of these religious rulers is mounting.
#3
The Father had borne witness to Him.
17 It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men
is true. 18 I am One who bears witness
of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me."
The Father Bore witness at his
Baptism this is my beloved Son
.
Now
what Jesus says here about Himself also applies to those who are believers in
Christ Our standing before the father.
A)If we believe this
change our whole outlook
B)Sets our hearts at peace
and gives us great confidence in our walks to Know that
#1
We know where we came from and where we are going.
A)We have been made by God
The evolutionist thinks Christians are stupid for not believing in evolution
B) I think the evolutionist is
stupid for believing in evolution
1)
Choose rather to believe that we were made by God a little lower than the
angels as the Bible declares
C) Than made a little higher
than the monkeys as evolution declares
Listen we know where we have come from From God You and I are the product of a Divine Vision.
A)His plan
B) Also Know that I was a
sinner on my well to Hell in the pit
1) Picked me up out of the
pit set my feet on a rock
ON MY WAY
TO HEAVEN!
But
not only that But also just as Jesus was beloved by his father you and I as
believers have been accepted in the Beloved
A)Beloved Sons and daughters
God sees us
B) Now When Christians really
believe what God says about them, when they refuse to listen even to their own
feelings that lie to them about who they are,
C)but
they believe God has made them new creatures in Jesus Christ and they are free
from the old life, the old sinful habits,
1) they always have a tremendous sense of security and of effectiveness in their lives.
D)
Many Christians struggle in their lives because they dont believe that to be
so.
Well
at this point the religious leaders start to get nasty V.19
Then they said
to Him, "Where is Your Father?"
A)They are hinting at his
birth suggesting that it was illegitimate.
v.41 They get real nasty
no longer hinting
B) We
were not born of fornication!
The Talmud even called Jesus the Illegitimate son of Mary
C)
By the way if that kind of label has been stuck to you Accident
1)
Result of an unwanted pregnancy You
know where to Flee
D) God has a plan for you
Parents might not have planned but God did. He does!
Jesus answered,
"You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have
known My Father also."
20 These words
Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands
on Him, for His hour had not yet come.
Later
in
9 Jesus said to
him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?
He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the
Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am
in the Father, and the Father in Me?
That is what Jesus is saying
here! I and the father are one!
If you really Knew Him You
would Know Me !
Then Jesus said
to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in
your sin. Where I go you cannot come."
Now
this is bad news Told you have cancer or lost your house { those are bad
things But not as bad as being told you will die in your sins.
A)Person who dies in his sin
only has eternal judgment and damnation to look forward to.
B) They respond with another
insult ." So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He
says, Where I go you cannot come?"
This is another insult
against Jesus.
In Jewish teaching, the lowest levels of Hades were reserved for those who
committed suicide.
Now,
the Pharisees try to twist Jesus words to imply that He will commit suicide
and therefore be damned.
23
And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of
this world; I am not of this world.
A)In other words, "All
of your thinking is limited by the narrow confines of this life.
B)You do not understand what
is going on in the invisible realms of life.
C)You
do not understand anything beyond the limited, narrow range of facts which you
can see with your eyes and hear with your ears.
1)But
I am from beyond that. I am from above, from out of this world."
As
Christians we see life thru another lens 3 dimensional / 3 Kingdoms
A)This world / With in / to
come
B) Living in this world
yielded to the King living in my heart navigating my way thru this life
1)
Thinking about & wanting things to count for the next
C) The natural man the
unbeliever doesnt think that way sees only this Kingdom
1)
Thinking only in terms of right here and right now!
24
Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not
believe that I am [He], you will die in your sins."
A)V.24
The word he is italicized in your Bible because
the original manuscript
B) If you
dont believe that I am you will die in your sins
B)The singular
issue of salvation is one of believing that Jesus is I AM, that Jesus is God.
C) Its not enough to believe Jesus is a good guy, a great
guru, or even the Son of God.
1) The Mormons and Jehovahs Witnesses, the Moonies
and cults down the line are all damned in their teachings because they deny
this most essential, basic truth of salvation in denying that Jesus is God.
25 Then they
said to Him, "Who are You?"
And Jesus said
to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge
concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those
things which I heard from Him." 27
They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father
Now
this is amazing to me I think He loves these religious leaders
A)He is shedding tremendous
light on their plight if they dont believe.
B) It is as if He is
contending for their souls He is seeking to open up their eyes
C)But they in their pride
were blinding their eyes and rejecting this word because they thought they were
good enough already;
1) they thought they did not deserve any
rejection from God.
28 Then Jesus
said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I
am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak
these things. 29 And He who sent Me is
with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that
please Him." 30 As He spoke these words,
many believed in Him.
What
a difference the Cross Makes!
A)When I am lifted up then
you will know
B) Ps 22 /
C) And the way that He
suffered the dignity w/ which He suffered Won many
1) Thief / Centurion / Joseph
of A/ Nicodemus
Power
in the Cross Peter at Pentecost
A)Stephen in Attacks 6
Paul was there consenting to his death
B) But as Stephen spoke
about the suffering Messiah it haunted Paul
1) Hard for you to Kick
against the goads
C) Goad
was like a sharp wooden Stick
1) Pricking his heart
D) Paul became a believer
and a Proclaimer of that same message of the cross
E)
In Closing A
word to Parents
A)Jesus was able
to say My Father bears witness of me
He is behind me.
B) For that
reason I live to please Him!
C) Now I know
there is a oneness there that is beyond anything human experienced
D)Jesus was in
perfect step w/ the father at all times because He was one w/ the father in
every way
But I think
that we can learn something from this.
A)Do we bear
witness to our kids their gifts skills their abilities ?
B) Are you an
encourager in that way to your Children.
Train
up a child in the way he should go,
And
when he is old he will not depart from it.
Now typically
we read that to mean in the ways of the Lord as the Way he should go Thats
True!
But the Hebrew phrase in the way describes the habit or the
character of an individual
A)
B) Each Child
has his own way - I want to encourage him/her in their gifts
C) Goal for each parent Goal for CCS
D) Dont try
to live thru your Child Let them live
Train them up in the way they should go Jesus
Also The way they are headed.
A)Help
discover goals last years class
B) Jr.s / Srs Goals / gifts
too many of them had no idea Parents that is our Job
C) Bear
witness to them I see this in you let me help you be that
D) With that
kind of support hopefully they will respond in wanting to please God
1) Translate
into our being pleased as well.